Legally Blonde's Proceedings

{Seven}

2012-02-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

Today my little love, Lola, turns seven!

Where has the time gone?

This is baby Lola...all 3 lbs. of her!

She was all ears and feet

To Celebrate Seven here are seven things I love about Lola:

(1) Her itty bitty tail wags so hard, her whole butt wags too.

(2) She talks (it's different than her bark).

(3) Her day isn't made until she has snuggled on my bed before she goes to sleep in her kennel.
(4) She loves her toys and plays with ALL of them.

(5) When she is sleeping, she smells like corn chips.

(6) Her pretty brown eyes and long white eyelashes.

(7) How happy she is to see me when I get home, even if I've only gone to take the trash out!

Of course there are a million other things I love about my pup!

Happy 7th Birthday Lola!

A Fail and Grammys wrap-up

2012-02-14T10:23:00.000-06:00

I'm a complete Valentine's Day failure this year. I did not even decorate. Let me repeat. I DID NOT EVEN DECORATE! All I did was put out a garden flag and the wreath I made for the front door. Oh well, I can only hope to do better for Easter!

Now, for a Grammy's wrap-up. I thought the show was pretty good... I enjoyed the kick-off with The Boss. The Beach Boys reunion was fun, along with Maroon 5 and Foster the People. I thought Bruno Mars was super cute. I loved the Glenn Campbell tribute. It was great to see Adele's voice is back. The Foo Fighters rocked it.

I thought the show kind of started to go off the rails toward the end, but was happy that they pulled it back together with the jam session on stage with Sir Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, The Boss, et al.

I was happy that my two favorite albums from 2011 did so well... Adele's "21" and Foo Fighter's "Wasting Light". Foo won everything they were up for, except the one where they were competeing with Adele. They were funny on the red carpet and said they pretty much knew they weren't winning that one because they were up against "Adele and one of the greatest albums ever". I was a little sad for them though. They recorded Wasting Light in Dave's garage totally old school. Not digital. On tape. That means, no correction abilities. Love them!

Anyway, Adele looked so pretty and racked up the awards...

Did y'all watch? What was your favorite moment of the night?

Inspirational words...

2012-02-08T13:18:00.001-06:00

This is a girl only post. Not that any guys are reading, but if any are, I can assure you that your interest in this is about to go to negative 50...

Last time I bought tampons, they had changed the box. This tells me that a man is surely running the marketing scheme, because every female knows that it is totally un-cool for the box to change. We know just how irritating it is when you are used to seeing the box look one way, but now it looks another way, so you are forced to stand in the dang "personal care" aisle for 5 minutes trying to figure out just which box it is that you now need. So after my 5 minutes of looking, I got what I thought I needed, but it turns out I bought the "sporty" ones instead of the regular ones.

I don't think that the sporty ones have any difference other than packaging. I kind of like the packaging better, because they don't come undone in your purse and they aren't so loud. But the funniest thing is that they have inspirational messages on the individual packages. I am so not even kidding about this. Here are some of the nuggets of tampon wisdom:

"Live out your dreams!"
"All you can do is your best"
"Stop stressing...start focusing"
"Stay flexible"
"Give it your best shot"
"You've got the moves"
"Go for it!"
"Win or lose, play fair"

So, in a sense, they are kind of like fortune cookies. But then I had an idea. Here's the background for the idea... Have you seen the Ryan Gosling, "Hey Girl" things? Here are some examples...

I couldn't locate one of my favorites, which was "Hey girl. I'm really sorry only 12 people entered your blog giveaway". Ha!

Anyway, back to my idea. These tampon companies should follow this line of thinking and instead of telling me to "follow my dreams" and "play fair", they should have cute boys & "hey girl's" on the packages...

Some that came to me off the top of my head...

"Hey girl, let me get you some ibuprofen"
"Hey girl. Bloated? No, you definitely never looked more beautiful"
"Hey girl, do you want me to get you some chocolate"

Much better than the sporty inspirations, right?

Lola's Favorite...

2012-02-07T20:09:00.003-06:00

As we watched the Super Bowl on Sunday night, Lola found a commercial she liked. I tweeted about it and I'm sure everyone thought I was nutso. Since Sunday, whenever that same commercial comes on, she watches it. I caught her on video tonight...

Fashion and Food in Phone Pics

2012-02-06T09:58:00.000-06:00

Friday was kind of a bust at Canton. Apparently early February is not the month to go. There were lots of sales, but not a ton of new merchandise. On Sunday, I met my friends Suzanna for breakfast at Northpark. She was in town from Midland, so I got to see her and her little boy. After breakfast we walked down to see the turtles and ducks. We passed by Louis and I loved their display so much I had to take a couple of pictures with my phone...

Can you think of anything more heavenly than a cupcake topped with a Louis? I cannot.

Then I met up with Lisa and we headed to the Dallas Museum of Art. We had been wanting to see the John Paul Gaultier exhibit. It has been there since November and only runs another couple of weeks. We were unprepared for how crowded it was! Apparently everyone is dashing to the DMA to see it before it leaves. They didn't allow cameras in the exhibit. Here is a phone pic I took as we were waiting our turn to go inside...

I lifted some photos from D magazine to show you more examples of the exhibit...

One thing to note, the mannequins were animated...

At first, they freaked me the heck out, but then I was almost more focused on the mannequins than I was the clothing. They were like a weird modern art installation. Some were even speaking.

Some of the stuff was just plain outlandish.

It was amazing to see how many hours each and every couture piece took to create.

It's hard to see but that camo dress below (first dress on the far left of the frame) took over 1000 hours to construct. It was also interesting to see how delicate the items were. After probably only one wear, you could see the wear and tear. Interestingly enough, even the pret-a-porter garments looked very fragile.

After we left the exhibit, we went and grabbed lunch at The Angry Dog and then I headed home. For dinner and my own private super bowl party I made chicken tacos from a Pinterest recipe...

Source: mychocolatetherapy.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

They were yummy. Of course I think that the yumminess was enhanced by this giant bowl of pico I whipped up (as well as the fresh guacamole that I made)!

No repeats please

2012-02-02T20:44:00.001-06:00

Today is Groundhog Day, and I pray that it will not be like the movie and repeat itself. Not that it was particularly bad. Nothing horrible happened, but it was just one of those busy days where everyone seemed like they were placed on this early to annoy you.

This morning started out with the following plan:

(1) Jennifer and I had a "firm client" that was set at 8:30. He has been a continual pain for months and we were happy to be resolving of his case. I had spoken on the phone with him yesterday (twice) to give him directions for today. Not to mention the fact that he has been in trouble before, so this wasn't his first rodeo. Plan was to jointly discuss everything with him and then Jennifer would handle the plea, while I went to deal with...

(2) I had a client that was set for an arraignment because we are set for a Jury Trial on Monday. Basically, this entails the judge calling us up, asking if we are ready for trial, and then telling us what day to be back next week for our trial (or passing us to a new setting if we are not going to be reached). I had talked with the court coordinator yesterday and learned that we were #2 on the line-up, so we would likely be going next week.

(3) Once I was done at that courthouse, I was going to go to the other courthouse to pass a case that is set on tomorrow's docket early, because Lisa and I are Canton Trade Days bound tomorrow.

Here's how it really played out...

At 8:29 a.m., I get a call from the pain in the rear client wanting to know what he was suppose to do because he was out in the hall in front of the court. "Have a seat and have 3 seconds of patience because I'm walking down the hall as we speak!", was my response. Not a great start.

We go over everything and I leave Jennifer with him and go to the other court for my arraignment. Judge calls my case, but my client is not there yet. I go call my client who says he's 30 minutes out. At that moment I get a text from Jennifer, that the daycare called and baby Harper is sick (RSV & ear infection it turns out). I go down, send her on her way to the doctor and handle the plea with pain in the rear client.

Then I go take care of the arraignment. Turned out it was lucky my client was late, because by the time he showed up, the trial slots were filled for next week. The judge asked if I wanted to be placed on "back-up" and I said, "Well judge, I've got 5 appeals due next week, so getting passed over really doesn't hurt my feelings." To which he replied, "You've got too much to do, just get a new trial date". And at that moment, a 300 pound gorilla was released from my back! Hallelujah!

The rest of the day, every single annoyance that could happen did happen:

(1) From me waiting for 2 hours for a 3 minute hearing to take place this afternoon

(2) To a client who we've met with and I've spoken with on numerous times about a family law case calling back to ask if we were qualified to handle the case. WHAT?!?! Which resulted in me telling her that she just needed to move along to a different attorney.

(3) To a client who cannot seem to get us some information we need to get something done for her that she needs.

Which all proceeded this text exchange between Jennifer and me this afternoon (I'm blue, she's white):

I just think that is hilarious!

The good news, I'm off tomorrow! I'm blowing this joint and headed to Canton for a day of shopping and almost non-existent cell phone service... Bliss!

TGIF (almost!)

A Jubilee Party?

2012-01-31T21:53:00.000-06:00

Y'all remember that I was super into the Royal Wedding last year? (If you are new to the blog, I had a little shindig). I'm thinking that I may have to repurpose some of the decorations and have a Diamond Jubilee party this June!

I know it's not as popular of a celebration for the mainstream folks out there, but for this Anglophile, I'm kind of obsesses with the plans. Though there are several events planned, the grandest event is a 1000 boat flotilla which will travel down the Thames. Boris, London's mayor, has promised that it is going to be grander than the summer Olympics (which are taking place in London town as well).

Here are some artist renderings of the event...

In case you are wondering what in the heck the Diamond Jubilee is all about, it is to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years as the monarch (she hits 60 years on February 6th, but the celebration is planned for June). She is currently the second longest serving Monarch in British history (her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria served for 63 years, 216 days).

Like all Royal celebrations, there are keepsakes to be purchased, in the form of China. Here's a view of the collection...

I love this tea cup and saucer...

I think I will have to make my way to the British Emporium and at least purchase a tea towel to mark the occasion. Anyone want to come to a Jubilee party? We can pop in my copy of Will's & Kate's wedding DVD if things get boring.

What I wouldn't give to be in London in June...

Awards Season, phase 2

2012-01-29T12:14:00.000-06:00

Here I am again. I've been AWOL for almost a week, and I can't even make the excuse that I've been in trial because it got continued at the last minute.

Because the trial got put off until March, I was able to take my granddad to the doctor down in Dallas on Wednesday. My grandmother doesn't love driving in Dallas, especially in the rain. So I thought I'd help calm her nerves by doing the driving. After the doctor we enjoyed lunch at Pappadeaux.

I mentioned it was raining last week, but folks what we had wasn't just rain, it was a gully washer! It rained 5 inches! We really needed it, so I don't want to complain, but I just want to mention that I've spent more time washing puppy paws this week than I've done doing anything else.

I had been so excited because Tuesday morning was the Oscar nomination announcement...

But then some of the nominees, or lack of nominees, rubbed me the wrong way and have really had me ticked off for the rest of the week. I know I shouldn't get so wrapped up in Awards season, but I do. I take it serious. Here are a list of my grievances:

"The Ides of March" should have been nominated for Best Picture.

It may not actually be the best, but it deserves a nomination. It was a darn good movie. Better than some of the other nominees. I thought Ryan Gosling would get a best supporting actor nomination for it too. I'm not as torn up about his oversight as I am the movies, but I think this was a possible error too.

The music categories just have me uber ticked off. Who would have thought that such minor categories would get my blood boiling like they have? First, only nominating two songs is just stupid. It isn't that I'm in love some song that didn't get a nomination. That's not it at all. It's just that there are 5 slots and only 2 songs got nominated. Stupid.

My second beef over music is that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were not nominated for Best Original Score for their work on "The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo". I still haven't seen the movie, but I have listened to the score. It's good. Better than some of that dribble that was nominated. I have heard that it actually enhances the movie in certain parts that are dragging, so I am at a loss for how the Academy screwed this up so bad.

I'm super excited because Phase 2 of Awards Season is underway tonight with the SAG awards.

More awards, more dresses, more red carpet coverage to watch...I just love awards season!

Movies and a Recipe

2012-01-23T14:36:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon, I tried to get on my way to seeing what Entertainment Weekly says are the 25 movies to see before the Oscars. Here's the list and my thoughts...

1- The Descendants (seen it)
2- War Horse (won't see until on Apple TV because I'm afraid tears will be plentiful)
3- The Help (seen it. own it)
4- Hugo (really no desire to go see it)
5- Midnight in Paris (seen it)
6- Moneyball (seen it)
7-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (will see it if I can ever get to the dang movies)
8- The Tree of Life (will try to see it)
9- Beginners (want to see it)
10- Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows (never seen nor read anything Potter)
11- The Iron Lady (want to see it)
12- Rango (no thank ya)
13- Shame (maybe)
14- Albert Nobbs (Glen Close creeps me out as Nobbs, but maybe I'll see it)
15- The Ides of March (seen it)
16- Kung Fu Panda 2 (haven't seen 1, won't see 2)
17- Bridesmaids (seen it)
18- J. Edgar (want to see it. probably when out on Appe TV)
19- We Need to Talk About Kevin (haven't seen it)
20- Drive (don't care to see it)
21- Young Adult (want to see. probably on Apple TV)
22- Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (documentary on West Memphis 3- seen it)
23-Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (not high on list)
24- My Week with Marilyn (want to see. probably on Apple TV)
25- The Artist (I'm on the fence)

My friend Billy came over for a late lunch. I grilled some filets and made bake potatoes. I also made a Cream Corn with Green Chilies, because corn is one of like 2 veggies that Billy will eat. It was really good. I found some fresh corn at Whole Foods, so I shucked it on Saturday afternoon...

Then I cooked it up yesterday...

It is super yummy. Here's the recipe if you are in the mood for some yumminess...

CreamCorn with Green Chile

8 ears fresh corn, husked

2 hatch green (Anaheim) chilies, roasted, peeled, seeded,and diced
1/3 cup white wine (I used an extra splash)

½ stick of butter (I actually used about an additional 2 Tbsps of Butter)

6 oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

Boil the corn until tender (about 12 to 15 minutes.) Let the corn cool and cut the kernels off thecob.

Sauté corn and white wine over medium heat until wine isreduced by half. Add salt & pepperand green chile. Reduce heat to low.Stir in butter and cream cheese until incorporated. Serve immediately.

* My uncle made this at Christmas and it seemed thinner in consistency. I'm wondering if he added some cream or half & half to it. I bet you could if you thought it was too thick.

Silence

2012-01-22T21:11:00.000-06:00

Gosh, it's been radio silence over here for the past week. No real excuses. School started back, so that extra activity always kind of drains me. I'm only teaching two classes this semester, but I go 4 nights a week. The good part is that it's only for an hour and 15 minutes each night. Two nights I'm home by 7, and the others by 8:30, so no leaving at 6:30 a.m. or getting home at 10:00 p.m. this semester.

Now, where did we leave off? Oh yeah, the Golden Globes. I loved most the fashion on the Red Carpet. My favorite was probably Charlize...

The runner-ups in my book were Resse and Sophia...

I was pretty happy about who the awards went to as well. I mean, Downton Abbey took home an award. As did George, Meryl and Homeland. I also thought the Descendants was probably worthy of Best Picture, but I haven't seen all the others yet.

I've bought some make-up over the past week. Not a big shopping trip, but just replacing some things I was out of. I was pretty much out of foundation. Most brands that I keep in rotation require me to drive somewhere to buy them. I was lazy and didn't want to drive, so I headed to Dillards to give M.A.C. a try. I haven't worn M.A.C. since I lived in Lubbock in the late 90's. I tried this new one that they have called Matchmaster. It's one of those that is suppose to have some technology so that it matches your skin. It's also fairly cheap (at least relative to what I usually wear), so I'm loving that aspect too.

I also bought a lip product that I discovered via Pinterest. Dior Addict Lip Glow is available at Sephora. It's really more of a chapstick like product, but it's "thing" is that it adds color to your lips, but it is different for every person because it works with your own color chemistry to create your own unique color. I'm LOVING it!

I've also caught up a little on my award season movies. Today I watched both "Moneyball" and "Ides of March". I really liked both movies. I also just got to enjoy Episode 3 of "Downton Abbey". I love several shows on tv, but I haven't loathed or loved characters this much on a show in a long, long time.

Hopefully, I will post more this week, but we have a trial starting on Tuesday and two appeals due soon, so I'm not sure how it will go. Have a good week everyone!

I Love this Weekend

2012-01-14T13:49:00.002-06:00

I'm loving life this weekend!

First of all, it's a 3 day weekend! So happy to have Monday off.

Second, Ryan Star released a 4 song EP and tweeted a link for a free download yesterday, so you know that has me super jazzed!

Have I mentioned that Ryan is coming to Dallas next month? I'm looking forward to seeing him again!

Third, awards season is in full swing! The Golden Globes is Sunday night, and I couldn't be more excited!

I'm a little behind on movies, but I plan to get up to speed by Oscar time.

As far as the television awards, I'm seriously torn on several categories.

Best TV Drama: Boardwalk Empire or Homeland? It's Sophie's choice here! How could I choose? I also have similar conflicts in the Drama Actor & Actress categories.

For Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, you know I'm cheering for Downton Abbey all the way!

Plus, in addition to seeing who wins, I cannot wait to watch the red carpet coverage and see what everyone is wearing.

I. LOVE. AWARDS. SEASON!

V-day Project

2012-01-09T14:31:00.000-06:00

I purchased several things of "fake ornaments" after Christmas. You know, the kind that look like glass balls, but really are shatter proof. I bought red, pink and purple with a Valentine's Day project in mind.

After picking up a new glue gun last week to replace the one that exploded, I got to work on a new wreath for the front door.

The last ornament wreath I made, I tried to string them on a wire. I didn't love that, so I decided to go the foam wreath and glue route this time. I tried to follow some how-to examples I saw on Pinterest. They were helpful enough, but I definitely discovered some things that I would do different next time.

Here's the finished product...

Back to the Abbey

2012-01-08T16:43:00.000-06:00

I've been anxiously awaiting the premier of Season II of Downton Abbey on PBS, and now the wait is over. In a little over 3 hours, I will finally be able to begin watching what our friends across the pond saw months ago!

Where is Winter?

2012-01-07T14:25:00.001-06:00

I know many people do not enjoy winter. I am not one of those people. I love cold weather. I love grey days. I love snow. I love wearing coats and scarves. I love wearing Uggs. I love seeing my puppy in her polka dot sweater. I love drinking hot chocolate, hot cider or hot tea without having to chase it with a glass of ice water. So these 70 degree January days are just not up my alley.

I'm trying with all my might to will the winter here. I am all decorated and ready for it.

My front door

My front yard flag (hard to see but the snow flakes are blingy)

This new door banner is part of my post-Christmas shopping deals...

There's No Place Like Snow!

Again, hard to see, but it's glittery...

Back yard flag...

I guess even if winter eludes us here in North Texas this year, at least I'm decorated for it!

Iphone Photo Dump...

2012-01-04T18:24:00.000-06:00

I decided to post some photos I've taken on my iphone over the past few weeks. I will include a title and a short explanation with each...

What Did Santa Bring for me?

Here the dogs are excited on Christmas morning while unwrapping their stocking stuffers. I actually think this is my Mom unwrapping Millie's stuff, but Lola was equally excited. The only photos we have of Christmas 2011 are iphone photos because I left me dang camera here in McKinney!

Cozy on the Couch

I've told you that I was couch bound for several days post-Christmas-eve less than graceful fall, and that Lola loved every minute of it, but here is photographic proof. By the way, I forgot to include "Midnight in Paris" in my list of movies that I watched. I really liked it.

Pathetic Pre-lit

This is what is left of the pre-lit portion of my bedroom tree. Several portions bit it this season. Pathetic.

I love tea, but I love tea in a cute mug more!

Look at this cute mug I got at Anthropologie right before Christmas. It was on sale and they were doing an additional 50% off all sale stuff, so I got it for less than $4!

Just work with me!

In my sale shopping, I came across this headband. Jennifer had me buy it for Harper and I was using Lola to model it so that I could text Jennifer a photo. She was clearly put out by the whole process.

Precious

This is Lola on my bed. She was all snuggly with Ellie (1 of her 3 identical pink elephants).

It wasn't posed either. She brought Ellie up there and snuggled up to her.

CNN! I'm waiting for your call!

I wrote down my Iowa Caucus predictions yesterday afternoon and texted them to a friend.

All I've got to say for myself is that I'm waiting for CNN to call, and I'll gladly become one of their new political pundits.

I have an idea...

Those words strike fear in my friends. They know that a project is usually coming.

I hit up the 75% off sale at Wally-world today for a Christmas project I've got planned for next year.

Dang it! I hope I got enough ornaments for said project. I'm contemplating another w-mart run...

This is SO last year...

2012-01-02T21:02:00.000-06:00

This post is SO last year, but this is what I did the last week of 2011!

I'm a little bit bummed because I've had only two days off for the holidays. I was off on the 26th and then today. The other days weren't too bad, but I had Juvenile Detention hearings Tuesday through Friday last week, so that took up all of the mornings. I would take tomorrow off, but another attorney scheduled some hearings for me to attend at 9 a.m. on a Guardianship. Boo!

Back to last week~ I was trying to take it easy due to my Christmas Eve knee and ankle sprain. I think that it has paid off. They aren't back to 100% (well, it's my bum "2 screws" ankle, so it's not back to it's normal 75%), but they are better than they were last week. Part of my taking it easy involved quite the movie-palooza. I went to see The Descendants (soooo good! Pulling for Clooney for the Oscar!) on Friday at the theatre, but everything else has been on my Apple TV. Using my itunes gift cards I got for Christmas, I have now seen:

Our Idiot Brother ~Loved. Funny & heart warming, plus there is a dog named Willie Nelson! Hello- my first dog was named Willie after Willie Nelson!
Bridesmaids ~ Did not love. This may be odd, but I thought it was really sad. Maybe I'm not the right audience though. Did love Melissa McCarthy though!
Friends with Benefits ~ cute
The Change Up ~ eehh... I do love Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, so at least there was that.

I also read Madame Toussaud. It's a novel, but fairly historically accurate. Very interesting if you like that kind of stuff.

Did I mention that in the middle of last week my left eye started hurting. It hurt pretty badly and was swollen, so I went to the eye doctor. I didn't want to get caught in a holiday weekend with an infected eye. He didn't know what was wrong but thought some $135 eye drops for 3 days would cure it. Ha! I called back from the pharmacy and said "Try again!". I got a cheaper steroid drop that he then called in, but it didn't appear to do much. Then several days later I came to the conclusion that I had a stye. Have I mentioned that I'm cursed? Although technically all of that came about in 2011, so I'm still holding out good thoughts for 2012!

I did a little delayed post Christmas shopping. I got several things which I want to use in a Valentine's Day project or two (so I'll update you later on those things). I also got some Christmas stuff to use next year.

I went to Calloway's Garden Center and got some of these metal art things. I had seen them at Canton originally, then saw that Calloway's had them and by the time I remembered to go back, they didn't have much left, but what they had was 75% off. 75% off makes me much less discerning shopper! So instead of $20 each, I got these for $4.99 each!

and

I also went to a couple of Paper Affairs and got these curly girl napkins...

(bad pic from internet)

Two reasons I got this: (1) white dog & (2) do you see the initial on the dog's stocking? The letter L! As in Lola!

I also got these Caspari napkins...

At Sample House I got a new flag for my backyard...

At Market Street, I got Lola a new ornament...

At Target I got these felt ornaments (purpose unknown at this time, but I have a couple of thoughts)...

and some new kitchen towels...

Finally, I got these two necklaces yesterday at Dillard's additional 50% off sale for $8 each!

(sorry bad iphone pic)

What about you guys? What have you been up to?

Seen any movies? Read any good books? Had any luck at sales?

Crafty Christmas

2011-12-28T12:51:00.001-06:00

I didn't do any baking this Christmas, but I did get crafty thanks to Pinterest. I made several ornaments this year for Christmas. I think I've already shown you the one that I made for myself, but in case you missed it, here it is again...

I made a red one for my hair lady with just a big "C" on it. I also did a red one for some family friends that had a husband & wife monogram on it. I have no visual proof that I made these red ones, you will have to take my word for it!

Finally, I made these for my pre-teen cousins. They seemed to really like them.

I also did some post-Christmas sale shopping yesterday with an eye toward a Valentine craft project. What about y'all? Did you do any crafting this Christmas?

2011 Decorations {Part 3}

2011-12-27T16:19:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I've been trying to post this for several days. The first hold-up was that my Grandma got put into the hospital again last week, so I spent the latter part of last week at the hospital with her. Then blogger decided to be difficult and I put it on the back burner until after Christmas. Then on Christmas eve, I fell (just call me twinkle toes) and I sprained my knee and ankle, so after I got home on Christmas evening, I just parked myself on the couch for two days with my leg elevated and iced (much to Lola's delight).

So I finally decided to tackle this post again today, but blogger was still giving me some trouble. I decided I would not be defeated and did this post in a very difficult manner, but heck, at least I FINALLY got it done!

Without further ado, here is the final post of Decorations 2011. I think I should have made this two posts (lots of pics!), but I didn't, so here we go.

Let's start with my Kitchen. I have several small things here and there in the kitchen. I have a cute spoon rest that I love and this year I added some Spode hot pan holders...

My Spode Christmas dishes are always a big part of the "Kitchen Decor"...

I always put this Santa in the kitchen...

In the breakfast room, I have several things...

This countdown calendar...

These plates hang by the back door...

and of course a tree...

I like the bright tree skirt...

This tree is filled with all sorts of random ornaments. Ornaments from trips, like this one from this year's trip to the Grand Canyon...

and Sedona...

Puerto Vallarta...

or this one which was purchased at the gift shop in Westminster Abbey...

or at the Waterford store in Ireland...

I was actually thinking about getting another tree for the dining room and making it a "Tree of Travels", but the thought of putting up a 5th tree makes me a little crazy!

Naturally, the kitchen tree is filled with lots of food ornaments...

including the topper which looks like a large (pink!) snowflake cookie...

It also has lots of ornaments that I have been collecting for years. I especially love these yarn people...

This tree is just a fun little tree complete with colorful vintagy bubble lights.

In the living room, I have the mantle decorated with a piece I made last year (not sure it's going to make another appearance next year, so take a good look), and stockings that I'm not crazy about.

The tree is covered almost entirely of blown glass ornaments...

at night...

mostly Christopher Radko or Old World Christmas ornaments like these...

I also have a nativity on a table in the living area...

My coffee table isn't great (please ignore the fall bowl of potpourri),

but I added these bright and shiny mason jar candle holders this year.

That's about it for the Kitchen and Living Room decorations. I thought I was never going to get everything up this year, so I don't even want to think about taking it all down!

Stupid Blogger

2011-12-27T15:45:00.001-06:00

Dear Friends,

I've been trying to post since Friday. Blogger will not cooperate and let me post photos. I upload the photos, but then when I go back to my post and type, and then go back to where the photos are, they aren't there anymore. I don't know what the heck is wrong. I've even updated blogger to some odd new format and uploaded Google's "Chrome" browser, but neither have solved my problem.

If anyone else has had this problem and been able to solve it, please let me know what you did. Otherwise, I guess I'll post once blogger decides to get it's dang act together.

Decorations 2011 {Post 2}

2011-12-20T17:43:00.000-06:00

Post 2 of Decorations 2011 will cover the extra bedroom & bath and my bedroom & bath. Every room does not have a tree, but every room does have some decoration. In my extra bedroom, it is this santa...

A santa bringing shoes. How could a girl want anything else?

The extra bathroom has several Holiday decorations.

Hand Towels...

A Santa picture...

And a skinny Santa...

My bathroom doesn't have quite so much decorations, but it does have my glittery & feathery lady santa...

She's been around for several years, but I still love her!

My bedroom has a tree. It is the only tree in the house where the ornaments don't have a story. It's just a pretty tree decorated in all white and silver. Last year I added a glittery bow on top that matches my bedroom and I like the color pop that it provides...

The top...

The middle...

The bottom...

Here are some of the details...

Lola by the tree. I think she is looking for Santa...or was it a squirrel?

From the ground looking up...

I really love this tree at night, which is handy since that is when I'm in the room to enjoy it the most.

At night all the glittery and glass ornaments really twinkle with the lights...

I am even more fond of this tree since I put the lights on a remote control last year. Now I can turn them off when I turn the tv off at night and never have to get out of my warm bed.

One more decoration post to come...

Decorations 2011 {Part 1}

2011-12-19T17:29:00.000-06:00

Everything is finally decorated...well, as decorated as it's going to be this year. There are no lights in the yard and some random things are are not out and displayed, but by gosh, I've got all four trees out & decorated, so I'm claiming a victory.

I'm going to do decorations in parts so I don't wear anyone out with all the photos in one post.
Today's Decorations post is going to feature the entry, dining room, and office...

Part 2 will be my extra bedroom, extra bath & the Master bedroom & bath. Part 3 will feature the kitchen and the living room.
Though I didn't get lights out in the shrubs and around the sidewalk, I did put some lights around the front door. They are basically the same as the past, only I added some red deco mesh to the garland...

Day...

Night...

When you walk into the front door, this little table would be on your left...

Walk a little further and you will find the door that leads from the house into the garage. This "Angel Wreath" or feather boa wreath is on that door...

Then you will come to the dining room...

This little table sits just outside the dining room, so I'm including it Part 1 of the decorations tour. I'm happy that this little santa is there because he has quite the history. He was painted by my grandmother in 1973, so he has been around all my life.

Last year after Christmas I was spending some time over with my grandmother when we were sorting out some paperwork and stuff after putting my grandfather in the nursing home. I commented that I always liked him and she said, "well you should take him", so I did. Don't have to tell me twice! I had forgotten that I took possession of him and was super excited to find him when I started unpacking the tubs of Christmas decorations this year.

Between the entry and the living room, I have a large art niche...

Finally, I have a little tree in my office...

It's pink. Yes, it doubles as the Valentine's tree...

I really wanted a tall skinny white tree in here this year, but never found the right one or the energy to seek one out. Maybe next year. I also have my Santa Judges in here...

Christmas Cards

2011-12-17T08:50:00.000-06:00

I love Christmas Cards. I've already confessed that I start hunting that perfect card in July. Yep, I'm certifiable.

I love getting Christmas cards too. Here is how I display the cards I receive...

Here is my 2011 Christmas Card (front)...

(back)...

Shiny Brites

2011-12-15T17:27:00.001-06:00

I've been so bah-hum-bug this year. I just haven't been able to get into the Christmas spirit. But this week I came across something that got me a little bit closer to where I need to be 10 days out from Christmas!

Back story: My Mom and Dad went to NYC for New Year's Eve in 2000. Mom hit up the Macy's after Christmas sale and came home with a box of Christopher Radko Shiny Brites...for herself. I've coveted them ever since. Shiny Brites are these wonderful glass ornaments that are so colorful, glittery and delightfully vintage looking.

This week I had to go to Denton County on some business and while there, I ran into their TJ Maxx because I think they have a particularly good TJ Maxx. I looked down one of the aisles that was filled with Christmas stuff and almost kept walking because let's face it, I don't need one darn thing in that department, but some red boxes down at the end caught my eye. I exclaimed, "Could it be?!?". Okay, maybe that was just in my head.

But I soon discovered that yes, it could be! I had found some Shiny Brites!

They had about 5 or 6 different kinds. I had some self restraint for once in my life and only got 2.

One box of small...

and one box of big...

But now guess who wants some? Yep, my Mom. So on Sunday I have to go through Denton when I travel up to our family's Christmas lunch, so I think I'll stop and ~~get me some more~~ get her some.

My Favorite Things 2011

2011-12-13T18:55:00.001-06:00

More than ever before, I'm buying people my favorite things this year. Hope they like what I like! If you still have some shopping to do for the special people on your list, these are some of my favorite things for 2011...

Kate Spade's Lacey Wallet. This zip around wallet is about the best thing since sliced bread. It has 12 card slots and tons of room for other stuff. I'm even able to keep my checkbook in one of the slots. I love that it zips, and if you want to run somewhere without your purse, it's almost like a little clutch (and you don't have to worry about something falling out). The price point is a little high... $195-$250, but if you watch for sales on Kate Spade's website, or get on her mailing list, you will find out about flash sales where you can get awesome prices.

I got one of these in Salmon color this summer and I ~~know~~ believe I'm getting a sassy hot pink patent one for Christmas from a friend!

Vera Bradley, how do I love thee, let me count the ways. You may recall that I lost my mind and bought 3 travel pieces of Vera this summer. This tote, the "Get Carried Away Tote" has been one of my favorites...

A friend just bought me this "Vera Tote" in this exact pattern for Christmas. It will be my school bag once the Spring semester starts back.

And now they have a tablet case! This is so going on my wish list!

I'm getting and giving Jo Malone fragrances this year. I'm in love with Jo Malone (and they are from London, if you were wondering).

Jo Malone fragrances can be worn alone or can be layered together. It's super addictive, and this is coming from an anti-fragrance person! I'm getting a couple of fragrances this year for Christmas and I bought my Mom some for her birthday.

I love reading about each fragrance and all the notes that go into them.

I'm getting a big bottle of this...

Nectarine Blossom & Honey Cologne

A youthful and fruity fragrance, Nectarine Blossom & Honey is inspired by the delicious scent of just-ripening nectarines and a taste of refreshing peach sorbet. Mouthwatering nectarine and peach with hints of plum, blackcurrant and vetiver are combined with the sweet warmth of acacia honey in this truly seductive combination

a small bottle of this for layering...

English Pear & Freesia Cologne

English Pear & Freesia, a scent that is inspired by a walk in an orchard and captures the luscious scent of just-ripe pears, cooled by the autumn air, ready to twist free from the tree. Experience the surprising, sensuous freshness of sweet pears, wrapped in a bouquet of white freesias, on a subtle background of scrambling wild roses and skin-warming amber, patchouli and woods.

and I got my Mom this fragrance...

Blue Agava & Cacao Cologne

Inspired by the rhythm and vibrancy of Latin music, a sparkling citrus melody of lime and grapefruit leads to an exquisite heart of the blue agava flower. A sensual blend of vetiver, cinnamon and the primitive rawness of cacao, make an unexpected and surprising harmony.

Jo Malone is a little pricey, but I love that it is unique and you don't smell like everyone else.

I got a Nook for Christmas last year. I wasn't sure if I would like reading on an e-reader instead of a REAL BOOK, but let me report that I am a complete convert. I love my e-reader! (I'm sure a Kindle is just as good as a Nook). The price has been reduced significantly this year, so you can get someone on your list (or yourself) one for less than $100 (then you could get them a Vera Bradley case!)

I've never been big on giving gift cards, but I absolutely love to get them. This year I am giving some. These are among my favorite ones to receive...

a gift card for books...

and itunes card for movies or music...

a gift card to a local theater so that I can try and see as many Oscar nominated flicks as possible...

Finally, I think movies can be a great gift.

Either a new release like "The Help"...

or an oldie but goodie...

I have "Pillow Talk" on VHS, but it is seriously time to get it on DVD. I've been eyeing this Rock Hudson and Doris Day collection.

So these are my favs for 2011! What's on your list of favorite things?

Traveling at Christmas- Encore #2

2011-12-12T17:19:00.001-06:00

So here is Encore Christmas Post # 2 (again originally posted in July 2009)... I'm slowly but surely getting it together, so maybe I can start posting original things again. I did manage to get all the dang trees decorated around here (lovely Christmas spirit, right?).

I had a minor set back to my schedule last week when my Grandmother went to the doctor, found out she had had a heart attack, but then failed to disclose that portion of the doctor's report on the re-telling to the family. Then we asked enough questions, discovered the truth, and made her go to the hospital on Friday where she had two stints put in her heart because it was over 90% blocked on one side and according to the doctor "she was on borrowed time"!

I went home to take my grandpa to see the neurologist today for his Thanksgiving stroke. He got a good report and seems to have improved a lot. My grandmother is doing great too. I told them we've had enough of this falling apart at the seams and it's time for them to keep it together!
----------------------------------------------------
Many of my fondest Christmas Memories don't involve being at home. We began traveling to Taos, New Mexico when I was pretty small. We went for a week (Friday to Friday) and were always there over Christmas. Each year, we stayed at a wonderful place called the St. Bernard. Santa would visit me in Taos. He would fill my stocking and would bring one or two gifts, but he left most the loot back home and I had to wait to get it. I LOVED to ski, so that was okay by me.

If you look just below the ginormous goggles and just above the neck warmer, you can see I have a huge smile on my face!

Here I am, a little snow bunny.

We broke off the ski tradition at some point, and then when I was in junior high, we picked back up and went skiing with two other families. We usually left late on Christmas night or early, early on the 26th to head for Taos.

Once in Junior High, we went to the Bahamas for Christmas (but I couldn't find photographic proof!)

The next photos are from a trip to NYC in 1995...

Please disregard my horrible hair. I was in college, rebelling against my curls, and though I'm right handed, I did not have the use of my right hand on this trip (please note purple cast peeking out from the sleeve of my coat). Thank you.

It is hard to find ANYTHING better than NYC at Christmas

The Rocketts at Radio City, the Tree, Little Italy, the window displays...

It is a magical time to be in the city.

My paternal grandparents got married on Christmas Day, so to celebrate their 50th in 1997, 20 or so of us went to Cozumel.

On Christmas Day, my Mom and I flew in an itty bitty scary plane over to the mainland to visit Chichin Itza Mayan Ruins.

This is some of what we saw...

and climbed (none of those butts are mine by the way)...

and had to climb down (my Mom said she wasn't going to climb down and I remember telling her I didn't think they would let her "move in" up there in the temple)

Traveling has been such a part of so many Christmases, that it almost feels strange to stay at home and celebrate.

Christmases Past...an encore

2011-12-07T17:48:00.000-06:00

Are you ready for some re-runs? Back in July 2009, I participated in a "Christmas in July Blog-party". I posted several Christmas related posts on that day with many "vintage" photos. I thought that since my bloggy friends have grown and evolved over the past couple of years, I'd repost these Blog-party posts this month (you know, while I'm trying to get my act together and finish decorating this house, so that I can then post about that).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me start by saying, I really have a love affair with Christmas. I would leave Christmas decorations out year round if I knew people wouldn't mock me. You would be hard pressed to find ANYTHING about Christmas that I don't love... well, okay, except for Feliz Navidad. I hate that darn song!

My love affair started early, at my two month mark...

But on my second Christmas, things seem to be off to a pretty rocky start!
Someone must have explained who this guy was and what he does on Christmas Eve, because the situation seems to have improved dramatically. I've always been a rational person.

Christmas at my grandma's and a new pony.

The next year...

This guy was a family friend who I knew well. I never figured it out.

I'm not sure what has prompted this reaction, but I'm pretty darn excited!

This is Santa visiting me on Christmas Eve at the St. Bernard in Taos, NM

He was my ski instructor. I don't know why I didn't realize it. (You're starting to think I'm a little "slow" aren't you?)

Back in the room, Santa had filled my enormous stocking and brought a couple of my gifts.

Christmas Crafting...

2011-12-05T16:29:00.000-06:00

This past Friday night I did a little crafting. You know, because I had nothing else to do. Really, I needed my head examined. Why on earth was I crafting when I had yet to really decorate my house for the season was the million dollar question. But I had seen a couple of things on Pinterest and I was determine to make them.

I tried my hand at making blingy ornaments. They are pretty easy, just kind of hard to get the letters all spaced out correctly. I made one for myself and one for my friend Abby just to test it out and see how it worked. I am still looking for some cute ribbons to tie around the top...

I also wanted to add a little something Christmas-y to the big tin wall-hanging above my television. I decided on an ornament wreath. I've seen two methods of doing these. One involves hot gluing them to a foam wreath form and the other involves putting them on a wire. I tried the wire method with a wire hanger.

I still used a hot glue gun to make sure that all the hangers were firmly affixed to the ornament. After I had glued about 53 of them, I was reaching down for my glue gun when I heard it pop. Then a second later, I heard BBBBZZZZZ!, then I kid you not, flames shot out of the glue gun! The shot up about 6 inches from the counter (luckily I had newspaper down, so no damage to the counter). I'm so happy I wasn't holding the exploding glue gun!

Here's the finished product. Not perfect, but good enough, I guess...

I did manage to get 3 of my 4 trees decorated this weekend. I still have to do the living room tree. I know it would have made the most sense to do it first, but there were several reasons for my madness:

(1) I'm going to do this one. If I had done it first, then I might have fizzled out and not accomplished the other decorating.

(2) There are about 7 plastic tubs full of ornaments for this tree alone, so it is a BIG project.

I also had to take some time out of the decorating this weekend to go to the Dallas Symphony Christmas concert. Lisa had tickets and needed me to go with her. I told her I would go. It was a pay back for her going to see Ryan Star with me in August 2010. It was very festive and we had fun critiquing what everyone was wearing. If you follow me on the twitter, you saw that we had earth shattering revelations like "If your ass sparkles, your feet probably shouldn't sparkle too".

The only other big happenings around here are that I got my dryer vent cleaned out today! It had been taking forever for my stuff to dry, so I figured there was a problem, and I needed to get it cleaned out before I burned out the heating element in my dryer. So now that is fixed and I can do laundry again, and I have a mountain of it to tackle now!

Tis the season

2011-12-02T15:26:00.001-06:00

Tis the season to go shopping, fa la la la la la la la...

How are y'all coming on your Christmas shopping? I am done! Totally dunzo! And mostly everything is all wrapped up. Now, I am super behind on the decorating, but that's another post for another day.

If you still have some shopping to do, you should check out Rue La La.

If you aren't familiar with Rue, it is a flash sale (2 days for each vendor typically) with really great products and great prices too. Right now they have Tom Ford, Judith Ripka, Brooks Brothers, Waterford Linens, Destination Resorts-Snowmass & Aspen, Park Hyatt Chicago, Little Rue (kids vendors), Honora, Tommy Hilfiger Home, etc.
It's a membership only thing, but I'm a member so I can invite you. Another great aspect is that they have free shipping for most of the month-so great prices, plus no tax, plus free shipping means a little more cash left in your wallet at the end of the season!

Another great thing is that I just got notified that if you sign up with my invitation, you get a $10 credit! So, if you aren't already a member, I will gladly send you an invite.

You can either give me your e-mail address in your comments, or send me an e-mail (located over on the right under "About me" and I will send you the invite.

Also, I have received a discount code for Vera Bradley (good Saturday and Sunday). Enter FFVB20 at Checkout online and you receive 20% off (excludes sale and rolling luggage). If you want to shop in a store, you can shoot me an e-mail or leave your contact info in comments and I will send you the e-mail so you can print out the coupon.
This isn't a paid advert, I just LOVE to pass along a deal! Happy Shopping.

How do you measure up?

2011-12-01T15:56:00.000-06:00

So that title could mean anything, right? But what I really want to address is a burning question that has come up here at the F&C law firm today...

While we were ~~hard at work representing our clients~~ out Christmas shopping this afternoon, Jennifer and I popped into a Williams Sonoma. I stopped and was admiring their measuring cups. They've changed the shape. They are more ladle like now, but I digress.

Anyway, we noticed that they have a Odd Shape Set now. Both of cups and spoons...

They measure out odd sizes, but ones that you frequently use. The cups measure 2/3 cup, 3/4 cup and 1 1/2 cups. Which then caused Jennifer to say, How nice, I always have to get out the 1/2 cup and the 1/4 cup when a recipe calls for 3/4 cup. Which then left me saying, you what? (and imagine a puzzled look on my face). So she's like, well how do you do it, then? To which I say, I use the 1/4 cup 3 times!

So this is about par for the course for us. We often have very different ways to go about things. So this left us with the burning question of What do most people do?

So readers, tell us. We are dying to know...

Do you:

(1) The Kara Method: 1/4 cup x 3,
(2) The Jennifer Method: 1/4 cup + 1/2 cup, or
(3) The only other way I could imagine: Measure a cup and then take a 1/4 out?

Any particular reason why you do what you do?

My reason was only one dirty thing to wash.
Jennifer's was only 2 things to measure instead of 3

Let me hear from you on this burning question!

Back with the living and a party!

2011-11-27T15:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I got back to the land of the living. I finally felt better. Not 100% by any stretch, but better. I was glad about this for a variety of reasons, but one important reason was that I had a party to attend. Little Joshua was turning 4 (or will be on December 8th) and he was having a Cars birthday party while he had some family in for Thanksgiving.

Here's the invitation...

I found the idea on Pinterest for a race with the car's characters. Jennifer made cars for all the kids out of cardboard boxes. She did an excellent job! Here's the Birthday Boy in Lightening McQueen...

His cousin Anson in Mader...

Little Harper in her birthday cupcake outfit...

The party set up...

Cake...

Cupcakes...

The goody bags and Piston cups for the race winners...

Some of the food...

There were several races held...

One with the parents even...

After all that racing, it was time for some cake!

But first, you've got to blow out the candles...

Then the birthday boy has to lick the icing off of the cars...

Present time!

Finally, Joshua got a pillow pet (the finally would be his thoughts on the matter)...

Pinata time...

I'm glad I was able to make it to one of my favorite little guy's party! I came home and watched the Tech game (ugh...).

Today, I have managed to start on Christmas decorations. I have the mantle done, the nativity out and a few other things. I haven't even started on my four trees yet. Anyone want to come help?

Happy Thanksgiving?

2011-11-25T18:27:00.000-06:00

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was okay. I'm not going to give it any higher marks than just okay. Here's a wrap up of my Thanksgiving (note: it is going to sound an awful lot like complaining, but really, it's just the facts folks).

On Monday, I was trying to get things wrapped up so I could go home on Wednesday. My mom's birthday is mid-December, so I wanted to get her birthday present and bring it home, so I wouldn't have to ship it. I went over to Neiman's, got her present, and then on the way home, BAM! I got sick. I thought it was allergies, and maybe it is, but I have felt like total crap-ola ever since.

Tuesday was kind of a blur. I had morning class and night class. I lost my voice while lecturing in each. I still felt bad, so I prepared nothing for my trip home.

Wednesday morning I got up, did some packing and was about to wrap my Mom's present when I got a phone call that my grandfather was on the way to the hospital via ambulance because they thought he was having a stroke. So I finished packing up and loaded the car and headed out of town. I stopped at my parents' house to drop off Lola and then I went to the hospital. They think it was a TMA (mini stroke). It affected his speech, but that is slowly getting better. They kept him overnight, and now he has to follow-up with a neurologist because it is apparently a precursor to more strokes.

Wednesday night we had a fish fry at my other grandmother's house. Thankfully I remember to bring the slaw that I made (because I forgot several other things in the rush).

Thursday morning was an early morning because Mom and I had lots of cooking to do. The funniest part was that I got confused about the turkey and prepared the bottom of the turkey as if it was the turkey breast! I only discovered when it was about to go in the oven and had to re-do the whole thing. I'm not sure if it was a blonde moment or the mucinex I am living on right now.

Also on Thursday's list of misadventures is this little heart warming story: I hadn't even gotten up from the dinner table yet. My Dad came in and said, "You need to go home and take care of your dog. She needs a bath and I've locked her outside." Side note: I didn't even know my Dad had left my grandmother's and gone home, so I was confused for a minute here. It seems that sweet little princess Lola had drug one side of her head and beard through Milly's dog poop. Yes, she was sh*t-faced and I do not mean drunk! I cannot imagine what possessed her, but I had to put her in their garage sink and proceeded to do what Lola would testify to (if she could speak English) as "waterboarding".

After all that, I never even felt like eating a piece of pie yesterday! I did bring a piece of the pie my mom had made per my request home and have eaten a bite of it so far.

I came home last night. I didn't do any shopping today, but I did go to Target and get 2 fresh turkeys. They needed to be frozen or cooked by tomorrow, so they were major cheap...$3.25 each for 13.5 lb turkeys. I put one in the freezer and cooked the other one this afternoon. Yes, my second turkey in 2 days. I didn't get any leftovers off the 21 lb one yesterday, so I plan to make paninis and a turkey-noodle casserole that my grandma makes.

I felt so poorly all weekend that I didn't snap one dang picture. Here's a iphone picture of Turkey #2:

Oh, and at least I managed to purchase the one item on my Black Friday shopping list. Yes, I cheated a bit. I had gone to Sam's Club on Monday and they handed me a flyer which contained some of the Friday sales. In it was a TV that I have been wanting for my bedroom for about $175 cheaper than the normal price. Thursday morning while the turkey was baking and I was waiting to do everything else, I got online and found that I could purchase it on their website and they had free shipping! No 5 a.m. lines required!

So here I am on Friday night. Still feeling puny. Having a ton of stuff to do and no energy or desire to do it. I do not even have the slightest desire to put up any of my Christmas stuff, which if you know me, just might be a sign of the Apocalypse.

Hoping you had a great Thanksgiving though!

2011-11-23T21:13:00.002-06:00

Source: brocantehome.net via Kara on Pinterest

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all have a day filled with family and/or friends, good food, and loads of things to be thankful for!

Tis the season...

2011-11-21T10:36:00.001-06:00

Tis the season...for good movies! There is always a serious movie drought at various portions of the year and then we hit November and BAM!, tons of great movies. Some are already out and some are about to come out, but I need to hit up the theatre ASAP!

Here's my list:

(1) The Ides of March~ I know. This has been out for weeks now. I was suppose to see it early October with a friend, but I was so busy, I cancelled. I still haven't seen it. I really am looking forward to finally seeing this political drama.

(2) J. Edgar~ Also already released. I'm very curious about this Clint Eastwood directed film.

(3) The Descendants~ Another George Clooney flick on my list. Hey, double the George is Christmas come early! It came out on Friday and I'm itching to see it.

(4) The Muppets~ The Muppets and I go way back. Even though I have the deathly fear of (FROGS), this has never impacted my love of Kermit and his friends. It comes out on Wednesday, just in time for Thanksgiving weekend.

(5) New Year's Eve~ This is another Garry Marshall film with lots of big name actors. It comes out on December 9th.

(6) The Iron Lady~ Meryl Streep as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

(7) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo~ They say this is going to be darker than the book. Is that even possible? I'm still not sold on Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, but I'm looking forward to seeing it. It releases on December 21st.

(8) In the Land of Blood and Honey~ This was written and directed by Angelina Jolie and it takes place during the Bosnian War. I've been reading about it since before production started, and I'm very curious because I did some research and writing project on this region for my Master's. It opens December 23rd.

What about you guys? Any must see movies on your list?

A Litany of Things...

2011-11-17T17:42:00.000-06:00

Here I am again. I haven't blogged in forever. I don't know what my problem is. Strike that. I do know what my problem is. I've been busy and tired. I know that it's a common problem with everyone this time of year. Here's what I've been up to...

A couple of weekends ago, I went to see my cousin Gracie perform in Guys & Dolls. It was a great show and she did a super job. Those kids have been practicing every hour they weren't in school for months now. The photography was pretty hard in there because it was dark and everyone was always dancing and moving, but here are a few shots I got of our Gracie girl...

The day after I attended Guys & Dolls, Jennifer and I decided to do a speedy version of a Canton trip. We were there by 8:30 a.m. and we were leaving my 11:30 a.m. Since it was Sunday and the last market day before Thanksgiving, we lucked into some Thanksgiving decor steals and deals.

I got these cute Pilgrims (Jennifer got them too, and managed to buy the last set of adorable Indians to match. I'll have to be on the lookout next year.).

I have them in a planter by the front door.

I've been looking for turkeys to complete my mantel Thanksgiving decor for a couple of years and got these at a great price.

They are a pretty bronze color and so sparkly.

I did finally mange to get all my Halloween stuff put away and get the Thanksgiving stuff out. Another new addition to the decorations is this door hanging on my front door (Hobby Lobby). It really shows up from the street, especially at night when the front porch light is on.

Here is the mantle. I'm not in love with it, but it's as good as it is going to get for this year.

I've also managed to get some planting done in the front and back yard. I am only planting some containers for fall/winter. I probably wouldn't even mess with it because I'm so dang tired of watering everything after the hot/dry summer we've had, but I just love Violas and can't resist planting some.

These are the planters out front. I forgot to take photos of the back.

I've also been busy with non-fun stuff. I have been in court for what seems like all day every day for the past several weeks (mostly all on the same juvenile case for which I have been the attorney for the past 4 years). The said juvenile case has resulted in me doing all sorts of things that they never teach (or warn) you about in law school like:

(1) lecturing a teenager

(2) buying supplies (toiletries, etc) for a kid because their parent is too crappy to do it (this isn't the first time either)

(3) lecturing a teenager some more

(4) telling a mom all the ways that she is a crappy mother

(5) getting an escort to my car by the sheriff's deputies (for my protection)

(6) getting whisked out the back of a courtroom by the bailiff so that I could take a "secret" way out of the courthouse so as to miss the same people that resulted in my escort the week before

(7) trying to find a place for a pregnant teen who already has a one year old to live

I have also been busy with school between testing, grading papers, preparing for a classroom evaluation, and wrapping up the semester. Today, one of my high school/college (dual credit) students had located a copy of an old exam. At least I think that's what he was up to. Why he brought it to class and was showing his friends there, I don't know? Well yes I do. He's 17, so he thinks I'm stupid. Too stupid to catch on to what they are doing. But the girl who exclaimed "How did you get the test?!" to which he replied, "Sssshhhhhhh!!!!!!" kind of gave it away. So I wasn't planning to, but now, I'm totally re-writing that test. I plan to keep the first 5 questions or so exactly the same and then I'm going blow their little 17 year old minds! I kind of like being evil like that sometimes.

So that's where I've been and what I've been doing. Sorry for the absence. I think that all of this activity, paired with the time change, has just zapped me of all blogging energy at night. I'll try to be better!

Fall TV Update

2011-11-08T08:43:00.002-06:00

I wrote about my tv watching plans in September. I stated that I had no intentions to pick up any new shows, but the best laid plans...

I started watching two new shows. Both air on Sunday nights. They are Homeland on Showtime & Pan Am on ABC.

Homeland is so good, but it scares the bejesus out of me on a weekly basis. Here is a description of the show "Centers on Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody, who returns home eight years after going missing in Iraq, and Carrie Anderson, a driven (and possibly unstable) CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting an attack on America."

Pan Am is not heavy drama tv, but fun and light. I've found it to be very enjoyable.

I have dumped a few shows without really intending to. I just have not been into The Amazing Race this season. I have also dumped Desperate Housewives. I had several episodes of DH on my DVR & realized that I just didn't care to watch them.

Other shows I'm loving this season are:
Parenthood (NBC)--great show. Love the cast, plus I get to still see Lorelai Gilmore on a weekly basis!
Boardwalk Empire (HBO) even though it has been really gruesome the past couple of weeks

Blue Bloods (CBS)--probably in large part because I love Tom Selleck. Have I ever told you that when I attended at taping on "The View" back in 2005, he was the guest?!?

The Good Wife (CBS)--it's been really good this season, plus I love Julianna Marguiles & Chris Noth (the other actors are great too).

I'm also looking forward to some "new" shows starting up in the next couple of months. At the end of November, "The Closer" will pick back up on TNT for 6 episodes. Of course, I cannot hardly stand the wait until January when "Downton Abbey" starts back. PBS has a countdown clock going... 61 days, 11 hours 20 minutes until the premier! Finally, I think that ABC's "Good Christian Belles" might be good (Formerly known as "Good Christian Bitches" until it made too many people pissy).

What about you guys? What are you loving on TV this Fall?

Lola at play

2011-11-03T18:23:00.000-05:00

Last week, my Mom was in town. We were shopping at Target and walking down the hair product aisle. I stopped and said, "I need some new hair-bands. Lord knows what has happened to all of mine. They are probably piled in my nightstand drawer or something.". To which my Mom replied, "Or Lola happened to them."

You see, even though Lola has nearly every dog toy (and many human toys) manufactured, one of her favorite things to play with are my hair rubber bands. This evening I was laying on my bed reading news on the ipad, when she found one on the floor and started playing her little heart out. I decided to film her on the ipad. Keep in mind she had been doing this for a good 5 minutes before I started recording her. She likes to fling it around and then try to find it. Sometimes she likes to grip it with her teeth and stretch it out with her paws. She's such a silly, but cute little pup!

Christmas Cards

2011-11-02T18:58:00.001-05:00

Christmas cards start stressing me out in August. No kidding. Well, maybe I'm kidding. It might actually start stressing me out in July! Luckily, I have a friend who is the same way, so we keep each other company with our Christmas Card drama.

My card style has evolved over the years. I've done various things, but I always like to include photos. No matter what I've done in the past, it has always ended up costing way more than I intended at the beginning of the process.

This year, I jumped on my co-crazy christmas card friend's bandwagon and decided to purchase a card template on Etsy and photoshop it to include my message and photos. Problem was, I never found a card that just screamed my name, and I will not accept anything less than something that screams "me".

In September, a new vendor opened a store on Etsy and had really cute designs. Here are some of the cute cards that Casala Studio offers:

She even has some adorable Birth Announcements...

Anyway, I though that these designs were super cute, and while some "shouted" at me, none of them "screamed" at me. So on Saturday night, I contacted her and asked if she could modify one of the cards so that it had "me" written all over it. She said that she could and not only that, but she customized the whole card for me so that I didn't even have to mess with photoshop! She has very reasonable prices and is very quick.

Note: This is in no way a paid advertisement, I was just really impresses with her quality, flexibility, creativity, price, speed and patience!

I got her all the information on Sunday and she got the completed images back to me on Sunday night. On Monday, I uploaded the cards and placed an order with a professional photo lab I had signed up with, and would you believe that the cards will be in my hands tomorrow!

Of course, I'm not going to share my cards with you right now (I will in December). You'll have to believe me for now that they are so cute and another bonus...the whole process combined, they will be the least expensive cards I've purchased in forever!

Another Birthday!

2011-11-01T09:13:00.001-05:00

Today is my cousin's birthday. Gracie is 12 today! We celebrated on Sunday night. Per the birthday girl's request, we had chicken fried steak and fried okra.

Her Dad cooked the dinner for us...

Rosie dog helped...

This was maybe the best fried okra I've ever had...

My uncle also made her a chocolate 6 layer birthday cake with homemade caramel in between all the layers...

Silly Maddie...

Sweet Rosie...

It's the Lola Pumpkin

2011-10-31T06:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween!

Hope you get zero Tricks and lots of Treats!

This year, Lola is a Jack O'Lantern...

and by "this year" I mean for the 60 seconds I made her wear it so that I could get some photos...

She wants no part of anything on her head, but of course, I had to get the one photo with the stem on...

I only subject her to about a minute of the torture and then just take some Fall Pictures by the pumpkins...

Which is why I always buy her costumes at 90% off-after Halloween sale-at Target!

Playing Catch-up

2011-10-29T11:42:00.000-05:00

I've been AWOL for another week, so this is a random catch-up post... a week's long stream on consciousness post, so beware!

(1) I didn't just buy myself the Louis for my birthday. I bought a wonderful new cookbook that I really need to crack open and try...

I also got myself an iPad...

This was the year of birthday indulgences. And hey, I'm just doing my part to stimulate the economy!
(2) The weather is cooler and I'm loving it! If only I could live in sweaters and boots year round!

(3) It's almost November. Eek! That means the Christmas panic has set in here. Christmas cards are midway through the ordering process. I've completed some Christmas shopping already, but Mom is coming in two weeks for our marathon shop-fest.

(4) I'm so in love with Pinterest that it's not even funny.

(5) I got a new wireless router this week. Mine was really crapped out and since installing it, I'm loving my faster electronic life again.

(6) I'm thinking that I'm really going to miss seeing Oprah's favorite things this year. How am I suppose to know what to put on my Christmas list?

(7) The Texas Rangers have killed me this week. All the late nights, the elation, the frustration...I mean we were a freaking strike away from winning the whole shebang TWICE and ended up losing it last night.

Thus is the plight of a Rangers fan. It's easy to love a team that always wins, but it takes heart to love the underdogs. Kinda like being a Red Raider too (who deserve a shout out for the WIN against OU last Saturday...more of a birthday gift than any girl could have hoped for!).

Before I wrap up my random thoughts on baseball, I feel the need to share that prefer the short pants and tall socks on the players to the long pants. Last week, Jennifer and Kyle looked at me like I had two heads when I made this proclamation, but I'm sticking to my guns. I think old school must just be how I roll...

Have a great weekend!

My Birthday Treat

2011-10-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday. My 35th birthday. I'm not really at all pleased about this. I decided to do something BIG for my birthday, or rather make a BIG purchase for my birthday. It seemed like a better alternative to jumping off the roof which was the other option (I kid, I kid...kinda).
So, I asked for money for my birthday and added some of my own money and got myself a grand gift.

They tried to cheat me out of a box, but I got one...

Meet my new friend Louis...

I've been going back and forth for months over which bag I wanted, but I finally

settled on the "Delightful GM"...

Fall at the Arboretum

2011-10-21T18:13:00.001-05:00

I went to the arboretum yesterday with my friends Lisa, Jennifer and Abby. Not that there is one photo of any of us to prove it!

There are 50,000 pumpkins, gourds & squash at the Dallas Arboretum. I doubt there is a variety of any of those that wasn't represented...

White Pumpkins...

Big Fat Pumpkins...

Rows of pumpkins...

A pumpkin village...

A river and lake...

Technically, it was called Swan Gourd Lake...

The swans...

The various pumpkin huts represented different places from Cinderella.

The white pumpkin one was the ballroom...

This was inside the ballroom...the glass slipper...

The flower garden...

A flower...

I was a little disappointed that more mums weren't in bloom, but here were some that were...

This was one side of a little bridge. There were misters watering ferns on the other side, but the mist was drifting under the bridge and made this side look very Halloween spooky...

After the arboretum, we went to Northpark and had lunch at Neimans. Then I bought my birthday present at the mall (stay tuned for details). After the mall, Abby & I went by a house in Dallas that always has the most fabulous holiday decorations. Here are some of their Halloween decorations...

Then we made a stop by Gigi's and got some cupcakes!

We hit up a shopping center a little closer to my house for some Vera Bradley and Anthropologie shopping before eating dinner at Uncle Julio's while watching the World Series.

Woo-Hoo for the Texas Rangers pulling it out in the 9th inning for a perfect ending to a perfect Fall day!

A Texas Tech Weekend

2011-10-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

I went to Lubbock last weekend. I got there a little after sunset on Friday. Here's the photo I took of the West Texas sunset (taken through my bug splattered windshield)...

I went to Lubbock to see my friend Ann and to go to the Tech game on Saturday. Friday night after I arrived, we went to Cagle's Steaks for dinner. I was so ready to chow down, I didn't even take a photo!

Saturday evening we tailgated with Ann's family and then went to the game. It was wonderful weather. Here is some of the pregame action...

The Masked Rider...

Because it was Homecoming, there were some ex-cheerleaders.

See that lady in the front holding flowers?

She is 90 years old and moments before this photo was taken, she amazed us all when she DID THE SPLITS!

We saw her in the restroom at half time and told her she was awesome. She said she was mad because some of the guys had tried to help her up and she "didn't need any help!".

Raider Red...

The band with flags for all the Big 12 teams (yes, there are only 10)

The Goin' Band from Raiderland...

The Majorettes (Lisa this is for you)...

Our Coach, Tommy Tubberville.

I'd say I have a Love/Hate relationship with him, only it's missing the love...

The players coming out of the tunnel...

Here we go! The Masked Rider is starting his ride...

The Captains coming out for the coin toss...

A little play action...

Guns Up! We scored!

Half time...

How can you not love a mascot that wears sequins?

Scored again!

When things were all good...

Tech was winning and so were the Texas Rangers!

Then things went south and we lost. I don't want to talk about it.

It was a fun weekend in Lubbock. I got to eat at all my favorite places (Cagle's, Abuelo's & Spanky's), and shop at some of my favorite shops. I'm so sad Lubbock is so darn far away. I wish I could go more often, but the 6 hours each way is a trek!

Thanks for letting me come visit Ann!

The Celebration Begins

2011-10-13T17:34:00.001-05:00

I've been a bad blogger again. Originally, I was a bad blogger because it seriously looked like I was starting another jury trial on Tuesday. I know that when I was a DA I did back to back jury trials all the time and that was no big deal. I don't know if it's being on the other side that makes that more stressful or that I'm 10 years older now, but just the idea of it wore me smooth out! Anyway, we came really close. The jury was about to be called up to the courtroom and then the DA, bless his heart, offered us a deal that we had been trying for for months and months. So we plead the case to a misdemeanor instead of a felony and were done.

Then I think I was just tired from the anticipation and all the work I had done over the weekend. So I'm just no getting around to blogging about last weekends fun.

On Friday night, I went with my uncle Mark and his wife to dinner. Mark's birthday was this past Monday and mine is next week, so we did a joint celebration dinner (that of course he paid for...duh!). They took me to Ocean Prime, which I had never been to before. It was beyond yummy. I couldn't decide between steak or scallops, and then the waitress told me I could order steak and add some scallops which was perfect!

(bad iphone pic...it was kinda dark)

We ate SO MUCH. Seriously, I wasn't hungry again until almost 24 hours later! Here's what we had:

Appetizers

Point Judith Calamari , Sweet Chili, Candied Cashews

Colossal Shrimp Sauté, Tabasco Cream Sauce

Salad

Ocean Prime House Salad, Romaine, Spinach, Granny Smith

Apples, Goat Cheese, Walnuts, Sherry Mustard Vinaigrette

My Main Course

7 oz Petite Filet Mignon with a side of Sea Scallops

Sides

Jalapeno Au Gratin

Glazed Carrots, Brown Sugar Butter

Chophouse Corn

Dessert

Creme Brulee

10 Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Yes, there were left overs. I had part of my filet, part of Mark's filet and over half of Kati's Crab Crusted Tilapia for dinner on Saturday night along with our sides and carrot cake!

On Sunday, I went back to their house because my Grandparents were coming to celebrate Mark's Birthday. We went for another great lunch at Pappadeaux and then had my grandmother's homemade Angel Food Cake.

It is one of the best cakes on earth.

If you've only ever had Angel Food that you buy at a store, or that comes from a mix, then I cannot convey to you in words how wonderful this cake is. Just imagine this: I'm certain that they serve this in heaven.

Here were some of the other pics that I got on Sunday...

The newest family member...

Maddie adopted this sweet cat from the SPCA

Meet Charlie...

He's a boy who isn't afraid to wear pink!

P.S. If you don't live in Dallas, there may be an Ocean Prime near you. I highly recommend it, and this isn't a paid advertisement! They have locations in Houston, Detroit, Phoenix, Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta, Columbus and Indianapolis.

Well that's it from me this week, because I'M HEADED TO LUBBOCK tomorrow! I know most people don't get this excited about Lubbock, but I do! I'm ready for a weekend of Football, Friends and some of my favorite food (of course). Wreck 'em Tech!

Halloween Decorations 2011

2011-10-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

I decorated for Halloween back on October 1st, but due to the hub-bub around here, I am just now getting to post about it. Everything is pretty much the same as always with a few tweaks here and there.

My Halloween Tree...

The Haunted Houses...

The Kitchen Table...

The spider web bowl filled with pumpkins...

on top of the ice box...

The dining room table...

Random stuff here and there...

The mantle is a similar to last year, but there have been some changes and additions...

I'll post outdoor decorations later because I haven't taken pictures and it has been raining since Saturday night! Rain! It's been so long since we've seen any!

One Last Time

2011-10-08T10:53:00.000-05:00

Today's a big football game. No, not UT & OU's Red River Rivalry at the state fair. Texas A&M has traveled to Lubbock for one last match-up.

If you will recall, I went to College Station for last year's Tech game...

Sadly, we lost. But I got to go with some of my Aggie friends. Side note here: As a result of A&M not having a law school, the bulk of my best friends are Aggies!

Anyway, my friend Abby & I had discussed going to Lubbock for the game. But between kids, dogs, school, jobs, and life, we just didn't get it planned. Problem is, we didn't realize that A&M was defecting to the SEC after this year and this would be our last match-up (at least for a while)! Now we are so super sad to not be in the Hub City for the big game tonight.

We (Lola & I) are all ready for it. We will be participating in the Black Out at the Jones in spirit from the living room tonight, and are really hoping that we give the Aggies a sendoff that they will remember (but not want to)!

My Busy Week

2011-10-06T16:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted one dang fun thing this week. Here's what's been going on:

(1) On Tuesday, I had an "open plea". What this means is that my client wanted to plead guilty, but we couldn't reach a plea agreement with the state. This was a felony case, and my client was currently on parole and had been convicted many many times in the past, so the DA only wanted to offer time in prison. As you can imagine, my client didn't like that idea too much, so we went open to the judge, which meant that the judge could sentence him to probation, or anywhere within the punishment range which was 180 days to 2 years in prison.

So we did a mini-trial on Tuesday and I got my guy 18 months probation! Seriously, that's less time than many misdemeanors get. Woot! Score one for our firm!

(2) On Tuesday night, I found out that Adele cancelled her US tour so no birthday concert for me. Boo!

(3) On Wednesday morning, we went to Dallas to start a trial. It is a 2+ year old case. Driving While Intoxicated with some unusual issues...accident, witness accused my client of fleeing (he didn't), & complaining witness holding my client at gunpoint until the cops arrived. Oh yeah, and one other tiny little detail...the complaining witnesses have filed a civil suit seeking half a million from my client. So there was a bit of stress involved, but we finished it up today and we got a Not Guilty from the jury! Woo-Hoo! Score another one for our firm!

So that's been my week. Busy busy busy. I am exhausted, but still have a busy day tomorrow. I'm always amazed how much a trial zaps me. It zaps my mind. It zaps my body. I have trouble sleeping because I'm crafting a closing argument in my mind. Seriously, right now my body HURTS! Crazy that doing something that in no way involves manual labor can make you hurt. Must be all the stress and tension from a couple of days.

So I'm leaving you with this (thanks to Sam!)... check out the definition of your name on Urban Dictionary. It's a total crack up! There were a couple of definitions that I'm not going to reprint, but here's one:

Kara: perfection. flawless and beautiful, wonderful and kind, funny and lovable, and completely undeniable

(if only!!!)

Fair

2011-10-01T14:49:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was opening day of the State Fair of Texas. My uncle takes his family on opening day (something about his preference for clean/fresh grease), and they invited me to go along this year.

Are you ready for a picture overload? The good news is that there are so many photos, you'll feel like you've been by the end of this post!

Considering that on Thursday, it was 101' here in Texas, yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day for the fair...

First stop: The Butterfly Exhibit...

Mark's company always has a corporate tent on opening day, so we stopped in for freebies and I convinced the girls they weren't too old to get their faces painted...

Gracie (almost 12 yrs)...

Maddie (10 yrs)...

Then it was time to get to business. There were games to play, rides to ride and food to eat!

Roasted Corn is seriously one of my favorites, but don't forget the butter, Lawry's Season Salt, Black Pepper and some Cayenne Pepper!

We had a winner (after I had to do some lawyer-like negotiations with the Carny...long story)...

The Crazy Mouse, the girls' favorite ride...

The Girls vs. Their Dad...

We convinced the girls to leave the Midway for a while because we needed to eat some more food, see the cars and do some of the other stuff...

Jack's Frys, another one of my favs...

A Fletcher's Corny Dog. What a trip to the fair is really all about...

HOWDY FOLKS! It's Big Tex!

After looking at the cars, and me giving Maddie a lecture on the history of Texas as we passed by the Hall of State, without going inside to see exhibit :-( , we ate some more. Chicken and Cinnamon Rolls this time...

The girls kept telling us, "I'm not hungry", and we kept telling them, "That's not the point!". Bless their hearts, they don't get that you just keep shoveling it in while at the fair!

Gracie wanted to take our photo. We were worse for the wear.

Mark and Kati are fair shoppers. Who knew? So while they went through the shopping building, I took the girls to see the animals (my favorite part!).

The girls and Boris (he's at 1196 lbs this year!)...

The Sicilian Donkeys at the petting zoo get me every year. How cute are they?

Maddie made a zebra friend...

The pigs are always so cute, I cannot stand it.

This Mama Kangaroo has a baby in her pouch. The baby peeked out a couple of days ago, but didn't give us a sneak peek.

Then it was time for Chocolate Nutty Ice Cream Bars...

We bought some Dutch brooms...

Maddie HAD to try the Fried Bubblegum...

It was one of the grossest things I've ever tasted!

I don't think I've ever stayed at the fair past sunset.

I enjoyed seeing everything all lit up!

We left the fair very tired, with sore feet and full bellies, which means a successful day at the Fair!

Bathroom Decor

2011-09-29T18:09:00.000-05:00

I'm still working on my bathroom. This is what I had intended to blog about earlier this week before my schedule went all haywire.

When I went to Canton Trade Days last month, I bought something to sit on the ledge by my bathtub. I actually bought it at a store, not at the trade days. Then I lived with it for almost a month and decided that it wasn't right. I had to return within 30 days of the purchase, so I had to run to Canton last weekend. I was super sad because the Trade Days weren't until this weekend, but what could I do.

Here is a photo I took in store...

The little statue guy was what I was returning. The lantern was what I purchased instead.

Here it is in my bathroom (it still needs more candles)...

I think that the very large scale is just what that spot needed to balance out a larger window and my huge tub.

I also bought a new basket (at Hobby Lobby). I think that the gray tones look good with my newly painted bathroom vanity.

I'm hoping to get the holes drilled for the cabinet hardware this weekend. Fingers crossed.

I'm Here!

2011-09-29T10:06:00.000-05:00

I'm here! Call off the search party. I'm still alive!

Gosh, it's been over a week since I blogged. I intended to blog yesterday, but woke up to a pup with an eye infection. I called our vet in Wichita Falls and asked if this was something he could call in a prescription for or if he needed to see her, and turns out he needed to see her. We headed out after I was done with class and then...

271 miles...

3/4 a tank of gas...

and 6 hours later,

...we were back home with medicine to make my poor pup feel better.

I know that people thing I'm insane for hauling a dog all that way to see a vet, when there is a vet on every corner here in the metroplex, but there are compelling reasons for doing so. Most of all, there is not a vet here who cares as much about Lola as our vet in Wichita Falls does. He saw her at her worst, and he saved her from the brink of death. Now, he wants to keep her from becoming insulin dependant, and that is my top priority too.

I knew that steroids would be the likely treatment for her. I've had vets here locally try to convince me that topical steroids wouldn't hurt her. Our vet believes that while that is normally true, with Lola, they could be the thing that pulls that hair-trigger with her pancreas and creates insulin dependency. So I choose to inconvenience myself for a day so that I get the very best treatment for my Lola!

She has two eye drops that she has to take so that means a total of 16 drops of medicine in her eyes each day. I'm so thankful to report that she takes them like a champ! She was not a fan of the warm compress however.

Thankfully, her eye is already better!

Stay tuned, I'll blog about something fun again really soon...

I can't help myself...

2011-09-21T18:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Jennifer and I set out to try and locate some 2012 calendars. We've had basically the same kind of calendar since 2005. They have varied in size & colors (based on what we could find), but have basically been the same. No, we don't use electronic calendars. We're the Flintstones around here, okay?

Anyway, I just cannot bring myself to use a different type of calendar. I cannot stand change. I am the girl that has had the same checking account since 1988, in case you needed more proof of my dislike of change. All of those problems were solved when I finally discovered that Barnes & Noble is carrying our calendars now (yea!), but not before we just happened to be over by Nordstrom Rack and decided to take a calendar-search detour and "pop" in.

We both have some great finds. I'm really starting to love the Nordstrom Rack, and it honestly seems like everything I like is $25 or less. I think that being able to identify the brands you like, is key to having success there. Here are some of my finds...

I got this little brown "sweater". I have 3 in this brand, but they are longer in length & believe it or not, I've somehow managed to never buy a brown one.

I got this little top. Again, I have several things in this same brand. It's a little weird...kind of cape-ish, but it has a defined border along the torso, so it doesn't look as odd on as it does on the hanger.

Final article of clothing that I purchased...

A CAPE!

I've been wanting one, but every single one I've tried on made me feel kind of claustrophobic. This one didn't and the price was right. I kinda think this is a fad type addition to the wardrobe, so I like not having to invest much money on it.

It's a pretty blue with black outline...

Then, I got some tennis shoes. I've been on the hunt for over a year. It's quite a saga, really, but I settled on these Asics and I think they are going to be good.

Yes, having a little dash of pink is always on the must have list!

Y'all have to see one of the items Jennifer bought...

Itty bitty Ugg Mary Janes!

They are beyond cute, and can you believe they are TOO BIG for Baby Harper!

Since Harper wasn't here, we tried to make Lola model them.

She was uncooperative at best.

Oh, and a couple of weeks ago (funny enough in yet another search for calendars), I got these cute shoes at Marshalls.

I've had a hard time locating brown flats, so I thought these nude color ones would work.

I like the little peep toe too...

Someone wanted their picture taken...

Okay, Lola...

look cute for the camera!

Emmy Fashion

2011-09-20T16:38:00.001-05:00

I know, I'm a day late and a dollar short. I promised a fashion wrap-up of the Emmy's for yesterday...so this is my day late. My dollar short is that I was disappointed about the fashion...wah, wah, waah.

I found some great dresses to hate...

Love her, hate her dress...

yuck

she is 13!

I like this one okay...

pretty...

like all the black sparkly...

pretty...

I like this, but I think Christina Hendricks looks so pretty in anything...

Sadly, no dresses I LOVE!

TV Time!

2011-09-18T16:37:00.000-05:00

A couple of shows returned last week, but this week is definitely premier week for most of my favorite shows. Of course, this tv week kicks off tonight with the Emmy Awards. You know how I love an award show! Tonight I'm pulling for big wins for two of my favorite shows...Boardwalk Empire and Downton Abbey.

I'm also pulling for some fabulous fashions (stay tuned, you know a recap of the fashion is coming).

But back to the TV Shows. I think that for the first time this year, I'm not going to add one single new show. Maybe I will, but I don't plan to. I watch enough as it is, and I'm still mad over the cancellation of serveral shows I liked including Brothers & Sisters (though thankfully SoapNet is starting re-runs on Monday).

Here's what is on my DVR line-up...

Mondays: House (Fox), Gossip Girl (CW) & Castle (ABC)

Tuesdays: NCIS (CBS), Parenthood (NBC) & 90210 (CW)

Wednesdays: Modern Family (ABC)

Thursdays: The Office (NBC), Grey's Anatomy (ABC) & Private Practice (ABC)

Fridays: Blue Bloods (CBS)

Sundays: 60 Minutes (CBS), The Amazing Race (CBS), The Good Wife (CBS) & Desperate Housewives (ABC).

Of course, I will also continue with my BRAVO shows, and will also pick up One Tree Hill on CW when it starts back. I also didn't include the "Premium Channel" shows I watch like Weeds (Showtime) & Boardwalk Empire (HBO). If I lived in England, I would be able to watch the start of the second season of Downton Abbey tonight on ITV, but instead I have to wait until it premiers on PBS on January 8th. I'm totally bummed about it and I'm trying desperately to find someplace where I can watch it online before then.

What about y'all? Are you adding any new shows to your DVR schedule? What premiers are you most looking forward to?

I Love Curly Girl Designs

2011-09-15T18:24:00.000-05:00

Have y'all seen Curly Girl Designs? I love them. I see them at little gift shops here and there. Today, I saw a new "CGD saying" that I hadn't seen before. It joined the list of ones that speak to me...

Here are some of the others that I love (with my narration on why I love them)...

I kinda think this is true, but definitely not without a cape (pink) and tiara.

I have the saying on a magnet that isn't attached to the "Happy Birthday" theme, but this was a napkin. What a great thing to say to a person on their birthday!

I substitute pedicure in my head when I see this. I have the magnet and I love this saying & picture. Picture me as the curly haired girl and Lola as the white dog.

Wholeheartedly agree!

Watch out for a girl with knowledge, determination and cute pair of shoes!

So true!

Makes me cry every time I see this.

Yes! Exactly!

I swear I even love Bahama Bucks snowcones better than everyone's because they put little umbrellas in your snowcone!

I think I heard something today that would make a great Curly Girl too. An attorney came up to me at the courthouse and said "Happy Hour tomorrow afternoon at 5:30. Be there. Don't invite any nutballs." It's kind of cracked me up all day!

Happy Thursday!

Happenings

2011-09-14T20:59:00.000-05:00

I've had a pretty boring week. Work-Got someone out of jail. School-Gave a couple of lectures on Federalism, one on the Executive Branch & gave a couple of exams. Exciting stuff, I tell you. Our firm got randomly audited by the Texas Workforce Commission. No many how many times they tell you it's only a random audit, you still panic a ~~lot~~ little.

The real highlight of my week is today's hair appointment. I needed it. BAD. My hair was just plain awful people. As much as I love the end result, I hate the 3 hour appointment. If only they could figure out how I could nap during the process...

I had decided that I wanted to change up my color a little. I was a little bored. I found this pic on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago and pinned it...

Source: google.com via Kara on Pinterest

So today, when my hair lady said, "What do you want?", instead of hemming and hawing, I busted out the pinterest app on my phone and showed her this photo. Another reason to love pinterest! Anyway, here was the result.

I don't think it's exactly Kate Hudson color, but I do love that she warmed it up. For some reason, she didn't want to put low-lights in as dark as Kate's. She kept saying "But your natural color IS dark blonde". I think that translates to, But then you won't have to come as often and pay me as much.

The only other thing worth noting this week is the fricking Missoni debacle at Target. I was at Target at 8:15 and found nada. I went to another one and found these shoes...

I actually located 2 size 10's. One the heel was put on askew and had glue coming out. The other had a flaw on the suede right on the top. The stupid things were still $40 and appear to be crapola, so I skipped them. Did any of y'all have luck with the Missoni for Tar-jay?

10 years later

2011-09-11T06:00:00.018-05:00

Can you believe that 9/11 was 10 years ago today? I'm sure you remember right where you were when you heard the horrible news.

I had taken the BAR in July and was waiting until November on the results. I was substitute teaching in Nocona during that time. I had taken over for a teacher on maternity leave and was teaching 6th, 7th & 8th grade Math and P.E. Lord help those kids that had me teaching them Math for 6 weeks, but that's another story for another day, and just note that I pray on a regular basis that I didn't impair their education too much.

Anyway, I had no 1st period class, but I had to be there anyway. So I would get to school at 8:00 and watch The Today Show. I was watching and they cut from the normally time-delayed program to live feed and reported a plane had struck the first tower. Of course, a few minutes later, I watched live on TV as the next plan struck the second tower. I'll never forget how I couldn't believe what my eyes had seen. I still really can't.

I went down the hall to tell the office staff that I thought they should turn on the tv because it appeared something major was happening. I remember being more open with my 7th & 8th graders about what was going on, even letting them see some of the coverage. Of course we watched the coverage grow to include the fall of the towers, the Pentagon and Flight 93. I remember that I was totally freaking out on the inside, but trying to keep it together for the kids.

Here are some of my personal World Trade Center photos that I wanted to share...

On my first trip to NYC in December 1995, I got to go up one of the towers to the public viewing place. You can see the shadow of both towers and the other tower there to the left...

The towers were the twin giants in this iconic backdrop of lower Manhattan...

These were from my 1997 trip...

My next trip was in February 2005, and these were taken at Ground Zero...

This scuplture that had survived and been moved to Battery Park...

and again, that iconic backdrop...

It will never look the same to me. Each time I see it, I think about those two towers that are missing.

I remember how united this country was on 9/12/01. The day after the attacks, everyone was American. There wasn't party division. There wasn't bickering. Osama Bin Laden wanted to destroy America, but he was unable to do that by hijacking four plans and killing thousands of Americans. There was a consensus in this country that we were strong and we would overcome.

Now it seems that 10 years later, this country is being destroyed. It's not being destroyed by the likes of OBL or other terror groups, but fighting amongst ourselves. We need to remember that back in 2011, we prayed for our leaders, not just the leaders that we personally approved of, or that we personally would vote for, but all of our leaders. We prayed for them to succesfully lead this country out of that dark hour. I believe that the same must be done today. We need a consensus to lead us out of this economic crisis. If we don't, then we will have assisted OBL in his pursuit to destroy this great country. I hope that this 10th Anniversary will serve as a reminder to a bickering country that United We Stand...

So on this 10th Anniversary of one of our nation's darkest days, I pray this for our country:
"May our faith be fearless, our hope be stubborn and our ambitions for our nation audacious and unbounded." ~Cory Booker

Texas Tech Wreath (the finished product)

2011-09-10T05:00:00.002-05:00

I've spent my spare time this week putting the finishing touches on my Tech wreath. Hey, it's football season and time's a tickin'. No time to waste!

Here's the finished product...

I sent a finsihed photo text to a couple of people and they said, "cute pennant, where did you find it".

Answer: I made it. Here's how...

I bought all of the stuff that's on the pennant from Hobby Lobby. If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen the tweet "Glitter or Sequins. The ultimate crafting decision." This is what that was referencing!

The pennant itself is was just that flimsy foam stuff that you see in kid's crafts where they glue stuff onto it.

I bought some foam board and cut it just a bit smaller than the foam pennant and then glued it to the back for support. Then I glued silver sequins around the edge. Later I decided to glue smaller red sequins to the inside of the silver ones.

The letters were just the plain unfinished wooden letters. I painted them red, and then glued sequins to the letters. I was going to glitter them, but then decided to do sequins. I think that was a very good decision. Then of course, I just glued the letters to the pennant.

On the back of the pennant (really on the foam board), I glued 2 tabs from coke cans, which I then connected floral wire to and then used that to attach it to the wreath.

Finally, I bought this glittery polka dot ribbon at Michaels that I used to put a bow on top.

That was it! Easy-peasy!

And I learned that I like sequining. I find it kind of relaxing. So if you need anything sparkled, give me a holler!

Part one of making the wreath can be found Here (in case you missed it last week)

Jesus Saves, I Spend...

2011-09-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

I sent Lisa a copy of this pic from pinterst last night. I told her I was ordering it for her as part of her Christmas gift...

Source: shopnastygal.com via Malina on Pinterest

She said she thought I needed to find a 3rd job, or Jennifer needed to hurry up and have another baby, so that I would be busier. She thought I had too much time on my hands to make fun of her. But seriously, me telling her she needed this shirt is a case of pot and kettle if I've ever seen one.

So in the spirit of "I Spend", here's my deal of the day...

Garden Ridge has their outdoor cushions 50% off!

I have needed new ones ALL year. Last year I attempted to "wait out" Garden Ridge and get them on a deal, but they never did. I mean NEVER.

The red accent pillows appear to not match in the photos, but in person they do. Weird.

Yes, my outdoor rug is totally ragged out. I purchased a new one of those at Sam's last week 50% off too!

Obviously, I'll throw out the old one that's peeking out underneath. This was just a quick demo.

I thought about getting a subdued paisley print, or a "normal" stripe, but finally I decided to heck with it. I was going to make my "outdoor room" fun, fun, fun!

Let there be light...

2011-09-07T16:34:00.002-05:00

The chandelier is finally hanging in my bathroom. The electricians were here from 7-11 this morning. They were very nice and very afraid of Lola. She's such a mess. She's just plain mean to people when they are here working on the house.

I'm pretty pleased with it, even if it did end up costing more than I thought...

Again, please ignore my mess.

Tuesdays are my crazy days, and then with the electrician coming at 7 this morning, well it's a mess.

I had it put on a dimmer, so in theory, I could enjoy a nice soak in the tub with the lights down low.

If you know me well, then you know that's never going to happen. I don't think I've ever spent more than 4 minutes in a tub in my life. I get a little antsy. But I always like having the option!

So what I'm going to call Phase 4 of the Bathroom Remodel is completed.

Again, I'm still unsure how many phases there are.

What's Going On

2011-09-06T15:42:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed the day off yesterday, how about y'all? Sadly, I had a 7 a.m. class to teach this morning, so I felt like my holiday weekend came to a rude and abrupt ending! I have to teach tonight at 7 too. Tuesdays are my long day.

I have something to celebrate today, though...Jennifer is back to work! After a 3 month absence, I am no longer playing the role of 2 attorneys. Woo-hoo!

Here's what's been going on the past week or so around here...

I got a new back fence. It borders our Homeowners Association, so they paid for it. That was great, but my house backs up to a very busy road. After witnessing the immediate aftermath of a little white dog being hit by a Prius the previous week, I wasn't taking any chances so I shipped Lola off to Nocona for a couple of days.

Unfortunately, on Saturday, Lola was feeling pretty puny. I was getting worried about my pup, but she rallied and was a kibble-eating & playing fetch machine the rest of the weekend.

I'm so excited that the weather has cooled off. No more relentless heat! Just to show you how hot it has been, I went outside this morning and thought "Gosh it's COLD! I wonder how cold it is?". I looked and it was 60 degrees. It's been so hot that I thought 60 was COLD! Totally pathetic.

I am happy to report that I am suppose to get my chandelier hung tomorrow. It's a different (and more expensive) electrician, so I'm hoping they show. I'm hoping they show for two reasons: (1) I want the dang thing hung finally & (2) He's coming at 7 a.m. so I'm having to get up early for it.

This weekend I made a quick trip to Nordstrom. I returned and repurchased 3 items that I had purchased on the Anniversary sale because they were now cheaper. I saved $28! If you need some new items for Fall, check them out. They are having a great sale and having free shipping online.

I spent the weekend working on Phase 3 of my Bathroom remodel. Phase 1 was the mirror project. Phase 2 was repainting the walls and Phase 3 was painting the cabinets. No, I'm don't how many phases there are to this project. I'll post better photos later, but just know this...it took THREE coats of paint! Oh, and don't pay attention to all my junk scattered about. I don't really clean-up after myself on the mornings I'm running out the door at 6:30.

Finally, I'm totally excited because I just ordered tickets for me and my friend Suzanna to go see...

YEA!

Game Day!

2011-09-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

College Football is back! Can I get a "woo-hoo!"? We're not televised this week, but I'm enjoying watching the other games. How about those Baylor Bears? Dang!

I did several things to get prepared for this exciting weekend...

First, a trip to Central Market yesterday afternoon to buy lots of yumminess to make it through all the games on this holiday weekend.

Second, making a Red Raider Wreath for my door...

I got this inspiration from Pinterest...

I went to Canton on Thursday and bought some of the "ingredients" to make my own version.

I bought a roll of this metallic deco fabric, or as I like to call it "that damn fabric"...

I really do hate working with this stuff, but I think it looks nice.

As you can see I bought this odd kind of wreath there too. It's made for using on this type of project. I decided on a silver wreath to add a little pizazz, or as Lisa pointed out in the store, "When you are going gaudy, you might as well just go really gaudy!".

I had lots of help as you can see...

Then she just gave up any pretense of even helping and moved to the couch...

The "finished" product. I really do intend to add some other stuff to it. I just don't know what I want yet. I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and found a couple of possibilities, but I need to keep looking a bit more before I'm willing to commit. So for now, this is the finished product...

Ready for game day...

Go Red Raiders! Wreck 'Em!

I wanna go...

2011-09-01T05:00:00.003-05:00

I thought about calling this post Musical Thursday, but instead, I decided on "I wanna go...", because there are lots of concerts that I find myself saying, "Oh, I wanna go!".

Adele's North American tour has been rescheduled. And she just so happens to be making her way to my area of the world on the day before my birthday! I think I wanna go! I LOVE Adele. If you don't know Adele, check her out and buy her CD's. Her voice is incredible. I'm pretty sure I'd have goosebumps the entire concert.

And yes, if you haven't figured it out, my ipod looks like a pchysophrenic person the music downloaded music.

Of course, I wanna go see Foo Fighters in concert. I haven't see them in concert since 02' or 03' (can't remember which). It was at this craptastic venue at the Fair Grounds. There weren't any seats, everyone just stood around and crowded the stage. I remember that they didn't take the stage until like 10:30 that night and I felt like a zombie in court the next morning.

But alas, the Foo haven't schedule one single Texas date on the current tour. They released some additional dates this summer and I thought surely they would add Texas, but they didn't. I still am holding out hope. They are one of my favorite bands!

The Daily Show - Foo Fighters - Bridge Burning
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show - Foo Fighters - Arlandria
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Soundgarden has added Dallas to their Reunion Tour. I really want to see them. I mean they disbanded in 1997, and I didn't expect a full reunion. My friend Daryl went to see them in LA already and said it was awesome. He's going to see them in San Fran too. Trouble is, they are coming to Dallas on October 26th, which is a Wednesday. I have to get up super early on Thursday mornings, so I'm afraid attending this concert would be bad for me.

Tomorrow night, Steve Wariner is going to be at one of the Indian Casinos that isn't too far away. I'd really like to go see him. We used to go see him all the time back in the late 1980's early 1990's. My Dad really liked him and we would go every time he came through Wichita Falls. I wonder how much old stuff he would play, because I don't know a single thing he's done in the past 20 years???

and finally, I love to go see Willie again, and he's going to be in Grandbury (not too far away), and also at a Casino close by in November. Fact: A Willie Nelson concert was the first concert I ever attended. I was probably 5...maybe 4, and Whiskey River was my favorite song. I named my Pekingese Willie...he should have been named Lucifer instead, but that's another story for another day. Anyway, I LOVED Willie...and Donna Summer. I led a sheltered Disney kind of life, as you can tell :)

What about you all? Any concerts in your future, or ones you are wanting to attend? I'm sure I won't make it to any of these, but I like to think about it.

All I want...

2011-08-31T09:43:00.001-05:00

All I want, is to get this pretty chandelier that I purchased a month ago hung in my bathroom.

That's all I want.

Doesn't seem too complicated, does it?

Well here's the story...

I called an electrical company, All American Electrical, to be precise. Don't mind giving them "a plug" for their fabulous work (read sarcastically). Originally, I was calling to find out how much it would cost to have electricity run to the ceiling and get this installed. You see, I don't currently have a fixture in the ceiling where this needs to go. I called them because they had been sent to me on another issue by my Home Warranty company. Before they came out for that job, they called me and talked me through fixing the problem myself, which saved me money. It was a simple fix and they knew it, so they helped me out rather than taking my money. I operate my business like that too, so that's why I called them for this job.

Their price was good, so I scheduled them for the "next Wednesday". I ordered the chandelier ASAP, so that it would be in and ready to go. On the next Monday, I got a call from them and was told that they couldn't come on Wednesday, blah, blah, blah. So they scheduled me for last Tuesday (which was a couple of weeks after the original Wednesday). They told me to leave all day open and they would call closer to the date to narrow down a window or time.

On Monday, I hadn't heard from them, so I called. I was told they would be there between 8:30 & 10:30 on Tuesday, but that I was first on the schedule. At 10:30, they still hadn't showed so I called. Then I was told that I was on the schedule for Thursday. Well, I couldn't do it on Thursday. My schedule was booked...over-booked in fact partly because I had been forced to leave my Tuesday completely clear. I spoke with a manager who apologized and couldn't believe this had happened. He scheduled me for today. I was assured that they'd be here at 8:30 sharp, so I could be able to leave by 11:30 to get to my noon class.

So at 9:00 this morning I have the following phone conversation:

"Hi, we're calling to let you know we are leaving Garland in a few minutes to head your way and hang your chandelier."

Um, well, that means you are at least 30 minutes away.

"Probably"

You know you have to be done by 11:30?

"No"

You do know that you aren't just HANGING a chandelier, but that you need to run electricity before you hang it, right?

"No"

Can you do that in less than 2 hours?

"Probably not"

Well, I guess you don't need to waste your time coming then, do you?

"If they'd have told me, we would have come first thing"

End Scene...

So I've tried calling the manager on his cell phone that he gave me and at the office. He won't call back. I really want him to call back so that I can tell him to FORGET IT!

I'm trying to schedule someone else now.

All I really want is a pretty chandelier in my bathroom.

A little glamour in my life.

I guess glamour comes at a frustrating cost?

Fashion Report

2011-08-30T10:46:00.000-05:00

A couple of things have caught my eye recently in the Fashion World, so I wanted to share them with you. Did you know there is a Banana Republic Mad Men Collection ? I love most all of the collection, but here were some of my favorites...

On another and cheaper note, Tarjay is coming out with another designer series by Missoni. It will premier September 13th and is slated to stay in the stores until October 22nd, or until they sell out. Prices will be from $2.99 to $599.99, but Target promises most pieces will be under $40. Here are some of the pieces I love...

I really like this sweater...

LOVE both of these pairs of shoes!

I bet these shoes sell like hotcakes, so I plan to be there pretty early on the 13th to try and nab a pair!

I've honestly toyed with not posting this until after the opening on September 13th, but then I told myself not to be stupid or stingy. I mean, its not like we would all be shopping at the same Target! If you want an advanced preview, you can check out the Target Missoni Full Lookbook.