Legally Blonde's Proceedings

I just had the strangest dream... I dreamed that I accidentally stumbled upon the fact that I was about an hour away from some special train that would take me to the Mall of America in about 30 minutes. However, the problem was that when I stumbled upon this magical find, I was wearing pajamas. I had to decide whether to go to the mall in my pj's or go back home and change. The fear being that if I went back home, I would forget how to get back to the train... Odd because (1) it is way the heck longer than an hour and a half up to the Mall of America in Minnesota, (2) I've never been to MofA, (3) why the heck was I wondering around in my pajamas? I think it has all been caused because I'm heading out today. I'm heading South and making a pit stop to visit "one of my kids" for a yelling (I thought one of the benefits of having no kids was not having to yell at teens for doing bad things!). Then I'm meeting my friends Abby & Brian for fun in Austin...

Here's a post devoted to Jeans/Genes. First for the Jeans. I was asked about Jeans and good places to buy them. Let me begin by saying that I will spend money on shoes, purses and make-up. Jeans is just not an area where I like to spend loads of money. I have a real knack for falling and taking out the knee of jeans and well, if I spent a ton on a pair, I know it would be about 5 minutes before I bit it and took out that expensive fabric in the process. I have friends that really like their expensive designer jeans. I like to find something cheap at Gap (Outlet preferably). I like the Gap Bootcut and I like their Curvy jeans. They come in three lengths of Ankle, Regular and Tall. Sadly I'm a little between Regular and Tall. I usually pay between $30-50 for a pair, but I picked up a pair on sale for like $16 a month ago. I know Gap Jeans don't fit everyone, so here are some others that I have put my friends into on shopping trips... Ann Taylor-good fit and we have ...

1. I feel puny. My stomach isn't right (though I don't think I have that horrible virus) and I have the energy of, well, what has less energy than a sloth? Luckily today has allowed me to be lazy. Today has. Lola hasn't. If I owned a BB gun, there would be temptation to shoot a squirrel and some neighborhood kids today. They've kept her pretty stirred. 2. Girl Scout Cookies will be the death of me, or rather any less calorie eating plans. Luckily I didn't like an experimental box (the Thank You Berry Much cookies) and already gave it to my too skinny law partner. 3. I got a book in the mail from an Amazon used seller. It was described as "Very Good" but came in and looked like it had been run over by a car. 4. I have fun plans for this weekend and it cannot get here soon enough! 5. I'm obsessed with Curling. It is the only sport I've really watched much of on the Olympics. I thought maybe I could become a Curler, but then I heard tha...

Well, it has been a while since I posted an update on the life and times of Lola & Kara. We've been pretty busy not being busy, if that makes any sense! Last Tuesday evening, Lola got to do pretty much as she pleased. You see Wednesday was her birthday and I have to teach on Wednesday nights, so she got to do whatever she wanted. This included watching the Dog Show... Then she got to lay on my bed while we finished watching the dog show. She loves to lay on my bed at night while I watch T.V. or read. In fact, I said, "Do you want to go watch tv on my bed?" She jumped off the couch, ran to my bedroom door, hit the door and then howled because I wasn't coming fast enough! Wednesday was her birthday. We celebrate with presents! (Since she is on the strictest of diets, no treats are allowed...just didn't want you to think I was a bad Mom!) The rest of the week was uneventful. By Saturday, I had decided that Lola had a skin irritation and a secondary infection. So...

I think I'm in trouble here... You see, I constantly dream of traveling. When I was little, I was no different. When I was at my Mom's parent's house, I would sit and look at travel books my uncle had brought back from overseas trips. I also spent countless hours talking to my great-grandparents about their world travels. You name the place, my great-grandparents had been there. I loved talking with my Dad's Mom about her trips to Washington D.C., Gettysburg, Natchez, etc. Today, the only thing tethering me here in McKinney is my job, lack of travel funds and my beloved Lola. All those things aside, my mind constantly wonders to all the places I want to visit. Here's the trouble. Two of the million magazines I subscribe to are travel magazines. Here are the current covers on both... Well you can imagine what these would do to the girl who already has a travel daydreaming problem! I've compiled a couple of lists. To make the list, I cannot have traveled there b...

I don't like babies. There. I said it. Well, let me revise this comment. I don't like babies until they are about 6 months old...then, hand 'em over to me, 'cause I think they are awfully cute at this point. My close friends know my opinion about babies. Many of my friends' babies, I haven't held until they hit the 6 month mark, because they didn't force them on me. The thing that often keeps me away from visiting people at the hospital when they have babies is that they force the baby holding onto you. I'm never sure how to say, Look, I don't want to hold your breakable looking baby . Sorry, I just don't. I also don't think fresh babies are very cute. My friend Lisa has a checklist she must perform before forwarding any baby photo e-mails to me. Is the baby cleaned up (no afterbirth nonsense)? Is the baby cute (if it ain't cute, don't forward)? These came about because, as you can guess, she sent me an unclean batch of photos, wh...

Today has been quite a Tuesday. First and foremost, it is Fat Tuesday, so Happy Mardi Gras to you!!! Laissez les bon temps rouler!!!! I actually made a dozen fleur de lis cookies the other day when I made all the V-day cookies. I froze them and intended to thaw them out and decorate them for today. I forgot until about an hour ago. Oh well! Another big thing going on today here in Texas is that early voting began for the March primaries, although the actual voting day is March 2nd. Normally this isn't very exciting, but in Collin County, we have tons of local races that are highly contested. Most of the races have both very good people running, but also some that aren't so qualified or well suited to the job, so it is really important. This is one reason that I've been going to parties and working for candidates that I believe in. Because so many people are running, every intersection and vacant lot is literally littered with campaign signs... Sadly, this isn't a vacant...

Since today was President's Day and I am generally unmotivated to work on any given day, I did a little work and lots more shopping. I went around and hit up the sales... Macy's, Belk, Charming Charlie, DSW and the Outlet Mall. I got several really good deals. You know the kind where you get a shirt for less than $6 and therefore, it almost becomes like disposable clothing? Wear it once and you get your money's worth. I also got a really cute necklace at Charming Charlie. Here is a pic of it, but note, the pic looks really orange and it is actually a pertty coral with pinkish tones. I was really being drawn to coral today... I got these shoes at DSW for $11.99. I'm not 100% sure that I needed them, but I'm about 50% sure AND they were $11.99 afterall! The absolute Best Deal of the Day also involved a little heart break on my part. Do you remember way back last year when I got those adorable Cole Haan lepoard print heels at Neimans on sale. They had Nike Air technol...

A couple of different things are celebrating their 25th year. First, Dairy Queen is currently celebrating 25 years of the Blizzard. Part of the celebration is a great deal... a hamburger, fries, drink and a blizzard for just $5! Jennifer and I took advantage of the deal and celebrated the Blizzard's Birthday on Friday. The other quarter century celebration is regarding We Are the World . It's been 25 years since the original was made. Just before the opening ceremonies at the Olympics, they played the new We Are The World video. I watched. I wasn't so impressed. I thought the original was way better. If you didn't catch it, check it out... What did y'all think of it? Am I'm being an old curmudgeon? Do I have a chip on my shoulder that they let Little Wayne preform just days before going to prison? Maybe I dislike it because all of the solo singers couldn't do their solos in the big room like they did in '85 because every one is such a diva (or ...

Here is a recap of our "Snow Day" and my weekend of un-excitment: First, the snow continued to fall on Thursday night well after I went to bed. At the time I went to bed, ALL of the schools in Collin county had been cancelled for the day, but of course, the Courthouse wasn't even showing a delay. I set my alarm to get up early and check the County's website on my phone to see if there was a delay. Sure enough, at 6:15, I discovered there was a delayed open of 10 a.m. I went back to bed for more "snow day" sleep. Then at 8:15 I hear my phone start buzzing. It is Jennifer and she wants to know if I'm asleep because she is on her way to my house. She decided to forgo the snow day because Joshua's daycare was having an a.m. V-day party. It was also at this point that I learned the County had delayed opening until noon. UGH! That won't confuse my clients or anything! I drag my butt out of bed and let Lola out to see this out back... and this is what t...

Happy Valentine's Day a little early. I was going to post more photos about our "snow day" today, but despite my love for snow, today has left me in an all around foul mood. So I think I am going to take a little more time to reflect on the day, count to 10,000, however you want to term the distance I want to put between me and today before I write about it! All that being said, I do think I have some great snow pics to share (not all of Lola!). I've been a bit of a Valentine's Day scrooge this year. I didn't get my V-day tree up. I really was more lazy than scrooge like. By the time I got around to thinking about putting it up, it was last weekend and I decided to just skip it. I did get some decorations up though. Here is a tour... Beginning at the front door The mantle Kitchen towels In my bathroom...wait a minute...what the heck? When I put up Christmas stuff, it seems I forgot something! I really did just discover this! I'm trying to not be a total...

Last night I went to bed after hearing the forecast that called for snow today. Snow that was suppose to begin around noon and then continue throughout the day. I woke up this morning, hit snooze as usual, and then turned on the tv. I could hear some commotion on the news, so I fought to open my eyes and put on my glasses and was immediately blinded by the brightness of my room. The snooze button was no longer necessary and I ran through my normal morning rituals and made my way into the living room. At this point, I still hadn't looked outside. I turned off the alarm, let Lola out of her kennel and made my way to the back door to let out my pup. Yep, it was definitely snowing! It was the type of snow that sticks to the trees and is really pretty. It kept coming down and coming down and was really a pretty sight. Lola enjoyed watching it fall... I had to go to a hearing this afternoon, but Lola enjoyed running around the yard before I left. The snow didn't slow her down too mu...

Because I am such a nerd, I'm totally jazzed about this multi-part series premier tonight on PBS. Of course, I have class tonight, but my DVR is set to record! I love watching Professor Henry Louis Gates' shows on PBS. Up until now, they have traced famous and non-famous African Americans' Family Roots. Now, he has traced Americans' of other ethnicity roots. I love it. How I wish that he could do my family's! In other news, Texas Bloggers, you've got to check this out! This Blog has a list of 100+ Texas Blogging Gals. Check it out and add your blog to the list. You can also discover some new blogs to read (if you dare!)

As you will recall, I made these cookies a couple of weekends ago... and then proceeded to eat my weight in them. I had the same struggle that I always have with cookies when they are around...Is it better to eat them all at once and just get rid of them, or is it better to drag it out and eat them for a long time? Probably neither is the correct answer, but I usually opt for option A! The recipe has been requested and I will comply with that request in a moment. Let me first tell you that these are known near and far as "Kara's cookies". I used to make and sell them in my hometown around the holidays. I think one Christmas I made something insane like 75 dozen. All that being said, I do not mind sharing the recipe. I gladly share the recipe with people in the hopes that they will make the darn things themselves and STOP asking me to make them on each and every holiday. They are very time intensive to make, so I hadn't made them in a very long time until I mad...