pink nostalgia

in case you thought i was perfect

I've been taken down a few pegs in the last few days, and my ego is now sufficiently in check (and maybe a little bruised).  So I thought it was fitting to make a list of a few of my flaws.

1. I have obvious chicken pox scars.  Right on my forehead.  Bull's-eye.

2. I have countless freckles.  They are not angel kisses.

3. I can't easily take blame (work excluded).  I forgot something at the grocery store - it wasn't on the list.  I left the iron on - ehh, nothing burned down.  A friend complains we haven't seen each other in forever - hey, the phone works both ways.  Dave needs to do laundry but my stuff is in there - you shouldn't have waited until the last minute.  Actually, that last one is legitimate, which brings me to #4...

4. I'm stubborn.  Leading by example, I have taught Dave how to dig his heels in, and now I don't get my way nearly as much as I did when we were dating.

5. I can't dance.  I get really terrified dancing in front of people.  All of those lessons Karen gave me during sleepovers didn't help.  [She also gave me buff lessons to try to toughen me up, circa 7th grade.]  Slow dancing and line dancing are fun if you're with people who know what they're doing.

6. I'm easily intimidated by people who are more attractive, more fit, cooler, or smarter than me.  I feel like I can't hold my own, so I bail as soon as possible.  Or I get extremely self-conscious and try to blend into the wall.

7. I'm cranky when I'm hungry, especially at dinner.  Any time I was in a bad mood at my old job, my cubemate David would say, "Man!  You need to eat something!"

8. I'm terrible with geography.  I can read a map and I can follow directions, but if you're trying to just talk me through it, you have to talk to me like I'm five.  And no matter where I am, you can spin me around and I won't be able to tell you which way is north.

9. I'm too sensitive.  If I know you, you've probably made me cry, whether you know it or not.

10. My hair is naturally a little wavy, but not enough to be cool, just enough to be frizzy.  If you ever see me when I've let it air-dry and not straightened it or curled it, then I'm either married to you or I'm your daughter.  This also means I'm vain, but this is only a list to 10, so strike that.

And that's just scratching the surface.

How about an imperfect photo to wrap it up?

Karen and me, summer 2000.

almost fell out of my chair

One of my favorite things in life is to make my step-dad George laugh really hard.  His face gets red and he silently shakes, like he's trying to hold it in.  Sometimes he squeezes his fingers against his eyes.  Let's see if I have a photo.

Ahh, yes.  This was Christmas 2011.

 

And this was last February when I gave him Subtle Butt Disposable Gas Neutralizers.  I got them at a white elephant gift exchange along with a 24 pack of toilet paper.  I had to steal them from someone and got mercilessly harassed, and we all know that I embarrass easily.  "They're for my step-dad!"  "Oh suuuuuuure!"

Cut to...a few weeks ago, a friend from work recommended this video from the youtube.  I emailed it to George.

And his reply:



Got 'im!  : )

passport: check

In exactly 12 days, I'm going to need my passport.  : ) 

My renewed passport came in the mail last week.  I started jumping up and down and maybe squealing when I opened the mail.  The trip has been on the books since February, but it finally feels official.  

I asked my mom if I could borrow her Nook for the trip, and she gave it to me instead.  : )  I also have access to her library, which includes the Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games trilogy, Stephanie Plum, lots of murder mysteries, and lots of classics.  So I'm all set.

I did, however, get a new cover for her my Nook.  I stopped in at Barnes & Noble one afternoon and found a super-cute case and then realized I didn't know which size case I needed.  So I asked the customer service guy.

me: Hi.  I was wondering if you could help me pick out a case?  My mom just gave me her Nook, and I like this one, but I don't know which Nook it is, and I haven't used it very much, and I don't know if this is the right size, so this is going to be a difficult conversation.

him: No, no!  This is going to be a great conversation!  We can figure this out!  What can you tell me about it?

me: Um, it has the slidy-thing along the bottom (as I'm motioning with my index finger), and it's in color...I'm pretty sure it has internet access...it's white...

him: Okay, great.  Is it more square or more rectangular?

me: Um, I think it's like this (making a rectangle with my hands).  And you can turn the pages with your fingers?

him: Okay!  Let's look at these.  Is it like any of these?

me: I think it's this size.  OH!  It has the little clicky things on the sides!

him: Oh, okay!  Perfect!  That's a first generation...You can't use that case.

But I found this cool silver one, so it all worked out.  : )

I'm trying to wait until Wednesday to start packing.  We'll see if I make it.  : )

meet lindsey

This is my friend Lindsey.  We've been friends for almost four years.  

April 2012.

Her husband Cal and my husband Dave are also friends.  

February 2009.

On our first double-date, we went to dinner at Gratziano's (R.I.P.), and I want to say that one or both of them ordered pizza.  Then we introduced them (figuratively) to Dave Barnes at Common Grounds.  I took about 15 photos of them trying to get just one with Cal's eyes open.  This is as good as it gets.

Pink corduroy?  What were you thinking, girrrrrl?

This is my favorite photo of Cal.  We had a crawfish boil at our house.  It went swimmingly.

July 2009.

The first time Lindsey and I hung out just the two of us, we split chicken Pad Thai and crab wontons from Pei Wei and a bottle of Funf Reisling while we watched season 3 of SATC at her house.  Then we started craft nights to get some time away from the guys.  It's true that I gave her a crash course in sewing, and she has been quoted saying to me "You're the reason I started sewing!"  

She has two Yorkies which of course remind me of my old Yorkie, so that's where I go when I need a tiny dog fix.

Cal with Chrissy, July 2009.

She got me into watching Glee and loaned me her Twilight books (and Alias DVDs - twice).  She LOVES spoilers.  When I borrowed New Moon, the second book in the Twilight series, we had this conversation:

me: I read the first chapter of New Moon.  It was in the back of the first book.  I have to keep reading!
L: Oh, okay!  So has Edward come back yet?
me: What??  What do you mean, "Has he come back?!"  He hasn't gone anywhere!  Where does he go??

She reads movie spoilers before she goes to the movie, and I have to tell her repeatedly, "DO NOT TELL ME!!"  She's very good at making you feel at home in her home, and she loves to celebrate anything, really, to make you feel special.  And now we meet for a spur-of-the-moment dinner with our husbands about once a month, usually at Chuy's or Bangkok Royale.  : )

October 2012. 

Love you, girl.

{29}

Hey ohhh,

I forgot that I never remembered to share my 29 page.  I started this a few years ago where I make one page to kind of commemorate that age.  Here is 27 and here is 28, and here is 29. 

The photo is from last summer, the weekend of Meme and Papa's 50th wedding anniversary.  I lifted the page from the amazing KP.

I'm off.  I have a date with Noah Calhoun.  : )

pasta bebe

Simple and delicious weeknight pasta that's very fresh.  It takes care of itself, and other than watching the garlic for a few minutes, you really can't mess it up.  I call it pasta bebe.  It's a thing.

Dice a sweet onion and sautee it in 4 Tbsp of butter and 4 Tbsp of olive oil.  Let it go until the onions are soft and translucent.

Chop 4 cloves of garlic.  Add them to the onions and let it go for just a few minutes.  Stay close - you don't want to burn the garlic.  Add 4 diced tomatoes, seeds and all.  Sautee everything until the tomatoes are soft (about 5 minutes). 

Add a 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes and one more turn of olive oil.  Let everything simmer together until you start the pasta.

When you start to boil the pasta, add a few splashes of heavy cream to the pan.  I absolutely did not measure, but I like it about this color (probably about a 1/2 cup).  Simmer very gently until your pasta is done.

You can top it off with some fresh Basil from the front porch, which apparently keeps growing after you quit watering it.  : )

Enjoy.

up in the air

I was still really loving my photos from my flight to Nashville last year (you can read the post here).  They'll go in the mini album for the 29 list, but I wanted to scrap them separately, too.

It was actually a really awful flying experience.  My flight was on a Friday in the early afternoon, so I took the day off of work and slept in.  I woke up feeling terrible.  Feverish, faint, and very weak.  I had to sit down and rest about every 10 minutes as I was getting ready.

I briefly thought about cancelling my trip, but I was flying to visit a doctor, so I hoped it would all work out.

When I got to the Waco airport, I risked a ticket and a tow by parking on the front row in temporary parking.  Y'all know how I hate to break the rules!  But I wasn't sure I could make it from the lot across the street.  Then the shoulder strap on my big ol' carry on bag broke, so I had to actually carry it.  And at DFW, I had to navigate my way through the monorail system which would have been a great feat for me on a regular day.

Even though I was sick, I felt very grown-up and somewhat glamorous flying by myself to a girls' weekend.  I hadn't done that since college.

When I got to Beth's, she loaded me up on a bunch of medicine.  I woke up on Saturday morning feeling fantastic.  : )  And then we had a really great weekend.

Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill. Patterned paper: October Afternoon, Hambly, Scenic Route, American Crafts, Echo Park, Sassafrass. FabRips, rubons, arrow: Studio Calico. Fabric alphas, clip: American Crafts. Stickers: October Afternoon.  Ticket: Jenni Bowlin. Twine: We R Memory Keepers. Paint: Apple Barrel. Punch: Fiskars.

This page is currently in a five-way tie for my favorite page.  I lifted it from Nina Ostermann.  Then I lifted it again when I made this page.

Oh, and when I got back to Waco, my Jeep was still in temporary parking, no ticket or anything.  ; )

this week + glitter

This week I...

made 3 friends

went on a date with my best friend

was disappointed in a friend

brought dinner to a friend

hugged a 5 year old (who sprinted to me and then just stood there.  Her mother said, "Are you just going to run up to her or are you going to hug her?")

forgot to pay the cable bill

laughed until I cried including several knee slaps

started packing for a trip next month [hello, glitter shorts!]

turned down fair tickets (even though last year was "amazing")

received two texts to the wrong number and a call from Washington D.C.

purchased my first Justin Beiber song and felt a little silly (As Long As You Love Me), but I break into a full smile when I hear it

debuted my new shoes

caught up on Flipping Out

went to bed early

was overwhelmed by gratefulness

burned a new for-the-drive-home CD: dance edition

recited the names of all six Bonds, James Bonds

picked up no less than 5 quotable quotes from the movie Pitch Perfect that still make me giggle

 

How was your week?

 

today was a dark chocolate day

Dark chocolate days are the days that you're not messing around with wussy candy.  No sugary sweetness to make you feel better.  You're settling in, getting down and bitter with real stuff.  Dark chocolate doesn't dry your tears and tell you everything is going to be okay.  Dark chocolate closes the blinds and puts Florence + The Machine on your iPod.

It's days when twelve people need something from you RIGHTNOW.  Days when you can't figure out why the software is giving you this error message.  Days when a client talks down to you like you're five.  Days when you spend two hours reconciling Schedule E and it still doesn't tie.  Days when there are no notes in the workpapers to tell you what to do.  And it's freezing cold at your desk.

Days when it should be working and it's not working.

Whenever I had a day like this at the firm, I would go to Johna's desk for chocolate.  We'd almost always have the same conversation.

me:  Johna.  Do you have any chocolate?
J:  Umm, I have this Hershey's milk chocolate.  You like that...
me:  No, I need dark chocolate.
J:  Uh-oh.

But it's all relative because it still beats digging ditches.

rr 4.3

Last weekend, my college roommates and I got together in Dallas for Roommate Reunion Year 4, Volume 3.  See Volume 1 at Beth's here + here.  Can you believe we didn't take one single photo for RR 4.2 at my house?

me: How does my hair look?
Beth: What are you going for?
me: I rolled out of bed and my hair just fell this way and naturally looks amazing.
Beth: Yep.  That's it.

- What do you mean, "The Harper Avery award is not a real thing??"  I saw it on Grey's!!

me: Can I do the least amount possible?
Beth: What do you mean?
me: I wanna just sit here.

- Oh no!  I just split my infinitive!

me: My tummy hurts.
Beth: Mine, too.
me: What do you think it was?
Beth: Uh...the raw cookie dough.
me: Hmph.

-  I'm game for smoothies, but our blender may or may not be broken. We haven't used it but maybe a couple times, mostly because we think it may or may not be broken.  Get out your instruction book and figure it out, you say? Oh, roomies. We don't have instructions.  We opened the blender as newlyweds, when all we needed was our love to make the world/blenders go round. We threw that instruction book away because our love could power any blender, face any trial....Now, we use instruction books.

Jazz hands!

seven

I am at this moment listening to Mumford & Sons "I Will Wait" on repeat and have been for as long as it takes to rack up 21 plays in a row.  It's just so romantic...I will wait, I will wait for you.  And he says it like 30 times.  Sigh.  I should probably just watch The Notebook and get over it.

Here's a page I made to mark our seven years of marriage. 

Supplies: Ledger paper: Jenni Bowlin. Patterned paper, journal cards, alpha stickers: Lily Bee. Felt alphas: Martha Stewart. Mist: Studio Calico. Stamp: Lawn Fawn. Ribbon: Making Memories. Pearls, paint, cardstock.

Here's my sketch:

I realized while I was looking for an anniversary trip photo that Dave and I didn't take an anniversary trip this year.  : (  I found this one that Lindsey took in April.  We were having dinner with her and her husband at Bangkok Royale (I think this will be its own page shortly).  I edited the photo quite a bit before I printed it, which I don't usually do, so I thought it'd be interesting to show you.  Here's the before and after.

Yowzahs.  Well, it looks better printed as a 2.25" x 2.25" on matte paper.

"I wanna go out with you!!  I wanna go out with you!!!!"  "Alright, already, we'll go out!"

"Will you dance with me?"  "Here?  You're not supposed to dance in the street."  "You're not supposed to dance in the street."

"You're a terrible dancer."  "I know."  "But I like this song."

"Say I'm a bird!  Say I'm a bird!!"  "If you're a bird, I'm a bird."

"Don't I get a say?"  "Do you want a say?"  "Uh huh.  I want blue shutters."

"We're not breaking up, are we?  We're not, right?  Tomorrow it'll be like none of this ever happened, right?"

"Why didn't you write me?!"  "I wrote you 365 letters!!  I wrote you every day for a year!!"

And those are just off the top of my head.  ; )

blog your heart

My scrapbooking friend Stephanie has posted another "blog your heart" post.  I did this last year, and I'm planning on blogging my heart whenever she blogs hers.  

My heart is very grateful for my new job.  I'm a far cry from the timid intern that I started out as.  This job has already been such a blessing.  I feel like I'm allowed to bound through the air, take things as far as I want to.  It's really encouraging me to brainstorm and stretch myself.  I didn't know I could feel so validated with so much freedom.

That said, I am really missing some of my old coworkers.  I underestimated how hard it would be to effectively give up those friendships.  It makes my heart ache, and right now, it's making me cry.

I like my new people, but I'm anxious to get to the good stuff.  I've caught myself getting frustrated when a new coworker talks about the weather or doesn't notice that I was gone one day.  I want to be able to wink across the room, get a tardy slip from Dwight (except I'm never tardy anymore - ha!), and talk in code.  I miss hearing "Faaaaaantastic" and helping people in the 11th hour.  I have one new coworker who sometimes says, "Wait, don't leave!" when I try to leave his office, and that makes me smile.

My body has been off-kilter for five days now.  I have no appetite.  Even when I'm hungry, nothing sounds good.  It's so strange that it's starting to scare me.  I don't ever not eat.

My heart is melancholic and restless.  I don't like it, but I'm not trying to get through it, either.  I feel homesick but can't put my finger on what I'm homesick for.  I'm claustrophobic in our house.  I just want to be...somewhere else.  I want to laugh so hard that I can't breathe.  I'm wanting.  I want a wall. 

whaaaaaaaat??

Preface in photos: Below is my hair from 2006 - October 2011 and again October 2011 - February 2012 (read the post here). 

This is my hair now.

(Thanks to Beth for taking the photo.)

And now onto our story.  

Last week, I met my bestie at our favorite store.  While we were there dropping off this page, one of the partners from my old firm showed up.  He. is. hilarious.  But he doesn't try to be.  He just is.  It always takes him two seconds to hear what you said and another three seconds to process what you said, so you can get in a lot of jabs before he catches them.  And this always always leads to him saying, "Whaaaaaaaat??"  And my goal is always to get Gary to say "Whaaaaaaaat??" as many times as possible.

So Y and I are standing outside of the store when Gary walks up.  He says, "Hey, Yvonne!"  Then he looks at me and says, "What...did you do to your hair."  And while he was giving me a side-hug, he smelled my hair.

And not like a sniff sniff sniff.  It was like a snnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif.

And he said, "Just making sure this was your real hair!"

Whaaaaaaaat??

an experiment in imperfection

Sigh.  SIGH.  I finished this page last weekend at RR 4.3 (more on that once Cassandra emails me the photos - ooh, leave a comment to pressure her!).   We dubbed it an experiment in imperfection.  Y'all know how I'm trying to be more laid-back, right?

[Although, I'm not really sure there's hope for me.  I was talking with a coworker in the kitchen last week and could not stand it any more that there was an empty paper towel roll on the holder.  I actually interrupted myself to replace the roll.  And I was placated further when  he took one of the paper towels and wiped up some water on the counter.]

I started this page a few months ago and set it aside because I couldn't get the chevrons to line up perfectly.  And then those pink and white stripes going in every which direction...ughhh.

But.

I decided that I was finishing it during roommate reunion no matter what.  

Then my sewing machine quit working right.

Okay, I'll just use Cassandra's machine.

Then her machine couldn't thread the bobbin.

So we got out Grandma's Kenmore from 1972.

I had to reference the owner's manual, but I made it work.  : )

[See!  This is why I'm a stubborn person!  I got it to work!!]  

When I finished, I said, "Welp, that's as good as it's going to get.  Time to move on."  And Beth said, "I can't believe you just said that.  I never thought I'd hear those words from you!"

Supplies: Patterned paper: October Afternoon, Making Memories.  Fabric alphas: American Crafts. Alpha stickers: Prima. Journal card: October Afternoon. Sticker: Crate Paper. Hearts: Studio Calico. Brad: My Mind's Eye. Flower: Webster's Pages. Buttons: Tres Jolie. Twine: Lawn Fawn. 

The peonies are from here.  The page inspiration is from here.  And since I was feeling especially reckless, I didn't even trim all of that thread.

On a related note, when my lunchmate saw me today, he said, "Wait.  Your eyes aren't red or puffy, your mascara isn't smudged...I thought you were partying all weekend?"  And I said, "I did!  Girls' weekend!  This is my version of partying!"

I should have told him about not even trimming the threads.