Finishing My Sentence

Today,

...I am over-caffeinated.

...I am certain, yet conflicted.

...I am listening to "Sympathize" by Amos Lee on repeat.

...I am carefully plotting my home improvement project.

...I wish that I could put on stretchy pants and finish watching Pride & Prejudice that I started last night.

...I feel like a waiter in my white button-up/black skirt outfit. (Ugh, goofy)

...I am making my Christmas list. (Am I too old for this?)

...I am lovin’ on the book of Luke.

...I wish that I could have lunch with my Mom and Nana instead of the lame-o Lean Cuisine/loner lunch date I have planned.

...I told someone that “40 was the new 30” to make them feel better. (It’s not...)

...I wish it was Friday.

Just because I like it...

{image via home sweet home}

Halloweenie

It's officially Halloween week!

My month-long countdown has culminated in a successful (Twilight-ish) pumpkin, an abundance of consumed candy (ill and ashamed is how I feel about that...), and large amounts of bribery to anyone that will tell me their Halloween costume. I absolutely hate it when someone chooses a costume and then plays it off as a secret. I mean really...what is that? It's probably because I burst with excitement over a well-thought-out idea, so I just expect others to do the same. Either way, I have all but resorted to lying (little white ones!) and cheating to find out what my closest friends will be on this fateful Saturday night and I will say this - I’m not proud of my behavior. Which bring me to a very important life lesson that needs to be shared and it’s that sometimes in life you just have to do what you need to do to get your way...no matter what the cost.

So before I start sounding too much like Jon Gotti I will go ahead and apologize to those of you that have fallen victim to my attempts. Really, it’s nothing personal, merely a small and fatal flaw in my personality. The good news is that now that this has been addressed we can move on, dress up and make this a freaky deaky dutch to remember.

Robbie has planned an all-out bash for this year’s holiday and I couldn’t be more excited. I think that my love for dressing up is a deeply rooted in my arsenal of successful costume’s of my Halloween past. Of course there were the early years of the clown and the pumpkin where I was just too cute to be anything but a big round ball of orange felt with a green stem on my head. Every baby takes a turn as a pumpkin and I was no different. Because let’s face it, babies are little punkins....there’s just no way around it. My baby years were followed by the various stylings of the ladybug, the 50s girl, a black cat, Betty Rubble, and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I can’t remember now which was my standout favorite, but I do remember feeling like a million bucks in my ladybug costume, only to be told at the end of the night that I sure made a cute strawberry. Ugh, fail. There’s nothing worse than a mistaken identity on Halloween. That’s part of the fun – a perfectly executed idea that no one will miss.

One of my better years came when I was a sophomore in high school and was invited to a mandatory dress-up Halloween party of a new friend. My family had just moved and I was a newbie on the party circuit. She required that everyone come in their favorite duds and I was no exception. I knew I was going to be dropped off (no car yet! high school makes my heart hurt sometimes...) by myself so I wanted to be something that I could respect myself in if I wound by the punch bowl all alone and goofy at the end of the night. Anyway, my Mom and Sister helped me hatch the perfect outfit and in a matter of hours I was decked out in a make shift Catholic schoolgirl uniform, knee high socks, cat glasses, and headband. There I was, ready to be a star...a SUPERSTAR* that is. It was during the height of Molly Shannon’s reign on SNL and y’all, I.pulled.it.off. Hands under the armpits? Check. Sudden burst of “superstar!”? Check. It was my first taste of glory as an awkward teenager and it felt good. I think that was just the beginning of my theme party excitement, something that came in handy during the date party years of 2003-2007 - now those were the real deal.

Anyway, this year I have been on my idea A-game for Halloween and have had the pleasure of hearing about some seriously funny costumes. I can only hope that the execution is just as sweet as the idea but I guess I’ll have to wait until Saturday and judge for myself. Oh and, what’s my costume you ask? I guess you’ll just have to wait and see!

Until then, me and my dark chocolate will continue the countdown...


*I really wish I had a photo of this...it’s absurd.

Floored

You know I love a good design blog...

Recently I haven't helped but notice how much a great hardwood can transform a room. People give me a hard time for my ability to antique and I wonder...can you antique your own hardwoods? Something tells me that a hammer to the floor isn't the best idea, so I will probably try and leave it to the professionals.

Without further adieu, my favorites:


Ok - I know that this doesn't necessarily capture the hardwood element, but how cool are these stairs?!

images via home sweet home

Whirlwind.

Warning: it's going to be difficult to cram this weekend into one post, so here goes...

First of all, I will start by saying that I was hyped about this weekend. For so many reasons – utterly hyped. You see, this time last year I was homesick beyond belief after having learned that one of my closest friends had just gotten engaged and that all of my friends would be celebrating this joyous occasion on arguably one of the most fun weekends of the year in Dallas. It was this time last year that I decided once and for all to enjoy my time in New York, but that Texas was calling me home. That, my friends, happens to be TX v. ou weekend. Every year it seems like the build up for this enormous game gets more and more exciting and this year was no exception.

This weekend came complete with two separate Evite invitations for various festivities and I was more than eager to reply my “can’t wait!” sentiment onto each invite. First up, a family-friendly Cajun soiree on Friday night at the Mothershead household. Adrianne’s parents hosted each of us as we sat fireside and caught up on the happenings of our various lives. As we caught up, we realized that we are all just making it rain out there. Houston, Dallas, Austin...we just keep trucking along. Some of us have moved and come back, and yet, we still manage to meet up again - truly one of the best things about the weekend. We moved on to our second location for the night, along with every other 20-something in the state of Texas. We drove around practically begging various valet tenants to let us park in their specific lot, only to decided that it’s next-to-impossible to navigate this weekend when you mix trolley cars, high heels, college co-eds and Dallas residents – and just like that, let the weekend had begun. We made our way into a fantastic karaoke bar which just so happened to be the ultimate in people watching. I tried to convince the girls to sing “All I Have to Give” by the Backstreet Boys, only to get denied. You know, I’m still not even sure if they called my name or not? Anyway, we put Friday night to bed at the ripe hour of 4:30 am, only to set our alarm for for a 7 am wake up call (read: us still trying to live like college students). No rest for the weary, my friends. We had been invited to a joint tailgate on the fairgrounds for Saturday and had decided that it would be the perfect mix of game day and fair festivities – basically a blend of good old fashioned Texas fun. Bailey, Alyssa and I got a slow start to the day on Saturday only to leave our house just before 10 am, park, share a cab with strangers, and still manage to show up to the State Fair of Texas in time for the 11 am kickoff. Talent, pure talent. We pulled up some (borrowed) fold out chairs, munched on various tailgate grub and enjoyed the game from a flat screen in the back of a Tahoe. I know what it sounds like, and no...we were not filming an Alan Jackson video, just simply enjoying the game with other droopy-eyed spectators. After a failed ticket attempt, my roommate Megan joined us both for the tailgate and a day’s worth of Fair fun. We successfully rode the Ferris wheel, ate a week’s-worth of calories in fried goods (see the menu below) and shared the perfect Texas day together. Oh and...the Horns won (!!). So really, God’s country shone a little brighter this weekend...

Up next, the Mavs pre-season game against the Cavaliers! It seems pretty aggressive to spend a day at the fair, nap for almost two hours, freshen and then head to the American Airlines center for a basketball game, but what can I say? We’re just your average sports enthusiasts. The convenience of games are just too good to pass up. You get there and realize that you can sit mindlessly for a few hours and be entertained and over-stimulated on so many fronts. Sure, there’s the actual game but then there is also a plethora of crowd movement that just keeps things interesting. At one point we all realized that each of our eyes were burning and that the condition could have been attributed to several sources:

a. fatigue/exhaustion
b. the flashing lights at the basketball game
c. the smoke from the tailgate/fairgrounds
d. all of the above.

More than likely we were all suffering from pure exhaustion that culminated in a halftime show performed by a Frisbee-chasing collie dog wearing tiny tennis shoes. I kid you not, tears were rolling down our faces as we watched this animal handler in his flag tee run this dog ragged doing figure eight maneuvers on the court. I only wish that I had captured the essence of this talented dog, but unfortunately, this is one memory that will have to remain in my delirious arsenal of random weekend stories. Sorry, friends. We made a group decision to continue our day's worth of culinary mistakes on a late-night Whataburger dinner followed by a midnight viewing of The Proposal under a down blanket...see, we can always find a way to come full circle and return to being women. For the sake of brevity I will say that Sunday was spent going to church, taking Alaina and Alyssa’s puppy to the Dallas Farmer’s Market, choosing a perfect pumpkin (see below for my sweet loner shot!), a matinee movie and the Miley Cyrus Concert – you know, just your average day!

Please see below for an abundance of pics* from the weekend!

*massive apologies for my formatting issues, apparently blogger hates me...

Saturday: The State Fair of Texas

Menu:
4 - Fletcher's Corn Dogs
2 - orders of fried butter (so good!)
1 - fried s'more
1 - funnel cake
1 - fried pb&j

Beautiful People

"Beautiful people do not just happen. The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and those who have found their way out of depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."

~Elizabeth Kubler Ross

The highlight of my week...

The much anticipated Kings of Leon concert was this Wednesday so after months of excitement we piled into Rob's car (welcome back!), scarfed down some cheap-ish grub at El Fenix and headed to the American Airlines Center. It was a perfectly timed execution seeing that we parked, grabbed a few beers, and found our seats in perfect time for KOL to take the stage.

Our seats were great and the music was even better, we managed to stay out way past our bedtime and prove to ourselves that we still have it in us...nothing like a mid-week concert.

gotta love these Jabronies -

Jim & Pam

I am super busy today so the Kings of Leon concert update (let's be honest, it's just photos) will have to wait. Until then, get your fill of lovey goodness from this clip:

"...a lot of people told me that I was crazy to wait this long, but I think that even then I knew that I was waiting on my wife." - Jim Halpert

I mean...melt.

Muddy Trails to You

This Saturday I had the pleasure of trekking out to the 36th annual Cattle Baron’s Ball with my friends Bailey, Nathan and Mike. We were greeted on Saturday morning with the kind of weather that you always dream about but rarely see - sunny skies, crisp breeze, birds chirping, families smiling, etc. With complimentary tickets from Bailey’s office, we set out in our Southern attire for what proved to be a night of country music, bull riding and read meat.

As we arrived in the evening drizzle we noted a friendly CBB wait staff that was primped and primed for valet service, readily available beverages on a moment’s notice and ever-helpful in our attempt to eat as much as humanly possible...ohh this was going to be a good night. What started out as an evening full of cowboy festivities ended up nothing other than a hilarious, rainy mess. The four of us danced, ate (and ate, and ate) to our delight while simultaneously the bottom fell out, leaving us to sit back and marvel at the glorious combination of boots, mud and inebriation. We finally made it to the pavement after a 45-minute trek through the mud, only to receive word that the valet service was not going to attempt driving cars without 4-wheel drive. Lucky for us, Nate set out on a mission to find his truck and recover it from the muddy lake that it was now sitting in. After multiple attempts (and some help from our good friend Mike) he was out of the pasture and on to the road. Unfortunately for Mike, he then had to sit in his mud-infested state for the rest of the drive back to Dallas. One selfless maneuver, let me tell you (see below).

It was truly one of the most fun nights that I have had in a long time and we made a pact to try and make it a tradition for the four of us to put on our duds, play cowboy/cowgirl for an evening, and get a few laughs out of our system. Here’s to next year, yee haw!

Note: the woman behind us...
Tiny boot koozies!
Julianne Hough!
Our towing service...

You Guuuuuys

Happy birthday to my doppelganger!!

Here's to hoping that the big 5-2 makes you feel forever young like this guy:


Or sporty like this guy:

Just kidding. Happy, happy...love you!