Time to get inspired...

Am I right, girls? I don't know about any of you, but I have been on a rollercoaster this summer. One minute I'm floating high on a social cloud and the next minute I am getting a "no thank you" email from a potential employer.

("No thanks to YOU!" is what I really want to say...) Luckily, I refrain ;)

Anyway, the blog has officially been on the backburner because I have yet to let myself get inspired. I think the lack of day-to-day interaction with the outside world has caused me to be closed-minded to all of the love, beauty and fun that surrounds me on a daily basis. I mean, how bad can things really be? Summer is my favorite time of the year, I can call a friend on a moment's notice and I have been able to see my family any old time I want. Now that, my friends, is inspiring. So with my change in attitude (thanks to lots of encouraging emails, calls and prayers) I have decided to post a few of my recent inspirations.

(Special thanks to Kate M. and Design*Sponge for a perfect interior representation of things that I love!)

My gals over at Life Giggles never cease to entertain (or inspire!) and they pointed me in the direction of this blog, that will now be a daily staple in my online endeavors.

Zoe's Kitchen in Dallas just so happens to have the best chicken salad sandwhich that I have ever tasted (sorry Kitchen Door) and when paired with an iced tea, it can make doves cry. It's the simple pleasures, right?

While we're at it, why don't we just throw these in? This movie, this dress, this summer nailpolish, and this baby.

And of course, what could be more inspiring than wedded bliss? Congratulations to the Schmid's!

"May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." ~ Romans 15:13

Congratulations, Brother!

There's nothing like chasing a dream...

The San Francisco Giants now have a new fan.

Say Whaaaa?

So we're going to go ahead and call last week's Bachelorette episode a "wash." I just dropped the ball and didn't record it on my DVR and subsequently cut myself out of the blogging equation. The good news is that I read Lincee's explanation and feel completely in the loop. I have also set the series to record so that we will not have this problem moving forward. Also, my friend sem over at Life Giggles told me to keep my eyes on Ed who might be the sleeper in the competition so I will be on the lookout for that as well. Gooooo love!

So true to form, last night we had a little Hills finale/ MTV Movie Awards "gathering" in our casa, complete with some vino, pizza and cookies. Only the finest. We laughed about how our friends have managed to watched YEARS worth of awards shows together. We have even watched them together when we weren't living in the same city...and that, my friends, is dedication. Every year there is something that just takes our breath away and leaves us shell shocked and this year was no exception. We first thought that we were on to something when Cameron Diaz popped on the screen with her crazy pit stains and we couldn't help but feel relieved to know that stars, in fact, are just like us.

Just in case there was any confusion.

But then the show took the craziest turn that it has in years and provided us with the comic relief that was Eminem and Bruno. Now, I'm not a huge Sasha Baron Cohen advocate (I've still never seen Borat) but I am familiar with his bizarre antics and thought that his presence at at the awards were going to be just the same old, same old from him. Enter a grown man harnessed with wires, suspended over a crowd of celebrities, wearing NO underwear...say whaaaa? He then has a "mishap" and gets jumbled in his wires, forcing him to land into the crowd, specifically in Eminem's lap. What ensued was a lot of cussing, punching and sheer confusion on the part of Eminem and his friends. Everyone just sat stunned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry as to what just took place. In the aftermath, Cutie Zefron was thrown on stage with his award and handed the most uncomfortable follow-up ever. Meanwhile, Eminem stormed out clearly showing that he has no ability to take a joke and we all sat watching from our ivory tower...pure genius!

So I guess the answer is no; no I will not grow out of MTV.

Last night wasn't completely unproductive, I was able to watch the Kings of Leon performance and decide for myself that I actually really like their sound. So I downloaded their album today and have already created a Summer playlist because afterall, I can't live off of Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" all summer - we're all about productivity here at Kristen & Co.

And while I have you here, I will show you a little project that took up a better part of my weekend. The art of garage sale finds is a fun one and I have been hooked on all of the goodies that are just a $1 away. It's the most guiltless retail therapy that I've ever experienced and I absolutely LOVE it. This weekend I scored a pretty mirror tray that is just perfect for perfume, jewelry or any other odds and ends that might fill up your nighstand for just fifty cents! Speaking of nightstand, I have had two oak bedside tables that have just been waiting to be sanded and refinished. I wanted the "crackled" look, but let's face it, I hadn't the first clue as to how to go about this and people kept throwing out words like "power sander" and "hard labor" which don't really fall into my vernacular so I just benched the idea. Well not this weekend my friends! Alyssa and I got brave, scoured Lowe's for our handy items, and got started. It took me two afternoons to get everything primed, painted, and crackled, but it was well worth it. I am now on the hunt for cute knobs to complete the rustic "look," but for now they will do. I wish I had taken a before picture but unfortunately that just wasn't in the cards...so without further adieu, my new tables:

I think I'm going to take up carpentry...

Blame It On The A-a-a-a-a-al-lergies

Pollen, why do you hate me?

Upon arrival in Austin this past weekend it seems that the pollen in the air has waged a full on attack over my throat and sinuses. At first I wanted to blame it on the swine but logic tells me that I shouldn't jinx my chances, seeing as how I don't have health insurance anymore. All of this to say, I am sorry for the delay in tv-related topics and in the (adapted) words of Jamie Foxx, "blame it on the goose, gotcha feelin' loose...blame it on the a-a-allergies, blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-al-lergies."

Allergies aside, my trip has been wonderful! Barring a day's worth of rain on Saturday, the weather has been humidity-free and sunny. If that isn't an introduction to Summer then I don't know what is. As far as I'm concerned, the days of endless pooltime, snocones in place of meals, and flip flops-only attire have begun and there's no turning back. With the new season comes a whole new crop of TV shows that are fresh for watching. The first show to talk about is The Bachelorette. Jillian is all for the "best friend" this season and the jury is still out on whether she will cut the mustard. I will, however, reward Jillian with 10 style points. She not only looks the part of a young and cute bachelorette, but she managed to pull it together without consulting Charlotte Russe or Jessica McClintock.

As for the men, absolutely no style point will be awarded to this crop of gents. It is amazing how many of these guys managed to mess up the simple, suit, tie, and dress shirt formula. What was with all of the neon colors and applique ties? Yikes, bikes. With that said, it is hard for me to formally rate the guys just yet, but I will tell you that Kiptyn rose to the top as an early favorite. He seemed so fun-loving and confident that it was hard for me to find anything wrong. I also liked Dave, the guy that received the first impression rose. Sure he froze in the beginning, but I think he more than made up for it with his personality throughout the rest of the night. Also, he was one of the few that managed to change it up with the tan suit which I happen to love. As usual, I am going to need a few more episodes to get into this season but I can assure you that in due time I will be yelling at my tv screen and placing bets on future winners. Stay tuned.

Next up, IDOL! Kris Allen did it! And to all of those naysayers throughout the season, we give you a staunch "I told you so" on that one. Not only was he stunned when his name was announced but he was perfectly poised to conceed to Adam Lambert. Who, I will say, was a total gentleman when he realized that he was, in fact, NOT the winner as predicted by everyone in the media. As I watched, I couldn't help but feel like this was a final for the good and evil. Not that Adam is evil necessarily, but there he was in all of his dark and high-pitched glory duking it out against pure little clean-cut Kris. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one that thought that. Anyway, winner and loser aside, the final was great. Like most Idol epsides, I quickly passed through most of the product placement, group songs, and Seacrest banter, but I did happen to catch several things that kept me watching:

Queen Latifah - I LOVE her. Yep, I said it. She totally upstaged Lil' Rounds and we all stood watching...pure talent.
Keith Urban/Kris Allen duet - Just fun to watch.
Kiss/Adam Lambert duet - Adam finally makes sense. I'm not saying that I'll buy the cd, but someone will.
Kara dualing the bikini girl - both weird and amusing.
Kris and Adam's performance with Queen - I also happen to love Queen.
Kris Allen weeping when he saw his young wife - need I say more?

So the door to this year's Idol has been closed leaving room for So You Think You Can Dance? to smoothly jump into my life. If you don't watch it, you should. It is SO good. So this summer's line-up will be an entertaining one. Glee, The Bachelorette, SYTYCD and The Real Housewives of New Jersey are all set to keep me going, so let the games begin.

Nothingness

Mmmm, this iced tea is good.

Week 1 in Dallas down, everything feels good. It is finally sunny outside. It has been so humid the past week that I have seriously contemplated shaving my head in misery over the frizziness. Luckily today came or else I’d look like a pugdy version of Demi Moore in G.I. Jane…believe me, no one wants to see that.

I have no real concise topic here, just things that have popped up in my head recently that seemed necessary of writing down. The first of those things is The Bachelorette*. I, for one, am thrilled with Jillian. Past seasons of The Bachelorette contenders have proven to be more stimulating than that of The Bachelor so I am excited. It’s always fun to see who your friends would pick and to see who you could just do without. This brings to light a really funny conversation my friend Bailey had with her boyfriend. After watching a previous week of American Idol, her boyfriend said that he liked Kris Allen but hated that he sang out of the side of his mouth. Interestingly, that was the VERY thing that Bailey and her friends thought was so endearing about him the night before.

“Oh how cute…his mouth drags!”

Bailey and I were laughing about the double-standard we have with flaws and seemingly ficticious people. Technically celebrities are real, however, their standards are not. If we accepted only half of the things that we consider cute on “normal” guys, we would find ourselves overwhelmingly accepting. For instance, I do not have a personal interest in tattoos on guys in person, but happen to think that it ups Brody Jenner’s value ten-fold. To each his own, I guess.

Moving on.

So for the past few weeks I have gotten increasingly excited about how to reward myself once I get a job. (Let’s forget for one second that I still have a lurking credit card balance that needs to be paid off.) There is a watch that I have been eyeing for months which seems like the natural choice. But lately I have started to think of something that might have more worth. Sure a watch would look pretty but what, I ask you, could be more rewarding that all three seasons of Friday Night Lights? I know it seems like a silly purchase, but the measure of my happiness would really not be matched which leads me to believe that I have made my decision. I know what you’re thinking, solving life’s dilemma’s one dvd at a time.

Alright friends, that’s enough randomness for me! Enjoy your weekend and stay safe.


*Should I or should I not do a recap for this? I’m still undecided.

Confessions of a Workaholic

Annnnnnnnd I'm back. Here I sit on free WiFi in D-town. Man if feels good to be a gangsta ;)

Who knew that after leaving a job where I sat with countless hours of (boring) internet access that I would feel the need to be so connected? Let's just say that job hunting is nothing short of impossible with a faulty internet connection. So here I am, left to my own devices to find new and creative ways to access the world wide web. I have not graced the halls of a coffeehouse since the days of college, but now here I sit with 30 of my closest friends just typing away. I guess it's true, you don't know what you miss until it's gone.

Over the past few weeks I have tallied up a few "quirks" that I thought I would confess to you. First of all, in a weird state of unemployed confusion, I found myself checking my work email. I mean, what an admission. I have since recognized how weird that is to check my old email for extrememly pointless information, but I just couldn't help myself. It's like I was screaming for a purpose. Doesn't anyone care that I'm gone? Did the office not crash into a million pieces when I left? Luckily the office is just fine without me.

Another weird thing about my time off is that I still set an alarm. Starting with the morning that I got back, I have faithfully set my alarm every morning. Isn't that just weird? I think that part of it is habit, but I also know that my Mom doesn't like for us to sleep very late when we're home so I tried to be sensitive to that as well. Gah, what a people pleaser.

The freshest of all of my "confessions" occured this morning at the end of my interview. Just to fill you in, I have recently been interviewing for non-profit marketing positions for several organizations. Most of them have been informative with a dash of hopelessness ("No job for you.") but today's was the first of the most promising meetings. I walk in, black suit and all, sit down and interview with two women about the available position. Most of the interview went quite well and at the end I felt very good about the direction things were heading. So I stand up, grab my bag, begin the goodbye casualties, when all of the sudden she says, "Oh! I almost forgot...where do you receive your international news from?" Let me just preface this by saying that this question was not completely unrelated, seeing as how the organization deals with international affairs, but c'mon - out.of.nowhere. So there I stood, completely caught off-guard, when I blurt out, "oh...um...you know, USA Today."

What.

The question was in reference to international news and I cite USA Today? Let's not even TALK about the fact that USA Today isn't the most credible of news sources and go back to the fact that it's a national paper. In my defense, there ARE international news articles in USA Today, but really? What a weird way to end an interview. Needless to say, my confidence is shot on that one and I feel like I need to head back to the drawing board. If that isn't an embarrassing confession, then I don't know what is.

Will work 4 food?

Back in the Saddle Again

Here I am, blogging from my comfortable digs in Texas!

With the sadness of a big goodbye, comes the excitement of my new home. The kinks haven't exactly been worked out when it comes to specifics, but I'm not worried. For the first time in my life, I feel so content. Even in the midst of uncertainty, I feel so incredibly content. Who could blame me? This past week has been filled with patio dinners, good friends, poolside lounging with my girls, college baseball games, and other Texas favorites.

And with that, comes my new life! No more discussions about what I have left, but only stories from the Lone Star State. I really don't know what I'll have up my sleeve, but I can assure you that it will include a few complaints over the job hunt, stories of Mexican food binge-eating, tanning chronicles, and various other "real life" issues. I'm glad that you've all followed me back here...and now we can get back to regular programming.

And speaking of programming - Kris Allen better win American Idol. Who's with me? Oh AND, did anyone else catch the first episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey? Y'all, it's going to get crazy!