Sundays are Dee-licious

So impressed with the culinary delights coming out of this show.

And such DRAMA in the kitchen!

I'm loving my Sundays that much more lately.

Some Favorite Words

Yes, I like words
- the way they sound coming out of your mouth
the way they make you feel
the expression on their face when you sneak your fancy word into conversation -
Love it!
So of course, I have a dictionary app on my phone.
And it comes with the Word of the Day.
So here is one of my favorites:

Foofaraw

[FOO fuh raw]
~ a fuss over a trifling matter
~ excessive amount of decoration or ornamentation

Sample: Ashley, the new Bachelorette, had on too much foofaraw at last night's rose ceremony.

Somebody, PLEASE use it in a conversation.
And tell me how much fun you had.
~wink

Dear BigRedCat...

It's been 2 years.

Still surreal.

Not a day goes by that I don't think of you

that I don't miss you

that I don't love you.

I'm trying to live my life with laughter and joy

but sometimes it gets so hard.

It's those moments when the silence creeps in that are hardest to bear.

I can't handle them yet.

I don't know if I ever will.

I hate that my life has had to become one without you.

One moment, I was on the precipice to happiness.

The next, I was shoved into the bleakest state of reality.

And here I live, floundering about.

I miss your love.

The way you looked at me,

like I was special,

beautiful.

Like I was...

well,

Loved.

I'm so sorry.

So very sorry for any moment I didn't make you happy.

So very sorry when my selfishness got in the way of us.

So very sorry if I wasn't what you wanted, needed.

Just so very sorry.

I should have been better to you, for you.

I feel so impotent now.

And I'm not OK,

I'm not fine with this.

But do I have any choice in the matter?

Sometimes

I hate being "Strong"

I hate being "Happy"

It's so tiring.

I'm so tired.

I just want what I can't have.

So where does that leave me now?

Awkward moment

Omigoodness!

I feel so awkward...

You know when you say something and

even before you finish what you are saying, you think

"What am I DOING!?"

"Why am I saying this?"

"Please stop talking!!"

But of course, your mouth is slow to respond,

so you end up saying what you wished you had never said in the first place.

I was at work and this new co-worker passed by.

(Mind you, I had maybe one conversation with her previous to this)

She's a cute girl, friendly, and so she waved when she saw me.

Me, being the "cool chick" that I am, said

"Hey, Cutie!"

Loudly.

She kinda just gave the "smile".

You know, the one you give to a crazy person, hoping they will leave you alone.

And when she passed by me going back, she kept her gaze down and averted.

I felt so dumb and creepy!

Geez!

Who says this?

She will probably file a restraining order against me.

Happy Puppy-versary!

One year ago today

this little nugget came into my life.

Nov 2 2009

I am so grateful for Zane.

And even when he pees in the house

or chews on the occasional heel,

I can't help but love him.

He wriggled his way into my heart

and I can't imagine my life without him.

He has helped me through some difficult and dark times.

He has been there with his love and energy,

giving me a reason to get up each morning.

I know it's silly to feel so for a dog,

but I don't care.

I just know he has helped me heal.

So happy puppy-versary, Zane, you silly nugget.

And thank you.

Nov 2 2010

Halloween Shenanigans!

I love Halloween!!

This year, we celebrated at a tea party held in Wonderland.

Then we enjoyed spiced cider, pizza, and the original "Halloween".

There was as much laughter as there was screaming.

I love me a good scary movie!

As to the picture, the pig noses were there,

so why not?

But my favorite part of Halloween were my nuggets!

Such cuties.

They were so good in costume.

Zane was my little French man and
Leelu was a Spidergirl.

I still giggle whenever I look at these pictures...

I hope you all had a great Halloween, too!

What would you do...

...if, in going to the bathroom, you turn your head and see this?

Luckily, I didn't have a neighbor at the time of my discovery!

What do you say, if anything to the person next to you doing their business?

Or do you just ignore the person ?

Seriously, what would Emily Post or Miss Manners do?

I was so worried the next day.

I even tried to prepare a topic of conversation.

You know, just in case.

But boy was I relived to walk in and find this...

Tacky?

Yes.

Comforting?

Definitely!

Funny story?

You tell me...

I miss this...

I love cold weather...

Because I can have this:

Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider.

With EXTRA caramel.

Mmmmm....

So warm....

B-day Celebrations!

So 30 came and went.
And it was a BLAST!
I was treated to a whole weekend of celebrations.
First, there was a GNO,
which started at Kona Grill for some requisite sushi
and DEE-licious Sprinkles cupcakes.

Next stop was Sephora, to pick up my birthday gift
and then we all went to LUSH!
and were pampered with scrubs, soaps, and masks.
We made H&M our last stop,
where I skipped away with an
adorable shrug, two satin tiered tanks, a necklace and headband.
Score!
And of course, we ended the night with fro-yo and Road Karaoke.
It was such a good night.

The celebration continued the next night at the movies
where Linc, Chris and I caught "The Social Network" which I loved!
Add in a Dr. Pepper, some popcorn, and coconut M&M's, and I was golden.

On Monday, Ali, Kate, Clark, Ivan and I dined at
Pappadeaux,
my most fave of restaurants!!
Yummy!
We had frog legs, fried alligator, soft shell crab, shrimp gumbo, crab cakes, and fillet mignon.
AND we also had key lime pie, banana pudding, creme brulee, and bread pudding.
It was exquisite!
We laughed so much that night!
Which did not help our super full stomachs.
Ouch.
We ended that night with Road Karaoke, too!

It was a wonderful way to celebrate my 30 years on this planet.
Very memorable.
Especially since I will probably always have the extra 30 lbs I gained from that weekend to remind me.

Fro-Yo!!

I love fro-yo!

The whole experience:

• taking stock of the many dee-licious exotic flavors
• sampling my top 3
• deciding which flavors go best together
• deciding which of the many toppings to add to my icy treat
• then chillin' with my pals and talking gossip

Loves it!

Mmmm...

This is what you come away with

And this is what you end up

Happy snackin'!

A New Hope

Yearning by Jonas Ranum Brandt

October 4, 2010

I will have been on this Earth for 30 years

30 whole years

I'm terrified

Not because I'm getting older, mind you.

(Age, after all, is only a state of mind and my mind screams "20!!!")

I'm terrified because I have such high expectations for the big 3-0.

I look toward 30 with stars in my eyes

and I can't help myself.

I know that I will probably be in for a huge let down,

but there's something magical about that number.

To me, it means a chance for change,

maybe a new beginning,

maybe some excitement,

something unexpected.

I want so desperately for something wonderful to happen,

something amazing.

Every morning, my alarm goes off and

I awake feeling a yearning for that something.

I've grown so tired of being trapped in the

cellophane wrapped haze of the past 2yrs,

where everything I see, touch, feel is muted and dull.

I want excitement.

I want vibrancy.

I want happiness.

I want a life.

I want so, so much...

And hence my fear of 30.

LUSH!

I adore LUSH!

It has the best smelling products!

I can seriously spend hours in that store getting pampered and inhaling the lovely aromas.

My last foray into that wonderful store gave me

• Love Lettuce - lavender scented exfoliating mask for normal to oily skin.
  It has almond bits to gently remove dead skin and
  china clay to absorb the dirt off your skin.

&

• Cupcake - a chocolate scented mask to help prevent breakouts and
  it also removes excess oil.
  It has peppermint oil to stimulate and sandalwood oil to soften.
  Yum!
  
  
  as well as:

SexyPeel - a delish bar of soap!
I almost want to eat it!
This is a bar of soap that I would welcome to have my mouth washed out with!

Previously, Dark Angels had made it home with me.

It is a facial scrub that does wonders for an oily complexion, such as mine.

It has powdered charcoal and black sugar to absorb the oil and exfoliate the skin.

It also has avocado oil to soften it and rosewood oil to make it smell divine.

Careful, though!

It gets messy!

Now, one of their most luxurious items are their Bath Bombs.

It just a ball of happiness.

They can make any bath time a party for one.

Just sit and breathe in all the goodness...

Ahhhhhh....

My 2010 Grads!

Yay!!
My puppies graduated!
I was so nervous, thinking for sure they were gonna fail.
But they didn't!
I'm so proud!

They both had to show they can

• sit
• wait
• stay
• leave it
• drop it
• down
• come when called

It was a long and grueling test.
(wink, wink)
But let me tell you,
they were well rewarded with
yummy blueberries and lovely carrots.
Delicious and nutritious.

But what really made me laugh was this past Sunday at Church.
I was sitting next to this sweet, but mischievous little boy,
who held on to his little plastic water cup that was passed at Sacrament.
He started chewing on it and cracking it
and making a big racket.
His Mother, red in the face, kept whispering
"Give that to me!"
"Drop that!"
"Leave that alone!"
I quickly turned my face and buried it in my hymn book!
Although, to be honest, I don't think I fooled the red-faced Mother.
My shoulders were shaking so bad!
You see, my puppies passed their obedience school.
They both know the Drop It/Leave it command.
Hmm...
Maybe I should give that poor mother PetSmart's card?

New Treat!

Sweet and salty

Delish!

But I do feel a little bad for the neurotic Orange M&M.

Poor little dude.

But I thank him for his sacrifice.

Help!

I am in truly desperate need!!

Look at my hair!!

It is a triangle!

I have TRIANGLE hair!!

AAUGH!!!

As my curly haired sistas know,

Triangle Hair is a common mishap we must face in between hair cuts.

And now you're saying "So get a hair cut!", right?

Well, DUH! (she says with an eye roll)

But as the wonderfully talented Meg,

who just so happens to be my hairstylist as well as niece,

just gave birth to her very own ador-UH-ble nugget

who occupies all her time and attention (she says with a smile )

there really is no end to my plight.

You see, Meg is GREAT!

She knows how to make me look good.

And since she is out of commission for the next couple of weeks,

I foresee ponytails and updo's in my immediate future.

But I will keep strong

and bear this mark of shame

with my head held high.

Which will be a bit difficult,

since it is all this hair that is weighting it down...

To sleep, perchance to dream

I adore sleep.

You don't understand how much I love it:

My big bed.

My fluffy comforter.

My many pillows arranged to surround my body juuuusssst right.

Oh!

And my stuffed animal (don't judge!)

Does it get any better?

As for dreams, well, I don't remember many.

But the ones I do remember stay with me for a long time.

And it really sucks that I mostly remember my nightmares!

Gross!

But this past Saturday,

while I was in the in-between

(you know, the land between wake and sleep)

I had what had to be the most bitter sweet reverie of my life.

I don't remember many of the details,

but I was feeling sad toward the end.

I was in the bathroom,

putting my face on,

when I realized I didn't want to live with this awful feeling.

The only way to get rid of it was to suck it up and call him.

Matt.

Call him and

tell him I'm sorry,

I love him,

what a fool I've been,

to please forgive me.

I remember feeling better with my decision.

I was a woman with a plan of action.
And, seriously, how could he resist me?

Then the wake became more prominent.

The dream mist began to clear.

I remembered I couldn't call him.

I couldn't talk to him.

As I lay there, in that land,

I couldn't help but feel so lost and helpless.

So vulnerable.

I awoke with a tear-soaked pillow.

Leelu, my lil' glutton

Leelu seriously INHALES her food.

And Zane is not much better.

20 seconds after the food gets put down, it is all over.

20 SECONDS!

And to top it off,

Leelu makes this weird honking/hacking noise after she finishes.

It really is quite frightening!

Well, this past Saturday, after our puppy training session,

I meandered over to the Martha Stewart section at PetSmart,

looking for her beautiful sky blue treat jar.
It it the perfect complimentary color in my kitchen.

And it's functional, too!

Anyway, I saw that she had some food bowls, also.

I then noticed these funny looking bowls that had Grand Canyon grooves in them.

I picked them up and read the back of the package.

Those little Grand Canyon grooves actually force the pup to slow when eating,

thereby reducing the risk of chocking and bloat.

How brilliant is that!?

AND
it actually works!

As off Saturday evening, Leelu is honk-free!

Madame Stewart is Brilliant!

Now if she could only help me with Leelu's humping of Zane problem...

You wanna know what I'm craving?

This!

Chocolate covered strawberries Blizzard.

Me was sooooo bad!

Crusin' down the aisle, just me, Gnarls, and the boy.

So I'm at Fresh & Easy

shopping for sustenance.

All of a sudden,

"Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley comes on.

I'm feeling good, so after taking a furtive glance around me,

I start to wiggle my hips,

bop my head,

do a little shuffle down the condiment aisle.

Then I hear:

"Oh yeah! Get down!"

There he was, the stock boy, stocking the bread.

I tried to laugh as my face begins to flame.

I hurried the rest of the condiment aisle,

but

I kept bopping my head to let him know I wasn't embarrassed.

But I was.

Oh,

I was.