The 'Nilla Effect

Nilla® Wafers are the bomb.

As a child, you get your first taste of them in banana pudding. I am not a big fan of bananas, so I would use the pudding opportunity to steal more than my share of the circular goodness.

Flash forward to when my mom was trying to be frugal and purchasing the off-branded version of the ‘nilla, like “Hi-Top” Vanilla Wafers from Sack ‘N Save. Complete failure. I told her as such.

So we did a taste test. I told my mom that she could put the ‘nilla with two other different versions (like the Keebler version… don’t let those stupid midgets fool you, those vanilla wafers have a nasty aftertaste) and told her I could tell her which ones were which, blindfolded.

And, because I don’t talk trash without backing it up, that’s what I did.

From that moment on, my mom was a believer. And through high school (and occasional grocery runs in college) that is what my mom got me.

And then I forgot about them. In college they tried this whole “New and Improved” but the ‘nilla didn’t need improvement. And so I forgot about them because it just wasn’t the same

But I saw them again for the first time in years at CVS yesterday. I had to run in to obtain some womanly items (I guess I could say TMI here, but this entire blog is TMI, so you really read at your own risk) and as I’m walking to the register I see the glorious ‘Nilla wafers. A whopping $4 is pretty ridiculous for a box, but I couldn’t help myself.

Oh, and they went back to the original goodness that is the ‘nilla. Let me freakin’ tell you.

So thank you Nabisco. You momentarily sold yourself out, but you have been redeemed in my eyes. Thank you… (tear falls) Thank you.

Fire Drill

I just came to the realization I am horribly out of shape, and it could mortally wound me.

In the event of a fire at my office building downtown, it appears I would make it down 25 flights of stairs just fine. Then walking to the safe place, I may spontaneously begin twitching my legs, and if standing for long periods of time, collapse.

I didn’t get to the third element of that doomsday scenario, but I met the first two.

Piss.

Fear

There is nothing like taking a warm bath while surfing the Internet. I guess it sounds a little dangerous (think blow dryer in the tub or something) but there is no way that the laptop would have fallen in. I mean, it would have had to come to life and flipped over and in for it to land in the water.

But I digress from a point I have not even put in writing yet.

I’m feeling sorry for myself. It’s a weird feeling because I don’t think I have ever felt it before. I don’t particularly like it, and I dug my own hole, so I should just suck it up, right?

Justin is in NYC, and he hasn’t even been gone 24 hours and miss him. Pretty pathetic, no? To top it off, I just made myself chocolate icing and ate it, and I haven’t done that in YEARS!! (mmm… so good) It’s all just a bad sign! Especially the chocolate icing part.

And to top it off, I hate being at the house all by myself. Like, it sucks. Every sound I hear I think someone is breaking into the house. I can’t wait until we get a mattress for the guest bedroom so I can force someone to spend the night when Justin is off in NYC.

I’m a paranoid individual with an innate fear of being by myself and also the fear of someone possibly talking bad about me. Isn’t that horrible – that has to be the two stupidest combinations of fear ever.

I’m not scared of spiders. Depending on the snake, I’m not that frightened of them. But put me in a room by myself or have two people stand next to me and not be able to hear what they are saying, I’m petrified. Oh, and maybe getting a mosquito bite; I have an allergic reaction to those.

It’s screwed up, is what it is.

My weekend update.

Do you ever have one of those weeks where everything is sort of screwing up, it’s your fault, and you’re watching a bunch of stuff fall apart, like an out of body experience? I had one of those weeks. Yuck.

This past weekend I spent a ridiculous amount of time watching television and catching up on movies. No wonder last year’s box office SUCKED. Let’s start off with the first movie I watched: Herbie, Fully Loaded. I’ll admit it, I giggled when Herbie decided to get the hots for the new bug. It was cute, and as an avid Herbie fan (remember the Monte Carlo movie! LOVED IT!), this one actually kept the same type of feel. Unfortunately, that feel is now seen as lame, and Lindsay Lohan still sucked. Haha. Okay, then I watched Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. I almost need to re-watch it because I was in such shock at the craziness. I also watched some My Sweet 16 and Tiara Girls. (Stupid Aaron Reid… I wish Kayne West could perform at my house warming…) This weekend I also watched The Notebook (where I clinged to an unknowing Justin for 20 minutes after it ended crying) and Ella: Enchanted (way cute, love Anne Hathaway).

Anyways, this morning I left for work about 5:45 (fixing said “bunch of stuff falling apart”) but Walter REFUSED to use the restroom. I’m not too excited about this, and fully anticipate an anointing of my beautiful carpet. I have been keeping the carpet immaculate with my brand new Dyson that is seriously the coolest thing ever, and have used it twice since I bought it last week.

So, Walter wouldn’t go down the steps, like he was scared or something, and I even threw a ball down there to try and “make” him potty. He grabbed the ball, slowly I might add, and then raced back up to the door. Argh.

Alright, so I’m hungry now, I guess from being up since 5 a.m. Later!

It's 3 a.m. and I must be lonely...

because Justin is asleep, so is my dog, and I'm up waiting for it to stop thundering. ARGH! I hate being a light sleeper during thunderstorms. But, it was a good thing I was up, because we lost power and our alarm of course went to the blinking 12:00 AM mode. (so I might not have batteries in my alarm, which is totally my fault)

I'm kinda ready for the stormy season to be over. I'm sick of heavy rain, hail, "circulation" that amounts to nothing, etc. I just like the light cutesy rain.

Walter is pretty funny during storms. It gives me an idea of what he does while we're gone. He lost his ball twice and was running around the house with his tail between his legs. He's probably picking up on the fact that I don't like storms, yet has decided to pass out. Haha. Poor guy.

Okay, I think they may have passed, so I'm going to try and get an additional three more hours of sleep. I have a shindig after work for Justin's work. His boss owns Six at Fourth and Colorado (the one that "Lance Armstrong" owns... well it turns out it is a bunch of investors that own it, and Lance is one of many... but I guess it wouldn't be cool to say that) so I guess we have it privately reserved or something. I think it should be fun, although my posse that I hang out with at these things has already bailed, so I may resort to sitting by myself drinking wine. How pathetic.

Reading into what I say

I'm under the impression my boss thinks I'm pregnant.
I got a bit of a late start this morning, for various disgusting reasons I won't gross you out with. I delayed my presence at work for a few hours, just to make sure I could handle being at work (and my Internet was on the fritz at home, so I didn't really have much of a choice).
So later today my boss is asking how I'm feeling, why I am at work, and what was wrong. I think she was suspicious. Then again, I always thinks she is suspicious ;) Then someone else asked me.
So while I can't be 100% certain, I am 99% certain I'm not pregnant.

Sigh... OF RELIEF!

Life is good people ;) Just wrapped up my review at work and apparently I'm not a total failure. It's always refreshing to hear. Apparently my bosses like me and want me to stick around for another year of craziness. Wee. I'll be sleeping much better tonight.

Oh, and ALIAS is on tonight! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I'm going to burst into tears when this show is off the air.

Purple vacuums prepare you for global warming.

I’m trying to get the creative juices flowing this morning. I have a bunch of materials to write today and I’m totally getting writer’s block. I think I may have had it since last week, but today it is peaking.

I took a picture of this yesterday, but I don’t really have a way to get it out of my camera right now, so I’ll post it later. Yesterday, during the “wave” of rolling blackouts, I stopped to get gas, since I was on “E.” I get cut off by this huge ass Chevy Silverado with some bumper stickers on them. One of the stickers proudly exclaimed, “GLOBAL WARMING IS UPON US! PREPARE NOW!”

What a bitch. I mean seriously. I don’t know enough about the scientific evidence surrounding global warming, so I won’t claim that it is exists, but I’m pretty sure driving a monstrous pick-up truck isn’t exactly preparing for global warming like she is suggesting others to do.

Essentially, her car was a walking (driving?) contradiction.

It further cemented my belief that in Austin, people rally behind an idea merely for the sake of it. This woman lives in the city, and most definitely does not need a pick-up truck. Let’s assume the truck was given to her though, and she needs the ride. She could sell the stupid truck and get a smaller car, and therefore prepare for the onslaught of global warming and all of his evil ramifications.

Stupidity, or at least, the illusion of stupidity (because I don’t really know her) really pisses me off.

On a brighter note, we just bought a Dyson vacuum. I haven’t actually tried it out yet, but I’m pretty excited about the prospects. Justin said I was acting like a kid with a new red wagon, and maybe I am, but this vacuum is totally kickin!

Update...

A few people at work today have asked me how my granddad is doing, and I haven’t really blogged about him in this blog, so I thought I might give an update.

About a month ago, my grandfather was at the airport working on an experimental aircraft on quite a windy day. (like 30-35 mile an hour winds) Anyways, a metal door at the hanger he was working in flew open, hitting him, and knocking him to the ground. He didn’t just break his hip, it flat-out shattered.

After a long stint in the hospital and rehabilitation center, Grandpa is back home recovering. He had a bladder infection, probably from the less than optimal healthcare he was receiving, but in good spirits. In fact, he is celebrating his 89th birthday next month. So congrats Grandpa!!

Happy Belated Easter!

You know, I love going home to see family, especially on special occasions such as Easter, but by the end of the trip, I’m so happy to be home – very far away from all of them. Funny how that works, huh?

We got to Dallas Friday morning in time to watch a little “The View” and then hop on a conference call for about 1.25 hours (even when I’m off work I think in time entry terms… evil). Justin started aggravating me, because his family was waiting for me to get off the call so they could eat. But I told Justin in the car I was fasting on Good Friday, I can’t eat meat (they were going to Subway and their veggie sandwiches suck) BUT HE WASN’T LISTENING (or apparently looking, I even wrote it down for him on a post-it note while I was on the call). Luckily, it was a short-lived fight (though in front of his parents, which is embarrassing) and all was repaired in the matter of minutes ;)

I then went to a garage sale a friend of Justin’s family was having (and there was nothing there!), followed by some shopping out at Firewheel with Justin's mom and sister. There, I realized, as I’m about to purchase THE CUTEST pair of pants, my wallet isn’t in my purse. That was a scary few seconds – I was afraid it fell out of the car or something when we stopped to get gas in Waco. Luckily, it had just fallen behind a seat in the car, but I didn’t have my car with me, so I had to put the pants on hold. Booo. The lady at the counter thought it was pretty funny though. And looking back, I would have to agree.

After shopping, we went to Bowl-a-Rama in Rowlett, where I played the crappiest two sets in history. How embarrassing, though I didn’t drop the ball behind me like the work-bowling event. Once that horrible game was over (though Kristy did have seven gutterballs in a row, followed by her 142 the next game… why couldn’t I have been that lucky!), we went and ate at Napoli’s down the street. Mmmm, it was nice to get my one meal in for the day. I love me some baked cheese tortellini!

The next day my mom, Justin’s mom, and myself went to another garage sale of a family friend, and I didn’t see anything I particularly cared for. After that, Mom and I went back out to Firewheel to shop and get those bloody pants!!! ARGH! So got those, headed back over to the house to see my mom, dad, and sister, and went to a wedding shower of a neighbor’s daughter. Stayed there long enough to congratulate her on the impending nuptials, and ventured back home for a few before heading to On the Border to meet Justin’s family for dinner. Mom tagged along, and I had the blandest house salad ever. Totally disappointing.

Followed that up with seeing V for Vendetta, which I recommend to all. Amazing storyline and very pertinent to today’s political and social climate. Went back home and watched The Chronicles of Narnia, and unfortunately, was very glad I didn’t see that in the movie theatre. I LOVE the whole series of C.S. Lewis’ (and A Devine Mercy too… amazing writer) but the movie bit. The scenes that built up to the fight were mediocre and the whole movie could have flowed much better if it had a narrator, like in the book.

The following morning I get woken up with word I have 15 minutes to get ready for church. Lovely. Luckily, the Lord doesn’t mind I wasn’t wearing makeup that day, although I’m pretty sure others did. ;) The pastor went a little overboard with the singing, and had a tendency to repeat his message three or for times before moving on, but other than that, it was okay. I prefer Catholic mass, but I guess that’s why I’m Catholic and not Baptist.

After church, we went back home and prepared the Easter meal, where both of Justin’s grandparents and my parents and Gran came over. I’m pretty sure I ODed on sugar (I gave that and soda up for Lent) and then tried to layout and swim.

Lesson I learned trying to swim: even though it is in the mid-90’s, don’t get into a pool in mid-April unless you want a death wish. Justin thought I wouldn’t get into the pool because it would be too cold. I told him he could push me in, that’s how confident I was that the pool was at a tolerable temperature. Incorrect. It was so freaking cold. Gross.

Then we drove home, hit crappy traffic, and watched Desperate Housewives. Pretty decent episode, although I thought the end of it sucked.

And that was my Easter weekend. Pretty uneventful, yet packed with family activities. Maybe that’s why I don’t like going home all the time. I don’t get a moment to breathe :)

I heart English?

Despite the opinion of many, probably one of my least favorite teachers in high school was an individual by the name of Mrs. Horn. Booo, hiss… I know people are disagreeing now, and I have my reasons – let’s just say her and her sister (my government teacher) didn’t like me, and visa versa.

Throughout my college and subsequent work, my mind keeps wandering back to this particular teacher. We did a lot of stupid assignments in there, and didn’t really focus on writing style. In college, my first English professor really worked with me to develop my writing ability, and ever since then, I love to write.

Today, I write multiple documents everyday at work, and for the most part, I have a blast. One of my supervisors even said I was a strong writer, which about knocked me on the floor.

See, Mrs. Horn through I was a shitty-ass writer, and let me know through several of my grades and comments on papers. (And I’m not saying I wasn’t… I was at the time) The thing that frustrates me the most is that she didn’t sit down with me, or actually say what was so bad. I think that’s because she didn’t really know how to actually “teach” the art of writing, she just knew what was bad and good.

And you know, she had a lot of students, whatever. So did my English professor at UT, plus her own doctorate work. But she cared and she took the time, which is all I really needed.

Anyways, so Justin feels the same way about the said English teacher, though for different reasons (a lot has to do with her fake “happiness” – Justin isn’t exactly Mr. Chip-Cheery). Both of us were driving near our house and were at a stop light. I LOVE looking at bumper stickers and I saw this Civic with one.


YES… look closer.


It says, “I heart Ms. Horne.”

It took a lot not to flick the person off. So, maybe I did, but they couldn’t tell.

So much dislike in my heart. Yuck. I need to work on this.

My mind has gone mad.

You know you’re a dork when…

I had this dream last night, and I guess it took in a bunch of thoughts going through my head that day: American Idol, watching the news, going home this weekend, the list goes on and on.

Anywho, the premise was this: I was sitting in the lounge area with tons of other contestants to try out for “Anchor Idol” at the local FOX station. Carissa, Justin, and Jennifer, some high school friends (and my husband), were with me, and I wasn’t planning to audition, but just to lend moral support. So I’m sitting there chatting it up with one of the assignment editors that I know (I don’t really though in real life – I just know the name and have spoken a few times on the phone) through work and he’s asking why I’m not auditioning.

I say I like my job, and then he says that he loves the press releases I send. At this point, like I’m outside of my dream, the part of me watching this dream in my head starts laughing because that is a funny-ass statement. Who would say that?!

Back to the story though. So somehow I get convinced to join in the festivities. I walk into this room, sort of set up like a lecture hall. On each desk in front of the contestant there is a button.

I’m explained that it works sort of like a current events quiz. They start telling a news story, and once you recognize the topic you buzz. That enables you to go down in front of everyone and recite the full news story in front of everyone, from your own memory. When I finally get one right, I go down there, and I’m about to speak, and Walter wakes me up with a sneeze. Thanks Walls, I wanted to know if I won.

I will say, when it was Justin’s turn to go up, he went all conspiracy theory on them in this fake newsman’s voice. It was hilarious and everyone was rolling. I think he might have been asked to leave. HA!

The fact that I’m even dreaming about this is hilarious. I mean, who dreams about becoming an anchor of a crappy local TV show through Anchor Idol?

That being said, FOX7, if you read this (which I doubt) please come up with this format and execute it. I would DOMINATE!

Random Thoughts for April 11.

I’m as red as an apple waiting to be peeled.

This morning I was sitting in traffic (which my ‘short-cut’ suddenly started sucking this week, making my commute an extra 10 minutes long) and I was putting my makeup on because I was running a tad late this morning.

As I’m applying my powder I begin to notice that chunks of skin are coming off my face. Great. So now I look like a two-toned freak, but only on my forehead and nose.

Lesson of the week: don’t think you are invincible. Wear SPF 15.

So yesterday, Justin and I checked out a country club. I’ve never belonged to a country club before, but Justin participated in one growing up since he is such an avid golfer.

I’m not exactly fru-fru or feeling the need to belong to cliques (i.e. I never joined any Greek organizations in college), but the idea of the country club is tempting.

Everyone was pretty nice, and they all seem to drink a lot. “Hey, come join our tennis group. We have mimosas before we play.” Quickly followed by another woman, “Join our ladies golf group – we drink Bloody Mary’s before and after we play.” I mean, seriously, how can you not pass that up? Right? Eh?

I just don’t want to show up to work tan, blonde, and stupid, which I’m quite concerned may occur. Or worse, quit my job to spend my life drinking mimosas before a game of drunken tennis (which I’m sure I pretty sure I would get hurt, as evident by my rollerblading incident).

Will they pressure me to have children and quit my job? Will I be obligated to showcase my lack of athletic ability in return for a false sense of camaraderie among women that are everything I stand against in this world? Or, am I feeding a stereotype, and in truth, these women are hard-working, equally athletically talentless individuals like myself that are just trying to do these things for their husbands? Or do they even have husbands?

ARGH! I’m torn! Is it possible to keep your sense of individuality while succumbing to the proper etiquettes of the country club.

Or did I really just want to tell Justin, “HEY! How about you buy me a Mini-Cooper instead and we’ll call it a day?” Man, Gone in 60 Seconds is good.

Young people Kickin' My Ass

So I read this motivating story today in Tactics, a monthly newsletter I get as a PRSA member. Anyways, in it was this article written by a young professional around my age and how she kicks ass.

I got a little pissed off, mainly at myself. She got a job right out of college (which despite my best attempts I did not) and now is the PR manager at a prestigious zoo. AT MY AGE! ARGH!

That could have been me. I graduated almost three years ago and I’m still stuck at an entry level position. Reading that is almost insulting.

So I started figuring out the mistakes I made in the last three years, as an attempt to tell myself to not make any more professionally:

Getting out of Austin. I think I should have found a job right after college outside of Austin or Texas, then after Justin and I got married, try and move back or do the long distance thing until I was able to find a job. I couldn’t even get an internship out of college in Austin after I graduated.
Taking jobs that only minimally utilized my skills. Taking stupid temp jobs sucked, and prevented me from pounding the pavement looking for jobs. DUMB – Thanks prominent PR professional in Austin with the initials EC for that stupid idea. Then being a real estate assistant was murder, and then that job as a “marketing” assistant (a.k.a front desk helper) at a “wellness center” (a.k.a. gimmick place to rip people off through over-priced chiropractic care) didn’t help either.
Getting involved with local communications organizations. I didn’t have the money at the time and didn’t think it would help. WRONG WRONG WRONG! I’m pretty sure I would have at least gotten my name out there or something had I participated in PRSA or something. But my parents would help me pay the crazy sum that it costs per year, so I didn’t. I should have taken a second job or something. Argh.

In conclusion, I’m an idiot. This girl has her APR (which come next year, I’m going for) and she is only 25. Craziness. I’ve been told APR doesn’t help that much at the agency level, but you know what? I want to work at a corporation some day where they pay more and an APR does matter (at least $$ wise) and I don’t have to work as many hours.

Argh, 25… pisses me off. I’m hanging that article in my cube as a constant reminder.

Procrastinating when you have lots of work is stupid.

1.) When showering, do you start the water and then get in or get in and start the shower?
Start the shower, get it as hot as possible without it scalding me, and then get itn.

2.) Do you read the labels on your shampoo bottle?
Depends on how bored I am. If I forgot to turn the radio on before I got in, I read as many bottles as possible.

3.) Do you moan in the shower like the people on the Herbal Essence commercial?
Nope, just sing.

4.) Have you ever showered with someone of the opposite sex?
Well, I am married… what do you think?

5.) Have you ever peed in someone's yard?
Recently, no. But as a kid if I was doing the kiddie pool thing and had to tinkle, I’d run into the side yard and get my pee on.

6.) Have you ever brushed your teeth in the shower?
No, though I have thought about from a time standpoint. I could do it while conditioning my hair. Hmm…

7.) Have you ever dropped your soap on your foot?
No, but I have dropped the shampoo bottle, the razor (OUCH), and various other items, but never the soap bar.

8.) How old do you look?
Probably my age.

9.) How old do you act?
Based on another survey, I act 28.

10.) What's the last song you listened to?
Ugh, that stupid James Blunt song, “You’re Beautiful.” STOP PLAYING THAT SONG EVERY 8 SECOND 96.7!!

11.) Have you recently become a member of anything?
Actually yes! I’m a card carrying member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) as of two weeks ago.

12.) What are your plans for the weekend?
Seeing family for the Easter holidays!

13.) Do you kiss with your eyes opened or closed?
Closed, unless it is lasting too long, then I open them to see if Justin is thinking the same thing, and usually he is. Haha.

14.) Have you ever ridden a mechanical bull?
No.

15.) If you were working on a pirate ship, what would you most likely be doing?
I’d like to the person on top peering to see if any ships are coming.

17.) Have you ever called anyone a slut?
Um yeah. I think I’ve even called myself a slut.

18) Have you ever been called a slut?
See above.

19). Have you ever smuggled something into America?
Oh yes!!! One (1) Cuban cigar from the cruise I went on. I was so scared I was going to get busted. Oddly enough, I think I threw it out a month or two later because I don’t smoke.

20). Does playing the guitar make a girl/guy more attractive?
No offense to guitar players, but it’s really just a cry for help if that’s the only instrument you play and you suck at it.

21). Do you live in a city with a good sports team?
National Champion Longhorns! Boo-ya!

23). How many people do you think would come to your funeral? Probably about 200, including people from work. Maybe more.

24). How many of them would come just to make sure you're dead?
Oh no! gosh, probably none.

25). Do you have more enemies or more friends?
That’s a toss up. Over my lifetime, probably equal ;)

26.) Have you ever sent an anonymous letter?
Heck no. When I put something to words, I sign that stuff – I want them to know who sent it. It’s also the only way I can confront people.

28.) Have you ever turned someone down for a date?
Yeah.

29.) Are you smarter than your friends?
I think I’m friends with a lot of intellectual people, if anything, I’m the stupid one of the group

30.) Have you ever stolen anything from your friends?
OMG no!

31.) Have you ever been to jail?
Actually, yes. Just to tour it in fourth grade!

32.) Should you have?
Well, I would have gotten in trouble if I skipped out on it!

33) Do you like the smell of beer?
Yuck no.

34.) Have you ever died or killed someone in your dreams?
Actually no! I have been killed in my dreams. It was really scary because the guy shot me, and it went black in my dream, and when I woke up, the electricity had gone off. Pretty freaky!

35.) Have you ever given to charity?
Yes

36.) Would you kill a dog for $1000?
I could never kill a dog ever.

37.) Do you sometimes get depressed?
Yes, for odd reasons too.

38.) Do you live with your parents?
Shoot me now! Heck no!

39.) Do you have plans for your future?
Yes, I need to start my own firm someday and have children and go back to school and travel the world. I anticipate all of this occurring in the next year. HAHA!

X MARKS THE SPOT

You are
[ ]short, under 5'4" (5'2)
[x]5'4" - 5'6"
[ ] 5'7" - 6'0"
[ ] tall 6'1" and up

NATURALLY
[ ] blonde
[] redhead
[ ] brunette
[ ] dirty blonde
[x ]dark brown
[ ] black

[ ] blue-eyed
[x] brown-eyed
[ ] green-eyed
[ ] hazel-eyed
[ ] gold/gray-eyed
[ ] silver/gray- eyed
[ ] blue/green-eyed
[ ] brown/green-eyed
[ ] Yellow/Green-eyed
[ ] they change colors

[ ] glasses I need them.
[ ] contacts
[ ] have glasses
[ ] BOTH
[x] neither

[ ]short hair
[x]medium hair
[] long hair

Your favorite color(s) are?
[ ] red
[ ] khaki
[ aqua (marine)
[x] pink
[ ] hot pink
[] yellow
[] black
[ ] green
[ ] lime green
[]blue
[] white
[ ] Turquoise
[x ] silver
[x] purple
[ ] brown
[x] Orange
[ ] gray
[ ] maroon
[ ] gold
[ ] teal
[ ] I don't really care
[ ] I don't believe in favorite colors

Some things you've done?
[x] ice skating
[x] hiking
[] rafting
[] water skiing
[x] horseback riding
[] body/surfing and skim/wake boarding
[ ] snowboarding
[] skiing
[x] dancing
[x] skateboarding
[] cheerleading
[ ] lacrosse
[ ] street hockey
[x] gymnastics
[ ] martial arts
[x] baton twirling
[x] swimming

Your personality is sometimes...
[x] talkative
[x] shy
[x] funny
[x] serious
[x] laid back
[ ] strict
[ ] hyper
[ ] weird
[x] ditzy - thanks to pregnancy
[x]sarcastic
[ ]slow

You can't stand listening to...
[] pop
[x] country
[ ] Christian
[ ] classical
[ ] techno
[x] oldies
[ ] opera
[ ] 80's
[ ] disco
[ ] Hip Hop
[ ] classic rock
[x] punk
[ ] metal
[x] screamo
[ ] reggae
[ ] I like everything as long as I am in the mood for it or its not for to long a period of time

Clothing Brands you own?
[ ] Delia's
[ ] American Eagle
[ ] Hollister
[ ] Buckle
[ ] Abercrombie&Fitch
[x] Target
[ ] Wal-mart
[ ] Wet Seal...old clothes
[ ] Forever 21
[ ] O'neil
[ ] Pac Sun
[x] Gap
[x] JCrew
[x] Neiman Marcus
[ ] Bloomingdales
[x] Nordstrom
[x] Anthropologie
[x] Banana Republic
[ ] Aeropostale
[ ] Dickies
[ ] Anchor Blue
[ ] Guess
[ ] Lucky
[ ] Champs
[ ] Salvation army/goodwill/VALUE WORLD.
[ ] Old Navy
[ ] whatever is at the thrift store
[ ] Eddie Bauer
[ ] Hot Topic
[ ] Alloy
[ ] RAVE!
[ ] Baby Phat
[ ] Apple Bottoms

Okay, I feel stupid now for doing this! Do any of these people actually hold jobs!? What about Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft, the Limited, Express, White House Black Market, NY and Co., boutiques! HELLO!

Shoe Brands You Own?
[x] Flip-Flops
[x] Nike
[ ] Adidas
[ ] Reebok
[ ] Billabong
[ ] Roxy
[ ] Puma
[ ] Jack purcells
[ ] luggs
[ ] BCBG
[ ] Birkenstocks
[ ] Etnies
[X] Reefs
[ ] Converse
[ ] K Swiss
[ ] Adio
[ ] DC
[X]Steve Madden
[ ] Vans
[x] if I like something alot ill buy it
[ ] New Balance
[ ] LEI
[X] Payless
[ ] DVS
[ ] Emerica's
[ ] Rainbows
[X] dc martens
[ ] dickies
[ ] diesels
[ ] roos
[ ] Globe
[] Airwalk
[] Circa
[ ] I own alot but dont know what they are
[ ] birdman
[ ] jordans
[ ] baby phat

Once again? I need more “work shoe” options. Gimme a break!

Your confessions:
[X] I'm afraid of silence
[x I am ticklish
[ ] I'm afraid of the dark if im alone
[ ] I've collected comic books
[ ] I shut others out when I'm mad
[X] I open up to others easily (eh, it kinda depends on the subject)
[ ]I read the newspaper (comics)
[x] I love Disney movies
[ ] I am a sucker for eyes
[ ] I don't kill bugs
[ ] I have "x"s in my screen name
[X] I bake well
[x] I have worn pajamas to class (yeah, um, four or five years ago! AHH! I’m getting old!)
[ ] I love Martha Stewart
[ ] I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS
[x] I am self-conscious...sometimes
[x] I love to laugh
[ ] I can't swallow pills
[ ] I bite my nails
[X] I play computer games when I'm bored (I’m a Sukoku nut!)
[ ] I've gotten lost in the city
[x] Gone out in public in your pajamas (once again, not in years!)
[ ] Been skydiving
[ ] Been bungee jumping
[ ] Bitten someone
[X] Dressed up like the opposite sex (When I was four, to see if my parents would think it wasn’t me)
[x] teepeed a house
[x] Been fired (I quit before it got to that point. But yes, twice!)

Have you ever...
[ ] danced in the rain
[x] Seen a shooting star
[ ] Gotten stitches
[x] Eaten Sushi
[x] Gotten the chicken pox
[x Ridden in a taxi
[X] Been on a cruise ship
[ ] Driven over 400 miles in one day
[ ] Been on a plane by yourself
[X] Had surgery
[ ]seen a movie more than 3 times in the theater (Casper… I know, Devon Sawa)
[x] been on stage
[ ] gotten a black eye
[X ] watched an entire baseball game on tv

Do you like...
[X ] musicals
[x] blasting music in your car
[x] Christmas time
[ ] donuts
[x] animals
[ ] coffee
[x] tea (only hot peppermint tea)

Two Things That Scare You
1. Giving birth and the subsequent raising of a child
2. getting murdered

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1. H&M long sleeved cotton brown shirt
2. NY & Co black baggy cotton pants (that go right past my knees)

Favorite Hobby
1. Writing

Three Things You Want Really Badly
1. A Mini Cooper
2. My weight from high school
3. my dog to live forever (SHOUT OUT WALTER!)

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation
1. Italy (well, Rome)
2. Australia

Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die
Can't narrow it down

Two Things You Are Thinking About Now
1. I need to get out of here
2. Is this almost done?

Two Stores You Shop At
1. Ann Taylor Loft
2. White House Black Market

Two Fast Food/Restaurant Places You'll Eat at
1. Hickory Street Grill’s salad bar
2. Apple Annie’s for their yummy tomato brie soup

Two people I haven't talked to or seen in a while
1. Ashley (four days is a long time!)
2. Carissa

One Reason you're doing this survey
1. I’m a procrastinator.

note to self: I do not recover from falls well

Well, it's about 11 a.m. and I'm at home. I went home sick from work because those little "stumbles" I took rollerblading have knocked me on my ass, except it is painful to sit on said ass.

Instead, I'm working at the counter standing up, or laying down on my bed with my bum in the air.

It's still hilarious, and I don't want anyone to be like, "Oh Jenni, I'm sorry you fell." Rather, I prefer, "OMG Jenni, you are such a dumbass."

Luckily, people at work have been adhering to my request, making the situation even more humorous.

Except, it hurts to laugh.

I'm not ten anymore.

So Justin and I bought rollerblades today.

And about two feet from the house I almost flipped my feet up over my head. Instead, I landed on my back from mid air and killed my butt and lower back. Like I trooper, I got back up and did well for another ten minutes. Then, in front of our neighbor I did it freakin' again!!! Except this time I landed on my side and bloodied up my thigh.

So, I hope I make it to work tomorrow, because the soreness is starting to set in, and that isn't a good thing.

In conclusion, don't assume that because you were a badass on rollerblades at ten you still are at 24. Because, you aren't.

Oh high school body, where did you go?

I like my hair today. I colored it two days ago and no one noticed, which is what I was going for. I was sporting this two-toned thing, trying to grow out my hair in an effort to never color it again. I quickly realized (well, after a year) that this was taking longer than I had hoped.

So, taking a chance, I ventured to HEB in hopes of finding something close to my natural hair color, or slightly darker because it will totally fade.

After coloring it, I stepped out of the shower and noticed my hair had a tinge of red, it freaked me out, but turns out it was just bad lighting. Anyways, I think this summer I’ll start doing the “return to my roots” – i.e. blond highlights. My goal is to be fit and tan and cute by the summer.

Step 1: Resume South Beach Diet. I started Tuesday and I already feel like I have lost weight. Wee. I’m not even going to weigh myself, just see how much better my clothing looks on me.

Step 2: Purchase Rollerblades at Academy this evening and beginning rollerblading every evening, subject to weather. Justin hates running, biking, etc. and he has settled on rollerblading. Interestingly enough, at the age of 10, I developed, coordinated, and implemented (haha… sounds pretty PRish already) a neighborhood Olympics, and rollerblading to music was one of the events. Needless to say, I won.

Step 3: Lay out. I swear, I just look skinnier when I’m not pale. I haven’t been out in the sun for two years, so it’s time to make a resurgence.

Step 4: Actually stick with Steps 1-3 for longer than two months.

Wish me luck!

You know you're an addict when...

Thursday night, Justin and I were grabbing dinner at our favorite local hang out, Kirbey Lane (south), and there was a bit of a wait. So it was a lovely night and we sat outside with a few other people waiting to be seated.

From nowhere (and keep in mind this is Lamar, a.k.a. crazy people street), this skank nasty guy comes walking up (with no intention of eating at KL). By skank nasty, I mean, tight black jeans, white shirt with only two buttons, and greasy hair. Think Grease but fuglier.

So, he tries to bum a cigarette off of people, but no one around us smokes. He looks around, grabs a used cigarette off the ground and lights it, walking off to the gas station next door.

Okay, so first, gross. Are you that nasty that you are willing to put a cigarette in your mouth that could have belonged to an equally skank-nasty person????

Second, um, you aren't supposed to smoke around a gas station, idiot. Especially that close to the pumps.

That was so nasty, that six days later, I still get the shivers thinking about it. Yuck.

Surprise, Surprise

I love my husband, I really do, and I love everything about him: the red hair, the oversized t-shirts, the “I have never owned a pair of jeans in my life and I’m not starting now” aspect, and similar to the previous point – the never settling for anyone “even when your wife buys the pair of jeans just to see you in them so she can take a picture and then return them.” He has his standards, and I’ve learned (or am still in the process of) not to try and push the envelope, so to speak.

Justin is a big sweetheart, and though he’s never done much in the way of surprises, I’ve still loved his attempts, even more than the gifts themselves.

So I got home from work after a particularly hectic day, greeted by the Walls and then my husband. The blinds-guy had come by to repair a set of blinds that were malfunctioning and I was getting ready to ask Justin why he wasn’t picking up any phones earlier that afternoon (so I could let him know the blinds-guy was coming) when he said, “Go into the bedroom, I have a surprise.”

Okay, so maybe my mind was in the gutter the second he said that, and I was anticipating as such when I walked into our bedroom – you know, candles lit everywhere, maybe a piece of lingerie, because well, my mind was in the gutter. What I didn’t expect to find was a jewelry box on the bed.

See, I’ve only gotten a few pieces of jewelry from Justin and they are near and dear to me. One is this James Avery ring shaped like a heart that he gave me when we first started dating. The next two were the engagement ring and subsequently the wedding ring, and around Christmas (either this year or last… it’s a bit of a blur) I got a very pretty diamond heart necklace.

So seeing the box on the bed that said Helzberg Diamonds got me pretty excited. I think I was already hugging him and I hadn’t even opened the box yet.

So there it was: a necklace that I had wanted two years ago: those three diamond ones, Past-Present-Future. And OMG, the diamonds are brilliant!!! Seriously, appraised and everything and worth more than my rings combined. I about fell over with happiness for two reasons:

One, this came out of nowhere. Yesterday wasn’t a special day, it was just another day in the week. It caught me off guard and I loved it!

Two, well, hello – diamonds really are a girl’s best friend and these things are stellar.

So now I love an additional item about Justin: his element of surprise, and well, maybe the fact he sure does know how to pick jewelry, a very important trait in your husband.

Weekend Update!

Friday night, Justin and I ventured to Houston for a visit with my friend, Ashley. I missed out on a birthday party for Ivette back in Austin (though I got quite an interesting call on my cell phone from two individuals that I have saved. Hahaha… that was pretty hilarious) but I still had a good time in Houston.

Saturday was spent doing too much shopping. We started at the Galleria where I purchased some clothing at Nordstrom’s, The Limited, and Ann Taylor Loft (PLEASE LOVE OF GOD OPEN ONE IN AUSTIN) while Justin wandered aimlessly throughout the mall.

Justin decided to go from kiosk to kiosk to humor the hard-working individuals of T-Mobile and some gimmicky nail booth. For example, Justin was walking by, and was asked, “Have you ever heard of the Dead Sea,” quickly followed by, “Do you believe in magic?” Then they tested their product on his middle finger (how appropriate) and tried to convince him to purchase it first for himself, then when he wasn’t going waiver, for me.

At the T-Mobile booth, the guy asked him if he was a UT grad and they just talked about random stuff for five minutes. Then the guy asked him if he wanted a new phone. Justin’s phone is really a mini computer that his company paid for and pays for part of his cell service. Once Justin said that, the guy was like, well, um, have a great day. Haha.

After the Galleria, we went to a baseball card shop where Justin blew about $135. He can never complain about how much I spend on clothing ever again. He keeps telling me that his stuff appreciates over time, is worth money, etc., but Justin never plans to actually sell these things, so that argument is a tad moot.

We ate at this place called Lupe’s Tortillas, and I took a picture of the menu because it was funny, but I don’t have a way to upload my pics, so I’ll get them up this evening.

For dinner we were going to eat at this place called Benjy’s in the Rice Village, but because they are assholes we ended up eating at Katz’s, which was cool, but they have one in Austin, so not that unique to me. We called Benjy’s around 3 p.m. to make a reservation, but since we had to watch the final minutes of the Florida/George Mason game (which ended up being a blow out), they told us that we didn’t need to make one.

So we get there, and of course they tell us the wait is an hour. Why tell us to come on in without a reservation because “there won’t be much of a wait” and then get there and they look at us like we are crazy because we didn’t make a reservation? I wanted to bitch them out for making a stupid suggestion to us, but the atmosphere was snobby so we just left. I wish I could have bitched them out. I wanted to really bad. But Ashley isn’t confrontational, and I didn’t want to cause a scene.

Instead, to the 4 people that read this blog and to the googlers who put “Houston” and “Benjy’s” into their search, don’t go there!!! The rude wait staff is enough to not ever try that place for real.

Sunday we went to Ikea and bought a coffee table, canopy bed for the guest bedroom, lamps, and a duvet cover before heading home. I spent three hours putting that bloody thing together and still haven’t finished. I was making great time until it came to the part of putting the metal support beams in.

I have no idea what the directions are describing visually. Ashley has the same bed, and I can’t figure out the jimmy-rigged system her and her boyfriend used. ARGH!

Okay, that’s all for now – except to say that Grey’s Anatomy was killer awesome AGAIN yesterday. I love that show, especially in HD. ;)