the ice-pocalypse!

I can't believe the weekend we had recently! On Thursday, there was a pretty solid prediction that an ice storm was coming, and lawd what a storm! Inches of ice seemed to blanket everything... the roads, the trees, everyone's windsheilds... it was crazy! You would have thought the sky was falling on Thursday--grocery stores were obliterated. Come 5am Friday, we were one of the 230,000 (!) people who lost power in the morning, which is the last thing you want when it's 20-degrees outside. Richard still went to work (of course!), but he told me I was not allowed to drive, thank goodness. And thank goodness for wireless router batteries and Facebook, because I at least was able to learn that my work was closed anyway since they didn't have power either. Meggie and I were stuck at home trying to figure out what to do with ourselves!

Fortunately, we heard that Patsy-poo still had power, and since she only lives a few blocks away from us we decided it was totally worth the cold fingies and red noses to trek over to her place. It's one thing to not have power, but it's another thing to not have power and learn your friends still have power! 

Ice on everything! It was so beautiful (and crazy dangerous to drive in).

Patsy's pretty much the ideal person to still have power during this situation because you're greeted with warm hugs, a puppy dog named Daisy, hot tea and the biggest marshmallows you've ever seen in your life (I mean, really, isn't that marshmallow hysterical?). We're so lucky to have such a sweet friend so close by. :)

Checking Facebook constantly and straightening my hair (yes, I brought my straightener--priorities, ya'll) could only pass so much time, so Meggie and I went to the game room to play on the AMAZING old-school pinball machine Patsy has. It was so much fun! I want one! Oh, and PS, I managed to get the highest score during our play time. ;)

Then we played 9-Ball (we're girls). It was pretty much a suck-fest (we're girls), but it turned into a giggle-fest real quick. I just love goofing around with my Meggie. :)

By the time Richard got off work, he was determined to knock out our Christmas shopping. Why? Because power outages and icey roads equals the perfect time to beat the crowds! I have to admit, I was kinda skeptical ("Can't we just sit and eat Cheetos and worry about the power coming back on?!"), but it was so nice! I swear, between 2pm-8pm we had knocked out 90% of our Christmas shopping for this year. I think that's a record! Plus, our power was finally back on by the time we came back from our last run, which I'm pretty sure was divine guidance. 

On Saturday, anything that slushed up on the roads re-froze in the worst kinda way, which equaled another day off for me! I tried my best to enjoy it (ie, Cheetos), but I'm always super manic when I call out of work (ie, the worst). Regardless, we all took lots of naps, watched lots of movies (can you believe it was a Free HBO weekend? What are the odds!), made lots of fires, and just thanked our lucky stars for the power being back on. 

Sunday finally started slushing up again, and the 3 of us had cabin fever pretty bad so Richard drove us to the mall to walk around. Even Nordy's still was without power, but that didn't stop them from being open! So if you're really into buying Louboutins in the dark, Nordy's on Sunday was the place to be. The rest of Northpark was at capacity, and it was great because there was no "mall pressure" since we had gotten so much Christmas shopping done; so we just leisurely looked around, smelled perfumes, look at Tom Ford suits, and bought a few additional gifts here and there. All with my favorite people. :)

Whew! I told you it was a crazy weekend, right?! I'm just so grateful I get to spend crazy weekends with my loves who are so helpful and hilarious (two very important qualities) and who know how not to feed my manic anxiety over power outages and call-out shifts (another very important quality). At dinner on Friday, I was really freaking out about the power possibly being off all night (the food! the fish tank!), and Meggie would just casually say things like, "Well, you can show me those pictures on the computer when we get home and the power is back on." Um, thanks, girl. I really appreciated it. I was actually really grateful to be back at work on Monday (predictability! normalcy!), but I hope I never forget all the special little moments that happened this weekend... like snuggling in bed with Meggie watching "What Not To Wear," reading Vogue by the fireplace, and being so smitten that R watched "Bring It On" with his girls because he likes it, too. :) Blessings!

happy list

(Because it's been a while!)

1. Long, relaxing baths that are hotter than the dickens.

2. My new boots and Kate Spade necklace.

3. Orchestrating an outfit for Hilary's graduation party.

4. Getting a new iPod nano for car-rides and buying lots of music for it.

5. Keeping the house tidy (we're doing pretty well for some reason!).

6. Getting into the groove at work.

7. Wearing R's plaid pajama bottoms.

8. Not looking at my iPhone so much.

9. Jimi Hendrick's singing voice (I mean, really).

10. All the gorgeous, stunning, breath-taking visuals in "The Tree of Life."

11. Sunday mornings with family. :)

12. This Twitter sequence.

13. My Lady Gaga Pandora station to get me through obnoxious chores.

14. Jessica Chastain in Vogue.

15. Calculating the most perfect time-saving route home from work, however sinuous.

mike & ron

If you've read this blog or my Twitter for more than 2 seconds, it's pretty obvious that R and I are super into "Parks and Rec" and "Breaking Bad." Rightfully so! I mean, I consider myself more of a movie gal, but TV's kinda killing it these days!

I love both these shows for oceans of reasons, but entertainment takes on a special value when favorite things remind you of people you love, and admittedly I get really insufferably happy that two of my favorite characters remind me of my honey. So, if you've never watched those shows, Mike and Ron are like Richard. And if you've never met Richard, he's like Mike and Ron. Ron has die-hard proclivities towards red meat, scotch, and simplicity, and Mike's a "cleaner/fixer" who looks super adorable playing games with a 10-year-old girl. IT'S SO AWESOME.

Honestly, R is like a surreal hyper-conglomeration of lots of boys that I mildly obsess over (Bogie! Jay-Z! Rhett Butler! Rex Harrison! Atticus Finch!), so it's pretty safe to say we're not breaking up any time soon.

a few photos from thanksgiving

This year we had our Thanksgiving celebration at Darrah's. Food was plentiful, the littles were with us, and the Cowboys won---can't ask for more than that! 

Darrah had these little turkey crafts waiting for the kittens ("YOLO" means Ryan got in there, too. ;P)

Meggie and her DIY headdress. :)

Ryan and Sadie.

Em and R3 playing chess.

 We tried to get a good singular photo of all the kittens, and, well, between these two I think we got it. ;P

last thursday

Last Thursday was one for the record books. I had a multiple huge orders at work and was on the clock from 5am-4pm. And for some miraculous reason, when I got home I was not only conscious enough to consider a margarita, but flat-out demand one. After what felt like the most glorious shower of my life, Richard, Meggie, and I went to this great little place around the corner that we love (Enchilada's!), and lemme tell you, that margarita tasted goooood!

Meggie, who loves barbeque so much she tries it at a Mexican restaurant. (I'm so glad she did, because the fries were delicious!)

Afterwards, we went to Wal*Mart for a few randos, and thaaat's when the 11-hour shift + margarita hit me! So, the logical step was the get in the cart, have Meggie to push me around, and giggle/text all my friends about what an awesome step-mom I am. I'm so glad my family doesn't mind being a spectacle!

It was such a fun way to end a crazy fucking Thursday! Meggie was in such a cute Meggie Mood, and part of the reason she's always so much fun because she totally gets how much I have to (have to) love on her dad (I had to go to bed so early on Wednesday I had lost time to make up for!). Plus, she's one of the few people than can decipher my deliriously tired speech and then girlfriend made cookies while we were watching the new "Parks and Rec" episodes. She's kinda killing it at being my step-daughter. ;)

"you're crazy, sadie!"

On Saturday, we took the family to Debbie and Aaron's because Ashlee and Will were in town. (This was a California-peeps weekend, I tell ya!) As per usual, we had a smashing time. My only regret was that I wasn't able to get more pictures... I dusted off my fancy camera for the first time in a whiiile, and, ahem, I was very rusty with the fancy settings. Ugh!

But! I do have two darling videos of Sadie entertaining the grown-ups (fair warning: I have a really lame "supportive & proud step-mom" yell). And lemme tell you, this girl is quite the hoola-hooper! (Remember the end of this post? Well, she hasn't stopped.) She started out with two...

"I make it look easy, but it's not really easy!" (at 0:45)

And then girlfriend threw down THREE hoola-hoops! She's crazy!

Just sayin', I've watched these videos like 10 times today. I can't get over how well she recovers the hoops when they go hay-wire. Physics a la Sadie!

an evening with nikka!

This week, our sweet/amazing/adorable/hilarious Nikka came to Dallas! Nikka is just further proof that I really have the best stock of cousins in the world. I hadn't seen her in about 4 years, but you would think it had just been 4 days. We always just pick-up right were were left off, and words can hardly express how happy I am that I was able to see her! I even called her earlier in the week just to say, "Uh, I'MSOEXCITEDTOSEEYOU, DEEEE!" (I'm that person. A text will not suffice.) Mumsie picked her up on Friday, and they came over to our apartment so she could meet my sweet Moores for the first time, and it's pretty safe to say they all hit it off! We were only able to hang out for the night, but the littles have been asking all weekend, "Where's Nikka? Is she coming back?" (Ugh, my heart. :))

After a good ole Pizza Hut dinner with the fam, Nikka and I went off by ourselves to the Pearl Jam concert at the AAC. It was actually our second Pearl Jam concert together--she took me a few years ago when they played in LA, and I fell pretty hard for them thanks to that show. :)

In typically Nikka-fashion, she got us really killer seats (oh, you know, like on the FLOOR). I mean, the only thing better than hearing Eddie Vedder live is being in arms' length of him while he's singing live. It had been 10 years since the band had been in Dallas (to which Nikka would reply, "And I was at that last show, too!"), so they seemed to have made a point to give everyone an especially kick-ass concert. 

Really, it was just a wonderful, wonderful evening. I didn't get to bed until 2am, and thennn I had to work at 9am the next morning (whew!) but I would do it all over again. Ugh, can't wait to see that girl again. :)

feeling tipsy and fresh--!

On top of the list of things I most look forward to is a date with CJ. We haven't been able to hang out in a few months (thanks, life!), so I was over-the-moon when we were able to schedule a Monday-night champy date to catch-up and be silly. I was so excited that I dirtied everything in the kitchen, ahem, I mean made homemade lemon bars from scratch (twerkin' that fresh lemon zest!) because nothing feels more lovely than treating my friends and family like the celebrities they are. Plus, Ceej always has the champy, ya girl has to show up with something.

(Sometimes we accidentally get a little heavy handed with the berries in the champagne... homemade champagne cobbler!)

After cocktails and dessert, we went with Jim to a little Japanese place around the corner, and I allowed myself to have udon noodles for the first time in years. (Ugh, how I missed your starchy goodness, udon!) We were even served tempura pumpkin?! I didn't know that was a thing, but it sure was delicious. Basically, I could really get used to these opulent Mondays! It was one helluva way to kick-start a week. :)

drunken mushrooms, space, and burgundy

This week was R and I's first week back at work, and boy was there work waiting for us! I'll just say I had so much overtime throughout the week that I only had to work 2 hours one day to even everything out. Phew!

However, it was my sweet angel's birthday on Thursday, and since he had a long-awaited tattoo appointment on his birthday we waited for Saturday to have a fun, little birthday date. We even got all gussied up and bought new clothes for the occasion! #opulence

We started by having an amazing dinner at the amazing Sundown at Granada! One of our darling chef friends told us that we specifically have to go there because they have a great mix of omnivorous plates and vegetarian/vegan offerings. And we were completely sold after seeing how many times the menu used "with drunken mushrooms" to described a dish. I honestly haven't felt so "ugh?!" on what to select from a menu in a very long time, so needless to say we plan on going back a few more times to try everything.

(The most wonderful flat-bread... with drunken mushrooms!)

Then, we went to see Gravity in 3D, which was one of the most stressful film experiences of my life. I sure am glad AMC has a bar, because I was nursing my whiskey the whole movie trying to deal with the suspense! Don't get me wrong--the film was GORGEOUS and amazing on every level, and the birthday boy thought it was kick-ass (which was the whole point), but involving me in any gripping "suspense/thriller" movie basically means getting me tipsy so I don't pass-out from the stress.

(Yes, R and I matched for the evening. We're freaks. HAPPY FREAKS IN LOVE.)

Overall, this weekend has been really lovely. Meggie and I went on a long-overdue Meggie Date (buying Clinique mascara and my new birthday date sweater!), while Richard and I watched the new Aziz Ansari special, and cleaned out the closet a little bit. We even bought the original "Wizard of Oz" on Blu-ray, which makes my heart so happy! Things are coming back together piece by piece, even if it's hard and full of suck, but we have so many friends and family members giving us all they got and it never escapes us how lucky we are. And if this week was any indictation, we're totally going to kick November's ass. ;)

halloween, etc.

Alrighty, one more "bits and pieces" post, and then I'm jumping on the wagon. :)

The littles on Halloween. :)

Meggie and her friends on Halloween. :) 

Peanut butter Totoro cookies! (recipe)

My bouffant and Emily's subsequent interpretation on our bathroom mirror.

through the good and the bad, still got love

October you've been so fun thus far! This month, we've partied our butts off for Debbie's birthday (OH, MAN) and kicked-off the autumn baking season with chocolate chip cookies. And thanks to consumerism and my handsome, savvy man we are now the proud owners of a new 2004 black Rav-4, a new kick-ass TV for the living room, and Jay Z tickets for his show in December! While we didn't make it to the State Fair, we did try fried macaroni and cheese at Pluckers, whiiich should be illegal. 

This was actually in the corner of a cubicle at the car dealership I bought my new car from. Seriously, the other shoe couldn't be found.

Richard is officially obsessed with Beck's Prime burgers. They even have veggie burgers! They're not the greatest thing ever, but those sweet potato fries are to die for.

 Such a sweet Saturday at work: precious doggies up for adoption right out side my desk's window and I got my face painted, hoorayyy!

You know, just chillin'. (Sadie-bug)

Meggie helping Emmy with her homework after school. :)

Anywho, just a few snippets of life in October. :)

technological improvements

We got a new TV and a new DVD player for the living room, meaning things are shuffling between rooms...

Richard: Meghan, why did you leave the TV in the living room on?!
Meghan: I thought you and Ky were going to watch your show in living room!
Richard: No, I'm trying to make things work for us in the bedroom. That came out wrong. I'm trying to hook us up in the bedroom. That came out wrong, too. I'll just shut up now.

priorities

Me: "Sadie, is Minecraft the greatest thing ever?"
Sadie, 7: "No, you and Daddy are!"
Me: "Really?! We're better than Minecraft?"
Sadie: "Yes! Minecraft is third. Bacon is second!"

happy things!

Admittedly, our life is pretty chaotic right now. I mean, Total Chaos To The Heart. AHHH. I haven't blogged in forever, and a leave of absence from here always makes me a little sad. (Ugh, and Tumblr! I haven't updated Tumblr in forever!)

But, considering, there are alot of happy things going on over here. The bad is overwhelming the good/happy right now honestly the good/happy is putting up one hell of a fight. :) So here are all the happy things going on right now!

This picture of R3 and Nick from Meggie's birthday. :) 

End-Of-Summer figs, a favorite breakfast addition

Finally making use of our iPhones while Daddy is away (LOOK AT THOSE GIRLS).

Finding sweet notes from Meggie when I get home from work.

Sadie, who lost both her front teeth.

Baked sea bass topped with an avocado cream sauce and blue crab withhh asparagus. :) The Best best part, among many best parts, of your boyfriend making a 4-Star Meal at home is eating in your PAJAMAS!

Not Pictured...

Richard and I are finally balls-deep into "Breaking Bad," Meghan decided to graduate high school early (!), and we just had our carpets deep-cleaned for free! (Thanks, Lease Renewal Policy!) I actually bought running shoes for the first time in, well, ever because the weather is finally winding down to the Autumn Promise Land. I'm starting to meal plan again and Richard has upgraded our house scotch (hollah!). We're all dead-tired all the time, but life presses on and we have a few fun things planned for the weeks ahead. I also managed to catch this terrible cold that has been going around, but I don't even really mind because it gives me an excuse to drink more fresh grapefruit juice and brag on how sweet my boyfriend is (perspective!). I'm finally squeezing in a little reading in the mornings, which is due to our magical new 9:30 bedtime, and my nails are looking really stellar! And while I'm not always the best about keeping in touch during hard times, I have the best friends who don't mind just picking up where we left off, even if it takes a hot minute. :)

So, you see that, Chaos? We're not scared of you. You may bring a world of insanity and frustration into our homes, but all it does is make us realize just how much we need to love on one another and count our blessings, so THERE.

meghan is sixteen

So, it's a good 1 month and 4 days late, but here it is! Meghan's birthday post! This year, Meggie turned 16, and we can hardly believe our eyes. Our sweet Meggie who makes cakes when she's in a bad mood, makes kick-ass grades, and takes Halloween costumes very seriously. Our darling girl who wants to spend 25 hours a day with her boyfriend but who is still her daddy's biggest fan. Our beautiful little meat-head who eats her salad and knows how to calm her siblings down like no one else.

Meghan's been so busy this year moving in with us and learning how to be the Best Meghan She Can Be. She goes and sees her Mema every minute she can and has learned to sew something fierce. Her hair has been a million differently colors (practically) and many of our (cutest) (memories) this year are all due to her make-up collection. Right now she's super into anime, ice cream, and not emptying the dishwasher. Her younger sisters think she is quite literally the coolest person who's ever drew breath and she's super fun to try new foods with!

This year for Meggie birthday, she requested a bar-b-que dinner (gurl's got taste) with the family. In lieu of cake, she asked for brownies and thus we made a brownie mountain! (Or "Mount Brownie-ist!" as Emmy called it!) For her Kylie Birthday Date, we went and saw "Kick-Ass 2" which we loooved, and even stopped by Seasons 52 so she could try any dessert she wanted (we're all about that pecan pie!).

Meggie, you are without questions the coolest 16 year old we know. You're so sweet to give me hugs in bed all the time, and I always love seeing what you're going to wear. Thanks so much for eating your veggies so often and trying new face/skin things with me. I feel like I hardly see you any more now that you have a laptop in your room, but we always enjoy listening to the new music you bring to us (again, gurl's got taste). I know I'm drive you crazy when I nix soda for the rest of the night and ask you to get the towels off the floor, but never underestimate how much we appreciate you for everything you do and everything you are for our strange little family. You're such a shining light into our eyes, and it blows our minds to see how much you grow every single day. Just in case you can't tell, we love you so fucking hard.