precious overload

My godmother, Vicki, is so fucking sweet, adorable, and fashionable with the biggest personality. She is the mother of a bunch of big football boys, and she was always enthusiastically interested in my dance lessons and what dresses I was going to wear to banquets. My mom and I once took a little cooking class that she hosted at my high-school, and I'll never forget how politely indignant she was when people in the class were talking about how much easier pre-minced garlic in a jar was than chopping it fresh. ("It doesn't take that long...!") She's not afraid to tell you how sexy Julie London is, and I'm pretty sure I have a pair of her old tap shoes.

I just found her Pinterest, and all the reasons I love her just came back and hit me straight in the face. Fashion boards that are so bold (for my home-town), age-appropriate and spot-on, and omg, she has one called "If I were 20 again..." that have cut-off denim shorts, as well as one called "HUNKS" in all caps. SO PROUD SHE'S MY GODMOTHER.

"but grimness prevailed"

Being summoned as a juror was very interesting. There was potential for romantic comedy moments everywhere, but grimness prevailed.
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) April 13, 2012

(one of my favorite Mindy tweets)

This week has gotten off to a strange start. R received some unfortunate news yesterday, it's muggy as shit today, and we've been watching Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States rather intently (which is super interesting, but certainly doesn't leave you feeling happy-go-lucky!). I've still been in a good mood, but I can't shake the hilarious "but grimness prevailed" line while I go about my day. 

But! Thankfully the kittens are coming over today for their weekly Tuesday visit, which means hugs, kisses, and Kylie Scouts! I decided the girls and I are going to make a simple dessert to enjoy after dinner, and R3 will get to work on his pinewood derby car for Cub Scouts (already painted a gorgeous candy-apple red by Daddy-man). Here's to some giggles and sweetness to nip the grimness out of this week!

hands like a fortune-teller

My glitter shellac manicure is giving me unreasonable amounts of self-confidence.

this dude

On Wednesday, it was R's turn for date night, and oh, Mr. Man plans to impress, that's for sure! He made me homemade lobster mac-and-cheese from scratch. We're talking gouda and port salut cheese sauce over twirly noodles baked with bread crumbs sprinkled on top. Ughhh, it was so yummm! I could only have about 1 cup because it was so rich! We'll definitely play around with the recipe in the future, but that's the joy of cooking (at least in our opinion!). Then after dinner we watched "Dutch," which was so fucking delightful. (Al Bundy, dude!) I just love when Richard shows me films he adores, because most of the time I can spot at least 1-2 phrases I've heard him use before. (This film revealed "15,000 cheeseburgers" and "as troublesome as a cloudy day." :D)

Then on Friday, I decided to surprise my sweet man with a dry-aged steak with St. Agur bleu cheese and a beer he had never tried before. I'm so happy he enjoyed everything because I sure know diddly-squat about steaks and beer! (Thanks, Whole Foods employees!) After dinner, when watched "Stranger Than Fiction," and ate left-over Christmas candy. I was sooo excited for R to see this film, because it's just so charming! I love how whimsical it is without being goofy.

So basically, it was a good week for food and movies over here! Just when I think "We never have time for movies!" we watch, like, 75 one week. I simply have the best time with Richard, all the time, no matter what exciting or boring things we're doing (even when we're driving each other crazy!). Our little date-nights seem to have justified me buying this totally lame shirt that I wear ALL THE TIME NOW. Because that's what love is, right? Being so butt-crazy over each other that you don't care how dorky it is? Well, I hope so. That's what I'm kinda going for these days. ;P

internet adventures

We've started watching "Parks and Rec" all thanks to this screen-cap.

High-school photos of famous folks.

Just discovered Atlantic-Pacific, which delights and humbles me.

R and I talk about making the each of the kittens read
this wicked Cracked article when they turn 18. (Maybe 16?!)

Nine signs you might be an introvert.

Finally bought this after patiently waiting for a re-stock!

Kendi is sartorially spot-on and generally hilarious.

"This post is going to weird places a lot quicker than I had anticipated."

I've been listening to KCRW's Eclectic 24 while doing chores in the morning before work.

What 13 people wore on their interviews with Anna Wintour.

Art and family beautifully (and hilariously) intersecting.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

this stuck with me

When I was 19, I once went to a mall in Houston. I parked outside of Neiman Marcus, so when I was walking (lusting) through I stopped by their sale shoes just to fantasize. You know, even sale Louboutins are pretty pricey! But the thing I remember is overhearing some girl say, "You see, this is why guys should pay for dinner and other things. We spend all our money looking worthy to take to dinner and other things."

hi, blog! long time no see!

Hi, Blog! I know I haven't been around lately for a while, but I've missed you! We've been up to some awesome things the past few weeks, which include (but are not limited to):

- having CJ and Jim over for burgers

- starting ballet again!

- spending Christmas money like a BOSS (I'm so good at Retail Therapy)

- watching four shows on one glorious Saturday with my sweet man (1, 2, 3, 4!)

- inheriting a fishing boat from Charlie!

- getting some sweet recognition at work

- learning how to take awesome pictures on my camera (annnd failing? getting frustrated? snipping at Richard?)

- seeing my mommy for a teeth cleaning and eating lunch with her beforehand :)

- buying a new cookbook to try

- having our carpets cleaned!

- catching fish with Emily

- getting a shellac manicure and painting the girls' nails for KyScouts

- buying one of my favorite childhood movies for the kittens, because they love it now, too :)

And, to top it all off, I was approached by two casting agents for Dove's shampoo line while I was at the mall yesterday. Turns out I'm too young for the commercial they were casting for (you had to be over 30), but they said they ran over to see me and needless to say that made my whole day!

I'm doing well at so many things I want to accomplish. I'm trying to not be hard on myself for things I'm not accomplishing just yet.

Richard and I have a backed-up queue of sooo many shows/movies we want to watch, and last night I realized the main reason we don't get through the queue so fast is because we have too much fun talking to each other. What a problem! ;) I always hear stories of friends blowing through 5 seasons of a show or having movie marathons, and I think "That would be so much fun for R and I to do! Let's queue up X, Y, and Z!" But by the time I get home from work, eat dinner, take a shower, and tidy up around the house it's 9 o'clock and R and I are still having fun talking about things! Then we throw in all of our activities with ourselves and the kittens into the mix, and I just have to laugh at how something as easy as watching a movie takes forever. (It took us two days--Wednesday then the following Monday!--to watch "I Love You, Man," hahahahahaha.)

I got a glitter shellac manicure, and I feel like I'm 5 and just had my grandmother paint my nails. :)

R makes me laugh so much.

Ulyana Sergeenko's new collection debuted this week, and I'm SO EXCITED. 

Morgan from "The Mindy Project" makes me laugh so much, I'm kinda embarrassed.

I told Sadie how I felt kinda blah with my hair in a bun and wearing one of R's sweatshirts, and she took my hand and said in most concerned, supportive tone, "But you're always so pretty!"

I'm having a good time. :)

photos from my iphone

New Year's Eve outfit (pajamas and heels!) | Gelato before "Les Mis" (the lavender/chip is my new favorite thing!)

The girls are very meticulous about placing their sleeping masks on their pillows ;P

 The hair stylings of Sadie (notice the beard) | Sadie and R3 in front of the fire

Lots of compliments from Maggiano's (we'll take it!)

it's monday, i'm in love!

Last night, Richard and I made mushroom fajitas for dinner and drank our green veggie smoothies like grown-ups and listen to Mike Birbiglia all evening and laughed until our tummies hurt and fell asleep after making obscene gestures at each other, annnd it was the best ever.

I'm such a lucky girl. :)

the new year :)

2013 is already striking me as a year that is going to be rich in opportunity and good-times. Even though the year kicked-off with me getting a nasty sinus/ear infection and my sweet man having to cancel a tattoo appointment, this week we also enjoyed our first fire in the fire-place as well as tears of merriment as we stream Netflix on-demand on our new Blu-Ray player (THE GREATEST THING). I also found $40 in a gift envelope from a client that I totally wasn't expecting, and, after I sneezed about seven times, I was so overjoyed! You're keeping us on our toes already, 2013, but I'm sure ready. :)

I'd like to say "I'm not into resolutions," but let's get real: I love lists, and I love crossing things off my lists. I made some ("anytime?" "premature?") resolutions a few weeks ago, and I'm already doing pretty well! I've watched some movies by myself ("The Pirates!" and "Freakanomics," thanks!), signed up for a photography class, and have been loosey-goosey with some visitation arrangements. Thank you, resolutions list!

I just have a couple of things to add, and so want the whole first list + additions in one place. :)

... the originals...

1. Take ballet again
2. Learn my camera/photo editing equipment more thoroughly
3. Read books before bed
4. Have more special, one-on-one little moments with the kittens (instead of stressing out trying to find something NEW and EXCITING every time we see each other! am I trying to send myself to the looney-bin?!)
5. Call friends and family more often (the drive home from work is nice!)
6. Invite friends over for dinner or movies or games
7. Not get so tied down to our schedule... be more loosey-goosey!
8. Go on "little" dates with R
9. Update my blog more frequently/take more pictures
10. Watch a movie by myself more often :)

... plus...

11. Have a more consistent waking up/bedtime routine

12. Work more on the apartment

13. Start saving more consistently

I'm so excited for this year! It's going to be delightful and awesome and stressful and scary, and that's just what any good roller-coaster ride is. :)

(image via)

2012 | a year in review

2012, my sweet man and I learned so much with you. We learned how to love and trust and support each other even better. We dealt with our crazies and laughed until we cried. We learned to say "I love you so hard," right in the middle of an argument. We learned how to share covers, stop snoring, and lock doors.

With others, we learned when to forgive and when to just accept. We learned to better pick our battles. We were reminded that patience is one of the highest virtues. We learned to focus on the good consequences over the bad ones because even the bad ones have the smallest silver linings. We were shown generosity that blessed our souls and understanding that brighten our spirits when things looked dim.

what was awesome in 2012:
- meeting the kittens in January
- a sweet floral arrangement from my sweet man I was not expecting on Valentine's Day
- Richard skating in the St. Patrick's Day parade on Greenville
- we made up our anniversary date
- going out of town on my birthday for hot-tubs and yum-yums
- finding the perfect apartment for us :) (and lots of Craigslist finds to go with!)
- having a month just with Meggie :)
- roller-derby bouts in Oklahoma :)
- The Clean-Plate Club
- Richard being so understanding and supportive about my new role in all of our lives
- road-tripping with everyone to meet and hang out with R's mom in Tennessee
- meeting all of Richard's friends and all the reasons to get together :)
- Tonya's wedding!
- Richard skating at the derby nationals
- having CJ over for birthday dinner with R (and then going to the gay bar, obv!)
- Sadie swimming with confidence
- R starting his other tattoo sleeve

- all of our new fish-tank friends!

- how much the name "Rudiger" made us laugh
- trying a new hairstyle (bangs!)
- feeling like Hilary lived near-by for a few weeks
- our first couples' Halloween costume (bee and flower!)
- R's birthday week
- inheriting Grandpa Jim's iPhone
- introducing R to Hilary's parents
- baking more often

- the start of Kylie Scouts
- all of Emmy's crazy and/or creative pursuits

- going to see Rush with Richard
- finding flow at my new position at work
- riding the Titan with Richard
- comfortable hugs+hand-holding+kisses from R3
- the kittens meeting my family on a snowy Christmas day

what wasn't so awesome in 2012:
- red-light tickets
- hail-storms and subsequent windshield replacements
- my laser hair-removal procedures didn't work
- not being able to grill on the patio of our apartment
- getting way too tired on Thanksgiving (oops!)
- having to explain grown-up things to the kittens in age-friendly terms
- lack of personal responsibility in serious situations

Baby, it was our first full 365 days together, can you believe it? We're a bit tattered and worn after this year's adventure, but it's quite a becoming look on us, I think. :) I love you with all of my heart, and I'm so grateful for all the joy you (and your party!) bring into my life.

(image via)

best christmas ending ever :)

On the drive home from Granners, the kittens were still madly in the Christmas spirit ("We're finally on our way home to play with our toys we got 12 hours ago!"), and they sang the whole ride home. Ughhh, it was the cutessst. I finally realized half-way home that my iPhone can record these things (woo!), so unfortunately I don't have documentation of a rather unintentional British rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" ("Two tuhtle doves / And a pah-tridge in a pehhhr treee!"). BUT, here's all the kittens sing a good-old fashioned "Rudolph."

When I realized how adeptly my iPhone could record video, I was so excited to ask the kittens to sing my favorite song they ever sing ever! I have no idea what it's called, but I call it the "Num Num Song." This never fails to make me giggle and appreciate how lucky I am to have such amazing little boogerheads in my life. :)

And then, if that wasn't enough, Emmy immediately suggests "Let's do a tropical version!" and jumps straight into the unofficial Carribbean remix of the "Num Num Song." (Mind you, Emmy has never had a formal music lesson in her life which only solidifies the insinuation she is frighteningly genius.) I couldn't breath, I was laughing so hard! BEST KITTENS EVER. When I finally gathered my facilities back at the apartment, I asked Emmy to perform it again so I could record it.

(I'm so fortunate the kids are such camera whores. If I ever miss anything and need them to do it again, they will gladly do so because they have had that much longer to perfect the pose or performance!)

BEST CHRISTMAS ENDING EVER. ;P (Notice how all the girls are singing/dancing and R3 is playing Xbox in the background. That's about right.)

merry, merry, merry merry christmas!

Hooray! I have finally been able to sit down and edit all of our Christmas photos! It's a belated Christmas miracle! On Christmas Eve, Meggie was in charge of creating all of the sweets we gave to family/friends as gifts, which included chocolate-covered pretzels with peppermint dust, chocolate fudge bars in festive shapes with peppermint crumbles, snickerdoodles, and chocolate chip cookies. (This girl is a confectionary genius, if you haven't figured that out.) 

After the littles went to bed, we pulled out all the presents and lined them up around the tree. One of R's traditions is giving all the kids their own wrapping paper they know exactly where to go when it's their turn. Isn't that smart?

And then came the big day! (More pictures after the jump...)

christmas dinner

The Sunday before Christmas we had Christmas Dinner with all the Moores, and it was so fun! The spread included turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, broccoli+rice casserole, asparagus, creamed onions, and rolls. (Our little apartment kitchen can pump.it.out, man!) Although I had to work every day up until Christmas, Richard had the weekend off as per usual, which means I came home on Sunday and everything was donereadytoeat. Um, best boyfriend ever?! Yes.

Watching a movie before dinner.

The food lasted all of 10 seconds. And then Cody and Ryan cleaned up everything!

Darrah asked me to take a quality picture of her with her boys. Isn't this cute?!

And then Darrah asked me to take a quality picture of Cody for his graduation announcements. I was so flattered! Look at that "blanket for a backdrop" action. I even amaze myself sometimes. ;P

The cherry on the cupcake was this picture which includes 1) An actual picture of Meghan's face which looks so sweet and adorable and 2) Richard playing with a squid hat the littles got at Six Flags the day before. This picture is, well, everything. ;D

a gift from debbie and aaron

When Richard and I went to Matt and Ioana's annual holiday party, we had the pleasure of receiving a crazy awesome gift from Debbie and Aaron. Turns out Debbie's job had given her some free passes to Six Flags, and she wanted us (the six of us! seven including Nick!) to go with her adorable family the next day. Um, put on your sunglasses! There's Holiday Joy beaming from my face!

Meghan's relationship with Six Flags is analogous to my relationship with Disneyland (ie, very sacred and very exciting), and the littles were obviously all in. Since we had to wait until I got off work to go, we were only able to ride a few things, but hey! Free tickets for eleven people to Six Flags!

Sadie, generally indicative of the evening's mood.

Veronica wanted a picture with Richard after Emmy's. 

The most focused picture I could get of Matthew. ;P

After our first ride, Debbie and Aaron took Veronica, Matthew, Meggie, Nick, and a very brave Emily to ride The Titan (the biggest roller-coaster in the park). While R and I reeeally wanted to go, too, we didn't want to take Sadie and R3 just to have them stand in line for something they wouldn't want to ride. We all split up, and R and I took the two littles on some kid-friendly adventures (the train and the swings).

So excited for the train!

R and I were admittedly disappointed about not being able to go on The Titan (I had ridden it a few times in the past, Richard never had), but when we caught up with everyone after a while Aaron immediately said, "Dude, Debbie and I will look after everyone. You two go ride that!" If I needed any more proof that Aaron is relentlessly precious, there it was! Richard's eyes lit up like fireflies, and we ran to the line right before the park closed. Deee!

Richard loved the roller-coaster and was stoked Aaron gave him the chance to keep up with his 9-year-old daughter (apparently The Titan terrified Emmy, but she was proud of herself for riding it!). I really enjoyed the chance to scream my head off (get all that holidaze pressure out!). Some days I just stand in awe of the amazing life I get to live with such an adorable big kid by my side and wonderful people who enjoy the journey just as much! We are so blessed to be so tired all the time. :)