supa' models

let's analyze this picture that cuz e emailed me last night.  

to the right we've got cuz e, who seems very unsure of whomever is snapping this photo.  in the middle we've got my little sis, ica, who is already practicing her "new york elbows."  she, too, does not seem comfortable with the idea of this picture being taken.  (i'm wondering what kind of torturing/bribing took place to get them to actually stand there and pretend to pose.)  you'd think if two people were not quite certain about the picture taking, then surely the third would catch on.  but nope.  i'm all "um, camera, look at me and my swwwwwweeeeeeeeeeet plastic charm necklace."

but seriously.  if you had that necklace you know you'd be posing with it, too, even if the background was the monkey cages at the amarillo zoo.  also.  check out my tan.  i started young, folks.

30 things

my friend amy posted a blog similar to this earlier this week.  i liked the concept so much, i stole it!  so below, you'll find 30 things i have learned in the last 30 years (yikes.  it still is weird to say that.).  quite obviously, i've learned so much more than this . . . i tried to stay away from being melodramatic and cliché, but i am ME, so i'm pretty positive some of that seeped in.

1. i should have paid attention when my mom tried to teach me to sew
   
2. i wasn’t cut out for a small college, but i wish i lived in a small town.
   
3. wheat bread is better than white bread.  always.
   
4. crock pots could quite possibly be the best invention ever.
   
5. waking up to 'help' feed cattle with your grandpa is always much easier when gramma has the malt-o-meal and brown sugar waiting for you at breakfast.
   
6. chili and chili soup are two different things.
   
7. cobbler and crisps are two different things.
   
8. it was okay to be a band nerd.  
9. pie will always taste better in osborne.
   
10. green beans will always taste better if nana made them.
    
11. tell people they matter to you.
    
12. sincerity is imperative.
    
13. my mom has a ridiculous amount of patience.
    
14. as einstein said, “never stop questioning.”
    
15. poetry doesn’t have to rhyme.  poetry doesn’t have to be analyzed.
    
16. it’s okay to have standards, but don’t let your standards limit you.
17. npr will always make me think of tuesday afternoons with my dad driving between owasso, claremore, and pryor.
    
18. owasso’s bueno is the best, hands down.
    
19. sometimes people don’t really want to hear your opinion.  you'll probably stay friends if you can figure out when those times are.
    
20. reconnecting with your past helps you move into the future.
    
21. you don’t always have to go out on friday and saturday nights.
    
22. saying “i want to punch them in the face” is strangely satisfying, even if you are just saying it to yourself in an empty car.
    
23. treat the “new kid” at work or school the way you would want to be treated if you were in their place instead.
    
24. go on dates with yourself. (i’ll explain later.)
    
25. don’t participate in the politics at work, school, church, etc.
    
26. do participate in the politics of voting.
    
27. music is always better if it is performed live.
    
28. it’s okay to like things that are popular or trendy. 
    
29. wal-mart isn’t always the spawn of satan.
    
30. the rose parade is over 5 miles long.  even longer if the disneyland float breaks down.
    

and for the single ladies - cody just called while i was writing this to inform me that apparently liquor stores are where we should be hanging out to meet men.  so, i thought i'd add that as a p.s. here.  she did not really elaborate on the quality available, so shop at your own risk, i imagine.

how are these things the same?

chicken tacos.  

strawberry kabobs.  

spinach, feta, and tomato pizzas.  

peach cobbler.  

baked ziti.

any guesses?

hold on to your hats, people.  some of you may have a hard time believing this, but i cooked ALL of those items within the last few days.  yes!  me!  and, and, and - none of them came from a lean cuisine box!  i KNOW!  crazy, isn't it?  i even took a few pictures as proof to those of you who are not believing that i strayed from my summertime menu of turkey sandwiches, strawberry yogurt, applesauce, and carrots.

strawberry kabobs 

(whipped cream added by mi madre - lord knows i wouldn't have!) 

baked ziti

(and a clean kitchen?  um, yeah.  i'm AWESOME!)

and you know what else?!  i made the ziti from SCRATCH with LEFTOVERS and things in my PANTRY and i added spinach to the sauce to make it HEALTHY.  it's kind of like i've grown up.  even if it was just for the last few days.

so here's a shock. i'm a procrastinator.

i have company coming into town starting tomorrow evening. there is a lot to do to prepare for these lovely people, not the least of which is figuring out how to make it look like a golden retriever doesn't lounge around this apartment all day long. if i were creepy and distrubed, i could save all of her hair for one of these lovely creations. thankfully, i am neither. plus, it wouldn't be that useful to me as it never really gets that cold in tejas.

naturally, since i have so much to accomplish, i've decided my best line of defense is putting everything off as long as possible.  here are some things i have done in the last 48 hours INSTEAD of cleaning, laundry, de-lucying, etc.

• looked up recipes for the weekend . . . seriously.  stop laughing.  i'm cookin' for these people.  i must really like them.
• taught myself to play kasey chambers songs ("the captain," "bluebird," and "for sale") on the gee-tar.  you can too!
• using these three songs and quite a few others, i had a mini-recording session playing with the garage band function on my new computer.
• harassed cuz e, jtn, and cuz j on messenger way too many times and claimed to be bored.
• sang along with the entire wicked soundtrack hoping it would motivate me to do laundry.
• pool time.  obviously.
• talked on the phone.  a lot.
• agreed to be maid of honor for one of my favorite people ever.  (i would have said yes anyway, but the kicker was this group of words, "you can choose whatever dress and whatever color you want.")
• became OBSESSED with good reads.
• found three new blogs that i really really really really like and proceeded to read ALL of their posts.  (sarah, brittany, and matt.  warning.  the last link is a very sad and powerful blog.  i cried the entire time i read it.)
• googled african swallows.
• ran.  see.  i can be productive, too.
• started (well, re-started, since i tried this last week and then couldn't walk for two days afterward) my 30-DAY SHRED.  grrr.
• blue mesa.
• read a crappy book.
• started reading a fabulous book.
• um.  wrote this blog . . . 

and now, zero hour is upon me.  

new obsession, part deux - or why my sister is evil

warning - this is a very girly entry

so this is suppose to be the summer i "debrand" myself . . . i've mentioned this one other time, but have yet to accomplish it, or explain it, for that matter. hopefully, after my houseful of visitors this week, i will be able to get down to the business of said debranding. initially, i thought it wouldn't be a big deal to stop pouring money into the beauty industry. and maybe if i had started the process a month ago, it wouldn't have been a big deal. unfortunately, two things have happened in the last month. two things i will gladly blame on my sister.

1 - while living in nyc, ica started collecting various EXPENSIVE (like sephora expensive, not barney's expensive) bath and body products. (she says she got them from leftover goody bags from her job. yeah. right. i've seen this girl in action at sephora and anthropologie.) anyway. she has had the bliss vanilla and bergamot body buff for a while, which means i get to steal it when i visit.  well.  i finally went and bought my own (thanks, nana!).  I LOVE THIS STUFF.  just thought i would share . . . i have a really hard time not using it every day.  the one downside is that it doesn't feel fabulous on a sunburn.

2 - even though she was doing a kind thing in gifting me with kiehl's creme de corps lotion, ica may have awakened a sleeping monster.  i've never understood how people can pay more than $4 a pop for lotion.  vaseline and jergen's do a fantastic job, in my opinion.  but.  now i see.  i think i've already used half of the bottle of this stuff, which is not good because $4 a bottle it is not.

so the point is, now every five months or so BECAUSE OF ICA, i'm gonna HAVE to shell out a ridiculous amount of money for these two products because seriously, i don't think i'll ever be able to live without them again.

twinkle toes

so this morning i woke up (kind of late for me) and turned on the today show to be greeted by the screams of teenage girls.  ahh.  only one thing that could mean - the summer concert series has begun. and then i remembered the promos i've been seeing all week about chris brown kicking it off.  i have developed an affinity for chris brown the last two years mainly because the majority of my girls LOVE him.  i don't know if i can fully explain their passion for him, but know that it includes binders and lockers covered with his pictures, writing out the lyrics to his songs in their most creative lettering and passing them to each other, signing all of their papers with the addition of "AKA MRS. CHRIS BROWN."  so many of my kids can come across as hardened and overly mature that it makes me smile to see that sometimes being 14 is still just being 14.  so chris brown, i don't mind.

but watching him this morning i got a little jealous.  why can't i dance like that?  

which brings me to my new summertime fascination that reared its head last year and is back full force this year.  so you think you can dance.  yay!  the REAL stuff starts next week and i can't wait.  the amount of creativity and energy the dancers and choreographers have amazes me.    here are my two favorite performances from last year . . . just thought i would share.

pretending to be creative

for mother's day, i headed up good ol' i-35 to hang out with my parents.  my sister was the bad daughter that weekend and abandoned us to go to kc for a wedding shower instead of spending time with the family.  kidding!  (sorta.)  even without jessica's awesomeness, mom, dad, and i managed to have a pretty good weekend.  saturday afternoon, we spent some time at the okc farmer's market exploring the antique stores and the fresh veggies and bedding plants.  if you've ever spent time with dad, mom, or me, you know that any one of us could take up a good chunk of an afternoon doing any of these things . . . imagine our powers combined.  it was a day of new okc experiences for me.  we also had the BEST STEAK EVER (or at least this year) at cattlemen's.  i'd been there once before, in college, when i went with the entire town of alex, oklahoma before the state championship basketball game in 1997.  sadly, i think i was in my no red meat phase at that time and only ate a salad.  annnnnnnnnnnnyway.  all afternoon, i was entertaining myself with my camera.  yesterday in an effort to entertain myself and avoid the massive amounts of organization i need to do, i decided to mess around with some of the pictures and see what my new computer could do in the ways of making me seem more photographically inclined than i actually am.  here's what i came up with . . . 

and just for you aunt janet, a picture of the steak . . .