Notes from the airport…

So, here I am at the airport, early as per usual! I’m a TOTAL SPAZ while traveling, and I really love to arrive early for flights just in case something happens. This morning was freaking insane, despite my bags being packed and me being basically ready to go, because that’s just how it is. There’s always something to do when you’re leaving. But now, I have oodles of free time prior to departure, and of course, I have a gem of a story to share.

Yesterday was a Very Special Day because I got an iPhone! Andrew upgraded to the new one and I became the proud owner of his 2G. I’m basically in love with it and have spent much time cuddling it, getting it new apps and stopping just short of rubbing it against myself in a scary way. I’m in love.

This morning, I went to go purchase a pink case for it because I don’t want anything to happen to my little baby. As I walked down the aisle, I noticed a middle-aged gentleman scouting out the adult films, carefully hidden behind gray plastic. No one really wants to see anyone shopping for porn, but I sort of brushed it off. No big deal. Except for when I was walking back. I heard the man talking, saying, “Just a minute, honey! I’ll just be a second!”

HE WAS TALKING TO HIS CHILD. A little girl who couldn’t have been more than 7 years old. Um, really? This little expedition couldn’t wait until your daughter was away? This is some sort of a summer outing!?

Disturbing to say the least.

Moral of the story: leave your kids at home, peeps. At least for the more adult journeys and purchases.

I think that’s it. Please pray for me, as I’m currently stuck next to a woman who is peppering her poor husband with questions about using a “zipper drive”, what site he uses to “back up his internet computer” and how much “kag” of memory he has. Also, there are several small children singing and dancing around me, making me feel rather stabby. Oh, and if one more skycap nearly rams into me with a wheelchair, I’M GONNA SNAP.

Happy trails, kids! I’ll be back soon!

Goodbye my lovers…

I’m off to Illinois for 10 days of fun on the lake, eating delicious food, and spending time with Andrew’s amazing family! YAY! Oh, and not cooking or cleaning for 10 days. Pretty much the highlight.

I’ll definitely be posting some while I’m there—they do have the internet and I’m planning on having lots of time to relax. Also, I’ll be eating the delicious Horseshoe. It’s basically heaven on a plate.

Have a great day, today, friends, and if you think of it, say a little prayer that I’m not seated next to a puker. Oh, and that my plane doesn’t crash. That too.

How to Pack a Good Carry-On

What I’ll be bringing on the plane tomorrow, besides my laptop:

Snack bags. We'll be on the plane all afternoon and evening, and I don't want a hungry boyfriend. Apple muffins + oatmeal chocolate chip cookies = yummy snacks!

A little light reading...

Gum, obviously, to keep my ears unclogged and keep me whine-free

Some actual reading...

List-making suppies, or more accurately, tic tac toe paper for boredom

Two well-stocked IPods to drown out the weirdo (besides Andrew) I'll inevitably be sitting near...

Toiletries, makeup, jewelry...just in case!

NOT PICTURED: My anti-anxiety medication and extra underwear. Too much information.

What am I forgetting, folks? Any suggestions?

Whose Wal-Mart Is It? It’s My Wal-Mart!

Good morning, gentle readers! I hope you had a lovely weekend! I certainly did; however, last night, my face was assaulted by a crazy case of summer acne. You see, in my hometown, summer is normally scorching hot. We’ll avoided the heat until this weekend, when it finally hit over 100 degrees. This marked a special annual even in my life: The Heat Induced Summer Breakout. My skin is by no means creamy and lovely, but it’s usually pretty decent. Until summer hits. All of the sweating and dryness and general ick really catches up with it, causing my skin to FREAK OUT and break out.

Of course, this timing coincides perfectly with Andrew and I’s big trip to Illinois to visit his family. When I was there at Christmas, we didn’t see too many of his friends, due to holiday craziness, but this time? We’ve got lots planned. I’m sure they’ll find Andrew incredibly charitable for dating a chubby girl whose hair is guaranteed to frizz to high heavens due to the humidity and the raging cystic acne. I’ve been coating my zits in tea tree oil and I’m pretty sure I’ve purchased every anti-frizz product on earth, so here’s hoping my hair doesn’t freak out too badly, and my skin decides to behave.

Anyways, in preparation for my trip tomorrow, I had to head to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. Yeah, I know, Target is better but I love Wal-Mart’s antihistamines and my ears have a terrible time flying and that’s the magic cure. Also, I’ll be real: my bra broke this morning, and I needed a cheap new, nude colored one. Let’s also be honest about the fact that a new bra is pretty much the best thing in the world. Hurrah support! Anyways, I also decided to pick up some of those little sock things that you can wear with ballet flats and whatnot to avoid the stank that is closed toed shoes worn barefoot. Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean. I was horrified to find that now, in addition to the traditional “sockie” (as I call them) they carry these little gems:

Just in case you’re wearing flip flops and want something else between your toes and want to wear socks with your backless sandals, Wal-Mart can meet your needs! I mean, really: who wears these? WHO?

If you do, I’m sorry.

The other weird experience of the morning was the Wal-Mart cheer. You’ll understand the title of this post a lot more if you check out that link! I heard loud yelling coming from the back of the store, and found the majority of employees, gathered around, yelling a cheer. Apparently, this cheer is highly sacred among Wal-Mart employees and does a lot to drum up morale:

The amount of time spent looking for this video is ridiculous, so really, you should watch it. YOU’RE WELCOME.

I should probably continue packing now.

Pretty perfect…

After a lovely day with my family, Andrew and I hung out with some friends and drank wine, played Balderdash, ate delicious snacks and laughed a lot.

Such a lovely weekend…

Hope yours has been awesome, too.

What I loved this week…

—I am super hooked on this playlist made by the adorable Kyla Roma.

—I am dying to get my hands on these Fiestaware dishes. I think they are so fun and colorful—I feel like I would be so happy while eating every day!

—Looking for a fabulous summer read? Then, please, do yourself a favor and get The Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Society. It’s a lovely historical fiction book that is written in letters back and forth between the characters you just can’t help but love! And the end made me tear up and want to stand up and cheer for the heroine. It’s an easy fun read. Can’t recommend it enough.

—Etsy is forever getting me in trouble, but I’m in love with this grass-green neckwarmer with the flower buttons. I think this would look so cute with winter wear…like a little spring preview!

—This series on Flickr is so cute, it nearly killed me dead. I love books, and the way she dresses up for reviews? SO CUTE. I may have to order her book for inspiration.

—In my never-ending quest to figure out why I’m fat and get psychotically angry if I can’t have sugar, I followed the suggestion of the ever-lovely Moose and checked out Potatoes Not Prozac. It’s giving me a lot to think about.

—Of course, I could never get off sweets completely, so I’m very, very interested in this book. Oh, and this one, too.

—Also, I was super honored to be featured on Five Star Friday this week. It was a dream come true!

Beret not included…

On Thursday, I hung out with my friend Leslie and we did some art stuff. Art and I have a very complicated relationship. You see, I love it. I like painting and being creative and the supplies and the whole thing; however, there’s one tiny issue: I’m kinda not so good at it. I tend to fumble around with paint, can’t draw to save my life and while I have good intentions, my “final product” always looks kind of lame. Sure, I paint in my watercolor/art journal, but it’s just for me and it’s usually just color or some very rough stuff to compliment my words.

Leslie is incredibly talented. I’ll try and keep the gushing minimal, but Leslie is one of those people who sees the world in a really unique way and then figures out how to make it prettier. Her art is amazing, as are her photography skills. On top of that, she’s freaking hilarious and spending time with her is always fabulous.

Anyways, I asked her for some art tips and she dealt with my attempts at “painting” and I learned so much. Now, I’m looking at my very empty bank account (payday’s Tuesday!) and this:

That is all the fun stuff I’d order that Leslie taught me about: masking fluid, ink, gouache…

I’m really looking forward to ordering it (or buying it at the store) and getting to play with my more artsy side soon. Maybe, someday, I’ll be kinda good at it.

Pub Quiz!

One activity that Andrew has gotten me really into is Pub Quiz. Pub Quiz or Trivia Night or whatever you want to call it is a huge quiz with questions ranging from science, literature and sports, to pop culture and music. It’s usually held at a bar of some sort, and people of all ages and backgrounds come together to answer questions and compete for ridiculous prizes.

Unfortunately, we’ve had some bad luck finding a place that works for us. We really loved our first Trivia Night, but few people did, so it was canceled after we’d been going for a few months. We tried a few others, but they either sucked or were canceled or it just didn’t work for us.

At long last, we may have found a place that works. We went last night, and were blown away by the number of people there for the game. The bar was huge and there were a ton of people there to play—in fact, they announced that if you intend to come and play, they’re no requiring reservations. Considering the half-hearted turnout we’ve experienced at other Trivia Nights, this was refreshing. The Quiz Master was fun and had a good personality. Plus, I’m not gonna lie: the barbecue chicken salad I had for dinner was the most amazing salad I think I’ve ever had. And that wins me over every time.

Here’s a few shots of our night:

The bar is a brewery, and I loved all the cool pipes and such that were on the ceiling, plus I have a love affair with skylights…

Our quiz master circling the masses. There were so many people playing that he had to announce the questions in different sections of the bar.

Our answer sheet. We got 21/30, which I’m pretty sure is our best score AND we weren’t in dead last, as we have been at many a pub quiz.

Someone is SOOOO TIRED of having his picture taken for my blog. Good thing he doesn’t actually read it too often! Hee hee! Love you, baby!

So, if these pictures have enticed you, you’re smart, you like yummy food, or you realize that I’m a fun girl to hang out with AND you live in the Sacramento area and want to come play with us, email me. Right now, it’s just the two of us, and teams can have six people. Big props if you’re a history buff or just know weird crap.

Bet you didn’t know I was a klepto

Earlier this week, LiLu Twittered that she’d forgotten her towel at the gym, and had used paper towels to dry off, reminding me of one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever done.

I used to go to the gym before work a lot. If you’ve never had the pleasure, it’s awesome because you get your workout in, but it sucks because you have to pack everything you own into a small bag in order to get ready to go. Not to mention the fact that you have to hang out in a locker room, naked, with other naked women, which is not my thing. I’m super modest and uncomfortable. I spend most of my time trying to figure out how I can show the least amount of skin. It never fails that I’m stuck next to a Naked Talker—someone who is 100% comfortable chatting while they stand there naked, apparently oblivious to the fact that they’re NOT WEARING ANY CLOTHES.

Anyways, the first time I ever worked out before work, I was an idiot and forgot a towel. I was nearly done with my shower when I realized that I didn’t have one (because yep, I rocked my gym clothes into the shower because I was so freaked out about wandering naked). Because my gym was fancy, I figured that surely, they had extra towels somewhere. I peeked my head out of the shower, and right in front of me, there was a white towel, neatly folded on the bench. It looked like the plain white ones that were next to the pool area, so I figured the gym must have stocked them. I looked around, grabbed the towel and wrapped myself in it and dried off thoroughly before scampering back to my locker.

“Excuse me?”

A very naked woman was standing behind me.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“Um, I think you took my towel.”

I looked down, and the plain white towel I’d picked up? HAD A HUGE MONOGRAM ON IT. There was no escaping the fact that I’d stolen some poor lady’s towel.

I tried to explain that I thought they were issued by the gym and that I didn’t know but…it was ugly. The woman thought I was a weird towel-stealing klepto and obviously, who wants to dry off with a towel used by some weird chick?

It did, however, get me out of working out in the morning.

How to make the perfect fro-yo…

So, we have a bit of a frozen yogurt problem in our house. The problem being that we love it too much. Every few weeks, we say, “We’re going to swear off frozen yogurt!” But then, one of us mentions the sweet deliciousness and before we know it, Andrew is off to pick some up, and the obsession begins again.

Today, I present to you how to make the perfect frozen yogurt, in my humble opinion.

First, start with yogurt. Today, I used Cookies & Cream, but vanilla, or chocolate or swirl will totally work.

Once you have yogurt, add a SERIOUS amount of marshmallow cream. No namby-pamby servings will do here. Like, cover the top of the yogurt.

See?

One you’ve done that, add some brownie chunks:

OK, I know I lost many of you when I added the marshmallow, but this is where is gets really questionable for most people.

Know what those chunks are? That’s mochi. Yep. Top it with mochi.

This, eaten with a plastic spoon, is what they serve in heaven.

What do you put on your frozen yogurt?

P.S. If you think this is weird, I think you should know that until I made this concoction, my favorite combo was chocolate yogurt with gummy bears and Cap’n Crunch.