Thursday, I don't care about you...it's Friday, I'm in love

Seriously y'all...I am SO glad it's Friday. I am so ready to bust out of this office, it's stupid.

This weekend will be spent AWAY from our house, which will be nice\weird since we've kind of been home-bodies for the last few weekends. Tomorrow I have a baby shower to attend. I despiiiiiiise baby showers. I don't like the games, I don't like the forced conversation, I don't like getting the 3rd degree about when I'm going to have kids...le sigh. I do love the parents-to-be though, so go I shall. Also, there is the promise of beer, bbq and good tunes by their pool afterward, so if nothing else I suffer for a few hours and then get sloshed for free tomorrow night. Wheeee!

Continuing the Dad Bday theme of the week, I went out to lunch with the Pops today. He took me to this hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant that sits almost literally under the freeway called PHO21, which made me laugh and think of Forever21, which then made me laugh harder b/c I wonder if that's the association they were going for when they came up with the name.
By the clientele I observed today, I am going to guess not.

But PHOMYGOD (heh) I am in LOOOOVE with PHO. I don't know if it's supposed to be capitalized like that, but I am going with it because holy balls, that shit was uh-mazing, y'all. I cannot believe I've not had it before. I've eaten Udon, which I guess is the Japanese counterpart to PHO (?), but I've never been a fan of the super thick noodles - really guys, they're thick like a chopstick - and also the egg on top? What the eff is that about?

Mmmmm...PHO goooood...

I think I might try and get SK to go with me for some more tonight.

Happy weekend to all!

Yaaaaay Dad!

Yesterday was my dad's birthday so he and I went out to dinner to celebrate. SK was at the US All-Star v. Man U game, mom is out of town, which she feels like a big jerk about, and my brother is Air Forcin' it up in Oklahoma.

Don't worry guys - we had tons of fun without you! Bahaha!

Babin's is me and my dad's favorite place, so we went there and ate some yummy Oysters Bienville then Salmon for him and blackened Amber-Jack for me, both with Sauce Piquant. I always bring home at least half of my meal when we eat there, but last night I left it in my parent's fridge. Rats!

It was good to sit and talk to my dad, just me and him. He's a quiet guy and usually when we're all together my mom and I are yapping away so he and SK and the bro hardly get a word in. I still did a ton of talking last night, but it was so nice to have a few hours of uninterrupted conversation with him.

My relationship with my parents has always been a good one (minus a few regrettable teenage years...also, count out the move to Houston), but the way I connect with each of them has always been so different. My mom was/is the talker. Have a problem? Talk it out with Momma. She and I talk at least once a day. Our relationship is extremely vocal. My dad? Not so much. We would go out in the yard and play catch for hours or go to baseball games or wake up early and watch lightning storms. I've always been a Daddy's Girl and always known I can count on him for anything, but our relationship has changed a lot in the past few years. I go to him for advice now, where it used to be just my mom. I love hanging out with him, drinking beer and talking about my life and seeing his eyes light up with pride. I still love to know that I make him proud.

In SK, I see so many of the same qualities I love about my dad, and I feel fortunate to have found a man I know my dad is proud to call his son-in-law.

Happy birthday, Daddy!
xo, Punk

Troubles they may come and go, but good times they're the gold...

There is not a single picture here that I wouldn't immediately jump into, given the chance. I need some beauty and whimsy in my life today.

Wednesday, why must you always suck so many balls? WHY?

Happy Hump Day, suckers!

all photos via weheartit

Every time Catherine revved up the microwave, I'd piss my pants and forget who I was for about half an hour or so...

If you know where that quote comes from, you're officially invited to Thanksgiving at my house.

This last weekend was pretty much a non-stop party at our casa starting Friday night and cruising right on into Sunday evening. Seriously, I don't think I've spent so much money on alcohol in one weekend since I was in college. My cousins were in town, all of SK's siblings and their kids came over on Saturday, and then Sunday we got to hang in the pool with some doctor friends of ours who we don't see nearly as often as we'd like. Damn you, doctor schedules with your 24-hour shifts and life saving-ness...

The weekend kicked off with a very "Friday, I'm NOT in Love" event, which was getting my eyes dilated.

HOLY BALLS.

Has anyone had to do this recently? What a miserable experience. I have never had my eyes dilated, so I had no freaking clue what to expect. They tapped the drops in, sat me in a darkened room for a while, shined a bright ass light in each eye for a few seconds, and sent me on my way. With those supa stylish roll-out, wrap-around granny "glasses," of course. I didn't think I needed them, seeing as how I had my own shades and I was only driving 2 miles down the road to my house. I did all right, but DANG it was bright outside! I pretty much wore my sunglasses for the next 4 hours solid, even while sitting in my living room with the blinds down, because the TV was too bright. FOR REAL, y'all. I don't know if you can ever turn down this awesome service, but if your Ophthalmologist ever comes at you with an eye dropper, try your damndest to PEACE THE FUCK OUT.

Just do you know, I didn't just go jack my eyes up for fun on a Friday afternoon - there was a reason.

Ever heard of Ocular Migraines?

Anyone?

- crickets -

Riiiiight.

ME NEITHER.

Turns out, I get them.

Basically whats been happening is this: Randomly throughout my day, I get craaazy tunnel vision. Like, everything on the periphery goes black and I can only see what is directly in front of me, and even that looks kind of blurry and shimmery. Seriously, it looks like someone threw a ton of freaking glitter into my eyes for about 15 minutes. I thought it was from staring at my computer screen all day, but then one day when it happened, my left hand went numb.

Yaaaayyyy!!!

Possible brain issues! I promise I wasn't freaking out AT ALL.

So I go to a doctor and he asks me all kinds of questions, has me do some random balancing tests, checks my eyes, hooks me up to an EKG and takes enough blood from me to satiate Jaws for a week. Also, he schedules an MRI. All come back totally normal. Doctor is stumped.

He tells me to go see an eye doctor and have them fax him their results. Minus the eye dilation (which I told him I would likely never forgive him for) this guy was THE SHIT. Not that First Doctor wasn't nice, but Second Doctor knew I was worried since all the other tests had come back negative and that I just wanted an answer to what the hell was going on with my glittery vision, so Second Doctor took his time and even printed off some info on the condition which he stapled together and presented to me.

Ocular Migraines it is.

But I've never had a migraine, says I.
Um, yeah, you probably have, says Second Doctor.

Turns out, I just experience my migraines waaay differently than someone who has traditional migraines, and to that I say WOO HOO. I have friends and family members who are crippled by the things. I see glitter and have no head pain? No nausea? I can totally deal with that.

As with a normal migraine, no cure. I was told I need to track when they happen and see if I can figure out what triggers them.

Of course, now that I know what the hell is going on, nothing has happened.
Glitter Watch 2010 is in full effect.

You go Glen Coco!

Is it just me, or is anyone else seriously skeptical about Mean Girls 2? Also, am I like the last person in the world to hear about this?

Mean Girls was THE movie when it came out. I loved it! I still do! I still quote that thing. You can bet yer ass that if I catch it on TNT on a weekend I am couch-bound for at least 2 hours. Even SK likes it. I don't know how they could improve on the original with a sequel.

My sorority sisters (how cliche...sorority girls obsessed with Mean Girls...shut up) and I watched that damn DVD over and over and over, admitting the evil things we'd done to other girls, which I get is just awful, but it was also weirdly therapeutic and made me feel as if all could be forgiven. I wasn't a "mean girl" in high school because I think you need more than like, 5 friends to even try and fit that bill - also, being popular helps, which I was totally not - but I definitely did some mean girl things in college. It was general catty girl stuff; nothing huge or life-ruining, but still stuff I am ashamed of now. Girls shouldn't be mean to each other! It's dumb! Serves no purpose and is just childish, but I still see it happen with WOMEN from time to time. I guess "Mean Girl" movies will always be relevant, no matter what your age.

The greatest people you will ever meet
**Also, anyone else totally in love with Lizzy Caplan? No? Just me? All right then...

Whatever, I'm getting cheese fries.

And I want my pink shirt back! I want my pink shirt back!!

You smell like a baby prostitute.

There are NO rules here. I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a COOL mom! Right Regina?

Regina George is not sweet! She's a scum-sucking road whore, she ruined my life!

Boo, you whore!

Friday, I'm in Love

Go to Summer's to check out what all the fuss is about!

Ok, so it's Friiiiiday and I in love with that little fact right there on it's own. But I am especially diggin' today beeecause I finally had the opportunity to...

- drumroll please -

...WORK FROM HOME!

I know some of you just got up and left or clicked the little X at the top of the screen because anticlimactic, much? But seriously y'all, this is a big effing deal.

SK and I bought our little home in the 'burbs for specific reasons - close to our families and friends, has a yard for our crazy B, has a pool (insanely expensive to get a house with a pool in the city) and durr, we loved it when we walked in. All glitter and rainbows aside, I have to commute 30 miles each way to work. That's 60 miles round trip. In Houston traffic. Which translates into about 2 to 2 and a half hours on the road. EVERY DAY.

Have I ever mentioned I hate traffic? That it makes me a crazy person? That I cuss more in an hour to work than most normal people do in a week? That I cuss more in an hour and a half home from work than a belligerent drunk does in a MONTH?

Yeah, my travel to/from my office SUCKS BALLS. SK's is no picnic either. But, we signed up for it. I knew when we bought the house that I would have no choice but to make the drive. Houston is such an uber-unfriendly commuter city. No public transportation from the suburbs to the city, save for some random park and rides that all kind of go to the same general area. Also, it's hot as ass most of the year, so hoofing it from a bus stop to an office would necessitate another shower upon arrival.

Gosh, I am complaining a lot right now. But seriously, this is how strongly my hatred is for the traffic in this city.

Being able to get up this morning, go for my daily run with SK and Bella, come home and actually cool off and stop sweating BEFORE I get in the shower, eat a relaxed breakfast and then stroll into the guest room/office to be greeted by this little setup was honestly bliss...

Ok, now before you start laughing hysterically at how I have a framed picture of SK and I on my sweet CARD TABLE desk, slow your roll. Like I said, this is the first time I have ever worked from home. The room I am posted up in today is our 2nd guest room/office/wedding overflow room. Before the garage sale last weekend (which was an insane success!!) this room was a WRECK. Gifts crammed into every corner, boxes balanced precariously in stacks taller than me...you get it. We've cleaned and cleared and sold a bunch of our old junk so now the room that was once a giant mess and constant reminder of our general life disorganization currently houses only a bed and a desk that is kind of sketchy in that it is sort of falling apart and I don't know how well it will hold up my 3lb MacBook. My mom lent us a card table for the garage sale and she has yet to collect it so I drug it inside for the day. The framed photo is set in a mat that is signed by all our friends from our Stock the Bar shower, and while we don't have a place to put it right now, I hate to put something so sweet in a closet.

That was my crazy-long explanation of why you shouldn't make fun of me. Hi, I am a dork.

Have a great weekend, kiddos! Mine starts at exactly 5pm and kicks off WITHOUT an hour and a half drive home.

HELL YES!

Any happy little thought?

I totally still am used to be OBSESSED with Disney movies. I loved them all and still have a ton of the original-release VHS tapes. Yeah, that's right - TAPES. With the big, white, puffy cases and all the random ads/coupons/junk that came inside. I was so badass as a kid.

I'm not in a great mood today and for some reason, I can't get "You Can Fly!" out of my head. I love me some Peter Pan, don't get me wrong, but holy Jesus this song is driving me nuts. These images make me happy, though - maybe they'll perk you up, too, if you're having a less than stellar Thursday.

Think of Christmas, think of snow, think of sleigh bells off you go! Like reindeer in the sky!

Is it just me, or is Peter looking a bit Beavis and Buttheady here? I think it's the high-arched eyebrow. Manscaping in Neverland?

What little girl DIDN'T want to be Tinkerbelle for Halloween? I never dressed up as her b/c I have brown hair and had an issue with wigs, so I didn't want to look lame. I did admire her sass, though.

God, I wanted to be a mermaid SO BAD. My cousins and I would play Mermaids for hours in the pool. When Little Mermaid came out, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. Guess who never got to be Ariel, though? Again because of the brown hair. I was always a sister. So the games slowly became less about "THE" Little Mermaid, and more about her brunette sister's adventures. I too was sassy. And a bossy little bitch.

I always felt bad for the little skunk Lost Boy. He totally got the short end of the costume stick.

all images via Google or WeHeartIt

The Luckiest

“That thing, that moment, when you kiss someone and everything around becomes hazy and the only thing in focus is you and this person and you realize that that person is the only person that you're supposed to kiss for the rest of your life, and for one moment you get this amazing gift and you want to laugh and you want to cry because you feel so lucky that you found it and so scared that that it will go away all at the same time.”

Drew Barrymore

One of the first photos of me and SK, taken in New Braunfels, May of 2006 at a TLU graduation party. I knew then I didn't want to kiss anyone else. Ever.

Do as you please, I'll back you up...

So why not break some rules while doing it?

Wandering off the beaten path is ok. I need to constantly remind myself of that.

Just because people make different life choices than I would make doesn't make those decisions wrong. I need to remember that. I need to keep in mind that I have always done pretty much everything by the book - graduated high school, went immediately to college, graduated in 4 years (and a summer...cough), met SK, dated SK, moved in with SK, and then married SK. All done in the order they are traditionally done in. Minus the moving in before marriage.
DON'T JUDGE A JUDGER!

So, yeah...I'm judgy.
I try not to be, but I am. I form immediate opinions about people based on their clothes, or their hair, or their shoes. I am usually wrong about these initial judgments, but I can't help making them. I am trying to stop.

Other people do that too, right?

Right???

I'm not perfect. Far from it. I need to work harder at really BEING THERE when people call on me for love and support. I am not the most emotional person in the world, which has served me well thus far, but I need to work on being more emotionally present when someone I love needs comfort.

I also tend to dole out unsolicited advice. Frequently.
Sigh...
I need to keep in mind that just because someone calls with an issue or a problem, they might just want an ear to bend. I need to be better at keeping my opinions to myself until asked for them. And even then, I need to offer them up knowing that sometimes people don't REALLY want to hear what I think - they want to hear something to make them feel better about the situation they're worried about.

I'm pretty blunt. SK sometimes calls me "Debbie Downer" from the SNL skit because I call it like I see it and that isn't always from the view of rose-tinted glasses. Friends have come to me many times knowing I will tell them the truth about what I see or feel, but that's not always what needs to be said.

This is not to say that I don't support the choices that my loved ones might make. I may not understand them at first, I may not be sobbing and crying with you when you are making a life-changing decision, but trust that I will come out, fists a'fire if you need me to take anyone out who might stand in your way.

I am trying. I am working on it. I am a constant work in progress.

Friday, I'm in Love

Go HERE to play!

1. The World Cup
SK has played soccer his whole life, coaches it now, and even went to Germany 4 years ago to be a part of the action, so yeah, I guess we've watched a bit of soccer in our house over the last month.

Carlos Bocanegra, where have you been my whole life? Sure, your grill is kind of jacked up, but I don't need to see your teeth when we're making out.

Tim Howard, your ears may hint toward the possibility of you taking flight at any moment, but you're a beast and I love you. xoxo


And Luca Toni...sigh. How I have missed you this year. You made 2006 so wonderful. I still wear my Italy shirt and think of you often. Come back, lover...come back.


2. True Blood
Specifically, Eric Northman.
My God, I hope he and Sookie do it soon and get it over with. He is quite amazing. Also, the weird hate-sex between Bill and Lorena last week? WTF, man? Sookie needs to consider making that tall Nordic treat her focus during the evening hours.


3. Sunshine
It's been dreary and rainy here for the past few days, with no promise of letting up anytime in the foreseeable future. I hate hurricane season. It doesn't even need to be warm outside (although it is and humid as shit, to boot), I just need to see blue skies again.




4. 3-day weekends!!
I didn't think my company was going to give us Monday, but yayhooray! I have 3 days of nothing ahead of me. And as I stated above, it's RAINING, so I see lots of movies and wine and lounging in my future...

5. SK
I am pretty sure I devoted my last "Friday, I'm in Love" to him, but dangit - I am smitten with my husband, y'all. As of yesterday we've been married 2 months and I totally dig it.
I love you more than Luca Toni, man of mine.
Smooches.


~photos via moi, or We Heart It~

From the front seat

On the 101 somewhere between Santa Barbara and Gaviota

At the 405/101 interchange at about 6pm on a Thursday...an hour earlier we weren't moving.

The 405 at 5:30pm, just when it started to open up. We were still only going 20 miles an hour. I hate LA traffic.

On I-10, going from Houston to San Antonio. Sometimes Texas is just so pretty.

On 2920, 2 miles from my house. Cloudy afternoon.

My drive home, every day. The flyover from Beltway 8 to I-45, at Greenspoint. Note the Ferris Wheel. Nothing about this drive is whimsical. Except that.

~all photos taken with the trusty BB Pearl or SK's spiffy iPhone~