RIP Little Stoner

Well, I feel it's only appropriate to have a moment of silence for my poor little yellow snail Stoner (named after beloved Casey Stoner of team Ducati in MotoGP). We've been pretty sure he was on the brink of death for the last two weeks, but the last few days I've noticed no movement at all so I finally decided to lay him to rest. Poor little guy.


I think the frogs are confused by his absence, so I may have to go this weekend and shell out another three whole dollars for a replacement. I guess I'll start have to thinking of names. I'm trying to look up other MotoGP riders to get ideas, and the website is for some reason completely in Japanese with random English blips of words throughout... sooo that's not working out so well.

Although now I kind of feel like a jerk because I sort of just flung him out into the backyard area where he could naturally decay and what not... Err, maybe when the snow melts I'll cover him with some dirt.

For now, rest in peace little Casey Stoner. You will be well missed. By your mom, your aunt Kelly, and your brother frogs Hayden and Rossi who thought you were a couch.


(I really meant to post more pictures but can't find them anywhere- must have been from when my laptop was broken, so I'm assuming they're on my parents' computer!)

Snow Surprise!

I was of course delighted at the flurries yesterday, but never dreamed they'd turn into a few inches of snow for me to wake up to! I did, however, wake up to the "nails on a chalkboard" sound of the stairs outside my window being scraped off, and that incessant beeping noise trucks make as they cleared our parking lot for what seemed like hours. Still, I love the white blanketed ground!

Today's outfit was kind of just thrown together on account of me desperately needing to do laundry and not really having had time for it with all sorts of meetings and homeworks and classes and blah blah blah. I'll be glad when friday comes, even if I still have a test and a quiz and probably a million homeworks next week.

All bundled up to brave the wind storm!

Eyelet skirt detail- right before I realized I was in desperate need of a lint roller.

Outfit

Leggings, high waisted eyelet skirt (yeah I know it's even a little high for a high waisted skirt, but my boobs make things difficult and it generally works best this way trying to pass it off as a dress), and pocket v-neck, ALL OLD NAVY. Scarf- American Eagle, Coat- Worthington. And as far as I can guess the belt probably came there too. As for the cross necklace, you've probably noticed I've been wearing it with every outfit lately... I just re-discovered my cross collection and still need to polish a few of the other ones. The glass bead necklace is the one Betsy brought me from Italy. My hair was doing the super super flat thing, but what can you do?

Oh, and did I mention that I'm 95% sure I'm going to San Francisco on Valentine's weekend!? I was trying to get up to visit my dad in Chicago, but he's all booked up with traveling, so he decided to cash in some frequent flyer miles to fly me out on his trip with him since his weekend was mostly free. I'm hoping to do some of the touristy stuff I didn't get to do the first time there (GOLDEN GATE, perhaps a freezing cold trolley ride!), but either way I'm SO EXCITED!!!

Picture, Recipe, and Outfit Posts all rolled into one-Five Day Recap?

It's always something... and lately my internet has been "On the fritz", as they say. So that would explain my five day absence. That and the fact that most of this weekend was spent out or in bed, and today was spent on too much homework and group meeting time than a no class day should call for. I did however go to the gym on Lauryn's guest pass with her and Kelly, and I know I'm going to hurt like hell tomorrow (In EVERY muscle, including those I didn't know existed, thanks to the awesome variety of machines at the Y) but I know it will feel SO awesome at the same time. I can't wait until I can start going regularly.

So for the pictures from the last five days, we'll just so a "Picture Post" sort of deal, followed by pictures of MY NEW GREEN (turquoise) SWEATER! I'll also warn you that there are a few pictures of some pretty good (I guess I'm biased but everyone else said it was good too!) food I've made the last week, so if you're hungry, you might want to come back later!

(This picture is actually from LAST LAST friday when I mentioned we went out for Sushi. Finally broke out the Target dress with my ribbed leggings, black booties, and purple bomber)

Made some delish lasagna and hosted a mini dinner party with Betsy, John, Todd, and the lovely Kelly roommate.

Went out, and took good pictures, with some of my favorite ladies :-)

Woke up to shoes spread ALL over my room after an indecisive dressing before going out.

(I've been trying to follow a minimalistic route with the makeup lately)

Hung out with the girls (AND GUYS!)

Put shoes on our heads?

Played Quarters. Should be noted that this game requires skills I certainly don't have.

Made Sausage Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Pepperoni Pizza

Made one of MY best Chicken stir frys so far- still perfecting that recipe!

So finally, the green sweater! I've actually worn it one or two other times, but this was the first time I took any pictures. No big surprise, but I love it just as much as the orange sweater! I really like how it looked with the black v-neck pocket T (Old Navy) because the two different colors in the knit stand out really well against it. It also makes my eyes look really green, which I guess I figured out this weekend that they are. Strange thing after growing up knowing your eyes change color but thinking they are predominantly blue. My hair was also very haphazardly thrown together and back in a headband after a wake-up call a bit early for my tastes, so disregard.

Sweater and Headband from American Eagle. V-Neck from Old Navy. My best guess is that the necklace is from For Love 21, but who knows!!

Picture Post- Nostalgia

My darling roommate Kelly did a picture post in honor of IU's 190th birthday, which obviously made me get all nostalgic and want to add some sloppy pictures of my own. So I hope you enjoy. And afterward, go check her out at Sew Me Some Love.

All I know is this is from an album titled "Silver Flip Flops", and I don't have any of those, so I must have lost them that night. AND... I guess someone made me try something sour.

JAGAAABOMBS! JAGABOMBSSS! (Not Right Now, I'm in the F*in Zone!)

Russian Spy Night... because we all gave each other Russian nicknames and took walkie talkies with us to the party.

The night Gil's poor car got towed.

Little Five 2009- Block party.

Little Five 2009- Cowboys and Indians.

Ball State Tailgate- Papa Hoov and the girls.

Little Five 2008- Ying Yang, BOOP!

Purdue tailgate freshman year.

IU!

Saki bombing at Japonee freshman year.

House party with the entirety of our freshman year floor.

Michigan State game freshman year- floor seats, Heaven and Hell themed costumes, WE WON!

The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny

I have missed History of Rock SO MUCH! Today's class largely centered on Frank Zappa, which I'll admit I really just don't like so much. I appreciate and respect the artistic value of his "music", and I like a few of the songs, but some of it is AWFUL. I'm not even kidding... go listen to "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny" by the Mothers of Invention. It honest to god made me feel like I was being abducted by a colony of aliens resembling Chucky dolls (Child's Play anyone? I had nightmares about that movie for years when I was younger, so that partially explains my discomfort with this particular song) and I think I spent the 6 minute entirety of it's class playtime just wishing it would end.

(Ironic that the colors of this album match my blog so perfectly)

Besides the occasional awful song, usually few and far between, I love hearing random fact about various artists, albums, and songs, and hearing music I might otherwise never have given a second thought. That, and I'm a complete Rock junkie anyways. I think I agree with my professor, Andy Hollinden, that there is NO form of music out there which I can comprehensively say I hate. Even types I don't necessarily love, I can usually find at least a few songs I enjoy in some way or another. Also useful advice: "Do not assume that just because YOU don't like something, it sucks." So true. Sometimes it's hard to wrap our heads around the fact that what we like, and what we think, is not always right, or at least not the same opinion of everyone else. And where would we be anyways if we all thought exactly the same way?

(Andy Hollinden)

No doubt I'm excited to see what this semester holds, since we'll finally be getting into 80's rock (AND pop, new wave, etc!)... which my friends all know serves as the core of my musical preferences.

Right now I'm listening to music from the 50's/60's class, more specifically the Beatles. I love all the slightly obscure songs... some of which I doubt I would have ever heard had I not taken this class (Norwegian Wood? One of my favorites. But you can hear me ramble about that one here). SO good.

LilyPop's First Birthday!

As of right now, my books are in (they had been at the office of our apartments for assumingly almost a week. I don't know if they ever planned on informing me of that or not), my homework is done and I'm not as much of an idiot on InDesign and SPSS as I thought I would be, my sicky thing is much better (but not completely), and all seems right in the world.

This weekend was my niece (best friend's baby) Lily's first birthday party! She turned 1 on the 14th, and her party was sunday. She is truly the best baby ever, and I don't think it's just because I'm biased. She has such a fun personality and the prettiest big blue eyes! I am a little sad, however, that her hair is getting longer and she doesn't look like she has a mohawk anymore. :-(

Saturday night I went over to visit for a while, and gave her the plush fish Kelly (Sew Me Some Love) made for her.... which she ADORED! Then her mom, dad, and I went over to a friends house where the guys taught us to play Texas Hold 'Em. Let me tell you, the innocent "I don't know how to play" thing comes in handy when it comes to bluffing. I'm already working up a plan to be a pro hustler ;-) Too bad the game wasn't for any money, because Em and I would have won big.That is... after I realized you could only play five cards. One round, I tried to play "Three pairs", but two of the pairs ended up being good enough to beat everyone else anyways. That would have been nice to know AHEAD of time. I also almost won a round bluffing with a pair of sixes, only to be beat out by Emily, who was only holding a pair of sevens. These guys thought we were insane... but hey, it wasn't real money, why NOT get crazy?

Sunday I went over to help decorate, and three rolls of streamers basically beat me ten to nothing, though I must admit somehow it came out o.k. in the end. Lily at first didn't know what to make of all the attention/decor, but loved the balloons. She's also practically a professional present opener by now, and loves doing it! The only real issue comes when it takes too long to unwrap and she loses interest in favor of previously opened toys.

 

(Precious in her birthday outfit- already obsessed with cell phones)

(A girl has got to have her birthday shoes!)

She was a dainty little cupcake eater until we put some in her mouth, at which point she chowed down a little more. I had the idea to try giving her a lemon (I feel like all babies should have the "lemon experience" and all mothers/aunts/grandmas/etc etc should have a million pictures of it), and somehow someone decided to give it to her right after cake. What a shock that must have been... sugar, sugar, sugar, SOUR! Surprise! My camera had died by then, so only mobile pictures... but still, so cute. She actually kind of ended up liking it and kept trying more!!!

Somehow, someone got the idea that Emily's mom (Grandma) had been spiking her punch... and the rest of us quickly followed suit. Obviously no one had enough to get even tipsy, but it did make the punch a bit better! 2pm on a Sunday and we were all drinking at a 1 year old's birthday party, classy, right?

I wore my new AE cardigan, and paired it with a tank I haven't worn since possibly Hawaii! And of course, my new necklace and favorite black flats!!! My apologies for my inability to take a decent 'self-timer' picture. Thanks to lighting, lack of good places to set the camera, etc etc, it just didn't happen. Might be time to consider a tri-pod! (I'll also have to apologize for the abundance of pictures- when it comes to Lily it's way too hard for me to just pick one or two! If you're friends with me on facebook you know this weekend resulted in around 80 pictures!)

Outfit

Cardigan- American Eagle

Tank- GAP (I think)

Cami- The Buckle

Flats- American Eagle

Necklace- Italy!

New Clothes, Recovery, and NBC Drama.

Well, I got ALL of my American Eagle order today, which is fantastic! Not so fantastic is that I ordered my books before I ever ordered those clothes, and with "2-3 day shipping" they still aren't here yet. And did I mention that they're being shipping from BLOOMINGTON, IN? Yeah- I had them shipped. Because the little money it cost to have them shipped was beyond worth not having to deal with the mess of parking and waiting in line for an hour while feeling like I should be on my death bed. T.I.S. is a MESS at the beginning of every semester and I wanted nothing to do with it. And they can surely expect one angry as hell call from me, which will hopefully result in NO shipping charge whatsoever.

I love love love all 3 things I ordered from AE, and can't wait to get pictures up! The fleece sweatshirt is perfect- SO soft, not too thick, and with leggings it will be the best lounging around the house outfit ever. 

I'm also starting to feel a little better, finally... I went to the doctor yesterday morning, who told me it was not a sinus infection, but just a bad cold made worse by my major dust allergy (Great thing to be really allergic to, right? No avoiding that one). She hooked me up with the GOOD Sudafed (Ya know, the kind you can apparently make meth out of... in turn requiring you to fill out PAPERWORK just to buy it?), some Afrin nose spray, and told me to start actually taking my Zyrtec. The nose spray is amazing... apparently my nose had been completely swollen shut, and within a minute of taking that I can actually breathe! This, I consider a good thing. So all in all, I'm still exhausted and sniffly and sore all over, but that almost seems perfect compared to how I was a few days ago!

In other news, I can't help it- I am obsessed with this Conan vs. Jay vs. NBC saga... and I think the best part is how GOOD these shows have gotten in light of all of it. Obviously Conan is my favorite, but Leno interviewed Jimmy Kimmel on his show last night, and it was kind of awesome. "Listen, Jay- Conan and I have children, all you have to take care of is cars! I mean, we have lives to lead here, you've got 800 million dollars, for god's sake, leave our shows alone!" I'd sure hate to be working PR for Leno or NBC right now. Conan's PR guy on the other hand can probably just take a month long vacation with the masses flocking to "Team CoCo."

So, here you go: Jimmy Kimmel on Jay Leno's 10 @ 10, referencing this NBC mess in nearly every single question.

"The best prank I ever pulled was I told a guy that—five years from now—I'm gonna give you my show. And then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly."