If You're Going to San Francisco...

...Be sure to leave your snow boots behind. My dad is in San Francisco this week on business. This was the trip I was supposed to join him on next weekend, but he wasn't able to stay through the weekend soo that didn't quite work out. He has, however, been kind enough to send me these lovely pictures of his hot as hell rental car and the gorgeous California coast.



Of course I love snow, but I'd SO rather be there instead of still having classes in inches upon inches of snow mixed with more wind than any human could prefer. (This picture was taken prior to round 2 of the snow which has officially made all roads hell and prevented tonight's workout from happening, which clearly is the one thing about snow that I DON'T like.)


Today I did the little French Braid trick to get my bangs out of the way, because I had to put it up last night right after showering after the gym to run to a review session, so it was all sorts of crazy. I always get so excited when these braids turn out well, because more often than not my hair doesn't cooperate.



I ended up skipping History of Rock as planned, which actually kind of depresses me, because I always seem to miss the good stuff. I think today was Led Zeppelin day... but I guess that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to prevent frostbite! (Yes, I'm being dramatic, it's not that bad, just a bit slippery... too slippery for night class!)


I don't care WHAT the weather is on Thursday, I don't even care if we're in the middle of an apocalypse, because guess what? I do believe it is ACDC, AEROSMITH, HEART, KISS, POISON, MOTLEY CRUE, GUNS N ROSES, etc etc etc DAY!!!! Ladies and Gentlemen... let me clarify, I have been waiting THREE SEMESTERS OF THIS CLASS to get to this day!!!! All my guilty music pleasures unite in an educational hour and a half of goodness! I can only imagine I'm going to be on my knees at the end of class begging Andy to keep lecturing. You can probably expect all sorts of excitement and maybe even good quotes from that class.

(I also finally put up the "Better Than Sex Cake" recipe at Wonderland Kitchen!)

Picture Post- Super Bowl Weekend!

(The Girls! Kelly, Lauryn, Me, and Betsy)

Word on the Weather Channel is that we're under a winter storm warning, again, and could get 5 to 8 more inches of snow between tonight and Wednesday. You all know I'M excited about it. Especially if it could possibly get any of my classes canceled. If not, I'm foreseeing myself skipping History of Rock tomorrow night because I'll be damned if I'm going to trek around in the slippery icy snow filled campus in the pitch black night time. I don't EVER remember a time in my life where we've regularly had this much snow... and it's so fun! I wish the ground would always just be covered in at least an inch of snow in the winter, and that ice would only exist in the form of ice-sicles (?) hanging from roof tops!

Anyways- this weekend was a fun one. But rather than a word recap, I think pictures will suffice. Also, I'm not sure if it will be tonight or tomorrow but I'll be putting the recipe posts up soon from the food I made yesterday!!

(Super Bowl food!)

(Betsy and I have been friends for 3 years and only just now have any pictures together?)

(Lauryn and Kelly love the paparazzi'ing)

(Todd and Joe- they'd like to think they're beer pong champs)

(Snow Cooler!)

("Alex! Take a picture of this!")

(Alex and Betsy Love)

("Better Than Sex Cake")

(Chips and Dips!)

We Been Strokin'!

Well, first off, for those of you who are new- I also have another blog with various recipes over at Wonderland Kitchen, and I just posted some new stuff there! Additionally, I've also done some re-vamping (As you can probably see...) on both blogs, so hopefully things seem a little more interesting now ;-)

We got a lot of snow yesterday/last night, which I LOVE!!!! I'm so excited that we've had so many blanketing snows so far this year! I love it, as long as the ice isn't too bad. It makes the dreary winter so much prettier. Roads and everything were pretty bad last night, so Kelly and I stayed in and did a little drinking, a lot of Rock & Rolling, and watched Lady in the Water. I never know what to expect with M. Night Shyamalan, because he did pretty well with The Sixth Sense, but once I saw The Village I really was just so irritated that I kind of despised him. Lady in the Water was decent, not at all really a "horror" movie as it is portrayed, but more fantasy. It had some interesting parts of the plot, but overall seemed a little boring. I did not, however, hate myself for wasting the time to watch it as I did after The Village.

Tonight I think I may be just hanging out at some friends' house and maybe watching a movie and making cookies for the Super Bowl tomorrow (I'll have some good recipes up on Wonderland Kitchen hopefully by Monday). Right now I'm trying to motivate myself to get ready and go to the store to get the ingredients for everything I'm making to take tomorrow. I do love the Super Bowl, not so much for the football because I still don't understand it really at all, but because I get to do all sorts of fun little cooking for it. :-) Well, and the social aspect of it of course!

Now I'll leave you with this lovely music video of Clarence Carter's "Strokin", which might be our new favorite tipsy dancing song here in this apartment. Thank goodness for Kelly and her mom knowing this song. How funny is this?

Boots and Belt Put to Action.

Well, here's the follow up outfit with the boots/belt combo. I paired them with my new 3/4 rolled up sleeved dress from Old Navy, the new purple zip leggings (Though in most of the pictures it's kind of hard to even tell they're purple), and a bright coral cami. I tried something new curling-wise with my hair, and I'm hoping I'll get a chance tomorrow to post the how-to for it. For now, it kind of just looks a little fuzzy in these pictures, but I assure you it was much better in person. I am really just terrible at taking timer pictures, I guess. The last picture is a sneak peak from what I hope will be the how-to post. :-)

Camis and Cardigans.

I really do apologize for going a little post-crazy lately. It occurred to me I hadn't ever shared pictures from "Girl's Poker Night", and Kel and I took plenty so I wanted to get them up!!!


We both went for camis and cardigans, and if I do say so myself I think we had a little bit of a suburban housewife feel going on. Haha. I also wore this necklace (Forever 21) for the first time ever. I bought it, and one of the green beaded strands broke halfway off, and I finally just fixed it by clipping the end of it into the clasp when I put on the necklace. Easy fix!

Outfit

Cardigan- AE
Knit/Tie top Tank- Old Navy
Necklace- For Love 21

"Poker" night was fun. We ended up not having any chips, so we mostly just watched the Grammys and played some Blitz, which I was the first one out of. Hopefully next time the poker part will actually happen, and hopefully I WON'T be the first one out there! I still wish I would have taken more pictures once the rest of the girls got here, but Oops! Forgot!!!

I'm going to leave you this time with some song recommendations from my History of Rock studying. These are some of my favorites from this test:

King's Lead Hat- Brian Eno (British Art Rock)
I'm Waiting for My Man- Velvet Underground (American Art rock)
I Can't Stand It- Lou Reed (Glam Rock)
All I Want- Joni Mitchell

That being said, all of those songs are probably pretty love/hate so if you don't like them, then so be it! I've got a ridiculously wide range of music tastes, often kind of here and there, so there's no guarantee any one person will ever like every single song I recommend... but that's ok!

A Third Black Scarf.

Might have gone too hard at the gym today. GREAT cardio, but I may have done a little bit much on shoulders/arms... because I can't really straighten my arm out all the way without some intense pain. Oh well, you live, you learn. Not so wild on the weight machines next time :-P

Despite all that, it was a pretty fantastic day. Weather has perked up a bit to the point that the temp was at LEAST above freezing! I went and met a friend for lunch, and then snuck on over to Old Navy (always a bad idea for me) to see if anything good was there/on sale/etc. There's usually SOMETHING I can find to throw in to various outfits, and it's all usually super cheap and good for a few wears. Well, I didn't disappoint and of course bought more than I probably should have.

A few of today's purchases- including a new black scarf. I'm entirely forgetful when it comes to these and I've already lost two in the last year or so. Hopefully this one will stick around for a while. Also got a black belted dress that wouldn't photograph well, and in the picture you can see the purple zippered leggings, which I can't wait to pair with a black dress!!! A lot of it stood out in my mind as stuff I could easily pair with other things. Most obviously, this belt will go GREAT with dresses/shirts, especially black ones, when paired with my beloved cowboy boots! Can't go wrong there.

Aside from lunching, shopping, and working out, I spent the rest of the day filling out many many job applications and studying for a few tests/quizzes this week (Actually, still doing that). So everyone, PLEASE cross your fingers for me! I desperately desperately need a job!!!! I'm hoping for Bath & Body Works so I am less likely to spend even more money on clothes, but I'd definitely take AE without complaining at all ;-)

Outfit- well, pretty much all Old Navy. Ironically enough.

Grammy Thoughts.

3 Things to Say About the Grammy's.

1. Green Day, in no universe, deserved to win best rock album over Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, U2, AC/DC, or even Dave Matthews Band for that matter. They are Pop Punk/Rock at best, and quite frankly don't even deserve to be in a category with the likes of Eric Clapton. Yes, that's my opinion, but go find me some sane person who thinks GREEN DAY is overall more talented from an objective standpoint than any of those people.

2. Best. Collaborations. Ever. Gaga/Elton John, Taylor Swift/Stevie Nicks, Jamie Fox/T Pain/Slash. LOVED IT.

3. And last, but certainly not least- THANK GOD THEY FINALLY STOPPED INVITING KANYE TO THESE THINGS.


(Also, kind of a side note- I really wish Taylor Swift would start mixing it up a little bit. I love sparkles just as much as the next 20 year old but for god's sake, I'd love to see her in a dress that's not covered in glitter for once.)

And I'll leave you with a question: Is there ANYONE out there that can explain to me what on earth Britney was thinking when she left the house? Her hair looks pretty but this... this... ensemble she's got going on is a bit baffling.

Girls' "POKER" Night.

My my, hey hey, rock and roll is here to stay. It's better to burn out than to fade away, my my, hey hey.

Anyone know who quoted that song in their suicide note? It's a Neil Young song (As much as I don't want to like Neil Young, he really has grown on me) appropriately called "My My, Hey Hey". His band Crazy Horse also does a rendition that goes "Hey hey, my my, rock & roll will never die," and it's much rockier. They're both good, so any interest in Neil Young (or not, even) I'd recommend you give both songs a listen.

That just goes to prove I'm being a good little girl and doing at least SOME studying while I'm getting ready for our Girls' "Poker" Night. I use quotes because due to some unforseen problems, I don't think we'll actually have any poker chips tonight, so we may have to just play other card games this week. I want to make them a semi-regular thing so we can all actually learn poker and then take those skills elsewhere to kick some unfortunate guys' asses and take all their money when they brush us off as unskilled female poker players ;-) I'm hoping to buy THIS book soon to really educate myself, haha. I think it's pretty cheap in bookstores.


The girls will be here in an hour, and I still have no idea what I'm wearing. Not to mention I still have to run to Kroger and grab some Coke to mix with my Captain Morgan Bite (Clear rum infused with lime, it's my new favorite- JUST came out!) and return The Orphan to RedBox. So I guess I should probably go figure out this outfit situation. I'm sure I'll have good pictures to show from tonight in my next blog post. For now I'll leave you with some pictures of the pretty little Valentine's bouquet I bought last time I was at the store, and some Valentines cards I've been making for friends. I haven't bought fresh flowers in forever and I just love them, so I'm obviously pretty excited about these, and so far I'm really liking how the cards are turning out!




OH! I also FINALLY got to the YMCA to sign up, and Kelly and I went today and had a fantastic work out. I'm hoping I'm sore enough tomorrow that I feel I have something to show for it, but not too sore to not be able to work out again!!!

Friday Friday.

Finally this week is over. Though I'm quickly coming to the realization that I've got multiple tests and quizzes this coming week, so it won't be as much of a weekend as I had originally hoped for. Oh well, at least no big homeworks or projects due- I'd rather study than do busy work.

Today I started as a teaching assistant for an english second language class, and it was really fun! Betsy and I just let them ask us questions to work on their English, and I think it was for some other assignment, though we weren't told what it was. They asked us all sorts of stuff from what our favorite color was to what we wanted to do after college. Then we could ask them any questions we had. It was actually really fun getting to know them! Next Friday we're going back to play games with the kids in the class-- we're thinking Pictionary and Scrabble for fun while also helping them with English. It should be fun!

It's really just nice being able to talk to kids from foreign countries when it's OK to say "What? I didn't understand you" and to help them with their English barriers, when it's so common in the business school to just act like you understand what they're saying to avoid awkward situations. It doesn't help them at all, and it does not facilitate better communication by any means. As the teacher, Betsy's Aunt, said, "They come to study in America, and it doesn't do them any good if they don't get to interact well with Americans and learn to speak English.... they're usually so isolated and this gives them a good opportunity!" It almost reminded me of going to France, where we all spoke pretty good French and yet got ignored and responded to like we were "Stupid Americans who couldn't speak the language." I think Betsy and I are learning from the situation just as much as they are!

A lot of the people in the class had already done undergrad, and one woman was even 37, from Korea, with a four year old daughter. I really just enjoyed getting to know them and I think the semester with them will be great experience!

Tonight, Kelly and I went to John and Betsy's and watched "The Orphan". It's still even scarier than the first time I saw it, and I don't think it will ever get any better. SO MESSED UP! But such a good movie. The children actors/actresses in it were amazing! Anyways- hopefully tomorrow I'll at least have some pictures for you. I hope you're all having a good weekend! Anyone doing anything fun?!

A Mish Mash of an Outfit Post

This week has truly been the busiest, most exhausting week ever, with maybe the exception of ICORE case week in December... but the only different was that at least had lunch breaks built in. I've been busy busy busy with class, group meetings, club meetings, Dr. Appointments, project interviews, blah blah blah. It's sad when I hardly ever see my own roommate! I MISS HER! Tomorrow at 11:15 I have my first day as a Teaching Assistant for an English Second Language class that my friend's aunt teaches. I'm hoping it will be fun, in addition to being a fantastic resume builder.

Here's yesterday's outfit... good old American Eagle sweater, Old Navy frilly scooped neck shirt (Which will be sooo good for spring!), and a new cross necklace.

Actually, let me rephrase... an OLD cross necklace. It was probably the second I ever had. It used to be on a much better chain, but that broke, so now it's just on a sterling silver chain that I guess came from some other necklace, though I can't recall what! (I managed to dig out an old picture from EIGHT MILLION YEARS AGO, or, at least 6, of what the beaded cross chain used to look like, way back when I still had short almost black hair- though I guess my hair is usually ALMOST black... since birth anyways.)

Today was business casual for a presentation (For my class that has way too many words in the name, but is basically a Marketing Stats course). I desperately need some new black pants, so I'm going to have to get on it soon. Our group decided to go with blue shirts, and that was what I ended up with. My bangs are up in the little twisty because ever since I took business presentations my freshman year, it has become apparent to me that if they are not secured up and out of my face, I WILL play with them the whole time. I also threw in a "glasses picture" because it occurred to me I wear them 90% of the time now (I guess I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that I'm really kind of blind), and yet I never take pictures in them.




Of course, the entire day turned out to be me vs. any force known to man.... starting with the ice in the parking lot on the way to class, despite gingerly making my way to the bus stop to prevent such an incident. I've got a war wound from that which is currently swollen, red, and covered in scratches and cuts. I'm sure it will be bruised tomorrow. I don't know why, but I'm always fascinated with the aftermath of injuries (Not so much the bloody kinds). I think just because I don't bruise easily at all, when I do it really weirds me out and I can't ever stop looking at it.

I'm just now getting rid of the bruise from the Alex vs. Kitchen floor battle last week, and the floor burn from it still hasn't gone away. I may or may not be adding a bruise across my arm to the collection from when the bus driver pulled off real suddenly before anyone sat down and my upper arm slammed into one of the poles meant to keep you FROM falling over. Oh well. The only real casualty was my poor little Thursday apple, which was all but completely squished.