be very wary

Wait until I post the pictures of my hair progression today.

You'll laugh.

happy halloween

cabbage mccain

To raise money for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, Jakks Pacific has made four Cabbage Patch dolls that look like each of the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. They're currently up for auction on eBay.

You've never seen these candidates look so appealing!

It's interesting to me to see who's dolls have gotten the highest bids. I was a little surprised, but at the same time, my favorite has the dang cutest little face, much like in real life (sarcasm or no?)! I just wanna pinch those adorable Cabbage Patch cheeks.

And there you go, that's as political as I'm going to get because I really, really dislike talking about politics. So here, a completely non-partisan, Switzerland post about the election.

fuschia flash

I forgot...

I picked this up at the store today when I was buying my wash-out color spray. It's more permanent, 2 months or so, it says. I'm excited to give it a go. I'm thinking Friday night? Anyway, we'll see what comes out. I'm going to start underneath my hair, near the nape of my neck. I think that way I can get what I wanted originally when I went to get extensions and then I can play from there. We'll see...

I'll post pictures if they're worth posting!

halloween eve

I haven't posted yet this week, of any consequence, and so I decided it's time for an update! Especially after my lengthy shopping post, and my addendum about how much I hate Katy. Which still stands. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate Katy. But let's not get back into that... I'm in a good mood and I'd like to stay that way! Not a whole, whole lot has been going on in our house. Zach's been busy at school, he went to the Waco Zoo yesterday and had a wonderful time. He always enjoys the visits so much now that he gets to go "behind the scenes" and he's not treated like some common tourist with a thing for animals. Poor guy though, he's on the craziest sleeping schedule because he's so wiped out when he gets home and then wakes up at like 5:30 in the morning.

So I am going blonde. Yup, you heard right. Well, only for an evening. Haha. I went and got the last part of my Halloween costume today: temporary blonde hair color spray. I just couldn't be content with the idea of a brunette Willy Wonka. So wrong. So I've decided that I'll try and manage my hair into an up-do of some sorts for class tomorrow to preserve the texture and then when I get home, I'll frizz it out and spray it blonde and pin it to my heart's content. I'm very excited. I also bought a glitter spray to add a little sparkle and when I tried it out this afternoon... woah. My whole bathroom is covered in glitter. Bad call, hm?

Lindsay is coming over tonight and we're going to FINALLY carve our pumpkins. I'm excited, and I know she is too. I even found Zach a pattern to do that he was really okay with. Zach's anti-bought patterns with cutesy little ghosties and stuff, he prefers something a little more sinister, and what I've found him isn't sinister, but it's not normal looking, so I think it appealed to him (see above). Extra points go to whoever can tell me what that image is. Who knows what Lindsay and I will pick, but whatever we do, it'll be fun! I'm excited!

Lab today was bizarre- we did heredity which is totally interesting, but they killed the lab by not letting us break off into groups and have fun together. Whatever, I hate our TA. One of the people in lab was in a totally strange mood and she asked my lab partner if he was a "man-whore" and asked me if I "hate the world." We were both quite taken aback. We're not really sure where each respective question came from, but we laughed. My lab is more and more enjoyable as the semester goes on. I'm going to really miss those kids over the holiday.


And finally, I have to say YAY BRAD LIDGE! I always loved him when he was in Houston and it broke my heart that he kind of fell apart and couldn't right himself here. I'm so happy he's won a World Series, especially since he was so completely dominant and because it makes everyone that said nasty things about him have to eat their words. The rest of the Phillies? Don't care.

friday is best spent shopping!

I had a wonderfully enjoyable day! I got up *somewhat* early this morning and got out the door in time to be at my Momma's house before she got home from work around noon. The morning drive was a-mazing. I got stuck at first on Hwy. 6 behind two cars driving the same speed-- five under-- right next to each other. Also, one was expelling the most noxious cloud of smoke from his tailpipe and it made me sad. But other than that? I flew down 359 because every time I'd be coming up on somebody driving slow, before I could reach them, they'd turn off the main road. It was... insane. I've never had such an easy drive.



So we girls spent the day shopping. We went to lunch first at Panera Bread. I love that place, they make the most wonderful tuna salad, and since we don't have one here, it's always such a treat. Can you believe there's not a Panera to be found for fifty miles around here? It's not fair. Anyway, I love it. Yum. Then we headed to my favorite clothing store down on Westheimer and played around in there. I love showing my Mom the stuff in there that I like because she likes it all too! It's all a little funky, a little quirky, very nice and youthful and at the same time in NO way sleazy at all. Very nice, because I think there's nothing sadder than a twenty-something trying to dress like she's still in high school. Time to move on. Anyway- I got my pretty pink sweater I'd been coveting and left quite content. I could have easily spent thousands, I think! We jumped next door to Williams Sonoma and we found the cutest pancake moulds for Christmas Day. I'm really, really sad I won't get to have my Mom's insanely yummy buttermilk pancakes in the shape of Santa's head on Christmas morning. It's just not fair. I blame the Vet School.



Then we headed back into Sugar Land and hit the mall and the Halloween Express. We spent way too much time and money at the Yankee Candle store, but it was fun doing-- I got a great bat silhouette that's a pretty good size for fifty percent off! Woo Hoo! I hung it from my "kitchen" chandelier. I wanted it inside. We got lots of candles, and wax tarts and yummy smells for the upcoming holiday seasons and all in all, that was a success. Then we went to Pottery Barn. I must say first, I love Pottery Barn's accents, and some of their furniture has really awesome contemporary lines with kind of traditional fabrics in fun colors, which I love. Some of their stuff is too traditional for my taste, but some of it's just funky enough. Last year I picked up the CUTEST danged Christmas ornaments: 2 Polar Bears made out of like, bristle brush or something. So freaking cute. I think I actually might have the penguin too. Now that I think of it. I originally thought I'd gotten two bears, but maybe I have the penguin. Well, we'll find out after Thanksgiving! Anyway, I went in today and they had a Chipmunk. Oh yes, it came home with me. And no, it won't be going away after Christmas. They've actually got the dimensions up on their website for three other animals too: the fox, the raccoon and the squirrel. I'm hoping they're out soon. So adorable.

In all, what fun! I was successful in finding a cane for my Halloween costume. I'm being Willy Wonka- but please, not Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka. I am being the Willy Wonka that Gene Wilder made so wonderfully eccentric. The movie's a classic, I worship Gene Wilder's humor and I can't wait to rag my hair up and make it frizzy and part it over my ear and pin it up into his shape. Oh yeah, and I ONLY bought Willy Wonka candy to hand out this year. I doubt I'll be working the "walk awkwardly with a cane and then pretend to stumble and turn a somersault" but, I'll have the cane at least. I so love that movie, and can you believe it's so incredibly hard to find on DVD? I had to settle for Corpse Bride. I know, what?

Finally, I have to say this: I hate Katy. I'm sorry Mr. Nance, and Mr. Landrum (both Cinco Ranch High kids!) but I can NOT stand Katy. Why? Two words: GRAND PARKWAY. I hate that danged road cutting through the middle of everything, I hate that you have to get on and off to get anywhere and I hate the traffic. I sat maybe 200 yards from the I-10 underpass for fifteen minutes this evening because apparently, in Katy, it's very difficult for people to read "U TURN AHEAD" signs so they just run up in the u-turn lane and then realize, oh duh, I'm supposed to be going the other way. Oops. I don't care if I find my dream house next summer, if it's in Katy, I'll call it a loss and move on. You could not pay me enough to live there. Ugh. And so, that made the last part of my day pretty unpleasant. But whatever, when we move back, I'll find every way possible to avoid that area. Unless, of course, my sweet Norway friends are all living there!

decadent dining

I have been dreaming, once again, about the day when I'll be decorating my own home and can't help but get hung up on my dining room.

Personally, I think that formal living rooms are a waste of space, you never use them, you buy expensive furniture that never gets sat on, and you end up with a space that looks nice, but is a black hole for your heating and electricity. I much prefer the formal dining room. In fact, I have decided that (at least until we have children and it's unreasonable) once we move into a house and have furniture in our dining room, we'll be eating at least two meals in there a week. I can't tell you how long it has been since we sat at a kitchen/dining room table to eat a meal. We don't have the space for one here, which is why I think I'm so hung up on the idea of creating one I love.

Here's what I'm thinking....

BOLD, thick horizontal stripes in these two shades on the wall. They're Ralph Lauren's Regency Metallics and they're yummy. I had a wall painted in the "Palace Silver" shade, I think it was, and it's the most gorgeous paint. Love it.

Then, this rug will go smack dab in the middle of the room. Of course, I'm hoping that I'll have a beautiful rich, daaaaaaaaaark wood on the floor already. If not, I'll make it happen with laminate or with restaining what's already there. I'd really prefer it if this rug was in the shape of a real pelt, but I refuse to actually have a real pelt on the floor. No spank you.

This gorgeous table will go right on top of my rug, it's made of reclaimed wood and is one small way I'll be working to make my home more green.

Next, I'm going to hang this fabulous pendant over the dining table. It's massive, I included this picture to show the scale. Made of capiz shells, I think it'll add just enough sheen to make it work with the walls, but it's off beat enough to really work in the space.

These lovelies are going to go around the table- at least 6- one on each end and four in the middle. I'm thinking I like all of them with arms because of the extra weight that they add. Besides, I always felt like it makes the people sitting around the table unequal if they don't all have the same chair. Besides, they're freaking gorgeous.

To top off the table, I'm crazy for these white river stone place mats. Against the dark wood they'd really *pop* and add something special to the look. For the runner... I have something else in mind.

In the spirit of being green, I want to put the runner on top of this fabulous antique Japanese sideboard from around 1890-- because recycling is the ultimate in green living and buying an antique is just that! It's such a quirky piece, with the carvings in the doors and the glass opposite. I love this piece. It just screams "pay attention to me!" To protect it from things placed on top, I'd use the white stone runner. To tie everything in. And on top of the runner...
These classic bowls. Uh, non-classic. They're beautiful, and would look fabulous filled with fruit, with feathered decorative balls, or *ideally* blown glass baubles in various shades of green and blue.

So that's my plan. Will it come to fruition? I sure do hope so. The one stumbling block? My husband. I showed him these pictures and each one garnered a more repulsed reaction than the first. However, my husband is as smart as they come, but he doesn't really have a very keen eye for design. I told him that I am bound and determined to have at least one room in our house look like it came straight out of a design showcase. He was less than enthusiastic. Mainly because to achieve the look, money must be spent and he doesn't really enjoy doing that. But this is my goal, this is my dream and I will work hard to make the money to make it happen.

make me a Gracie!

I have decided that when we move back to Houston, I am going to hire a trainer and get myself into shape. I've always had trouble with the "shape" that my Dad does-- he can go to a gym with equipment and be entertained and enjoy himself. Uh, not me.

I have since discovered that I enjoy aggressive forms of exercise. I know, I know, fencing wasn't really a good form of exercise, nor was it always extraordinarily aggressive. However, boxing? I love it. Zach's interested in getting back into martial arts and I've found a Mixed Martial Arts gym in Houston that I think will serve our purposes nicely.

They have four locations, one on Westheimer, which I think will be the best for us. They have private lessons, classes and everything under the sun. I can do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Zach can do Jeet Kun Do, we can move into Thai Boxing and traditional boxing. I'm guessing it'll be rather expensive, but I am willing to sacrifice movies, eating out, a bigger house, etc... to get myself into fighting shape. I only wish we were moving back sooner, the idea of getting into these sorts of things really just thrills me.

Besides, I've got Hawaii to work towards, and I think with their regime, I can whip myself in shape faster, and better, than I could with any other medium. And I would have fun doing it! Mixed Martial Arts, here I come!



(... in May... )

"Tony Womo Out Three To Four Weeks With Bwoken Widdle Fingey"

The Onion has a wonderful article about Tony Romo.
Funniest damn thing we've read in ages. Zach and I cried we laughed so hard.


DAWWAS—Cowboys medical personnel confirm that quawterback Tony Womo injured his thwowing hand in last week's 30-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals and is expected to miss the next month after suffewing a sevewy bwoken wight pinkie-winkie.


Team doctors originally believed Womo's poor, poor bwoken fingey was merewy spwained, despite the quarterback insisting that his pinkie felt really, really, really ouchie after being hit by wots and wots of big mean mans during the first play of overtime.

The Cowboys are denying rumors that Womo will require weconstwuctive pinkie surgewy, insisting that it is only a bad owie and that Womo will not be placed on injuwed weserve.

"Tony has been very, very bwave through all this and barely cried at all when he heard his widdle fingey was in fact bwoken," coach Wade Phillips said Monday, explaining that Womo was "westing comfiwy" and watching cartoons at home and had thus far managed to keep his pinkie out of his mouth. "I'd say he's week to week, but it's up to the team medics to say when he's completely all-better-now."

The Cowboys originally sensed something was wrong when Womo threw three straight incomplete passes to begin the overtime after being sacked three times and knocked down 19 times during regulation by meanie-bullies who hate him. Their suspicions were confirmed when Womo blubbered to them on the sidelines while holding up his hurted fingey.

Womo was immediately given an orange-flavored St. Joseph aspirin and a wowwypop while a SpongeBob SquarePants Band-Aid was applied to the pinkie. When this proved inadequate, Cowboys head pediatrician Daniel "Doctor Danny" Cooper inspected Womo's pinkie while trainers distracted Womo by making a spoon into an airplane and "flying" chocolate ice cream into the quarterback's mouth.

"This was more than just the normal boo-boo," Cooper told reporters. "Tony has played through boo-boos before, like any team weader and big gwown-up boy has to. But when I saw the quivering chin, the big wet eyes, and the way he was hopping from foot to foot while holding up his widdle bitty widdy fingey, I knew this one was bad."

The NFL said no fine would be given on the hit, as it seemed to be an honest accident and no flag for roughhousing the passer was thrown on the play. It is not known whether Womo will stomp his widdle foot and complain louder to the NFL regarding the decision.

Phillips confirmed that 40-year-old backup quarterback Brad Johnson will start as long as Womo's pinkie is still an ouchie pinkie.

"It's unfortunate for the poor tyke to have to go through something like this," said Johnson, who hasn't started an NFL game since 2006. "But you know, when they're little quarterbacks they sometimes take big spills. This will just make Tony-wony tougher when he grows up. I hope."

In other Cowboys news, Adam "Pacman" Jones is still grounded for the rest of his life, or at least until he learns to stop back-sassing, and receiver Terrell Owens is listed as "probable" for Sunday's game despite suffering a chronic case of turf piggy.

93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple

So, my dear friends and family, what are YOU going to be for Halloween?


I have my costume bought and on its way. It should be here tomorrow. Joy!

Can you guess *who* I'm going to be, I'll tell you that the "title" is a big hint!
I am excited!
Let the guessing begin!



And so you know, I opted out of the Wicked Witch of the West for this year. She was my original plan, but I decided that since I'm still living in a college town and I'm still a college student, I'd rather do something more fitting to my station. I'll be the Wicked Witch when I actually live in a place where I get trick-or-treaters and where dressing up as the AUTHENTIC WWoW would actually be cool, and not... nerdy. Haha.

lace me up!

I made a cake for a lingerie shower Lindsay threw this past weekend. The result was quite cute. It was meant to look like a corset- all laced up the back.

With the extra cake batter, I made cupcakes for Zach to take to school to share with the people on his rotation: I iced them first in black royal icing, piped the outlines for the faces and then piped orange buttercream around the outlines to make it look like a pumpkin. A stalk and vines finished them off! Yum!

All in all, I enjoyed my day baking very much. I was a little sad that the royal icing on Lindsay's cake didn't want to cooperate, but the weather was funky and at least the fondant cooperated. Yay me! :)

you pronounced it wrong...

I have to say, this semester has already turned out to be more enjoyable than I thought it would be initially. I've got class with Lindsay... when we go. Which, of course, for all you parents reading, I mean, when we always go. No honestly, neither of us can stand the teacher, we can't stand his 45 minute long examples that are pointless and end up unrelated to the topic, we end up chatting anyway, which is what most of the people around us do anyway as well. Gag me. We don't like that class.

I've made one good friend in two of my other classes, I've got Lindsay in a third, things are pretty sweet. Zach's on a rotation right now with his friend Chris, and I'm happy for that. Lindsay and I decided to celebrate after our last POLS test, because it was over, and so Zach, Chris and Crystal met us at the rooftop deck at the Corner Bar on Northgate. We had a great time, even if it was a Wednesday and Lindsay came home with me and we watched movies instead of going to bed. Which made for an interesting morning the following day- I have Biology lab at 8 in the AM! Bad call, Stefanie, bad call. But it was okay because I was tired, my lab partner had woken up at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep so he was tired, and our other partner was left to just... survey the damage. That's the day he ate glucose. Or was it the day he wanted to put iodine on his skin? I forget, but it was a trip.

My "topic" for the day, if you will, is a little inside joke- one of our classmates in Geography decided to announce to our teacher that she'd mispronounced a certain word (Jihad?) and was responding to a question with this. She then asked said pronunciation police if he could answer the question, whereupon he announced that he hadn't read it (we hadn't either, but at least I had printed it out!) and she, Dr. KZ was annoyed. It was funny. Thought I'd share. She pronounced Qatar wrong too- I contemplated raising my hand and informing her she pronounced it wrong, but we very much doubted she'd see the humor in that. She gives chocolate to those who can point out a mistake, but as of yet, we've not gotten any. Mainly because we don't want it. Ew. Yes, friends and family, this is what keeps me going to class. Little things like that.

Thanks to all of you who have asked about my dear Grandpa Rodney. He's still in the hospital, as you might expect after a quadruple bypass surgery. Poor guy. My Grandma is taking the full force of this, she's been run ragged being at the hospital with him. It's times like these I wished my whole family realized that Texas is the ONLY state in the union worth living in and they should move here so we can be together if this stuff happens. Yes. That would be excellent. Dad and Zach's hunting party would increase by at least one-- Uncle Elmer! I am missing my family lately, it's been a long, long time since I've seen anyone- since my wedding! Gosh!

Now for little things:

* Went to Bath Junkie and made lotion: fresh pine & peppermint! Yum! *
* Cory's coming to town this weekend. It's because I'm making Oreo Ice Cream Desert *
* My poor dad's back in the sandbox-- boo!*
* Jethro was up for an hour at 4 this morning because of a thunderstorm. Mom's tired *
* I'm making a cake for a lingerie shower this weekend. I'll post pictures...*
* I need a new trilobite. Got one? *
* I can save YouTube videos on my iPod. Jon Reep, anyone? *

little things

Zach and I finally had enough time tonight to watch Iron Man. We saw both Nick Fury and the shield of Captain America. That's right, we did.

Today in lab, my partner decided to eat glucose. The resulting analysis was quite funny. He decided against the sucrose and fructose. Yum.

Zach's on call this weekend, so we're stuck doing a whole lot of nothing in College Station. Yawn.

Lily and Jethro have been waging WW III in the house lately. So far, Jethro has driven Lily back to her initial defenses under the reading table in the living room. Lily then took out Jethro's ally, Shiner, by chasing her back to her home land, the cage in the kitchen. They're in a stalemate right now. Jethro has blockaded entry to the office, and Lily is desperate to recapture the island of desk chair.

We all took long naps this afternoon around here. As a result, we're all wide awake and irritatingly perky.

The novel I am working on has over 25,000 words at the moment. That's a lot of words. It's over 60 pages right now. I've been working since August, but sporadically.

We did not watch the political debates- we'd rather be entertained by Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges.



And now for some not so little things...

Zach's cousin, Bo Kennedy of the USMC is moving back to the great state of Texas from Pensacola, FL. He's going to be stationed in Corpus Christi for a while and we're THRILLED he's going to be home. Holidays will be so much better!

My Grandpa Small is having bypass surgery tomorrow. We're hoping and praying that everything goes well, and are thankful that my dad is in the country while this is happening.

naturally beautiful

Have you ever gotten tired of your shower smelling like fruit or flowers?
I know I have. I'm tired of bathing in Mango and whatever body wash. I don't enjoy getting out of the shower smelling like fruit salad, but alas, what other options are there for me?

I have found one! Thanks to Pangea Organics, I stepped out of my last shower refreshed and loving the smell of Canadian Pine with White Sage. I have Indian Green Tea with Mint and Rose Petals under the sink, too. This soap is amazing, my skin felt wonderful when I was done showering and I just can't get over how awesome I smelled!
You know what else is cool about Pangea Organics? The packaging on my soap is completely biodegradable, and it even comes with flower and herb seeds packed right in, so all I do is soak, bury in my garden and wait for it to grow. Seriously cool.


Now, if only I could find a moisturizer/body lotion that smelled like the forest too. I love the crisp, clean, natural scent of pine, and I'm thinking that a trip to Bath Junkie might be in order since it's proven impossible to find lotions and such that don't have a sweet, sickening smell. Oh yes, I will be the girl who smells like a tree before too long.