a real fashion statement

as if you needed another reason to show your support for the awesomeness that is barack obama, you can now get some pretty fantastic obama gear created by some pretty fantastic celebrity designers! i'm a big fan of this nanette lepore hope anchor tee, but you'll also find goodies from vera wang, juicy couture, zac posen, marc jacobs, and diane von furstenburg.

cupcakes

there aren't many things that are as happy as a girl with a cupcake. except maybe four girls with twelve cupcakes, a bottle of wine, and the sex and the city dvd...

game day

today's the day - in a few minutes we're off to the big game! wish us luck!

update 9/29: we won! it was a good game, and a close game, but the redskins won the last regular season game that they will ever play at texas stadium!

girl time

i'm off to a good old-fashioned slumber party with my bestest girlfriends! there will undoubtedly be drinking, gossipping, movies, and chocolate involved. can't wait!

the office

the office is back!

...nailed it.

happy friday!

if i had a million dollars...

i would donate a big chunk of it to some of my favorite charities. and the obama campaign.

i would buy some hybrids for some of my favorite people (and maybe one for me).

i would buy a little house in colorado.

i would travel the world.

i would pay off our student loans.

but before all of that, i would probably go shopping and pick up some of the items from my i-have-a-dream wishlist...

bananas

bananas are the best. they are tasty and delicious, full of vitamins and goodness, and they are the perfect portable snack. they are yummy on their own and they are yummy in banana pudding. i would eat them in a box and i would eat them with a fox.

fall is here

yesterday was the first official day of fall and i couldn't be more excited - fall means cooler weather, yummy foods, scarves and gloves, all new episodes of my favorite tv shows, lots of football, beautiful clothes, holidays... i love it all!

kitten update

the kitten is now sleeping in the bedroom with the rest of us! he doesn't completely understand the concept of sleeping for eight hours (at least not eight hours in a row, when it's dark outside) yet - he wakes up at the tiniest noise or movement, wanting to play or cuddle; and his favorite place to sleep is on my face - but we'll get there. and in other kitten news, the two cats spent their first entire workday together, instead of being in separate rooms, and they didn't even kill each other. i dare say they may like each other...

high school football

i love high school football - i love the fact that the players actually love playing the game, i love the energy and the spirit of the crowd, i love the band and the cheering and the drill team, i love the sound of the announcers, and i love getting hot cocoa when it's cold outside.

oktoberfest

bier + friends + german food + people in costume = awesome.

the aquarium

i love going to the aquarium... i love looking at all the brightly colored fish and losing myself in the fearful grace of the jellyfish. i get a ridiculous sense of childlike joy from the playfulness of mischievous otters. i am endlessly fascinated by tiny seahorses and i could watch penguins dance and swim for hours.

if one could only learn

"if one could only learn to appreciate the little things...

a song that takes you away, for there are those who cannot hear.

the beauty of a sunset, for there are those who cannot see.

the warmth and safety of your home, for there are those who are homeless.

time spent with good friends, for there are those who are lonely.

a walk along the beach, for there are those who cannot walk.

the little things are what life is all about.

search your soul and learn to appreciate."

--Shadi Souferian

all you need is love

there's nothing you can do that can't be done

nothing you can sing that can't be sung

nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game

it's easy

there's nothing you can make that can't be made

no one you can save that can't be saved

nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time

it's easy

all you need is love, all you need is love,

all you need is love, love - love is all you need
love, love, love,

love, love, love,

love, love, love

all you need is love, all you need is love,

all you need is love, love, love is all you need

there's nothing you can know that isn't known

nothing you can see that isn't shown

nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be

it's easy

all you need is love, all you need is love,

all you need is love, love, love is all you need

the cuddlebucket

that's what scrappy is.

ever since he came into our home almost a month ago, this little guy has not stopped purring. and sitting on me. and climbing on me.

he likes to perch on my shoulder - in the position of a baby being burped - a little purring parrot. i should wear an eye patch and consider a peg leg.

when i'm at the computer, he's on my lap (and yes, he's on my lap right now). when i'm on the couch, he's at my side.

and the entire time, he's purring.

outside days

today was the kind of day that just makes you want to be outside. the weather was perfect: cool, sunny, breezy. unfortunately i wasn't able to spend the whole day outside, but i took a little walk in the sunshine after lunch, and another one after work with my hubby. i am thankful for outside days.

a tiny glimpse of fall

fall is coming - i can feel it! the days are a little shorter, and the weather is cooling down (just the tiniest little bit, but it still counts!). the state fair starts in two weeks, football season is in full swing, and my honey is cooking the yummiest-smelling chili in the whole world! we'll be carving pumpkins and celebrating thanksgiving before you know it!

on love

"if you have it, you don't need to have anything else,

and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have."

- sir james m. barrie

"love is strong yet delicate. it can be broken.

to truly love is to understand this.

to be in love is to respect this."

- stephen packer

"true love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights.

if you hear bells, get your ears checked."

- erich segal

new job sushi III

"a friend is someone who knows all about you

and loves you just the same."

- elbert hubbard

tonight my girlfriends and i continued our tradition of new job sushi... we celebrated my girlfriend's new fancy job as and art director-slash-sales-goddess with fancy drinks and fancy sushi at a fancy restaurant with a fancy bathroom (fancy bathrooms are super important)! adventures in cat poo followed (ummm, don't ask) as did some inappropriate whataburger references (also don't ask).

seven years ago

i was sleeping soundly in my dorm room at kerr hall when my telephone rang. it was my mom. she sounded frantic. beyond frantic. she told me to turn on the television, and i did. i don't think i understood what i saw or any of the words that came after that. there was only confusion, and fear. there were tears - the only form of expression i could find. this doesn't happen here. how can this be happening? how can this be real? the events played out on an endless loop for days on television. the world stopped. the world changed completely, and forever.

to this day i do not understand. i never will.

i can only be thankful - thankful for my life. for my freedom. for the fact that i was born an american citizen. for the fact that i was not in new york city on september 11, 2001, and neither were any of my friends or family.

and i can pray - pray for the people who have lost their lives, and for the loved ones they left behind. for those who have no freedom. for those who must live lives of fear, and anger, and blind hatred. for those who risk their lives for my freedom. for those who believe in and fight for what is right.

i can remember. i will never forget.

my stuff

as much as i love travelling, sometimes the best part of a trip is coming home. i had an amazing time in montreal, but being away from home always reminds me how thankful i am for my bed, my shower, my closet, my cats, my grocery store, my friends and family... my everyday life.

a safe trip (and a safe trip home)

our trip to montreal was fantastic - the city is beautiful and incredibly unique, both in english and in french. it is a city of culture and history, and at the same time it is sleek and modern. it is a city of football fans and college students, a city of artists and musicians, a city of museums and souvenir shops and parks and cafes. it is at once european and decidedly not european. i've never seen anything like it.

i'm thankful for the places i've been and for the things i've seen; i'm thankful for my travelling companion; i'm thankful for a safe trip there and for a safe trip home!

getting lost

alan and i are really good at getting lost... mostly because we are really bad at reading maps. today we got lost in montreal - we were looking for a park, and with one wrong turn we ended up wandering around a 300-acre cemetery for a couple of hours instead. it was a beautiful cemetery, and a beautiful day too, and once we realized that we weren't going to have to spend the night in a cemetery, we decided that getting lost really wasn't so bad after all.

kitty pictures!

now seems as good a time as any for a little montage of cuteness... for your viewing pleasure, i present these photos of the newest member of our family!

and for even more cuteness, go here.

snail mail

i got a fantastic piece of snail-mail the other day: a card from a friend, just because. i think it was extra special just because i wasn't expecting it at all - it just arrived in my mailbox, out of the blue, in a colorful envelope and filled with terribly kind words.

vacation day

we're leaving in an hour for the airport to go to montreal! hooray for new adventures and hooray for vacations! (and hooray for good friends who take care of our kitties while we're gone!)

football season

...is officially underway, as of tonight!

unfortunately, my beloved redskins just lost their first game of the season to last season's superbowl champions... but there are 15 more games after this! anything can happen - that's one of the many things i love about football.

brownies

the ones that are gooey but not too gooey, rich but not too rich, sweet but not too sweet... the ones without any fancy stuff... no icing or chocolate chips or nuts or sprinkles, just pure and simple chocolatey perfection.

wind

today, the wind was blowing so hard that the clouds flew across the sky and it didn't even get hot outside... well, not texas hot, anyway. i parked out in the sun instead of in the parking garage, and my car wasn't a boiling inferno after work and i didn't even break a sweat walking out to it at the end of the day.

last minute adventures

alan and i were supposed to be leaving for new orleans this friday... as it turns out, the weather had other plans. we cancelled our hotel reservation yesterday and we were pretty bummed about it - not to mention a little stressed at the daunting task of planning an entirely new and different vacation in four days.

we talked about it and talked about it with each other and with our friends and family, and then this morning we booked a trip to montreal, quebec! afterwards we walked over to our friendly neighborhood barnes & noble and picked out a fancy new montreal guidebook... and really we couldn't be more excited! neither of us has ever been to canada, and it's always exciting to get a passport stamp. plus, the french-ness of the city is exciting and the food there is supposed to be amazing. the weather is going to be blissful (highs in the 70s, lows in the 50s!)... and it's just going to be really nice to get out of town.

wish us bon voyage! nous allons a montreal!