Bless Your Heart

Things that have tickled me of late

~I heard the most bizarre radio commercial in the car the other day from Lance. Their jingle was “I’ve got Lance in my pants!”. Love that.

~Have you ever heard someone pronounce unique as “uni-kay” to be funny? Well now there is a Uni K. It’s an investment plan. I want one! Just for the name.

~During a recent dinner party we attended one guest said that they just didn’t ‘get’ Pirates of the Carribean because “…why would you fight the pirates if they’re already dead?”. Jon couldn’t believe they didn’t like the movie and shot back with “Oh, so I suppose the talking fish in Finding Nemo were too much for you too huh?”

~Hearing that in Once Upon a Time in Mexico Johnny Depp (who’s playing an undercover CIA agent) wears a t-shirt that reads “I’m with Stupid” and the arrow is pointing to his pants in one scene and in another wears one with C.I.A. boldly printed across the front. I knew I wanted to see this movie before, but now there’s no question.

Train, train, train

I’ve been in training all day. Yesterday too. I feel all disconnected and out of the loop. I have to work tomorrow too. bleh. I can’t wait for vacation!

Shocking News

I was literally slack jawed shocked when I heard on the radio this morning that John Ritter has died. He’s so young! I always loved him- first in Three’s Company then we’ve been watching him recently in 8 Simple Rules. He was great in that! So sad to hear that.

And I also heard that Johnny Cash has passed away as well. What a loss of talent today!

Faux No

Today we’re going back to the DMV to try again to get our cars registered and our licenses. Last time I went they wanted all sorts of documentation so we’ve been gathering it all up. We had to get the Social Security people to send Jon another card, find our birth certificates, etc.

Tonight we’re finally going out for our celebratory dinner to celebrate our new home. We’ve just been so busy around here (and broke) that we’ve been putting it off.

Another thing I’m excited about is that Jon has to take a bunch of vacation days this month so he’s been really productive around here putting up shelves & towel bars & changing out light fixtures etc, but he’s also going to have time to paint! Yay! I’m wrapping up picking out all the colors and he’s going to paint the downstairs bath, foyer, formal living room, dining room, kitchen, the upstairs bath, master bedroom, master bath, craft room/office, and he may have time for the hallway. You guys just don’t understand the urgency in painting this house for me. See, the previous owner loved stencils and sponges and faux painting. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. She just over did it. You really can’t get the full idea unless you came here and saw it for yourself but trust me on this. They start as soon as you walk in the front door and continue all through the downstairs around literally every window, door, chair rail, crown molding, everything- and they don’t stop til you get back to the front door. There are vines, ivy, barbed wire(!!), topiaries, sponging, flowers. Here’s an example (photo taken when we were shopping for this house so it’s the old owners’ furniture). See how it’s everywhere?? I can’t wait to get them all covered up. I’ll post lots of befores and afters and I’m telling you, you will not believe it!

Babies & Blankies

How cute is my nephew?!? That’s Jake in his cool shades after Michelle’s wedding last week. That’s my Mom’s holding him. Look at those cheeks! Good Lawd I love that boy!

Speaking of babies…Two guys I work with and their wives are having their first babies so I made them each this cute blanket. It was so easy! No sewing involved! I highly recommend it if you have a gift to give. I’m planning on making some for Christmas. And you can use the same technique to cover pillows. How cute for a girl’s room? You can use any pattern you’d like. My friend Amy first made one for Jake and I loved it so I looked up the instructions online. Click here for a close up and here for instructions. *I used regular scissors instead of a rotary cutter and mat. It’s a great project to do while watching a movie!

Lisa requested pics of the new haircut. Front view and back. Note the cute Ikea lamp and chair in background. Please excuse the red eyes and lack of decorating. We’re still unpacking. I do have lofty goals when it comes to decorating the house- it’s going to be so fun!

Oh- and last night I came home to a fabulous surprise! A gifty box from Lisa! She sent margarita lip balm she made herself (so yummy!), super girly glittery lip gloss (looks like a disco in a tube!), very yummy white chocolate lime cookies (must buy more), and Grease 2 on DVD!! So excited! I’m such a huge Grease fan and feel that Grease 2 is highly underrated as the campy sing a long classic that it is! Thank you Lisa!!

Yiasou!

This weekend flew by. Friday I got my hair cut in the morning (short & sassy) then Sara, Jake and I went to the mall for lunch and shopping. I swear, that Jake is just the best baby ever. Even the young sales guy at Hot Topic commented on how good he is.

We stopped in Sanrio because I saw that Chococat has new items in a cute new Whimsy line coming out, but they weren’t at the store yet. Dag! Then I was disappointed again because I found out Bath & Body works is no longer carrying my beloved White Ginger and Amber! Double dag! Thank goodness for Ebay. Of course, now I’ll have to pay out the nose for it, but it smells sooo good!

Saturday Sara, Jake, and I went to the Yiasou! Greek Festival. Lots of good food and cool crafts. Then we went to my Mom’s for dinner and a movie (Bringing Down the House- cute).

Sunday was Jon’s football day. We got up early and ran some errands then he settled in for a long day of football. I got a bunch of stuff done around the house and took a nice nap. We had dinner then at 10pm (!) he had a craving for Krispy Kreme so we went on a donut run. Healthy!

Ok- so I need you guys to help settle a little dispute between Jon and I. He doesn’t understand why I switch out our duvet, bed skirt, and shams twice a year. I like a lighter more pastel color for spring and summer, and a darker one for fall/winter. He thinks seasonal linens is crazy. What do you guys think?

Unpopular Thing Lovers

Now, to keep a good balance going I thought I’d post the short list of my unpopular likes since yesterday we talked about my popular dislikes. I guess I’m not really sure if these are all unpopular or not, they just seem a little bizarre to me or my family.

*Zippo lighters….lighter fluid in general. I love that smell.

*Peeling Sunburns….I know, it’s gross. But I can’t help myself. I like to peel wallpaper too. For some reason I get satisfaction out of it.

*Lyle Lovett…..I love, love, love, Lyle. I have just about all of his albums and have listened to him for years and years. I’ve gone to see him once and wish he’d stop here more often on his tours.

*Monty Python…. I know they have a cult following, but it’s mostly men. I just think they are the funniest. I love British humor. MP & the Holy Grail was the first dvd I bought.

*Sanrio…Now Sanrio is popular, but I’m 30! And I love Chococat, Sweet Coron, and the like. My family thinks I have the taste of a 13 year old as the love of things brightly colored and glittery has spilled over into my home decor (to a certain extent. I’m girly, not crazy). I just hate having to shove aside small children to get to the clearance items! =)

*Fruit Cake…. I think I’m the only one who loves this stuff. I do though, I get one each Christmas season and just love it. So send all those unwanted fruit cakes to me!

So…what do you like that the general public might think is odd or unpopular?

Swaps and Popular Thing Haters

For those of you who are interested in joining the swap group…read on!

Swap!

Click the above link and join in on the next swap! They are really fun. We do about 4 a year (usually 1 a season). The theme is announced, you’ll get an email with your partner’s address, then you go fill a box (don’t go over $25) with fun stuff that goes with the theme including 1 thing you make yourself. Include a letter listing the contents and the story behind each item and ship it out by the deadline. Then, when you get your box, take a picture and post it on your blog.

I love sharing goodies from all over the country this way!

This morning on the drive in they were talking on the radio about being a popular thing hater. A listener had written in that it’s easy to talk about the things you like, esp if they’re popular, but it takes more guts to talk about what you don’t like- especially if it’s popular. I agree. People look at me all evil-eyed if I dare say I don’t like Precious Moments (creeeepy), or yellow gold (it just looks bad on my pale, pink skin and that’s carried over into my over all taste). Now, just because I don’t like it doesn’t make it bad. Not in the least! Please, if you love mauve and country blue ruffled curtains and multi colored stencils in your hallway, continue! Keep on lovin’ ’em! So, here we go…. drum roll please… my short list of popular things I can really do without:

*Chocolate Cake…..I know, I know. I’m just not into it. I like brownies alright, but chocolate in anything more than chocolate milk or a Reeses cup is just too much for me. I also don’t like many candy bars for this very reason.

*Flavored Potato Chips….bar-b-que especially. The only ones I can handle are salt and vinegar and Dorito’s (regular). If I want pizza I’ll eat pizza- not pizza essence sprayed onto a thin, fried piece of potato.

*Gold or brass fixtures…..like doorknobs, lamps, drawer pulls, etc. We’ve been in our house less than 3 weeks and I’ve spent a lot of that time frantically running around replacing said objects with less flashy fixtures. I know it’s the favorite style of home builders, but honestly people, you can change them out! They aren’t permanent!

*Silk flowers…They give me the creeps. Not all silk flowers (and I even have a couple of small, simple, arrangements in my house- my cats eat real flowers and empty vases look odd just sitting around), but the big, funeral style arrangements people tend to put on pedestals in front of windows or the silk flower garlands they weave around window treatments to collect dust and dead insects. Shudder.

*The beach….Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a fun beach vacation as much as the next person. But I am very fair and burn easily. I don’t like getting all sandy (although I do enjoy the exfoliating benefits of walks on the beach). I prefer the activities (seafood dinners, shopping, sipping fruity drinks on the balcony, walking on the beach at night) more than the act of lugging a ton of stuff to the beach, getting burned no matter how high my spf, lugging it all back to the hotel, and being all hot and worn out afterward.

*Chain Restaurants…More specifically, large, corporate, chains. I’ll eat there if I have to. But I prefer any local place to frozen variations of chicken fingers or other such food I could certainly thaw out myself at home served at TGI Fridays, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Applebees, all those. Blech. Some chains (locally owned usually) are pretty good- and I wish them nothing but success!

And lastly… *J-Lo….she has gorgeous skin. That’s about it. She can’t act, can’t sing (ever been to a J-Lo concert? Exactly. Because there aren’t any. Wonder why not?). I wish her nothing but happiness. I hope her and Ben will be together forever. By the way, didn’t they always say Ben was at least 6 feet tall? And isn’t she only about 5’2″? If so, even with high heels, why does he only look a couple of inches taller than her in pictures?

I’m sure I’ll get some backlash on this post, but my intention is not to offend. Let me say this though, I’m not a snob, I just know what I like. Everyone has their own opinions and tastes. And again, just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not fabulous for someone else.

So what popular thing do you not like? Go ahead, it’s ok, get it off your chest! =)

WacKey

Have you guys seen these?

I love them. My Mom is the first person I knew with one- she had the American Flag. Then when we had our keys made for the new house I got Jon the flame design and I have the tie-dye. They are so cute! Plus, it’s really easy to find your key when you know it’s the brightly colored one! I wish Lowe’s had the flower or butterfly keys in stock when I went, maybe next time!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! We spent the weekend trying to get over our colds, attending my friend Michelle’s wedding (the most beautiful bride ever!), attending a birthday dinner (Happy Birthday Uncle Erv!), and working around the house. Pictures to follow soon! Lots of before and after shots since we replaced a bunch of horrid light fixtures for swanky new ones. It’s starting to really feel like home now!

I’ll bid $1 Bob

The other day Jon and I caught The Price is Right for the first time in a long time, and let me tell you I’m upset that I’ve missed out on so much entertainment for so long! I used to watch it religiously during the summers when I’d visit my Nanny (it was one of her faves), but it’s been a while since I’ve seen it. I love how the games are still so old fashioned. No touch screen computers here. Still using the sliding placards. I love that. The games you saw as a kid are still being played. I only wish they had played Kerplinko, or Plachinko, whatever it’s called. We were laughing so hard the whole hour. So fun.

First of all I’m convinced if you want to be a contestant you must wear a homemade tshirt like the ones we saw: Barker’s Breathing Buddies, or Bob’s Bigger Than Texas! None of which made much sense. You have to jump around like a madman most of the time, and when it’s time to bid you yell out in earnest “That will be $1 Bob!”. You’ll win every time.

See, these people have no idea how much things cost. Apparently they don’t do their own shopping. How else do you explain that one lady swore that a can of soup would cost more than specialized eye drops for contact lenses? And why would one lady bid $28,000 on her showcase when all it featured was a Dell computer (maybe $1500), a cellphone (usually less than $100) and a Pontiac Grand Prix (maybe $18k on a good day)?

And don’t get me started on the cross merchandising! We were hysterical over the products they were putting together as prize packages. “The highest bidder will win….cookware and Polident!”. I loved the bedroom suite and hemorroid pad package! Oh, and the water pik and beaded lamp with a ceramic woman gazing at herself in a mirror as a base. What a combo!

Hands down the most fun I’ve seen in an hour on TV all week.

One last thing… It’s 2003. Can someone please get Bob Barker a cordless mic??