The Thing About Free Time...

I am currently on my 12th day off of work. It is gorgeous outside. I'm not in school. I already worked out today. I have too much stinkin' free time on my hands. I know, I know, you all want to jump right over here and punch me in the nose. I get it. But really. It's one thing to plan for 2 weeks off and another thing entirely to be sick for 5 or 6 days right in the middle of two weekends. And John is very busy, which means I'm trying to remember exactly what I used to do by myself before him. The Bel Air got detailed yesterday. I sewed up the seat. I've replaced my shower curtain liner. I vacuumed my COUCHES. My magazines are read. And it's 3:45. Too early for dinner. What to do, what to do?
In other, slightly related, news,
You know, I'm not a naturally "big group" social person. I get my 3 good friends wherever I live and I'm kind of set. I think I need to expand this to maybe 5 good friends and 5 kind-of friends that I'm comfortable enough to hang out with once in a while. At least. Things to learn before 30: how to make introductions that don't suck, how to ask people questions about themselves (good ones), and how to hang out in big weird potentially awkward groups. Like after institute.
Maybe I will learn this. Some days it doesn't really seem so important. But maybe mingling is.
Also, my days are getting longer and longer because my body is resetting itself back to days, so I've seen a lot of sun, and the DAYS SEEM ENDLESS! but fun.
I'm going to go eat some watermelon outside.
Anybody want to go boating?

Cracker Barrel

A little shout out to Cracker Barrel, which is a restaurant I avoided going to until just last month. For some reason I grouped it with Chuck'o'Rama, which is a restaurant I have never been to and plan on never going to. Apparently I was wrong. Cracker Barrel is actually DARLING. It does remind me a little of Frontier Pies, my first terrible and traumatic job, but still.
Anyway, I completely spaced writing about it until 2 of you wrote about it in your blogs this week. John decided I needed to go and we went for a late breakfast one morning (December 29th?). I'm almost positive I had blueberry syrup on blueberry pancakes. Really, I don't remember. I just remember that it was incredible. And that the lady waiting on us wanted my new American Eagle shirt.
But.
My favorite part was sitting in the recliners out front playing checkers on an incredibly gorgeous day (like today). It was perfect. And (bonus!) the next time I need a book on tape I'll know where to rent one.
Sorry to misjudge you Cracker Barrel. Y'all are great.

Pathetic

I have been sick since Saturday. I slept for 20 hours that day. But Sick Christin does that. And then usually she's better the next day. I should know better than to tell my trainee last week at work that I never get sick. I just rarely do. And it's not even the kind of sick you can feel good about. You know, there's no 103 degree fever with non-stop vomiting. I can move. Just not for long. I worked out yesterday. After taking a nap before AND after. I finally got some antibiotics today. The doctor said it seemed like an ear infection with a bit of a cold on top. Sweet. I called in sick to work for the second day. I HATE using my vacation days being "kind of sick." But what kind of nurse does a 12-hour night shift feeling like she just needs to take a 6 hour nap and just might pass out? (And by the way, I'm just tired enough to want to sleep. And then lay in bed and look at the ceiling. I feel like a loser.)
I was so glad my blood pressure today was 88/60 (for Ariana that's high, but for me, that's low. I'm usually 106/68). It was like one tangible sign that I'm not making my weakness and light-headedness up.
Frick. This is the dumbest sick I've ever been.

Winter Snowballs

I am not a huge fan of winter, but it turns out, I don't really hate it. There are perks. Morning snows, fireplaces, and cute winter clothes. Here are a few of my favorites:



The top is my Christmas Sunday Santa outfit. The next is my favorite hat ever. The last is a new purchase.
Which I love. To me, it screams fun winter party and snowballs. To my brother, it screams "The Dumbest Thing I've Ever Spent $40 On." So we have a deal, if you hate it, tell me. If you like it, tell me. If 6 people comment and say it's ridiculous, I have to take it back. I have a feeling I'll be keeping it...but maybe I'm wrong.

Birthday Song (You Don't Actually Have to Listen or Comment on This)

I have bangs again (and this time I'm not embarrassed!). But I might be about the Blue Steel Look.

So first off, today I got my hair done. By someone other than my mom. A girl in my ward works at a sweet salon in Scottsdale and I gave her mostly free reign with my hair. I have highlights, lowlights, bangs, and layers. And I LOVE IT!! It was so much fun.
Thanks, Vanie!! Here's a few pics.



Secondly, I am about to make a confession. It's about a face I make in the mirror when I get a new haircut. Or if my hair is straight. Or if I'm just feeling a little sexy. Jessica calls it my "Come Hither" look. Brad calls it my "Blue Steel" look (hence the video above). It embarrasses me to death when I'm called out on it, but I can't deny I do it. So here's few pictures (which, by the way, were not hard to find) of me doing my blue steel/come hither look. Oh goodness.

A "Real" Valentine's Day

I've had a few Valentine's Days in my life: one where my parents got me a red high heel phone, a few where I went to a high school dance, and even one where I avoided talking about Valentine's Day for the sake of a friend.

But this would be my first truly traditional Valentine's Day. The day before, Ariana and I went and got beautiful pedicures at MOSS, a spa over which I have lusted since before it opened. We sat in red velvet recliners, soaked our feet in milky water with sliced lemons, and had our legs wrapped in heated towels. Our toes look amazing.And afterwards we walked across the street to Scottsdale Fashion Square and paraded around in 6-inch on Jimmy Choo stilettos at the Jimmy Choo boutique where I momentarily considered the consequences of purchasing $800 shoes. And then we put the shoes back in their boxes and went home.

Saturday I made a trip to Sprinkles for a dozen cupcakes for friends (and due to a miscommunication and some hungry tummies, 2 friends got missed and I need to go BACK to Sprinkles for more). Anyways, apparently Sprinkles is INCREDIBLY popular on V-day, and they packed 40 people into that tiny little place. And 30 minutes later, I had peanut butter, strawberry, chocolate marshmallow, and hot red velvet cupcakes in my car. (Luckily, it was scheduled cheat meal day on the Abs Diet!!) I drove first to John's work and dropped his off. I'm aware that this is quite a girlfriend-ish thing to do, but there are days that you really have to just go with it, so we did...

After he got off work, John and I went back to True Food Kitchen. It was just cool enough and trendy enough to not be schmaltzy and romantical but still be very fun. John looked so hot in a new shirt of his, and I wore a shirt I almost never do and a necklace which I almost never do, and that in itself was fun. He had salmon which was perfection and I had Pacific Bass that was also so delicious. Dessert was Apple-Cranberry Crumble with maple ice cream. yumyum yum. 

Oh. And I got roses. That's a first. Thank you John. 

And if anybody wonders how much fun I was having, well, I forgot to take pictures. Here's the 2 half cupcakes that are left and my beautiful flowers. 

Happy V-day!

video added

And I added a video from Elf.  Go look.  Two down.  And no, it is not merely a clip to help cheer people up after looking at this disturbing picture of me.  It's relevant to the post.

Ominous Omen

I always thought I was above plastic surgery. Until this started happening:




Ignoring the fact that I took this picture before church on 3 1/2 hours of sleep and look like I just got mugged, do you see my eyes? I mean, really see them? Look closely. Do you SEE those saggy eyelids? This happens to me whenever I have to wake up earlier than desirable. The first time I noticed was terrified. What was I allergic to? What bacteria grew in my eye? What nerve ending just crossed it's last synapse? And then, 15 or 20 minutes later they sucked right back up where they were supposed to be. NEXT TO MY EYEBALL.

But I realized at this point that this will happen again. Probably all my life now. And one day, my collagen stores will all dry up and my eyelids will form this saggy little ridge forever. 

And the next day, I will call up my new plastic surgeon and schedule the surgery. I cannot live with old saggy eyelids. 

The Incongruity of Weather Patterns

Is it fair that the prettiest days in AZ are also the shortest? Why do I get 10 hour 80 degree February days and 18 hour 120 degree July days. Night owls do not appreciate early sunsets.
I'm just sayin'....

"We Elves Like to Stick to the Four Main Food Groups: Candy, Candy Canes, Candy Corns, and Syrup."

I am not the first person who has thought of blogging about this quote from the movie ELF in relation to her own diet. In fact, if you google this quote, quite a few "I need to lose 100 pounds" blogs come up. 

That's not what this is. 

The title/quote just reflects what I ate for about two weeks. 

The other option for the title was:

The Plate to Bowl ratio. (nope, not a link, sorry)

Let me explain. The plate to bowl ratio is the most reliable indicator of how many actual dinners I've cooked/eaten versus how many days I've gone just eating ice cream and/or Lucky Charms and/or Life Cereal and/or (in a moment of clarity) frozen blueberries and milk. 

The last few weeks we've gone through bowls at an alarming rate. 

In walks the Abs Diet. I love the Abs Diet. It's maybe the least restrictive diet ever. On the other hand, it's chock full of enough healthy stuff to make you feel amazing. I did one week's worth of this diet in October (I think) and lost 3 pounds and 3 people asked if I was losing weight. First of all, I was shocked that anybody was looking at me that closely. And second of all, I thought, "Do I need to?" I was doing this to be healthier!

But if one week's worth is good, 6 weeks worth is better, so I bought the book last week. 

Overall I would recommend the Abs Diet for several reasons.

1- Ice Cream is involved. Frequently. I needed to buy 3 different kinds. Sure, you only get one scoop in your smoothie, and you always add in some whey protein powder. And sometimes berries (which I also love in all varieties). But this to me still equals milkshake. And momma loves her a milkshake. 

2- This meal plan is based on 12 "Powerfoods." I like all of them. Especially. You guessed it. Peanut Butter. ahhh...sigh of relief.

3- Everything is based on being very quick. A guy wrote it. A guy editor of Men's Health. Everything takes less than 15 minutes to cook. This means I can take most of these meals to work. So I do. Dave Z. is brilliant. 

4- It's flexible. I can switch meals around for work eating versus home eating. i.e, fish fillets.

5- Some of the recipes from the last few days include: Roll of a Lifetime, Pimp my Shrimp, Mo' Fetta Mo' Betta, "Show Me The Honey" Smoothie (with honeydew), Orange and Gold (so delicious Asian Chicken). Haha. Aren't you a clever little chef you?

6- Cheat meal. Every week. Because I'm not staying in on Sat. night for the sake of the Abs Diet. 

The negatives:

1- Some of the stuff is a little iffy. The VERY FIRST meal is tuna & eggs for breakfast. Sorry Pregnant Emilies! Terrible, no? But I downed it fine and was full for 3 hours which is a record, so I guess I can live with that. 

2- He only tells me exactly what to eat for 3 weeks of his 6 week meal plan. I didn't buy this book for 3 weeks of being told what to eat. I bought it for 6 dang it. Now I have to recycle and mix and match. And DO IT MYSELF. Terrible. 

This should be fun...

p.s. And our dishwasher is all filled up with plates. 

The '90's are officially over.

Oh, you say, they ended 9 years ago? Really? Well, not for all of us. This has been pointed out most recently to me by both Bridget and John. And today, especially John. 

So John and I both had the day off today, which actually hasn't happened in quite a while. So we decided to spend it together. (Shocking, I know) Originally the plan was to go to Sedona, but I didn't really make a good plan for that or get ready early enough, so instead we spent 5 hours shopping. No, I don't know how I got him to spend that ridiculous amount of time shopping with me. I almost died myself. And yes, I did buy a dress that was a little hot that I didn't need because he thought it was great, but I think that's to be expected. (Oh, we also had a very fun lunch at Benihana, but I have to wait for Brad to track down a video clip for me before I can post a little about that.) 

So anyways, as we go along this happened on more than one occasion:

Me: "That is a Terrible shirt."

Him: "That is a great shirt."

US: Really?

Now there is one main reason why I trust John's opinion at least as much as my own:

1. He's from LA. People generally are a little more put-together and trendy in LA than in Idaho, I imagine, as a general rule, what with all the celebrities living there and stuff. So I will listen to John since he obviously knows all the rules for living in warmer western United States. Which is also why my hair is worn straight at least 50% more often since he's come around. 

The reason he got points today is:

1. The first pair of shoes he picked up for me were black pumas which I'd wanted for at least 3 years. 

So today when I thought something was terrible or he thought something was terrible I actually thought about it. Now don't get me wrong, there were plenty of things we did agree on while shopping. One was an $86 shirt that I didn't end up getting. Along with 3 pairs of shoes and that dress. We could not agree about the orange J. Crew shirt I loved or about the checkered Roxy shoes that he thought were just great. 

The words "so 90's" and "white trash" were thrown about probably more than I usually use them in a year. Okay, so I never use the phrase "so '90's." 

And this got me to thinking about the '90's-ness of my wardrobe. There's a lot of it in there. Or there was. Apparently when you're 29 things can actually go out of style while you are still in college!! (Or just hanging around people who are. Grad school should probably be a wardrobe warning sign.) So when I got home, everything taking up space in my closet circa 2002 or before was put in the Buckle bag to be taken to DI tomorrow. And a few shirts that I just know John thinks are awful or that I haven't worn in a few years. This includes a bunch of shoes that I've been in denial about for a while. And some red capris that Candice gave me once that really I feel weird wearing every time. 

Um, Bridget, I'm going to need my Anthropologie shirt back soon. I have a lot fewer clothes now!!

Recompense

We all make bad decisions from time to time. And usually, we have to deal with the consequences of those decisions. But sometimes, we make bad decisions and somebody else has to deal with the consequences. Take yesterday, for example (Mindy & Maria, you are so quick on noticing the post... I was still at work when Brad loaded up the picture!). Actually, we have to backtrack further than that. Back to December when I wrecked Brad's Cadillac. And got a ticket for having expired registration. HIS expired registration. A $136 fine. I called Brad since we were so close to the house and had him try to register it online, but it needed an emissions test, which is hard to do on a totaled car. Anyways, to sum it all up, I had a hearing yesterday in Tempe. Which I couldn't get out of, despite faxing a "motion to continue" to them in the morning, which was denied. I had to wake up 2 hours earlier than normal and drag my butt to court to fight this registration thing. And it was all Brad's fault. Did he feel bad about it? You decide:

• He ironed both my scrubs and my shirt I wore to court
• He made me both a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and a turkey sandwich, just in case I wanted options. And packed the rest of my lunch. 
• He made me a breakfast burrito to enjoy this morning at work.
• He stopped by Urban Campfire for dinner, which we'd both wanted to try. Excellent Baked Potato. 
• And he refilled my water twice while I ate. 

So I guess if your brother lets his registration expire, and you have to go to court for it, apologies don't get much better than this. 

And, no, I ended up not having to pay the fine. 

Or I might still be a little pissed. 

Maybe. 

Christmas Leftovers

Christmas is a magical time of year, full of magic and family and shopping. And if your birthday is in December, it also comes with a $10 birthday gift from Victoria's Secret. That expires on Jan 31.
So did a free dozen Krispy Kremes coupon that we got with our Christmas Tree.
So did a buy one get one free coupon from Juice It Up!
So I redeemed all my coupons, even if Krispy Kreme was a half an hour away and a pain to get to in the Bel Air. Plus, I got 15 doughnuts anyways for free because I wanted 2 custard filled and one cake doughnut and technically the coupon didn't say "glazed only." And some people were mad about it. I just pretended to be mad, laughed, and asked for those 3 and the guy gave them to me. Yay. That was the best. 

And my new John Legend CD came and my Abs Diet book, which doesn't actually have 6 weeks of meals in it (just 3) and currently I'm too busy eating out and eating ice cream to do this, but I'm sure I will soon. 

And I also bought some new running shoes, which were on a pathetic little sale, but I love them anyways and someday I will actually run in them. 

And my AZ tax refund was deposited at midnight. 

I love Christmas.