So this past weekend was my friend Katie's birthday celebration, as we'll all remember from this little post where I talked about the cookies I was making for her. Well, first, the cookies were a huge smash. Second, we had an excellllent time at dinner at Mess Hall (learn more about this cool place here. Next time, I am demanding a fire pit table!) and then the Dresden afterwards. And I'm, like, the best blogger ever, so I took 3 pictures of the entire evening. Wah wah. 1st picture... I also made Katie hand-squeezed lemonade in addition to the cookies. This is how it was transported to her house:
Safety first, people! Also, let the record show that squeezing 6 large lemons still only yielded half a pitcher's worth of lemonade. I need a lemon squeezer! Which is not code for a man! Okay, maybe a little! Anyway! So I get to Katie and Anthony's and we are discussing where we're going for the night and before we leave, Anthony was telling me about how at the Dresden, they have live music every night. But not just any type of music. Music akin to this:
Except it's the lady who plays the keyboard, not the man. But you get the picture. Naturally, I was excited. And he was totally right. Good job, Anthony. So we proceed to dinner, where I take the only other 2 pictures of the night.
Katie with a panda purse in front of her face...
And Mikey's terrifying shoes. And by terrifying, I mean awesome. Side note: Mikey, Amanda, and I painted at Wine & Canvas last weekend. Look at us being artistes:
Anyway, so we ate a TON at Mess Hall, some of us drank a ton, some of us also drank a ton at the Dresden, and some of us may have eaten a few cookies and some Chex mix and pasta salad when we arrived back to Katie and Anthony's house, but I'm not going to name names or point fingers. It was, truly, an excellent birthday. Since mine is coming up in a few weeks (prezzies are always welcome), hopefully I'll remember to take more pics for that! Oh, and speaking of birthdays... my new anytime philosophy:
Let me just prep you for what you're about to read... it involves a million balloons (including a pig balloon you can walk on a string, like a real animal), a lot of sushi, beer, and someone's birthday. No, not mine. (My birthday is in May, feel free to send presents in advance. I like diamonds.) My roommate Monique's birthday was this past Tuesday, but she was in Idaho for work, so we ended up celebrating last night. Except we are super sneaky folks and she didn't realize everyone who ended up coming was going to be there. She thought I was going to be somewhere else entirely (which would make me a pretty bad roommate, don't you think?) and I almost nearly was because the theme of the day yesterday was apparently Everybody Do Whatever You Can To Make Nancy Late Today. Rude. My cortisol level was off the freaking charts. But I made it. And earlier in the day Amanda and I had met up super sneaky style at the Dollar Tree (holla) to get a ton of balloons. We succeeded.
The lighting in the place where we started was horrible, but you get the gist.
And... LISA FRANK CENTERPIECES!
More balloons!
My Little Pony! Represent! Shelly actually brought this one. But, hearts just the same.
"Those princesses are totally judging us."
So everyone met at the Claremont Craft Ales place, this new brewery in the middle of a weird, random industrial park and Monique was sufficiently surprised. Which I just love. Surprises are so much fun to pull off. And we attracted a lot of attention in our Dollar Store (holla) party hats, but who cares?
Matt, looking very dapper.
Amanda and Nicole
Erin, going for the double-horn look.
A different Nicole, showing off this spring's two-horned shoulder style.
Ian, rockin' the ladies sunglasses.
Then, WHAT ARE THE ODDS, all these professors and students who Monique/Julia/Shelly/basically everyone who is not me go to school with and at that point... it was time to head out. Partying in front of a professor...? Weird! So we ended up at Rumble Fish sushi. Yum. Although the waitress was kind of rude to us and did not let us order a sushi boat. What. The. Hell. Isn't the customer always right?!? Apparently not.
The Birthday Girl, wearing her super awesome Birthday Girl hat.
Nicole, sporting one group of balloons on top of her Dollar Store (holla) party hat.
Oh yes... and the piece de resistance of the evening... Willie, the walkable balloon pig.
Staring up at his mama
Chilling on our recliner. Like a boss.
Willie came with us everywhere last night and let me tell you... want to start a conversation with ANYONE? Bring a walkable balloon animal with you. From old to young, lads, ladies, children... they will all be intrigued. You will be the talk of the town. It's very fun. This morning, however, Willie was missing a hoof. No one's sure when it was lost last night, just that it was. So now he kind of dances a little more than he used to, but at least he still has a good attitude. Now, I just realized I did not do a Weekly Obsessions post last week, so to make up for it... here's another one! (Just go with it.)
Weekly Obsessions!!!
1) In keeping with my love of boy bands, apparently New Kids On the Block (NKOTB, for those who are not in the know) are about to release a new album and with it, a new single called Remix (I Like The) and it's basically a story of a girl who used to be shy and a wallflower and didn't really like herself and then she decided "EFF THAT I AM AWESOME LOOK OUT WORLD HERE I COME" and clearly the confidence increases her likability by, like, a million. So I watched the video the other day and I am officially obsessed with both the video and the song. (PS - that screenshot of the large black man snapping and playing the piano - YES.)
2) I don't know if anyone else remembers this story from a few years ago about a group of already-privileged teens from the Calabasas, CA area who went around and burglarized celebrities' homes just for the hell of it. But if you don't, and even if you do, I think you'll be intrigued by the new Sofia Coppola movie that's coming out this summer about their shenanigans. It's called "The Bling Ring" and Lifetime made a (very tame) movie about the story last year, but come on. Coppola vs. Lifetime? Coppola will always win. I'm SUPER EXCITED for this movie. Plus, Emma Watson is in it!
3) HBO has been playing "The Lucky One" with Zac Efron for the past week and every single time it is on, I HAVE to sit down and watch as much as I can. If you didn't see the movie, PLEASE DO. It is so, so good. I think it may be my favorite Nicholas Sparks movie. And it has reignited my crush on Zac Efron. HELLO.
4) Britney's brunette hair. I don't think I even need to say more. Girl looks good.
5) Amanda and I literally saw Travis Barker in the grocery store today while we were buying sandwiches. Of all the celebrities we could have spotted... he was the one. I forgot how skinny he is (mega) and how many tattoos he has (so, so many). He didn't really talk to anyone, from what I could see, but one bro who works at the grocery store was like hollering into his phone "DUDE I JUST TOOK A PIC WITH TRAVIS BARKER OMGGGG" so... apparently he's still a thing. Honestly, the first thing I think of when I think of him (which is not often, for the record) was his MTV reality show with his ex-wife Shanna, Meet the Barkers. Anyone else remember that!?!
I apologize if that last video sends you down a dark, dark rabbit hole of looking at videos of MTVs' old reality shows on YouTube for the next hour, but let's be honest. That's probably more fun than whatever you were going to do! Peace, love, and walkable pigs to all of you.
Oh hey look at that! It's Tuesday again! Gotta love Tuesdays. So much happens on Tuesdays. Like, almost the same stuff you did on Monday except now you're one day closer to your next weekend. And new CDs get released on Tuesday. WAIT. Who buys CDs anymore? Oh right, me. I also am a fan of Taco Tuesday, although I don't have a go-to Taco Tuesday place around here, so if you have any recommendations, lemme know. Other things that are gonna happen on this Tuesday: I'm going to write about my fantastic weekend with my friend Christa (prepare yourself for a lot of pics) and about the book I just finished for my book club that's coming up this Sunday. First things first... So Christa got here (without plane issues UNLIKE LAST TIME thankyousweetbabyjesusinthesky) and we proceeded to sit out on my patio for 3 hours because the weather was like this:
Again, thank you Google
And we ate strawberries and did some information exchanging (read: gossiping) and basically it was heaven. So then we proceeded on to dinner, like all normal humans do...
After dinner. Christa is good at taking selfies
And then she had NEVER SEEN BRIDESMAIDS WHAT so we watched that. Please, by all means, either say out loud or text your best friend your favorite Bridesmaids quote right now since I just reminded you how much you love that movie. I'm a fan of "It's civil rights. This is the 90s." I like to say it when it's 100% not appropriate but that's how I know we're going to be friends is if you laugh or not. Don't say you weren't warned. So, anyway, Saturday rolled around and we (after going to a Nike Training Club workout class at the gym, which... woof) we drove on down to Stone Brewery
I love any excuse to put a driving dog in my posts
And met up with some of my friends for a delicious and nutritious lunch. Or as my father would say, a repast.
Gang's all here!
We're normal. And then it was time to head down to San Diego itself. I love that place. We did what ladies do on Saturday nights - stood around drinking $10 drinks when we could have made them at home for free, but whatever.
I'm on the left, Christa's on the right.
What am I looking at?
BRIGHT. SO BRIGHT.
Rooftop bar what's up!
Action shot!
True lovez
The Hard Rock...
The second place we stopped at was The Hard Rock hotel. Which was fun. But there were a bunch of people there and we could not tell (legitimately) if they were with a prom or a shotgun wedding because they all looked LIKE BABIES.
Ok, fine, it was not this extreme but you get the picture
And right before we left, the Creepiest Creeper wearing a white suit jacket tried to attack. We dodged his advances and slipped down to the elevator so we could get pizza before settling in to catch our zzzzs.
The Next Morning... eating breakfast! WHY must I be so PALE
And, like all good things, our time together came to an end. EXTREME SAD FACE. I hope Christa and I see each other before another 2 years goes by, but you never know. So I came home and distracted myself from my feelings of sadness not with chocolate (win) but with this hilarious book:
We're reading it for my book club which is meeting on Sunday and I am so glad we did because I kind of peed a little from laughing at some parts. The woman who wrote it, Jenny Lawson, wrote one of my favorite blog entries of all time about a giant tin chicken. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor, put on a diaper, and then read here. If you have read that book, what did you think?? Well, there's no rest for the wicked so I'm off ... to SLEEP. HELLO. Do I look wicked?
So first, for the record, apparently when I say "tomorrow's entry" that can mean the actual tomorrow, two days from now tomorrow, or sometime in the future. It's called creative license and I am going to exercise mine when talking about "stay tuned for tomorrow's entry" etc. etc. Since it's the weekend, I hope you are all in your comfy pants, possibly watching Law & Order or America's Next Top Model and definitely enjoying some tasty carbs while doing so. I am totes wearing comfy pants and my old-man sweater (purchased from the half-aptly named Old Navy) and I am ready to rock your face off with a story about hockey, Cagles (yep, that's pronounced like you think it is), beer, and banjos. But FIRST... it's time for my (sort of) monthly weight loss update! In case you haven't already read, I am currently doing Jenny Craig. And yes, the food is more than tolerable. Mostly. (The Swedish meatballs get a side-eye from me, but otherwise, I like their food.) Since I started on January 15, I have officially lost 12 pounds! Woohoo!!! When was the last time you lifted 12 pounds? That ain't nothing. I still have a lot of pounds I want to lose, but so far, I am feeling awesome. And my clothes definitely now like actually fit me instead of me pretending they still fit when they only sort of do. I'm pretty sure you all can relate to that feeling. And if you can't... I'm impressed/jealous. Okay. Now, on to hockey. There's a minor league hockey team (is that what it would be called?) that plays right near my house. They're called the Ontario Reign. Their mascot is a dude in a knight costume. I appreciated the historical accuracy of his costume. Observe:
Hmm... that's a little hard to see. Let's see if I can get a better visual.
Thank you, Google! So, our tickets were like $10. Thank you, Groupon! Hence why we looked so happy.
Left to right: Monique, Amanda, Amy, me. PHOTO CREDIT: SHELLY SLOPER [is that good, Shells?]
In fact, I'm pretty sure our beers cost more than the tickets. Not important. Non-professional hockey is so fun! We got to sit pretty close to the ice.
And I got this suh-weet action shot of the goalie stretching before the 3rd period.
Okay. Fine. That pic is not so sweet. But he was swishing his legs back and forth all fast like a hockey cat/ninja. Hockey Ninja Cat - new Halloween costume idea. Write it down before you forget.
At some point during the night, they did the obligatory kiss camera. And then they did something I've never seen before and that's the banjo cam. Where they play banjo music and you have to play along to it. We did not get featured, but I'm still not sure why considering this is what Amy looked like banjoing.
Amanda is scared of how awesome Amy can play the imaginary banjo.
And then right before the 3rd period, they started talking about one of their sponsors... named Cagles. Swear to the bears. This got a narrowed-eye response from me.
Similar to this.
I mean, I understand if that's your last name. But it also sounds like a certain downtown exercise ladies can do... I, for one, would not like people to think about hoo-hahs whenever they come into my store to buy a dishwasher. Just sayin'.
Look at your life, look at your choices.
But, overall, it was an incredibly fun night even though we did not win free Subway, free Chevy's, or free office supplies. Oh, but I forgot to mention the best part...
That video was obvi taken at a basketball game (read: I didn't take it last night), but that is the Ole Skool Crew dance group and that is what I have to look forward to later in life. Okay... now, it's time for
WEEKLY OBSESSIONS
I've got a few this week, so hang in there.
1) Apparently Dove chocolate has an official message to parents on their website, ensuring parents they do not and never will market their product towards children. Like it's crack. This is intriguing to me. And made me wonder what other companies have the same type of message. I'll try to find more and update you. 2) Like he couldn't get any weirder, Nicolas Cage bought a pyramid to be buried in (when he's dead, not when he's alive. Although I wouldn't put that past him). This is actually an old story. But I just heard about it and I can't stop thinking about how strange this is and why he felt the need to do so and I want to know if it's temperature-controlled or just a giant slab of concrete and what does it look like inside and how do they get him in there and what if he changes his mind? Who will buy that? Any insight would be appreciated. 3) I read the book called I Couldn't Love You More this week. It was published last year, so it's still relatively new. And you'd think I'm putting it here because I loved it, but in actuality, I HATED it. To be more specific, I HATED the main character. But I was equally impressed that a writer was able to elicit such emotion out of me over someone fictional. Normally, I reserve burning hatred for people I know in real life. So, I have to congratulate the writer on that at least. Here is the official description. If it sounds remotely interesting, give it a shot. And let me know what you think. 4) THIS SONG (Tornado by Little Big Town). It makes me want to put on dark, dark eye makeup and swirl into a bar wearing giant heels and whisper this to someone.
Just love it. All right. I think that's enough for now. Sheesh. Back to your regularly scheduled Sloth Saturday.
