thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:

**the surprise early 40th bday celebration i had last weekend ~

it was orchestrated by amy & kami, and i was so very excited for three reasons:

1. i've never had an all out birthday party complete with party favors galore. SCORE!

2. i've never, ever had balloons on my birthday. legit. and just take a look at those silver bad boys! (however, i would like to state for the record that i've received them when i've birthed a baby. and they were spectacular.)

3. any time a portion of the evening can be fully dedicated to me makes it my FAVORITE TIME OF NIGHT.

i felt so loved and extremely special. and an evening with these girls was just what the doctor. ordered:


what i did not love about the evening was the fact that i didn't get photos of the other ladies surrounding me. so i've re-created a very life-like scenario, depicting them in their natural habitat:


{l to right: shannon, melissa, arianne, & tiburon}


i received many wonderful birthday surprizeys. they were all wonderful and lovingly-thought out and i was so grateful.

one that gets special recognition, however, was the spectacular piece of jewelry gifted to me by my beloved vanessa:



i'm never taking it off.

{want it? need it? have to have it? find it HERE.}







** speaking of surprises, i am so very psyched about the fact that my man is taking me away next week to celebrate the 40 years i've been on this planet. & it's somewhere warm & tropical.....

he has kept it a secret. and i am DYING to find out.

what a great present, no? russ is pretty advanced when it comes to the gifting arena. i'm a lucky girl.




**the fact that i made it through another confession booth without too much trauma. and minimal therapy.

everybody played so nice that i'm committed for may 2010.

i thought that, by typing that, i sounded really epic. but, then again, i am somewhat easily amused.

{image that made me L.O.L. (!!) courtesy tiburon}






**this commercial that reminded me that clowns serve a purpose.

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:



*the fact that i had everything at home necessary for chandi to channel gaga for "dress like a crazy celebrity" day.

or should that fact disturb me? hmmmmm.

either way, she rocked it.

speaking of gaga, i thought this was cool:

The Gaga Law (RAH)² (AH)³ + RO (MA + MAMA) + (GA)² + OOH(LA)² = Bad Romance

**this photo that made me laugh.






**SarcMark--i think it's about time somebody invented this:


"With the spoken word, we use our tone, inflection and volume to question, exclaim and convey our feelings. The written word has question marks and exclamation points to document those thoughts, BUT sarcasm has NOTHING! In today’s world with increasing commentary, debate and rhetoric, what better time could there be than NOW, to ensure that no sarcastic message, comment or opinion is left behind Equal Rights for Sarcasm - Use the SarcMark"





**the keane 'special collection' cd that tiburon sent down. it brings me joy. you should get on their train--they have magical healing powers.

judge and jury

have i mentioned that there is an awful lotta estrogen 'round these parts this week?

besides the 5 women that normally occupy this space, we've added three more females to the brood. our besties colby & kristin took off for exotic locations (translation: cruise) and we are partying with their offspring.

good thing we know how to do the "GIRL THING" at this house--i've got it down to a science.

girls can be so funny about things, though--there is always a bunch of drama/tears/explanation of feelings/feelings getting hurt/more tears involved in every possible scenario. without fail.

the other night we had a funny little incident with chandler that totally took me back to my own adolescent years:

chandi had been at a friend's house with 5 other girls for a late night. we went to pick her up and when she got into the car, she exclaimed, "i'm EXHAUSTED! that was really hard just barely."

i said, "really? what was hard?"

she replied, "we just got out of court."

me: "ummmmmm, come again? a court? of LAW?"

chandi: "yeah--friend number 1 accidentally shoved friend number 3 and then she really got hurt and started crying--friend number 4 said that we needed to hold a court to decide who was right and who was wrong and it stressed me out. i didn't want to pick. i'm just glad i wasn't the judge--that would have been too much pressure!"

me: "giggle. guFAAAWWWWWWWW!!!!"


so i ask: when was the last time YOU held a court with a jury of your peers to either prosecute or defend one of your besties? so typical 12 year old female........and SO wrong on so many levels!

(for the record? if i was ever to have to "go to court" with my friends i would totally hire the law services of cheatem and howe--if you sign up to sue someone this week you get a FREE DIVORCE!)



it reminded me of an afternoon at recess out on the east elementary playground--i was in 6th grade and had somehow finagled my way into the popular group of girls. there was about 5 or 6 of us (entirely too many 12 year olds in one place at one time) and the unfortunate task of telling anna* (fictional name) that there "just wasn't enough room in our clique for any more--we were FULL."

i told her as we stood next to the 2nd base of the kickball field, and she started crying. i don't remember what i said to her at all, but i will ALWAYS remember that she yelled: "NOW I HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!" and stormed off.

i just sighed, and told myself that heavy was the mantle of great and important responsibility......

so lame. so misinformed. and SO typical of our race.


i just wonder how we get these young girls from age 3 to about 21 without wanting to kill them or the females surrounding them--

52 random thoughts

1. i've really been digging diet sierra mist cranberry splash.
2. it's a nice alternative sometimes to my beloved diet dr pepper.
3. or 'dark drink' as one of my children used to lovingly refer to it as.
4. i think my man is taking me somewhere special for my 40th birthday.
5. it's a surprise and i might die of anticipation.
6. i have ways of making him talk.
7. but he seems immune to my girlish charms and is holding strong.
8. i am beyond excited!

9. so so SO glad that celebrity rehab 3 premiered last night! total entertainment.
10. plus it doesn't hurt that dr. drew is a silver fox.
11. somebody who isn't a fox? heidi fleiss:

12. that woman looks like 5 miles of rough road.
13. i hate that losing weight/maintaining weight loss is mostly about what you put in your mouth.
14. i would like it to be a little more about exercise.
15. mindi has run out of gas in her car two different times in the past 6 months.
16. what kind of irresponsible person does that?
17. DON'T answer that.
18. i've noticed that i wear slippers a lot more now that i am advancing in years.
19. i like this song.
20. i also like this one as well.
21. which makes me feel guilty--shouldn't i be boycotting adam lambert on principal alone?
22. i seem to allow a bit of a 'gray area' when it comes to music.

23. i totally loved this hot photo of the boys from glee.
24. today, for the first time, i clicked on the button titled "today's visits" on my site meter.
25. it breaks down the visits your blog has daily, hour by hour.
26. i found that my "rush hour" is during the 10 to 11 am hour--.
27. i never thought i would peak in the AM.
28. i wish i could read japanese.

29. then i could translate the spam that i keep getting over and over again on THIS post.
30. i'm hoping it contains naughty asian swear words.
31. there is some sort of dead animal rotting away in the fields on river road by summit athletic club.
32. but for some strange reason i smell it only in the mornings when i come home from the gym.
33. it's a foul, foul stench.
34. then i start to think about what a dead HUMAN body would smell like.
35. and then i creep myself out for even having that thought cross my mind.
36. what kind of sick and twisted mind thinks of these things?
37. DON'T answer that.
38. now who wants to come and have a sleepover? :)

39. i love to get in my bathtub.
40. but the water has to be really hot.
41. everytime i'm in there, though, i think about what my friend dannielle told me.
42. "you are basically sittting in your own filth."
43. speaking of bathtubs, i saw a facebook update that cracked me up the other day:

YET ANOTHER URGENT FACEBOOK UPDATE: As of TODAY Facebook will automatically start selling your organs on the Black Market.. --C.O.D.-- To change this option --go to Settings-->Privacy-->Bathroom-->Ice-filled Bathtub then UNCLICK the box that says 'Remove my kidneys'. FACEBOOK KEPT THIS QUIET! 93% of people will not repost this.13 hours ago

44. a year ago if you would have told me that we would have not one but TWO cats living INSIDE our home, i would have said that you were smoking crack.
45. who's the crack smoker now?
46. recently i may or may not have purchased some cat stocking holders at target.
47. i justified it with the fact that they were 90 percent off!
48. i paid $1.19 for each one.
49. my brother in law would tell me it was $1.19 too much.
50. speaking of christmas and cats--i wish i would have thought of THIS first:



51. i want you to have a fantastic weekend!
52. really.

thankful thursday

THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR THIS WEEK:



** the million dollar smile that chanandler bong is currently sporting--"braces off" day is the BEST. (but her parents aren't super crazy about the fact that she now looks older. thumbs down!)





**the massive stud who is also arrestingly beautiful (translation: russ) who surprised me and got me the htc hero for christmas.

seriously, i have never been more in love with a cell phone in my whole life--it's the nicest phone i've ever owned and it's been so easy to navigate. i'm also thankful for the tutorial i got from a really patient tutor. (thanks, kyle!)

i like to refer to it as "the poor man's i phone", but only because it has a lot of cool apps and does some pretty wicked awesome things. i heart it so--





**this picture of michael cera dressed up as a d bag from new jersey with the tool from jersey shore.

i think that an entire bottle of hair gel was used to create this masterpiece.






**this photo of kitties. just because.





**and for 41 seconds of the most annoying sound in the world.

now that santa's on vacay.....

we finally get around to posting the obligatory holiday photo collages:


we waited anxiously to run down the hall from the parent's bedroom to check out our loot:


(some weren't so enthused.)



we channeled our inner olivia newton-john while roller skating on new years eve:



but were a little disappointed that we didn't re-create the magic of THIS:




we burned things, lit illegal fireworks procured from moapa tribal enterprises, & wore festive hats to welcome TWENTY TEN: