christmas lights!!!!

6 january 2010

inspiration: people who leave their christmas lights up later than new years day
location: all over
thing I love: um, festive-ness

Yes. I'm one of them. I leave my Christmas lights up longer than New Years' Day. Partly because I was out of town, and partly because I feel like we need to be more festive and creative throughout the year. Don't worry, I'm taking them down today, but I want you to know that this picture was taken far before Christmas, letting me know that people are just not as holly jolly as they used to be.



So SO SOOOOOO sad. I feel like people are more bah humbug throughout the year than they used to be. Just try to find a parking space at the Galleria on any weekend day, and you'll know what I mean. Or see the way that people treat the homeless in downtown Houston or at a freeway overpass. Let's remember how transformed Scrooge was after his visit from the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. He says, "I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." I think Charles Dickens was a smart man, inspiring masses to think beyond just a season of giving, and spread that joy and love year round.

So keep those Christmas lights out a little longer. Inspire someone else to keep Christmas with them all year long!

tcu horned frogs

5 january 2010

inspiration: my TCU Horned Frogs
location: Fort Worth, TX
thing I love: the 2009 football season, minus the Fiesta Bowl



Well, the season is officially over. And it ended with a heartbreak. The TCU Horned Frogs had a season legends were made of. One of the top three offenses. The best defense. All these things were looking so good for next season. A possible conference upgrade, a potential #2 standing for next year. All these things amazing. And then we played the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix Arizona, and it all went straight to he- er, well, you know where it went.

After the disappointing loss, all our Horned Frogs could do was hang our heads, swallow our words, and embrace the great job they did the rest of the season. It truly was a wonderful year for TCU football. And, who knows, maybe this year's performance will provide a good springboard for something great in the TCU athletic future.

So today's inspiration is for the Horned Frogs of TCU and all their fans. Keep talking big for TCU, keep your chins up, and we're gonna get 'em next year!!!

dj whaaaaaaat?!! DJ HERO!

4 january 2010

inspiration: dj hero
location: Best Buy, Houston TX
thing I love: I feel like a bad-a

ok, so i went to visit genie up at school before her semester started, and take her to lunch. we went to which wich and got delicious sandwiches, then ran into best buy to look for a fun new wii game.

we found some fun stuff...like deer hunter and some fun wii accessories...then genie asked if we could stop and play some fun new game she had heard of, called dj hero.



we played for way too long and we had SOO much fun with that game! so much in fact, that i walked away with a bloody finger...yikes! (i cut my finger while cleaning a serrated knife in the kitchen...oops)



so needless to say, this will HAVE to be a part of my life when it comes out for the wii!!!!

guns???

3 january 2010

inspiration: guns
location: Avery Farms, outside Caldwell, TX
thing I love: gun safety

ok. so i am a pacifist. i have always been ok with that. i am the first one to try to solve a problem rather than engage in a fight. (don't get me wrong, i like a good bickering match, but not so much with the fighting)

but when i was little, the dead deer would make me cry; in high school, i tried to convince a teacher that he was morally wrong for promoting hunting by having a deer calendar in his classroom; in college, however, i made my first strides towards making my peace with hunters...i went to my first ducks unlimited function. i then became friends with some people at tcu that had ranches, and we would go up with friends, hunt birds, and just chill. i fell in love with just being in the country. i still love it. i understand why people have country houses, living their lives in the city, and escaping to the country to relax.

we made a trip to the country for new years, having a great time just being together and being outside. it was wonderful! this is when i partook of something i had never done before...i shot a shotgun!!!!



believe it or not, i was always a little afraid of guns. i'll say that i've always given them their proper fear, kept my distance, you know, whatever. but i had a lot of fun on this trip, watching the guys practice their target shooting, and watching all the girls learning to shoot. it was so fun! genie and i went up on new years day, then stayed until sunday, helping chris clean up the house and get it ready to shut down, and lauren and daniel came up and hung out with us on saturday night/sunday...sunday we went out to the lake again, and shot some more. the girls had so much fun!!!



lauren and i learned to shoot shotguns, and how to stay safe with the guns (chris was such a great teacher!!!)....so today's inspiration is the fun of guns!!!

campfire

2 january 2010

inspiration: campfire
location: Avery Farms, outside Caldwell, TX
thing I love: nostalgia


As we turned off the Texas County road leading us to Avery Farms, and closer to our friends in the country, I was unsure about the weekends activities. But one thing I was totally sure about...there would be a campfire.



One of my favorite things in the world is the smell of a good campfire. I love the glow of the embers as they keep the fire hot, the warmth that comes from the flames, keeping your face and hands from needing creepy masks and gloves, and the chance to sit still and just be with those around you.

This particular campfire was awesome...we roasted marshmallows, played with sparklers, made s'mores, burned stuff, and had so much fun talking and reminiscing about our childhood experiences with campfires.

banana bread muffins

1 january 2010

inspiration: banana bread muffins
location: my apartment
thing i love: their deliciousness

So after a long night of fun celebrating New Years' Eve, most people spent New Years Day either nursing a hangover, eating black-eyed peas and cabbage, or a mixture of the two. I, personally, spent the day standing in the kitchen, cooking some deliciousness to take to the ranch for New Years' weekend, the afore named "New Years' Bikini Blowout."

I told my friend Chris that I would cook something fun to bring up since we were coming late, and so I made chicken tetrazzini and cranberry-orange bread pudding, but the real inspiration of what I made was the banana bread muffins I made from my Meemaw's recipe.

The reason for the inspiration is that her banana bread is heaven. Truly the most delicious bread I have ever eaten--it is delicious in flavor, moist (yeah, I used the word, even though I hate it), fresh, and filling. I don't remember if she actually ever made it for me, as my memories of the recipe lie in the Thorpe family cookbook with the name with 'Cecelia' written on the spine that graces the bookshelf of cookbooks in my mother's kitchen, but the taste of the bread reminds me in every way of my grandmother. Her very demeanor is the same as that bread: warm, enveloping, and fills you with a feeling of love that is so homemade/organic.

I love my Meemaw's banana bread. It couldn't be simpler to make, but it is perfect. I have never had any other that compared, but it reminds me so much of Meemaw when I enjoy it, that I could just be a little biased.

I had a little bit of a challenge when making these muffins for the ranch, as I had never seen them in muffin form before....only as a loaf. So, I called my mom and asked if she would dictate the recipe to me and let me know if she had any tips for making them into muffins, a less messy version of the loaf (easier to transport too). She gave me the recipe, and making them into muffins was a snap. It only took half the baking time, and they came out perfect.



Biting into the finished muffins was such an inspiration. It felt like Meemaw was in the kitchen with me, watching me create these delicious snacks for my friends...my surrogate family.

It is always so special for me to cook for my friends. Its different than cooking for family...to have your friends take part of something you have constructed is so memorable, creating a family feel when you can all sit down and enjoy a home-cooked meal together, enjoying conversation and delicious food.

So to welcome in the New Year, my friends and I all got to enjoy meals together at the ranch, sitting and talking, and taking the time to be a part of each others' lives.

inspired for 2010

It can come from the most unlikely places...

It can lead artists to create masterpieces.
It can lead architects to design works of art that double as usable structures.
It can compel chefs to generate edible creations that appear to float through the air.
It can drive inventors to revolutionize the world with their frankensteins (you know, like the sham-wow!)...

So that's the theme of this year. In the interest of full disclosure, this past year in Houston has been taxing, kicking me a little bit, and leaving me a little worse for wear. But all that is going to change this year. I am determined to be inspired this year. And not just in the art world. In fact, there may not be any art...oh, who are we kidding...of course there will be art. But that's what's great about inspiration. It can come from anywhere.




So in that vein of thinking, I am taking the 365 challenge (as in taking one photo a day for a year), but with a twist. I am going to spend one year looking for at least one thing to inspire me everyday. I am going to write about that thing and include a photo (my photo of the day). Sometimes they may be unrelated, and by that I mean, completely related!! (sorry...dr. doofensmirtz reference)

But I am going to do my best to keep inspired, and feel free to do the same! Contribute in any way you like to this blog, as I welcome comments and suggestions!!!!

Let's enjoy being inspired by 2010 together, shall we?!?

Apartment Therapy

So in the wake of our economy, I have lost some of my favorite magazines...while magazines like Dwell and Elle Decor are still around, inspiring the do-it-yourself gurus and the wannabe interior designers, magazines like Blueprint and Domino have fallen by the wayside, leaving a large hole for those that really love edgy and fun modern design.

Well fear no more, internet readers! You can now read all about the inspirational homes that have been created all over, maybe even in your city! Apartment Therapy (a site I have been obsessing over for at least a year) is your newest fix!!! I am in love with the things this site provides, from DIY projects, to home tours, product introductions, and even a place to sell some of your stuff! The interiors are always beautiful, photographed with depth and artistic flair.

When you check out the site here, don't forget to check out their sister sites, one for kids, one on home cooking, one for at-home tech, and one for the green home! It seems like they've thought of everything!!! Now all you have to do is get on there and get inspired to create something fabulous of your own...

Who knows! You could be the next featured home tour!!!!
I know I'm loving this one!!!!

music's influence, woodstock's 40.

i have always had a sort of fascination with music. the sounds, the lyrics, the emotions, the music. it always seemed to speak to my soul from a very young age. i was so interested in the people that were making music, writing it, singing it, and just involved in the process. so involved was i in this love affair with music, it never occurred to me that others didn’t feel the way i felt about it. i was obsessed.
when i was a little girl, i asked my mother about woodstock. my mother was born in houston, the daughter of two small town texas residents, in the heart of baptist country. and yet when i was younger, i asked all sorts of questions about the hippie movement, woodstock, and the vietnam war. my mother was the perfect age to have taken part in all these historical moments in american history, and i wanted to know her part in them. she was married in 1969, just a few months before woodstock took place. i remember asking her about it, begging for some information--did you go? were you a hippie? what must it have been like? she simply responded with a “amy. my parents would have killed me if i decided to become a ‘hippie.’ and i would have never been allowed to go to woodstock, even if i wanted to, which i didn’t because it seemed scary and dangerous.”
my spirits were crushed. this epic musical event that in many ways shaped the way music was heard, and my mother didn’t even WANT to go! i couldn’t believe it. while my mother was a teenager in the late 60s, she and her friends were really more of the Jackie O style, with pencil skirts, lettermans’ sweaters, and flipped out hairdos. there was no room for hippies in houston texas, at least not in her momma's household.
that culture. that hippie culture. something about the whole thing always seemed so romantic to me. something about the organic lifestyle, nomadic existance, and the yearning for natural living, just seems so much more the way we ought to be living. in looking back on woodstock, as it’s 40th anniversary is this weekend, i am still so intrigued about its past. the people who were there, how much of the stories are real, and the music. the music that changed people’s lives.
music has always been a part of me. from practically living on our living room ottoman as i belted out tina turner into my fisher price microphone in diapers, to being called a human encyclopedia of lyrics by my friends now, music is not just a hobby or an interest. it’s kind of an affinity. a compulsion. one of those things that can’t be stopped in my bones.

happy moon walk!

today is the 40th anniversary of the first moon walk! no, i'm not talking michael jackson's...

i'm talking more neil armstrong, silly!!!

maybe we should all celebrate with a little moonwalk of our own??!!!!