pretty little packaged plan...john hughes style.

31 march 2010

inspiration: john hughes movies

location: chicago usually.

what i love: the neat little wrap up.

i love things in my life being a bit unpredictable. 

sometimes i think my life would be easier if it all wrapped up as easily as a john hughes movie. 

i mean wouldn't it be great if my dream guy showed up on my birthday with a cake and we shared a candlelit kiss? or if my family showed up on christmas morning just as i woke up in time to find things just as i had wished for them to be? or if i just barely got away with the ultimate day in downtown chicago?

but i think i'm still in the plot development stage, in which my family has forgotten my birthday, i have realized that i'm all alone and the burglars are coming, or that my parents are about to bust me for skipping school and i'm face to face with my principal. i guess we all feel that way sometimes.

but then there are those other days, when we get marooned with the prom queen in a rolls royce, get to go on vacation to france, or get to cruise town on a free pass because my best friend is a bad ass. you know, those days when the stars align and we catch a break.

i've never been much of a planner. i've always left that to those people that make lists - and have to check off at least one thing a day. i must admit that i've always kind of envied those people. those that have at least one of the big checks taken care of - husband...check. kids...check. you know, the together people. and on the other side of the room...me.

you see, i've always been more of the 'go where the day takes you' kind of soul. lend my panties to a geek. overcome my fear of the furnace in the basement. sing in a parade and inspire choreographed dancing in the street. take a risk and see where the day can bring you. and doing all of it in good time. in my time. 

and i think that's ok. i've spent some time thinking about it, and i think that being organized can be great. making lists can bring you closer to your goals. i spent a lot of time making plans when i was younger, trying to finish my life before it started. and all it did was bring me to the conclusion that my life is not for me to plan.

it's like when you think you're going to be slick and grab a quick sip from the water fountain, and just as you lean over, turn the knob/push the button, a HUGE rush of water comes barreling out of the fountain, spraying your face, getting your hair wet, and leaving you no less thirsty, and in need of a paper towel. or maybe just a towel. you think to yourself, 'well sure. why wouldn't that happen?' well, that's pretty much how i feel when i try to plan things too detailed in my life. 

so i've decided that i might not get my john hughes ending. my candle studded birthday and parade days may not be in the making in quite the same way, but i'm going to have a bad ass time trying to make those moments happen. 

in my time.

(ps - another day i'll post some fun stuff from each of these movies....cause i love them each so much....haha)

welcome in spring with some spring cleaning!!!

28 march 2010

inspiration: spring cleaning!!!

location: my mom's garage/my apartment

what i love: organization!

i love spring cleaning. who knew. i used to think i was organized. that i liked things in order. that i was someone that liked things tidy. boy was i right. but execution and intentions are so very different. i didn't fully understand that until i started really cleaning my room. 

i am finding all sorts of crap everywhere. i'm trying to just weed out and clean, and THEN, my mom called me today and asked if i would help her clean out her garage....i couldn't BELIEVE it!!! i have been waiting to get my hands on that garage since we practically moved in!!! i'm so excited to clean and move and clean some more! hooray!

but more on that later. i've attached an article link for a story about cleaning and organizing your house, complete with some dos and don'ts, just so you don't get too overwhelmed with the state of the world and your garage.

how to clean it up

if ya thinkin ya dun, ya naut.

inspiration: jersey shawre

location: jersey, duh. (or mtv)

what i love:

so i officially have a new found love for the jersey shore. 

i didn't have any clue what i was missing until i got assigned to be a jersey shore character for young life club tonight. boy did i not know what i was missing!!! these characters are so freaking hilarious, i can't even tell you. 

so i got my best spaw-klees aoown, and i sprayed my heeair up big. real big. genie and i put our best hair doooses four-waad and went for it. the kids played a hawt dawg game and laved it. they did. they laved it big. real big. 

we had grant playing "a situation," and he literally drew a six pack on his stomach with a sharpie. hilarious. he was so funny when he lifted his affliction shirt up in the air....i died. haha

so attached is the link to the hilarious makeup training video we found on youtube....and a pick of snooks...just for your enjoyment.

snookie how-to

alice, alice, alice!!

7 march 2010

inspiration: alice's journey through wonderland
location: the imagination via tim burton
what i love: how crazy tim burton is!

so this movie has been all over the place....it's all Alice! Alice!!! ALICE!!!!!
but that's OK with me....i have loved this story ever since i was a child. the characters, the journey, the imagination required to actually read the book. when i was a kid, i read the book, even though it scared me a little, and after watching the disney version...

   

...i wanted to be british, fall down a rabbit hole, meet tweedledee and tweedledum, and eat little cakes (no matter what they might do to me...), but i never guessed a version of this movie would be made that would be quite like this one.

tim burton created something both whimsical and a little creepy, with a jabberwocky, a creepy set of twins, beautiful flowers that have human-like faces, and well, johnny depp. in a way, it's every alice fan's dream...not to mention anne hathaway with white hair and black eyebrows....which i still don't entirely get. but that's ok.

so enjoy some of the images i took with my iphone at the movie tonight...they aren't that great, but go see the movie and you'll see just what i missed! it is truly a brilliant film! and you won't want to miss it!!!! (i plan to see it again...and again...and again. and maybe one more time after that.)

and all the images belong to disney...just don't make them mad.

rodeo art awards are today!!!

today is the school art awards!!!!! we are on the way to see who the winners were and see all the adorable kiddos get their awards, and see their art!!!

ok...back i am. and i was WAY off on my prediction of the grand and reserve champions!!! oh well. the winners were good, and i'm excited to see how the auction goes!!!! enjoy the pic and i'll see you tomorrow!!

opening day of the rodeo....

2 march 2010

inspiration: hlsr
location: htowwwn!
what i love: it's awesome.

today's inspiration is the houston lifestock show and rodeo...it's OPENING DAYYYYYYY!!!
i work on two different rodeo committees, one that raises scholarship money for art students and one that gives directions to rodeo patrons....i love being involved with the rodeo, and i knew i would do it one day...and here we are.
i'm so excited!!!! my mom has been involved with hlsr since i was a little girl, and i loved getting to go with her to events and loved that people respected her involvement with the committees, and now, i get to do that! i'm helping out kids with a dream of arts scholarships, and helping lost kids and people all over reliant grounds...such fun!

so come and join the fun and visit me at the rodeo!!! (and if you haven't given money to the school art auction committee yet, you know where to find me!!!)

i'm becoming a coffee junkie...

23 february 2010

inspiration: the beverage known to most as coffee
location: my tummy
what i love: it's yummy.

so it's called by many names...java, coffee, joe, mocha, cappuccino, caffeine in a cup, americano, cafe.
and you can go to plenty of places to get it...deidrich's, starbucks, jo's coffee, taft street, agora, brasil, empire cafe. (...and some of them are even good.)

but i love it. pretty much any way, but i'm really picky about where i get it from. i always love deidrich's...it's my go to for yummy coffee. the cold press coffee is my fav. it's all the things you love about coffee, but without any of the things you hate. no bitterness, but all of the flavor. YUMMY!!!!!

so if you get a chance, drive by...you'll probably see me there with a book. (this might be becoming a problem....)

21 february 2010

inspiration: BROADWAAAAAAY!!!
location: barnes & noble on w. gray
what i love: the 5-6-7-8!

i have always loved broadway, and musicals by extension.....it's what i wanted to do for a LONG time. well, that didn't really work out that well, but my love for the music and the experience never died. so when jq went to work for tuts, i was so pumped (she has always been my friend that loves musicals as much as me...and this was her dream job!!)!!! and one of the first events she has had to do was tuts day at the w. gray b&n. so of course, i told her that i would go by and buy some books and give some monies to tuts. cause who doesn't want to support musical theater?!??!!!

so if you can get there before they close today, then pick up some books (or some of that other crap they sell at b&n), and tell them you want part of the purchase to go to tuts!!!

who wants their portrait done???

18 february 2010

inspiration: this little portrait frame card from the family guide for the barkley hendricks show at the camh
location: bingo hall in the heights
what i love: it was so cute and hilarious!!

so i had to work before going to bingo tonight, and i was kind of bummed about it, but don't worry. when people aren't in the museum, i can always find ways to amuse myself. like tonight...i found an extra family guide for the barkley hendricks show, and i thought it was really funny that you could hold it up, and put your own face in a frame...so i decided to take it with me to bingo. as you can see, it made really fun portraits of the group...well i liked it!!!

oh, and i happened to make a perfect bingo dot in my free space....no big deal.

neiman marcus. i know. it's awesome.

13 feb 2010

inspiration: neiman marcus

location: houston, galleria

what i love: um, what don't i love?

so neiman marcus is by far my favorite place to shop. i mean, hands down. there is something about the store...everything about it makes it my favorite. from the customer service to the retail, the selection.....oh, i could go on and on. 

but today, i made one of my best purchases to date. i have been eyeing this david yurman ring there for months...since christmas. i went through neimans with my mom a couple of days before christmas on our way into the galleria, and started looking at the yurman counter in the jewelry section, pointing out some of the rings my friends had....it seems it was a bit of a rite of passage to receive a david yurman ring in our group (for graduation, anniversary, christmas, etc.). so i started trying some on, as per my mom's suggestion, and i fell in love with this one ring. instead of a solid stone in the middle, it had lots of little diamonds. but i was thinking, it's too expensive. but mom thought it might work out somehow if i really wanted it. so mom and i were talking and she was like, well, we'll see...

so christmas came and went, and no david yurman. but that was ok. i wasn't really expecting too much, and i was blown away by the gifts i received...such sweet things from my friends and family! after christmas, mom and i were talking about it, and i just couldn't seem to get that ring out of my head. so mom told me to really think about it, and if i really wanted it that i should just go get it. 

so i thought on it for about a week, and then, today - valentine's eve - i went and picked it up. i got my ring!!! i'm so pumped about it!!!!!!! just ask me to show it to you some time. cause i will bust that puppy out!