Hockadoo!

This past week has been quite the whirl wind but for now I'm just going to tell you about my Friday evening!

My good friend, Brittany (who I have talked about before, here)  received tickets to a Dallas Summer Musical at Fair Park for her birthday and she invited me to join her!!! I was so excited (so thankful her husband doesn't care for musicals - selfishly anyway!!!!), I haven't been to a show in WAY too long.  I just love theater; to be clear, I love to watch theater.  I am actually 110% terrified of participating in theater personally but boy is a good show able to make me so excited.  We saw MEMPHIS!  If you are like me, you haven't even heard of Memphis and if I were to tell you I was going to Memphis you would be thoroughly confused.  This award winning show was more than I had hoped it would be.  But I have to admit I tried to listen to a few songs before the show and I just couldn't get into them (which is ironic beyond explanation if you know anything about the show).

Here is a little synopsis for those curious:

"From the underground dance clubs of 1950s Memphis, Tennessee, comes a hot new Broadway musical that bursts off the stage with explosive dancing, irresistible songs and a thrilling tale of fame and forbidden love. Inspired by actual events, MEMPHIS is about a white radio DJ who wants to change the world and a black club singer who is ready for her big break."

Let me tell you about our evening though!
Our show started at 8:00pm so we got there pretty early making sure we didn't hit too bad of traffic and could eat something.  We parked close - being quite early - and the moment we were out of the car a man driving a golf cart offered to drive us to the front door.  We gladly accepted feeling a bit spoiled.  He indeed drove us to the front door, up the curb as close as you can get (better than valet)! Once inside we bought a boxed sandwich and chip and a plastic cup of wine for $20!  :)  Gotta love supply and demand.

 Then we headed in just before it started.  As we headed for our seats we realized that a couple was sitting in our seats which was actually kind of weird because there was lots of open seats available.  We nervously looked at each other wondering who was going to be brave enough to address these folks.  Luckily an usher saw our hesitation and quickly interceded on our behalf!  As we were talking our seats we paused to figure out who wanted to sit in which seat since one was a isle seat - these things must be discussed after all.  I made quick mention to Brittany that the tickets were for her birthday so she better pick the seat she wants.  Well Mr. Usher quickly picked up on the birthday scenario and offered his "happy birthday" before leaving us.

A few minutes later our friendly usher arrived at our sided again inquiring as to our plans during intermission.  We dumbly looked at each other and mumbled something about no plans and that we would probably remain in our seats.  At that he invited us to head down to the Executive Offices for free refreshments and a tour at his invitation.  We gladly (and somewhat confused) accepted the invitation.  After he walked away we analyzed the invitation wondering/hoping it was for real.

Sure enough at intermission we headed down the the offices were were instructed to find and were greeted by a gentleman that I can only described as a mix between security and a butler and new immediately that we were the "birthday girl".  Our friendly usher (his name is Sean) was serving drinks and we looked around the offices filled with famous pictures, autographs, and tons of musical memorabilia.  Sean came and talked to us for a while.  He has worked there for 14 years!  Is a grad from UNT (awww caw!) and I think he was flirting with us... which I must admit we found quite entertaining.

Have I ever mentioned that I don't like strangers taking pics for me.  They never quite get it right.  (Umm the M is missing on the board behind us... but no we weren't trying to get it in the background we just happened to be standing in front of this board for no particular reason. :P )

After the show ended we headed to Cheesecake Factory for a midnight snack.

I got the largest piece of Tiramisu I have ever seen.  Actually I should say I got the largest helping of whip cream ever with some Tiramisu on the side.  It was GIGANTIC!  I love Taramisu... most people don't "get it"  I guess but I love how light it is.

Tiramisù; lit. "pick me up") is an Italian cake and dessert. It is made of ladyfingers (Italian: Savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone cheese, and flavored with liquor and cocoa.[1] 

So that was my super fun last Friday evening.  More to come on the rest of my week tomorrow.

It's Friday It's Friday!!!

The best surprise ever would be, at this point in my life it would probably be to find out I'm pregnant.  I think even if you are planning and trying to actually find out that something has been created in your body has to be the craziest most awesome surprise ever!


When Phil proposed to me is my most favorite memory. I was very surprised - there are so many special things about that weekend that when I remember them I get very sappy. :)  One of the main things from his proposal that has always stuck out in my mind is that he told me he loved me and then asked me if I would feed his sheep.  I'm not exactly sure how but in that moment I knew what he was asking me (before he pulled out the ring).  I knew he was asking me if I loved him - if I loved him more than any other on earth and if I would be faithful to him only.  He asked me three times just as Jesus asked Simon Peter three times if he loved him. (John 21: 15-19)  Jesus then commanded him to feed His sheep. Don't be confused he wasn't asking me to love him above the Lord he was simply asking if I would be faithful to him, raise children with him, walk through the trials of life with him until death do we part.

This is a pic from our trip back to where he proposed.  

The hardest, but most worthwhile thing I've ever done was probably my college degree.  I think it was 4 years of pain staking brutal torture.  I NEVER slept, I always had a major project due, I had to put all my work up on the wall to be critiqued my fellow classmates and professors almost every day - and no - you weren't getting compliments...  You know you have a stressful program when you threaten your roommates that if they go in the kitchen and ruin your print out that you are mounting to a board you will actually kill them.  :)  Sorry Beechwood Babes!

The best part of my day is... well .... all I can think of is going to bed.  That sounds so sad.  But I love going to bed; just to lay down and relax from all the stress, obligations, responsibilities, tasks - to know the day is complete and it's the best when it was a productive day.

Something I like that most people don't is listening to a song on repeat.  Whatever song is on my mind or in my heart I like to listen to over and over until I'm sure it would drive most people crazy.

Something I am willing to fight for is me, I guess.  As selfish as that is.


Something you might not know about me is I'm very competitive. But being competitive is actually very taxing on me so I like to pretend that I'm not.  I stray away from competitions, I don't like to play games, I don't like to know who is better or faster or more in shape.  I'm too hard on myself - cause someone is always better, prettier, skinnier, more talented, more fun, less stressed, funnier, more committed, better.

Graduation Weekend

I didn't have time to get my post for Friday finished as I was busy cleaning my house and prepping for Phil's graduation but I started it so I thought I would finish it up and add an update for the weekend.
This past Friday's questions were mostly centered around celebration which I thought was uber appropriate.


Graduation  is good cause to celebrate. We are very excited about this weekend.

True friends are a blessing.


Something that makes me terribly happy is completing something.  I love feeling accomplished. (See my reburb project post!)  Also, getting through PA school is a humongous accomplishment for us that is a terribly happy occasion.


My favorite celebratory food is...I don't really know the answer to this question so I just thought I would show you want I made for the party.

Graduation caps!!! Aren't they cute!  These are the ones I saw on Pinterest.

These are the ones I made.

Saturday morning before we left for graduation Phil surprised me with a very special gift.

A RING!!!!

It is just exactly what I have always wanted!!! Thin diamond encrusted bands with the most beautiful solitaire perched on top!  I'm pretty sure I can't convey all my thoughts and emotions toward this present. First of all I know it is a very selfless gift for him to get me because he doesn't benefit from it (which I guess sounds weird) but generally when we buy each other large presents (expensive) it is something that both of us enjoy like rugs/furniture for the house or a TV or vacation or computer but this - this is for me. A thank you - an I love you - a we made it!!!!

And we did make it, through the hardships and stress of school we have grown individually and together.  

Check out Phil in his masters hood and gown!  I'm so proud.

Me with my Mr. Master Phil Ray, PA!!!!

After graduation we had a party at our house and we were surrounded by friends and family, it was a wonderful time of fellowship.  We are blessed.


Hope you all had a good weekend as well - this one is at the top of my best weekends list!

My Refurb Project

A few months ago I mentioned on my Facebook wall finding a treasure on the side of the road in my neighborhood.  Much to my hubbies chagrin I coerced him to help me retrieve it and I have had a little project to work on ever since.
I wanted to refurbish it and paint it a bring color since I have never had a single brightly painted piece of furniture I thought a free side-of-the-road find would be the perfect medium.

I'm not really sure what you call this particular piece; it is sort of a mini armoire with a top cabinet part and two bottom dresser drawers.

Before Pictures:

My Inspiration and Idea:

So don't freak out... this isn't any sort of announcement or anything I am simply a planner and dreamer... that gets me in trouble sometimes but like I always say I like to "keep this real" here and so it's probably no surprise that I have been dreaming of a nursery.  So this refurb project is filed in "one day" nursery planning. Of course this piece can be used for whatever but I specifically have a nursery in mind when picking the color.  So bare with me dreaming

love.  isn't it adorable!?!

Color scheme I want to use... not the pattern (not that I don't like the pattern)

 As a side note to this color scheme I just want to add my comment that I love that it is the primary colors with a sophisticated twist.  Anyone who has seen my house knows that I lean toward the muted side of colors when it comes to decorating my house.  I love the warm feel muted colors give and the soothing environment is just what I need when I'm at home.  But as for a baby I didn't want too lean too much toward the muted side as babies need lots of big color to look at so I think this color scheme is a nice compromise. :)... you like how I compromised with myself?  haha

And another fav!

And the After Pictures:

I am so thrilled with how it turned out!  I can't wait to really have a place for it to be used and useful.

The process of refurbishing it was pretty straight forward.  I removed all the hardware, sanded it all down (inside and out), filled in extra drawer holes with wood filler and sanded that flush, primed it (I did a pretty think priming job and throughly coated all over it), the painted.  I wanted to keep the hinges so I got steel brushes and removed all the loose debri and rust and spray painted them glossy white.  I then found simple white pull knobs from home depot for $2 each.

and in case you are wondering what color I used - as has been requested by a few folks.
It's called Solar Fusion.

This sums it up nicely!

THE 24 Day Challenge

I have decided to do a 24 day challenge...AKA detox cleanse.  I did a cleanse a couple years ago and really found it beneficial.  I have a friend who distributes Advocare, which I had never heard of, but she uses it and thinks it's great so I decided to give it a go.

My personal goal is to lose 15-20lbs and keep it off.  I know what this means though I need to work out and I need to eat less carbs. - it isn't just about a one time cleanse.

But the reason for the detox is that I want to "reboot" me.  I feel like I'm stuck in a "perpetual unhealthy funk" and I want out.  You know it's bad when you cringe at hanging out with your "fit" friends just because you feel ashamed.  And when you can't find any "acceptable" picture of late of yourself... it's not good. When did I get so flabby?  So lazy?  This really isn't my personality, I do actually like to work out and yet I haven't in so long besides the few yoga classes I was into for awhile, the occasional jog and the weekly soccer game I don't feel like me.  So as a start and preparation I have gotten off/getting off medications I have been on so my body/my hormones can just be me again which I think is a good start.

One vice I don't think I can give up though is my one morning travel mug of coffee.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE drinking coffee on my way to work.  And everything I have read so far says that as long as I have under 300mg of caffeine a day there are no studies that show it to be bad.  Nevertheless, I do realize that for me caffeine might be a negative influence when it comes to my stress, anger, and anxiety.  So that is something to consider but Phil doesn't want to drink caffeine-free coffee and I don't want to make two pots of coffee so I haven't made any move to rid myself of this vice.

I am giving up sodas again though...for good. I think.

So now I just have to wait for the goodies to arrive in the mail for the detox to begin.  But I have a gym membership so I hope to activate that on Saturday morning.  Phil bought me three personal training sessions the other day so I have those I can use too.  All things are aligning - a little later than I wanted since I had a goal of wearing a certain dress for Phil's graduation and I don't think that's going to happen. :(

So what' my biggest challenge in this whole process?  I think it's two-fold actually.  One half is social and one is work.  The social aspect is that eating healthy takes time and effort and many people don't want to join in.  So eating out or hosting (both of which Phil and LOVE) is a new challenge as well as a concentrated effort to eat what you should and not be tempted or swayed by others - which isn't easy.  Also I seem to have acquired a lot of really young (sorry... you know who you are) really skinny friends who can eat whatever they want and never work out.  Blah well that's not me anymore.  I'm officially old and my weight and lower metabolism seem to be proving it.
The other challenge of course is work.  Not just my "day job" but my freelancing in the evenings and weekends some of those projects become last minute and pressing which means no time for the gym, no time to cook, not adequate sleep and they take a toll.  One thing I'm not good is saying no to freelance projects no matter how time crunchingly last minute they may be. I'm a people-pleaser and pleasing my clients is all too often under ridiculous time restraints that I don't set boundaries up to protect myself and therefore my eating, working out, and sleeping schedule gets all a mess and it is hard to recover.

So that's it, that's the plan. I hope to keep you up-to-date once I begin and let's keep our fingers crossed from excellent results!

Portrait...what to wear.

Next Monday I have to endure a Sears portrait session so my face can be officially nailed to the wall for the remainder of the year.  That's what happens at my work when you are name Employee of the Year.  Thankfully there are technically two EOY and a Team of the Year as well so I won't be going on this humiliating trip alone.  But what is worse than having the picture taken...is knowing that it will be on the "Hall of Fame" for everyone to walk by all year.  YIKES!  I just know I'm going to hate the photo which is disheartening since it will be in plain sight.  I really wish that I could at least get to photoshop it first - cause you know Sears isn't going to.  They are sure to capture every flaw I know of, the ones I don't, and probably invent a few just to keep us EOYs humble.  That is what this is all about you know.  :)  Taking the worst photo possible and displaying it for all your coworkers to see so that you are kept humble throughout your "rein".  haha.  Well that's my theory anyway.  So all of this leads me to panic and the thought of deciding what to wear.

I of course did some good ol' Google research on tips and basically just got the general tips:

• Don't wear white or beige
• No big patterns
• Not bright red.
• Wear hints of color
• Clean lines not big patterns
• Simple jewelry (pearl necklace recommended... I'm thinking no!)
• Black but not all black
• Well fitting clothes
• Makeup to enhance eyes but with only neutral tones
• Hair calm lightly pulled back or straight down
• No collar - since the verdict is out on the best way to wear them

My biggest dilemma is that I don't work for a law firm, I'm not a manager (actually I'm pretty much a glorified peon) and we wear jeans to work; so all this to say a suit or all dark muted colors seems pretentious so I think I should wear something equivalent to business casual ... but what, most of my layered cute business casual clothes are winter and it's sure to be a humid 90 degrees F.  

Maybe I'll wear a blouse and cardigan.  Jewel tones are good with my coloring but I don't want to be too colorful.  Maybe my purple (plum) silk blouse or green silk blouse with a solid cardi (maybe black - black is slimming right or maybe dark gray since my hair is black right now).  hmmm... okay maybe I'm getting somewhere.... I wish I had a pencil skirt.... not that you would see it in the photos but it would just be easy to style around.

Maybe less of a thick sweater and more jewel like tones.

I wish I was so chic.

not white I know but I have a mustard cardi.

color combo?

On to my hair.  I have been rockin' the bangs for a few months now but I think for this picture I am going to have them side swept (If they aren't too short).  It will open up my face more...and will keep me from having crazy bangs.  I made need to take a mirror with me. 

 I'm so vain!... I'll update with the final result.

May the forth be with you on this lovely FRIDAY!

My bedtime routine includes: prepping coffee for the morning, turning out all the lamps in the house, filling my water bottle, taking my meds and vitamins, brushing my teeth, a few nights a week flossing, washing my face, drinking all but a little of the rest of my water bottle, telling the dogs to go to bed, telling Phil I love him. 

I am annoyed with myself because I am currently hopelessly engrossed in the Twilight Saga.  I thought I would simple enjoy listening to them (yes I'm not actually reading the books but listening to them from Audio books I borrowed from the Lewisville Library).  So apparently Edwards smoldering doesn't just work on the characters in the book because I'm addicted.


I can't stand smacking (and I mean your food not to be confused with spanking)  because it's rude and annoying.  I'm not sure if I have covered this point about myself yet while blogging but I really can't stand smacking.  No matter how much I love you if you are smacking  I will have the urge to hit you (and yes  I understand the rude irony of me wanting to hit for smacking... again just keeping it real :)

My idea of relaxation would be laying in the sun (with no mosquitoes around).  I really really have a very strong desire to go to the beach.  I'm going to have to start my summer weekend routine of laying out a few hours to make sure I get my Vitamin D.  Oh how I love the warm sun.

If I had an extra $50, I would  buy some wedges.  I really want to get some cute summer shoes.

The best thing about a bloggy friend is you know what's going on deeper than the surface... usually... or you can just SEE what they are up to.


A recipe I've been dying to try is well I don't have an exact recipe but I have been wanting to try Kale Chips.  I have never had them but I had heard great things and I think it would be an awesome alternative for my chip cravings.

"with a kick" the recipe says

they are so simple to make too... although  these pics don't look super appetizing I guess.

Well those are the blanks for today. I have a bunch of things I am looking forward to this weekend and I can't wait to tell you all about them!  Hope you have a spectacular weekend!