Hoot Hoot

Guess WHO was hanging out in my garage last night?

Give up?

This little Screech Owl.

It was nutty, I guess he flew in when I came home last night because about 5 mintues later I heard one of the cats meowing weirdly in the garage. When I checked it out, I saw him trying to avoid the cat.

It took forever to get him to leave the garage. I was by myself and one person isn’t enough to shoo an owl out. He flew and landed all over the garage, but refused to go out the open door.


I called neighbors, friends nearby, and then finally called a coworker that we’re friends with – at around 10:30pm. {I knew for a fact that he went out that night, so I was betting that he was still awake when I called.} Thankfully, he came over and with two of us armed with brooms we returned my little buddy to the great outdoors.

The entire time I kept wondering if owls were good or bad luck. The owl was kind of freaking me out because he just kept staring at me. At all times. Creepy.

People/cultures tend to have a view one way or the other. Some say that they are definitely bad luck, but some say they are definitely good luck. Check this out. My husband is from New Mexico and it's common to associate them with witches, that is what he told me while I'm home ALONE.

Hopefully this little dude was good luck*, because he got an eyeful of me and hung around for a while (owl fiasco ’09 took at least 2 hours).

Here’s to 2010!!

-b-

*I could take a Harry Potter stance and just think that he wanted to deliver some mail for me*

Colorful

So, what'd you do for the holidays?

Instead of boozing it up with crazy relatives, we did some household work. The hubby and I FINALLY painted some of the rooms in our house and not only did it turn out great, but it was actually pretty fun.

We have wood floors and most of our furniture is wood, so we thought bright colors would lighten up the place. I think it worked!

I wanted to show you the little color chips, but darnnit the Behr webpage is frustrating me! The names were fun though: vintage orange, mellow yellow, and mojito. Sorry I can't show you the chips.

Entry Before:

Entry After:

Living Room Before:

Living Room After:

Dining Room Before:


Dining Room After:

So much more personality now!

-b-

Purty smell

It's been a while, I've been busy, and well, just haven't got around to writing.





BUT




I smell purty! Santa and I exchanged perfume/cologne this year for Christmas.

Prada Amber

I've loved this perfume for a couple years, but never actually bought it. Now that I have it, I realize I was silly and should've just saved my money a couple years ago and bought it. It smells loverly!


-b-

Where I lack motivation & am whiny

Remember when I mentioned the Houston ½ marathon . Yeah, well now it’s a month away and I gotta be honest – I am seriously lacking motivation. This fall I was pretty good about jogging or working out in some fashion, but December just doesn’t want to join the fun. Seriously, December has just been one month of me being a big ole sick lump.

I think my downfall came when we took a trip for Thanksgiving. We were out of town for a week and traveled to a place where jogging wasn’t really a possibility (really, it does exist). When I got back home I was off my schedule and had to force myself to return to the YMCA.

Then I got a sinus infection. That’s not fun while jogging or using gym equipment, so I took a break.

I ran a 10k with my sister after that cleared. Slowly, but I did it. If you click the photo you might see that my face is BRIGHT RED. During the run I swore that I’d jump back in. I should mention here that my sister kicked my butt (not that it was a competition, but still). She busted out a 8.5 minute mile. I was slugging along at 10.5min miles.

Then a day later I was crippled with a virus from my sister’s kids. I’m officially blaming my slow jog on the virus starting to form. Again, not fun while jogging or using gym equipment, so a break was in order.

Right now? The virus is still lingering and I seem to be having girly problems, and lastly, am so off a workout schedule that I just plain don’t want to. Three strikes.

I’m drawing from the reserves tonight after work and forcing a workout. I gotta get back into things.

A sweet girlfriend of mine sent me1/2 marathon-type gifts (a 13.1 bumper sticker and ID bracelet). I figure that I can’t put the sticker on my car unless I actually make it to January 17th!

Is that enough motivation? Not really.

Pride as motivation? More likely. I talked up this ½ marathon. I don’t want to struggle through it, and then have to tell people that I had a hard time and no fun. The point is to have fun and that requires training your body.

AND I have one of those cutesy jogging skirts that I can wear during the run - it’s not as cute if I’m struggling.

Pride. That'll do.

Imitation artist

Check it out:
Ann Taylor Necklace that retails for $58
My version

Worse Photo, but Better Price (around $10 in supplies with leftover material)

woot woot

-b-

want to win?

Speaking of winning on Daddy Likey's blog...check this out!

She's got prizes up the wazoo right now.

Word.
-b-

Dye Jeans Dye

Remember when I won a pair of Antique Rivet jeans from DaddyLikey's giveaway!?

They arrived a couple of weeks ago, and while I was thrilled to receive them, they weren’t quite right. I loved the accents & pockets, but the coloring. OH!
I hate to say it, but the shading was no bueno. I don’t understand the whole white area in the middle of your thighs on jeans. I can’t believe that is flattering on anyone, even a tiny little tween would look not right in that coloring.

I figured they were free and mine so I get to do what I want. Time to dye! I dyed the jeans with a blue jean color. I was disappointed with the outcome though, because it produced tough-to-see results:

So I tried it again on my third day of being sick and home-ridden. This time I used a black dye.
I think this solved my problem! You can still see that the thighs are a little lighter, but it’s much better and I think wearable now.

Of course now the jeans have been washed and dried twice, so yeah, they are a little tighter. If I get out of the house this weekend, I may wear them just to stretch them back to normal.

later

-b-

sick

*sniffle, sniffle*

*cough* *cough*

Been sick and therefore, MIA.

Promise to return soon. Probably with another neclace or three.
-b-

Recent Necklaces

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve been making more ribbon necklaces…

This one is for my mom as part of her Christmas gift. I used the black ricrac that I used before with some more big plastic beads. I love it with the black & blue!

This one is for my sister. She usually dresses pretty preppy and if she could, I’m sure would spring for Lily Pulitzer. This pink & green together remind me of that style:

This is one I made just for me! Hehe..


NO ribbons, just attached a bunch of things together. I love it and want to make another like this! I’m keeping my eyes open for the cheapy rhinestone necklaces at stores. It really works in this combination and has just enough sparkle to dress up an outfit.


I don’t think I’ll have time this week, but next week, I’m hoping to make some in the vein of Ann Taylor like these:
Click here for link

Link

LInk

That's a lot of necklaces for one day, but there really are a lot of fun ideas floating in my head right now....I look forward to some time to create.

-b-

Beautiful Blogger Award...thanks!

Ah...geez..thanks! Hillary from byhillary passed a Beautiful Blogger award to me.

But first, rules darling, there must be rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated me for this award. DONE!
2. Copy the award & place it on my blog. DONE!
3. Link to the person who nominated me for this award. DONE!
4. Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself. BELOW
5. Nominate 7 bloggers. BELOW
6. Post links to the 7 blogs I nominate. BELOW

Seven Interesting things about me:

1) Scrappy Doo is one of my favorite characters of all time. It’s all about the PUPPY POWER. Wikipedia just informed me that his middle name was Cornelius, really? Did anyone else know this?

2) I changed the arrangement of my office furniture today and its totally FREAKIN me out. I thought I’d like it better this way because now the a/c doesn’t blow on me, but dude, everything is opposite and no es bueno.

3)I like to ride my scooter, but am a super wimpy moto rider since I won’t ride if it’s too hot or too cold. Too cold today.

4) AM GOING TO THE WORLD CUP next year. Whoot!

5) Have a poster of titled “The Marsh Community” and have identified the animals with little post-its.

6) Can't stop making necklaces with ribbons. I've made 4 at this point and bought some more supplies yesterday. A trip to the mall confirmed that this is a good thing ... Ann Taylor was heavy on the ribbon&big pearl combo. I also saw it at dept stores and jcrew. Why spend $60 if I can make it for $10?

7) Favorite show right now is Office. LOVE it and get to watch it on the cool new machines at my YMCA. Seriously, it’s awesome, they got new elliptical machines with personal tvs attached. It is basically my only motivation at this point. I read magazines during the commercials too. It’s multi-tasking, right?

Now for Nominations:

Chelsea from Bright Side Dweller.

Danielle from Fell for Fashion

Kelly from Proficiscamur

Erin from Work with What You've Got

Sarah Von at Yes and Yes

PS: Sarah is selling some super fun calendars on her site. I bought two for Christmas presents and can't wait to give them!

Mary at Fit this, Girl!

Lola from Lolalooks

There a couple other folks I can think of to pass this along to...but guess I'm limited to 7 this time. If you don't know thier pages, check them out!
-b-

Snowing in houston

It happened. Snow. In houston. This is two years in a row, pretty crazy! It's actually the most I've ever seen it snow, but remember this is also the 6th time I've ever seen it snow. Really this could be a perfectly normal amount of snow - I don't have much to compare it to.

Can I just add here that this is probably one of the top two coats I own? You can't see the whole thing, but I promise that it's awesome. And it was $8 at goodwill. It's calf length, wool, has nice&roomy pockets, and since it's black & white herringbone it matches 90% of all outfits I will wear in the winter. LOVE IT.

So far, more than half of my building has left for the day b/c of the fear of driving with snow. I'm the first to admit that I'm a little scared to drive home tonight and I only live 3 miles away. I had my hubby pick me up for lunch today b/c I was worried about being that person on the roadways.

Speaking of, we never have lunch together. Today was a big day: draw for World Cup! We went to watch at a wings restaurant for a party being sponsored by the local MLS team: free food & drink is what I'm talking 'bout. I was pretty excited about the FREE and I won a Houston Dynamo jersey. Sweet.




haha, I got an autograph & photo with one of the Dynamo players (Dominic Oduro). I should not have done it, but it looks like I scrunched down a little for the photograph. I had heels on and I guess didn't notice. I forget how small soccer players are, they are like little, sleek, bundles of running!

Today has been a super fab day for me and I hope you're having a good one too!

-b-

70s coed style + snow

I found this dress a couple of weeks ago (thrifted Ann Taylor)... i love that it makes me think of 70s coed away at college. I just wish there were some fallen leaves or autumnal trees I could have posed by!

I also wish I didn't stand that way: slightly turned with my arm so close to my body ...it all blends into one with the pattern and I look kinda wider than I prefer :)

If you click the photos, you can see closeups of the pattern and my sweet earrings from Erin. Check them out more in this or this post.

Here is what I wore to/from heated places. It was actually pretty chilly for me yesterday and my sweater was not enough for the actual temperatures. I know I shouldn't complain, but guess what - Houston is predicted to get snow tomorrow.


It snowed last year and was a BIG deal for us. It was only one night, so a pal and I raced downtown and went ice-skating in the park*. I've never skated in the snow before, it was really neat and I had a ridiculous amount of fun that night.

To top it off, I was on the nightly news that night starring as a giant dork. I seriously sounded like such a cornball, but I suppose it was the novelty of the whole evening. But my hat looked cute, right? I bought it from Bondagetea's etsy site last year. She has more too, check them out.

You know, that was only my fifth time to see it snow.

I've seen it snow twice in Houston, once in Orlando, once in New Mexico, and once in Colorado. Tomorrow could be big number 6! whoppee-do!

-b-

*The skate rink is obviously temperature controlled, that would never actually occur down here.

Deep thoughts...

Under the category of Deep Thoughts, I offer this: am considering cutting my hair again. Yea, pretty non-essential stuff in my brain at this moment. I blame working in GIS on this brain stunting.





Here's a pic from 08:

And as a refresher, me after last haircut in October:


I think I'll head back to sholder length territory in the New Year. It looks a lot fuller and I'm feeling less bouncy at this length.

-b-

Rent the Runway

We have a wedding to attend after the new year and it's for one of my husband's college friends I've met her and she is honestly wonderful and super nice and I feel relaxed around her - but they went to a fancy private college (read: expensive) and I want to make sure that I feel comfortable by looking super-deduper fab. I feel out of place really quickly if I think that I look like the kid from the wrong side of the tracks.

So, after reading about it on Glamour magazine's webpage, I'm wondering if anyone has tried this out: http://www.renttherunway.com/?

I signed up and am cruising the website. It's not super cheap by any means, but it seems like a great idea if you have an EVENT and need a special dress.

You basically rent a fancy-pants dress that you'd probably never buy. It's a little wierd to think about renting a dress, but at the same time they have swanky brands that I can't imagine actually purchasing for one time wear. I'm thinking about trying it out, but am gun-shy.

I went through the website and two dresses got my eyes:

This is a Diane Fursteberg (sp?) that rents for $75

And this one, from Pencey also for $75

What is neat is that they let you pick out two sizes and then, if you want, you can get a "back-up" dress for $25 extra. So, I tested it out and picked the two above. To ship to Houston and rent both dresses with two sizes each for 8 days, it would cost me $150.

Okay, again, not cheap. But not totally ridiculous either.

It's an idea right now. I'm going to scour the resale shops before ordering, b/c I could also find the perfect dress for $15...

Keep your fingers crossed!

-b-

Purse and a minor rant

Figured I’d show you my new purse. Its Nine West, via Marshalls. I’ve actually had it a couple months, but never got around to switching purses (I usually stick to one main purse at a time). I made the transfer before heading to LA, and really like this purse. It hold a fair amount of stuff and looks sharp.

And now time for a rant about feeling disconnected:

Not sure if this is happening to anyone else, but despite all the phone/email/text/facebook connections, I feel completly disconnected and quite frankly a little hurt sometimes.

Today I found out that an old friend of mine is pregnant. On facebook. Understandably, we’ve grown apart some in the last couple of years: she lives in Miami – I live in Houston. But we were great friends throughout high school and college. She is the person that moved me out to Texas. And I find out that she is pregnant on facebook?

It wouldn't hurt if it was just her, but this is the third person that this has happened with. Either I’m a much worse friend than I thought with keeping in touch, or people just don’t feel like sharing this information in a personal way. I don’t know, but it actually kind of hurts my feelings. I mean, that is BIG BIG news, right?

I felt unimportant finding out through ominous comments by family members on facebook pages.

Maybe I’m placing too much importance on them telling me? I mean, I’m not the person that is pregnant, so obviously they have a lot on thier minds and telling me isn't top priority. I get that. But, I don’t know, it feels not-good.

Thought I’d throw that out there..I’m having a moment.

Lucky for me – I’ll be on vacation in a couple hours and this moment should be swept away very soon. Hope to rejoin with a renewed sense of "ahhhhhhhh"

Have a great thanksgiving...

-b-

Ribbon Necklace: Round Two

Another ribbon necklace:

My favorite part is the hidden clasp. I'm wearing the necklace today and with the bow tied in the back, you can't see the clasp. yea!

I LOVE it and while purchasing the supplies got to hear some awesome employee bickering at Joanne’s. It was pretty funny, I guess one employees kids were pranking the store phone every 3 minutes and the other employee was flipping out…I’m not sure how long it’d been going on, but he was getting pretty amped up about the whole thing. They were arguing at the registers and in the small store, you could hear everything. I bet those kids got in a heap of trouble that night!

-b-

ribbon + bead = new necklace!

I’m starting to really like all the different ribbon-y necklaces and bracelets that I’m seeing in stores and magazines. After going through a Harpers Bazaar at the YMCA this week, I decided to try making my own.

This is my first stab:

This black ricrac ribbon was purchased with the intent of decorating Halloween pumpkins, but never got used. I think it worked pretty well with the white plastic beads. I bought those a while ago, but couldn’t think of what to do with them without them looking cheap.

I basically sewed the beads to the ribbon and added a chain – not too hard at all! The only difficult part was sewing the bead in at a good point, if it was too tight or too loose, then the ribbon didn’t lay right across the bead and that is what I was going for with the ricrac.

I didn't follow any instructions to this, but if you're a visual person - I stumbled accross a blog with instructions - Samster Mommy. She has some instructions here for a similar necklace.

Check out this beaded necklace (also with instructions).

Now you know what to do with that ribbon! Get to it!

-b-

Kiddo

For Hillary

Here is me as a kiddo (5th grade). Can you pick me out?

I remember being really excited to be on a SPORTS team. The 5th graders were still in the Elementary School, so the only organized sports team they had for the girls was basketball. I also got to start playing on a soccer team that year, but it was with the city.

Once I was officially in middle school (6-8th grades), they had the more sports and I played everyone they offered as a team - volleyball, basketball, soccer, and track. I did it all three years of middle school and LOVED it.

I remember getting an All-Sports Trophy in 8th grade and feeling really proud of myself.

-b-

getting around

It seems like I've traveled a lot in the last year and I know that next year I'll get to travel more. We've been really fortunate lately and are taking advantage of the opportunities to see new places. I've gotten pretty good at packing, but still am not great. Here are some items on my travel wish list:

Sweater, not too heavy, not too light

Navajo sweater from Gap $59.50, but there are 25% codes floating around the internets.

Or this convertible shawl/scarf/cardigan/etc. :

From Boopie Creations Shop on Etsy for $60

Comfy pants: Hmmm, nothing has piqued my interest in this category. Something with a little stretch, but not full on stretchy pants.

Comfy walking shoes that aren't sneakers:$19.99 at Lands End

Cross body purse:

These are pretty awesome, custom made bags on Borsabella's shop in Etsy for $38.00.
I haven't bought from this shop, but I like the idea of picking out my fabric for a bag.

Anyone want to share thier wish list or essential travel items?

-b-