Friday Five

1. I loved Friday Night Lights and I loved Coach Taylor specifically.  So this video of "Coach's" PSA for the Alamo Drafthouse is pretty darn amazing!  From the music to the Clear Eyes, Full Hearts to the tagline at the end, everything is perfect!
          

2. I don't know much about Riley Curry, other than when her father was winning the NBA playoffs she was all over the press conference scene.  But apparently, she's also quite the little dancer as well.  However, Leah Still, whose father is a Cleveland Brown and who has been battling cancer for the last year, has decided she can dance just a bit better.  In case you were wondering, this is the perfect use of social media.  So cute!

3. While others may be obsessed with the pedicure, I've decided that the manicure is so much better.  I had my first today and while it may have taken forever, it feels wonderful to have my sorta-starter fingernails look so nice and even.  I've been trying to paint them myself but they've looked like a 3 year old did them, especially on my right hand.  But having someone else do them, just makes things so much easier.  Also, there's no awkwardness of having your feet out there to be judged and/or tickled (in case you're crazy ticklish on the bottom of your feet...)

4. This little guy is having the summer I want to be having!
        

5. In 72 hours exactly, I'll be taking off for England!!!  Not that I'm excited or anything... : )

Travel Worrier

  

 In T minus 4 days I will be back here - England in all its glory.  This trip has been in the works so long, it's hard to believe it's almost here.  I cannot wait! The truth is, even though I have 2 more days of work, I'm pretty much mentally checked out already.  All that's left is to get everyone up to speed on what I do and hit the road.  It really is a lovely feeling.  Mostly because, since I'm not stressing about work, I have time to stress about everything else. 


Currently on the making Kristen crazy list:

~ What if the Tube decides to go on strike early, and it's down the entire time we're in London?  Or what if the entire city shuts down because of the 24 hour strike and we're left stranded without a way to get to Hamlet on Thursday night?

~ Speaking of Hamlet, what if it's terrible?  It is after all, only the second night it will be playing.  What if the whole cast is just wretched?

~ What if the Tube strike or the migrant situation in Calais affects the train we're taking to Brussels?

~  What if, while in Brussels, no one speaks English and what if all the menus are in Flemish?

~ What if 24 hours in York isn't enough time at all and we're very very grumpy about leaving?

~ What if driving on the other side of the road and the other side of the car is too difficult and I wind up careening into a field of sheep?

~ What if my friend decides to rely on me solely for directions and I get us lost never to be seen again in England?

~ What if the clothes I'm bringing won't keep me warm enough for the 66 degree temperatures they're having? Or what if the heat wave comes back and I'm super hot because I've brought clothes for 66 degrees not 96?

~ And most worryingly of all - what if I don't have enough space in my luggage for all the books, chocolate, tea, lace and tea cups I plan to buy?


You see?  Maybe I should have stayed mentally checked into work.  At least then, I'd be worrying about normal problems, rather than the crazy town my head is imagining... : )

In the Kitchen: Experimental Edition

Looks delicious doesn't it?  I thought so too. Until I decided to scoop it out and nothing in the center was done...

I started the day searching for a recipe on Pinterest for dinner tonight.  I wanted something breakfast-y like a strata, however, those need to be refrigerated over night and I didn't have that kind of time.  After picking through a few, I found a sausage gravy version that used Grands Biscuits and store-bought gravy mix.  I hate store bought gravy but I LOVED the idea of using Grands as opposed to plain old bread. 

So I sort of improvised.  I used sausage, and onions and peppers.  Then I scrambled some eggs and mixed it all in with quartered grands biscuits.  And that's where we picked up the story.  It took a bit to get it to finish, and when I pulled it out, it wasn't jiggly anymore.  But as soon as I scooped, it was still juicy inside. Gross!

I followed the directions from the sausage gravy recipe for timing. Apparently, store bought gravy cooks much faster than eggs & sausage...Fortunately, I have a microwave which helped.  After the grumpiness of uncooked eggs subsided, the dinner was pretty delicious! 

I have to say, if it weren't for that annoying part in the middle, I would amaze myself : )

Trivia Tuesday

~ There are some times when your mind is completely overtaken by an upcoming vacation, that you can't focus on a single question.  And basically your team would benefit more from an intelligent monkey rather than you.  I believe the only thing I answered tonight, that only I knew, was a question about Scrubs, a television show.

~ There are some people out there that recall more information when they have alcohol.  My entire team drank 2 alcoholic beverages and at least one shot, except me, and they're the ones that were answering the questions.  We made it into first place and yet, my iced tea got me nowhere.

~ Some people are absolutely bewildered by someone who would prefer iced tea over beer or wine.  They just don't get it.  And they like to think it's because you haven't really found something you like yet.  That's not the case at all.  I like margaritas.  I think they're delicious. I just don't think they're delicious when I'm eating crab dip or chicken tenders.  I also find $8 a ridiculous price when you can enjoy iced tea for a quarter of that price and save the rest for a great piece of cake!

~ A cruciverbalist is a crossword puzzle enthusiast.  Isn't that a fantastic word!?  It's super fun to say! And while I had no idea at the time, our team's combined Catholic School knowledge of latin word roots helped us to guess.  I will totally be dropping that 10 pointer into conversation in the near future.

~ I know nothing about James Bond - like at all.  Which, you know, was helpful when the super secret clue for one round of questions was Bond Girls.

~ Lastly, it turns out if you mix math with movie titles - I actually become great at math!  Why didn't we learn this sooner?

Summer So Far...

One week from tonight, at this very minute (as long as the airline cooperates) I should be on my way to England.  I'm not at all excited about it, of course...Just kidding.  It's pretty much all I think about these days.  I've been planning for months. And packing for weeks.  I've had the schedule set, for pretty much the last year.  It's been a process and I'm so happy it's almost here!

But it occurs to me, that since the vacation is set for August, it's sort of terrible to hope for it, because it's basically wishing the summer away.  And seeing as I hate winter, that's just wrong!  But it also occurs to me, that it's really been quite the summer so far, leading up to the trip.

In the last 8 weeks, I've gotten to see a Broadway show starring Jim Parsons.  I've seen the Presidential Motorcade.  I've spent an entire weekend geeking out over the entire cast of Supernatural - in person! I saw Mumford and Sons in concert.  I was able to witness a friend make her stage debut.  And I even ran the Color Run.  I'm learning photography little by little.  And I've grown out my fingernails to a point where I can have my first manicure this week.  All in all some really good stuff has happened before this trip even started.  

How in the world have I gotten so lucky this year!?  I guess that's why it's been fairly easy to wait for the trip - too many other wonderful things happening!

But now that we're under a week to go, let's get this thing moving! 
I'm ready to fly this coop : )

Oh, What a Weekend!

I'm positively beaming after this weekend.  I mean, I thought it would be a blast, but I can't even begin to say just how much of a blast!  Everyone was super nice and super creative and just unbelievably awesome!  All of the actors and the band have families and jobs, yet they absolutely look happy to be there, answering questions and interacting with the fans.  Not one of them seemed grumpy or even a bit touchy.  They joked and laughed and were a joy to watch.

I wasn't brave enough (or rich enough) to do any photo ops or autograph sessions, so I was resigned to watch them from my seat towards the back.  But I have to admit it was fun to hear everyone fangirling over their own photo op moments.  Apparently, the consensus is, they're just a dreamy (probably dreamier) in person.  And honestly they were pretty darn dreamy from afar!

Thanks to a seriously awesome lens, and some beginner knowledge of ISO on Manual setting, I actually got some decent shots between the heads of all the people in front of me. And one fan-darn-tastic shot of Jensen jumping that I will never be able to duplicate for as long as I live. 

I'll probably have loads more to share at a later time, after I've processed it, but for now here are a few shots to share.

 Rob Benedict!!  He wasn't there on Friday but was a welcome site on Saturday.  He's secretly my favorite!

 Master of Ceremonies: Richard Speight Jr. 

 Adorably charming Tahmoh Penikett

 Travis Aaron Wade: For someone who's been in so few episodes, he gets fandom.  And he's an all around genuine and hilarious dude!

 Osric Chau cosplaying something - not really my thing. 

 Mark Sheppard!!!  At one point he was about 4 feet from me.  Snarky and just as awesome as you'd assume he'd be.

 R2M: Richard Speight, Rob Benedict, and Matt Cohen - My stomach hurt from laughing so hard!  This picture pretty sums up their panel - 3 dudes telling ridiculous stories.

 Misha!!!  This is his "oh crap, there are kids in the audience maybe I shouldn't have said that face."  After that, it just got progressively more off color and very, very funny.

 Louden Swain Saturday Night Special Concert - They're just so good!

 Seven Bridges Road in 5 part harmony - unfortunately not including Jensen...

 Now, if I were a good photographer, Rob's head would be in focus.  However, it's still pretty cute.

 All the guys wore the Always Keep Fighting shirts today.  How sweet is that?!

 Alaina Huffman - Abaddon - She's awesome and and can kick some serious butt!

 Alaina Huffman being panel bombed by Jensen - Lucky Girl!

 I will never be able to recreate the luck of this photo for as long as I live...

 The Boys are here!! (Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki)

 Jensen and Rob: Aww!

If only for a few seconds, we finally got to hear Jensen sing the usual song "Your Love!"

Night off

Terrible Wi-fi at the hotel is preventing me from telling you all about my awesome day. Pics and commentary tomorrow. Now it's off to a Louden Swain concert!

Friday Five: #DCCon Edition

Today's post is mostly what I learned at my first Supernatural event.  Warning: It's mostly a lot of happy sounds because I'm still in awe of this whole experience...

1. The people are all super nice.  Let's be honest, it's about 95% female attendance, mostly because it's a show about 2 cute boys.  And us girls tend to be super sweet.  However, I feel like somehow everyone is just nicer in this fandom.  They yell support when someone mentions a struggle.  They geek out with each other over the same things.  They share stories and laugh. Even the people that were working the convention were super helpful.  It was basically the pot at the end of a rainbow all day long.

2. Vendor area - not so exciting.  I wasn't expecting it to be huge, but I was expecting a little more.  My friend who was hankering for a Tee shirt never found anything that made her happy.  And for the most part, there was a lot of other non supernaturally things which seemed weird to me.  I didn't want much but I did want a book and a SPN Survivors pin - neither of which I saw.  But I have to admit, for an SPN convention, there were certainly some cute Doctor Who stuff : )

  

3. Richard Speight Jr. deserves some sort of award for best host in all of creation.  He's hilarious, quick on his feet (in that he can adlib the heck out of anything that happens not that he runs a lot : ) and just an all around happy go lucky presence all day.  How can you not love a guy that comes out with a patriotic top hat and oversized shades to match his outfit of red pants, white shirt and a blue jacket in Washington DC? Honestly, he's such an awesome dude!

4. Fans are so darn creative!  Between the gorgeous costumes (Rowena complete with a long red wig.  The Impala with a chevy logo hair clip.  Castiel with real feathered wings.)  and all the awesome fan attire, I wasn't sure where to look first.  I just kept ogling at all the people there and thinking about how much time it took to create these works of art.  It was so fun to see that side of people.  The most creative was a woman who hand-painted a Funko Pop to look exactly like Sheriff Mills which she presented to Kim Rhodes at the panel.  It was gorgeous!  I'm not sure who was more excited; the painter to give it to Kim or Kim receiving it. 

5.  How can this cast - and I mean the ENTIRE cast - be so darn charming, kind and all around hilarious?  It would seem that there's not a bad apple in the bunch.  Gabriel Tigerman and Chad Lindberg were up first.  And I didn't know anything about either of them so I wasn't so excited to see them.  But after the first 10 minute story about a 5 legged cow, I was hooked.  They were both very funny guys who really played well off each other, and kept the place laughing for the whole hour.  

Then it was Kim Rhodes and Brianna Buckmaster's turn.  And yes, they are as awesome as you want them to be.  I think every female in the room wanted to be their best friend. They're strong, and opinionated and intelligent, but they're also unbelievably funny and quick-witted.  Brianna had the entire audience in tears talking about how she was when she first met Jensen.  On the outside she was "Hi how are you?" but on the inside she was " ...{faints}" (complete with her actually pratfalling down to the ground.)  She totally gets it!  I think I want to be her when I grow up.  And the best part is that those are just the start.  We still have 2 more days to fill with more amazing people!

Let the Geek Flag Fly

I have a secret.  It involves how I'm spending my weekend.  People I work with and other friends think I'm spending the weekend in DC - presumably seeing the monuments and eating yummy food.  And that's partially correct.  I will be spending the weekend in DC. However, I won't be seeing any monuments.  Unless you count the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill as a monument or Jared and Jensen (of which I totally do!).  

You see, while I'm a big geek.  I try to keep the geek flag hidden when I'm with people who don't know me as well.  I don't want them to think I'm a big nerd.  I know Brainy is the New Sexy and all, but I still think certain types of entertainment have a certain connotation, so I hide my nerdish tendencies and play cool-ish.  Even one of my closest friends thinks I'm attending a "nerd convention." And, honestly, that's sort of what this is.

Wait for it....  

I will be attending the Supernatural convention for the next 3 days.  And, yes, I'm super excited about it. And yes, I've been dreaming about it for weeks. And yes, I've been talking about going for even longer.  Don't be raining on any of my parade!

But still I'm a little worried.  I'm not going to like seeing other non-convention going guests look at us like we're weird.  I hate that!  Because, while I may play it close to the vest (honestly, though, what don't I play close to the vest?), I've made a realization.  Everyone has something they geek out over.  Everyone gets starstruck, or awestruck or just super excited about something.  For a lot of people, the things they love, don't have conventions. Us geeks, are just lucky, we get our own convention circuit that includes SDCC, as well as smaller comic cons and show specific ones like the one I'm going to.  How great is that?!

So while I'm geeking out over the cutest cast in the world this weekend, and you're busy thinking what a nerd I am, just remember that thing you LOVE.  Wouldn't you like to be in a ballroom with a 1000 people who share that same love?  Wouldn't that be awesome!?

Project Life: Update

So for the last week or so, I've been spending most of my free time browsing the Project Life boards on Pinterest.  Apparently, it's Christmas in July time, so there's tons of new products coming out now and all sorts of amazing projects to show off those new stickers, stamps, papers, and embellishments.  There are way too many new items on my to-pre-order list. Eventually this list is going to need a trim (with fancy scissors, no less : )

Anyway, all this browsing made me realize I haven't written about my Project Life in a while, and you may be wondering why.  Well, it's fairly simple.  I failed epic-ly and miserably - just like I assumed I would.  I was so proud of myself there for a while.  I had a system that was working for me and I had crafty-creative ideas each day.  However, somewhere around the dead of winter, it just got too darn cold to do anything but stay inside.  And honestly, who wants to see multiple photos of the sofa and a cup of tea?  So disappointing!

However, there is a bright side to the story.  But because I haven't been scrapping my whole life, I've managed to complete one travel themed book with plans for 2 more.  I absolutely loved the small format (4x6 binders by Simple Stories) of the Texas book I scrapped.  It was so easy to compile the photos and use one single pack of coordinating cards to bind the whole book together.  I can't stop looking at it!  And currently, there are 2 4x4 We R Memory Keeper books in the works as well (DCCon and NYC - if ever oh ever, Costco opens their Photo Shop again after the breach!)  The tiny albums are the perfect size - not too overwhelming and easy to tie in all together.

That's my problem with Project Life.  You basically need a 12 x 12 if you're going to fit every day in it, and for some reason, that's just too much for me.  It's a whole lot of space to fill. And LOADS of photos to take to fill it.  So I'm embarking on a 12x12 experiment for the England trip though.  I've got the album. I've got the card set to tie in.  I've bought a small fortune in Kelly Purkey stamps and wooden embellishments.  I've made the section headers already and have the first page all mapped out.  Now I just need the photos.  If I can focus on this one, it should give me ideas for Project Life - if ever oh ever, I get brave (or crazy) enough to give it another shot. 

Trivial Matters

~ Apparently, some weeks you're most definitely on while others, you're most definitely not.  This week was one of the off weeks.  The questions were ridiculous and pretty much the entire team was doing nothing but guessing.

~ Apparently alum as opposed to salt is a 4 letter spice that is a natural fire retardant, and will whiten bread.  I have absolutely no idea what alum is and I'm fairly certain I've never seen it in any spice aisle.

~ Gypsum as opposed to talcum can be found in chalk and fertilizer.  Seriously?  Where did he get this stuff?  I've never even heard of gypsum and I would have staked my life on talcum being the correct answer.

~ When it comes to ridiculous categories such as television, I'm your girl.  I mean honestly, who doesn't know that Johnny Lee Miller plays Sherlock Holmes in Elementary?  However, when it comes to ridiculous categories such as 90s television (as in 90210), I'm out.

~ I know that Jane Goodall is a renowned primatologist.  I know that Girl Scout Cookies are available free of gluten.  I however, do not know that the Andes were in South America.

~ There's apparently a Hollywood, which I knew, a Bollywood in India, which I also knew and a Nollywood in Nigeria, which no one on God's green earth knew.  But for some reason, I guessed Nigeria and was told I was wrong by the team.  Where does this ridiculous information come from in the far recesses of my brain?

~ When working as a group, a team of 2 gay guys and 3 straight girls can do remarkably well on a question about Pro-wrestlers' real names.

~ Even when a team risks all 40 points on a question you know is 100% correct (what uniform was the woman wearing in the famous photograph taken in Times Square on VJ Day ?- a nurse), you can still wind up in last place, mostly because every other team also knew their answer was 100% correct.  

You Know You're a Foodie When...

Earlier today, I read an article on CNN: You know you're a foodie when...  It included a bunch of people using that hashtag to share all the things they do as foodies.  And as one myself, I have to agree with every single one written.  It's uncanny!  It's nice to hear that there are other people out there that share the same insane obsession with food.  However, I think there may be a few others I could add to the ever-growing list.

You Know You're a Foodie When...

~You judge restaurants by the quality of their iced tea.  If it's not up to snuff, you refuse to return.

~ You've turned up your nose at certain foods because of a consistency issue.  You know that too much crunch or too much mush can ruin an entire dish.

~ You're upset when the description of a menu item creates a picture of the item in your head, but the actual dish doesn't match that idea.

~ You search Pinterest for restaurants in every single new place you plan to visit.  Before finding flights or hotels...

~ Your travel plans include restaurant addresses near every attraction, just so your prepared.

~ Your friends are always a bit stumped when you know something completely off the wall that relates to food, but they're a little impressed too (at least that's what you like to think...)

~ You love introducing your friends and family to new tastes or new recipes.  And if they're not fans, you secretly judge them a little.

~ You're super happy that your family made you eat certain foods when you were little, because if you had to subsist on Chef Boyardee or Chicken Nuggets, you'd die a little inside.

~ You're also quite enthused that you have a fellow foodie in the family that doesn't think you're super odd for wanting to try all sorts of new flavors or recipes - in fact, he's the one that showed you this CNN article in the first place, so obviously he has good taste.

~ You think about food a little too often, and you secretly begin to wonder if you have some sort of tape worm which would account for why you always want to eat.

~ Having friends that like to order lots of different dishes to share, is winning the friendship lottery.

~ And most importantly, and above all else, you know you're a foodie when you just can't fathom someone who doesn't LOVE to eat or try new things or even wants to try a single new restaurant.  Surely that person must come from a much unhappier and skinnier planet.  A planet, you NEVER want to visit : )

I {Heart} NY

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE NY!!  It truly is the greatest city in the world. And any Saturday that I get to visit, is a very good Saturday.  Even if President Obama, decides to shut the whole darn city down by wanting to see a Broadway show.  I mean, I really can't blame him, I want to see Lin Manuel Miranda in Hamilton too! 

I do find it amusing though, that I live within a 45 minute drive of DC. I've been there countless times.  I've even been outside of the White House.  However, it takes a trip to NY to finally see a presidential motorcade.  

Aside from the extra traffic and sirens caused by his visit, it really was a great day.  We used our time before the show to explore Central Park; something the Bestie and I have never done before.  We even lucked into a lunch at Tavern on the Green's terrace with a perfect view of the motorcade.  Then it was back downtown to see Act of God.  From there it was dinner at Iguana (so-so Mexican food in a super cool setting), Schmakary's for cookies (not my cup of tea but the Bestie was happy) and then over to 44th street to introduce the Bestie to her first Shake Shack custard.  I think she was impressed.  I, of course, am always impressed by Shake Shack : )

Thanks NYC!  Let's do it again real soon!

 If you look really close, you can see the outline of the President's head in the back seat - yep, this is the best photo I have... 

 This fountain was in an episode of White Collar!  Matt Bomer walked these very steps!!!

 I was trying to be creative and sneaky...

 Great idea to take a selfie in front of the Tavern on the Green sign - except you can't tell it's the Tavern on the Green sign...