Hump Day

Wednesday should hurry up and get it over with. I'm done.

I am trying not to fall asleep so...

I pinterest searched hump day. Here are some of my favorite results.


self explanatory


happy hump day indeed...


bahahahaha

There were also a lot of booties. Some of which I have a hard time believing are real.

But John Elhage, on pinterest, loves him some hump day booty, apparently.

A quality Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving road trip and family-feud style gaming went as well as one could hope.

My significant other knocked his role out of the park and won over the whole family. My family behaved, mostly, and wooed him with their adorable antics.

The food was spectacular, especially the surprise guest roasted brussels sprouts with apples and bacon... I don't eat the bacon but the rest.... sweet peter. Who knew? Brussels Sprouts?

Black Friday Shopping even turned out to be incredible. We started at Anthropology for the 50% off sale items 7-10 am secret sale, and moved on to Ann Taylor loft and Pottery Barn (can you tell I was with 40 year old women? Here's the thing - those are two of my favorite stores too. What does that say about me?)

Later that day we hit up the local stores of Omaha to support small businesses. My favorite stop was a thrift/junk store in the Old Market. Here are two of my favorite finds.

I didn't know Harry Potter was so sexy...

Adam and Eve mugs anyone? The tatas and the leaf both move when you move the mugs. Amazing.

How was your Thanksgiving? Do tell.

Off to Omaha

Today I leave for the great Thanksgiving adventure in Omaha.

Most people wouldn't be excited to go to the land of corn...

But I can't wait. This is where my family is.

They aren't actually surround by corn though. They are in a great neighborhood near all the Omaha cultural fun. Our family days will consist of scrabble-offs, good microbrewery beer, great food and outtings to movies, the studios my aunt and nana paint in, and probably some sort of mass scavenger hunt.

It is going to be a riot as usual.

14 people in a 3 bedroom house? Bring it on Turkey Day.

More to share later. I'm sure.

I want to make these at Thanksgiving...

NOLA Calls

After a fantastic conference in New Orleans, I feel the need to share photos and brief captions of my adventures. Not only was CIEE's conference professionally stimulating, it was personally inspiring.

A little in love with the city.

Indiana and Esmeralda at Mardi Gras world. 

The full marching band CIEE employed for our mini-parade during the reception at Mardi Gras World. AMAZING.

One of the creepier features at the warehouse...

Another full band, this one was playing around 10 pm on a Thursday down an alley off Canal Street.

Mardi Gras Mask shopping around midnight on Friday with a new, incredible friend who works part time in NYC and part time in Santiago, DR.

A holy scene off a not-so-holy street Saturday night, I think this was taken close to 2 am.

A piece of art shared by my dearest KK, to make my trip home from NOLA a little easier to bear. If you didn't know, Sloth's are my all-time favorite animal. 

Happy Monday!

Call to Musical Action

If you are looking for music that makes you feel like there are things worth feeling for - David Ramirez is a good place to start.



Best part of this call to action? His new cd is available for FREE on noisetrade. Click here to get there.

David is a friend of mine that I adore with a fiery passion. He's a twenty something with the soul of someone who lived in a time where cigarettes didn't give you cancer and men didn't stand a chance in the arms of a woman.

He sings about falling apart and pulling yourself back together. He sings about being the best version of ourselves and also the worst.

Try something new - listen to David this week. He comes highly recommended.

Jam-packed weekend

This weekend was a good'n.

It started with a fabulous VISA Corps retreat with my amazing student ambassador group, led to AN incredible TCU game. Bye bye Boise. And finished off with a movie premiere at Lone Star Film Festival, Yogurtland, a trip to the dog park and a softball championship.

My wonderful "other" plays in a community softball league with some wonderful gentlemen, he calls friends.

Last night was the final game of play-offs for the league championship.

Our boys blew em' out 9 to 1 or something of the like.

They were out of hot chocolate at the concession stand, but Air and I gorged ourselves on goldfish and trail mix between our softball cheers.

My personal favorite of the evening: "Come on Marky Mark show me your Wahlberg!" Mark's the pitcher.

Good right?

Here are some pictures from this fantastical fun weekend.

Inspiretsy deux

Yesterday was too much fun. Today though, I'm a little obsessed with preparations for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here are some of my favorite etsy delights for the holidays.




Yes, let's. It's time to overeat.




Thanksgiving coasters for those delicious adult beverages.





If I had offspring I would make them all wear one of these.




Loving a non-traditional Christmas card. (KK thinking of you with this one)



The shabby chic stocking.




For when my coffee gets chilly this Christmas at home. 

Inspiretsy

I may not be allowed to shop this November. But I can dream. Thank you Etsy for your inspirational goods. I shall refer to the following as "inspiretsy."

Fabulous dish towels.

Coffee with Mr. Darcy. Why yes... please do tell.

Cream or sugar?

It's looking like rain around 2:05.

Exploring bear. 

Poking around Etsy for the latest and greatest never gets old.

It's almost as fun as buying things off etsy... almost.

Bad Lip Reading

I have never been someone who is talented at lip reading.

If I am in a loud room with someone who wants to talk to me, the chances I will misinterpret their attempted contributions to the conversation are abnormally high.

It's not even lip reading, it's lyrics to songs and regular conversation in my home when the television is on. I think I have trouble listening and then interpreting what was said. When someone says "Let's go grab lunch tomorrow at noon" I may hear "Lettuce munch borrowed the harpoon."

Obviously this causes problems in my everyday life.

However, it appears a fellow interpretation-impaired individual has put their issues to good use. Regardless of political affiliation, this is hysterical. And yes, they do these videos centered on liberals too. No worries - it's equal opportunity silliness.

If you enjoy the Rick Perry one - check out their Mitt Romney video below it. That one makes me lose it every time.

Oh Rick...

Dear Mitt...

Weekenders

This weekend started off with a real bang when rock-climbing was cancelled and Airika, Bella and Emma (my dogs) and I decided it was high time for a sleep over. This decision was significantly impacted by the fact that it was approximately 50 degrees in our house and there was no way I was sleeping in my freezer-room by myself.

We took our sweet time waking up the next morning(ish), around 11, and happily allowed the pups to act as blankets until it was warm enough to emerge from the down-comforter and plush throws.

Snuggle pups.

Once we woke up we decided on breakfast. I've started shopping for REAL groceries at the Sprouts Farmers Market nearby and it has done wonders for my eating habits. It's amazing how your mind and body respond when you replace prepackaged frozen foods and noodle boxes with veggies, fresh baked bread and fruit.

Saturday featured San-Fran-sourdough toast topped with natural peanut butter and clove honey. Served up alongside a cup of Constant Comment Tea in our LOVE Michigan mugs.

Chilly morning breakfast.

Later that day I went to the dog park, saw a matinee, did all my laundry, ran errands, and wet-swiffered the whole dag-gum house. Take that dog hair and dirt wads.

Sunday was my Modern Art Museum date. Including brunch at the cafe modern and my other's creative interpretations of modern art. Favorite conversation of the day:

Him: "Are these all supposed to be interpretations of the American Flag?"

Me: "I don't think that was the intention, but it's an interesting idea."

Him: "See, my attempt to get deep and consider the capitalist agenda of the US and how it is consuming our once beloved ideals... and this guy just liked lines."

Lastly, I had the I LOVE THE SEARCH party, after the agape feast and sweet tunes we went for a jack frost at Pappas Burgers with our glitz and glamour minister Suzanne. Goodbye weekend. Thanks for the entertainment.

Suzanne packed the house. Big surprise.

No shop November

My personal no shop November challenge has become plan for my May vacation instead.

I am doing well not buying myself any unnecessary goodies or clothing so far. (wow, good job me. it's only 4 days into November.) However, I will admit Airika and I received a scarf that we ordered on Cold Water Creek in October. I felt a little like I was cheating... but it was October when I ordered it. So it's fair game.

In May there is a wonderful window of time where students have left campus and there isn't much to do, which leaves a perfect little vacation sized hole in me and my wonderful other's schedules. This past May we went hiking in Joshua Tree National Park and lazed around the hidden gem known as the 29 Palms Inn. If you are looking for a place to really get away, hike, and relax - I would recommend checking this place out.

One of my photos from the informal rock climbing in Joshua Tree.

Don't be thrown off by the terribly unprofessional website, or the lack of amenities featured. This place is a little slice of heaven, as long as you don't mind the desert. I didn't think it would be my cup of tea, but I loved every minute of our sand and stone laden escape.

This year, my pick is a bed and breakfast in Key West. We did the desert, now we need to go for a different sandy experience. I was drawn to the Popular House thanks to multiple yelp reviews and a sense of eclectic, home cooked comfort. If it works out for us - I'll be thrilled.

Key West beach front.

 The Popular House, just outside town, walking distance to the beach.

The Great Outdoors

Tomorrow, hopefully, I will go rock climbing with a new friend that I have wanted to spend time with since we met a little over a month ago.

I haven't done any kind of indoor climbing in a very long time, but I did outdoor climb (very informally) in May, and two summers ago had a fabulous experience outdoors in Colorado.

There is something about climbing outside that makes me both nervous and overcome with enthusiasm. I think what I love about outdoor climbing is the sense of urgency and the need to keep moving. Indoors I feel like I'm allowed to think and pause and give up, because everyone around you is doing different things, and it's just a synthetic wall anyway.

Outside, I feel like nature is taunting me if I stop or give up. I find myself thinking "this stupid rock isn't going to beat me." There is also a sick sense of gratification when you walk away scraped bruised and otherwise scarred by the experience physically. You feel like you worked. You feel like you earned your way to the top.

No matter where you climb - it is important to move forward. I guess that is somewhat symbolic right?

It doesn't matter where we're headed - we just need to keep moving forward.

What I do

This is how I spend my work day. 

This is what I call the "I want to go somewhere - interest form."

I meet with students and listen to their hopes and dreams, discuss the merit of programs around the world, and today, speak with students from our Intensive English program here at TCU.

My new friends are from Colombia, Venezuela, South Korea, China, Italy and Saudi Arabia. 

I giggled a little after I realized I spent  thirty minutes rapidly talking to our administrative assistant about Japanese language assessment and recommendations for our exchange with Kansai Gaidai. This is right after I met with one of my student ambassadors that I took to London in January, and discussed a kiddo I adore who is embarking on her adventure to Thailand in Jan to learn about community development.

I love my job.

"Now get out and get snapping, gorgeous."

Cord Jefferson makes me smile. He's a writer for GOOD magazine, which if you follow this blog - you realize is one of my favorite magazines of all time.

Every month GOOD puts out a challenge. Last month's was the anti-halloween, get healthy, challenge. This month is about documenting your life. Instead of suggesting I switch tea for coffee or meditate for 15 minutes, they are telling me what I should snap a photo of on my iphone.

The goal: appreciate the world around me. Today starts with documenting street style. I can't wait to stop a TCU student on campus and ask them if I can take their picture. The photo that GOOD has submitted today is of a reader's Ecuadorian friend who never leaves home without his cream fedora.

The head candy and its wearer, Cesar, are below.

"Now get out and get snapping, gorgeous."

Snap a photo of street style where you live and tweet it with #30DaysofGOOD. If yours is great - it just might be uploaded to their rockstar website.