One-Track Mind

One-track minded people like me shouldn't be allowed to keep blogs.
because as soon as something else catches their attention, they are gone, absorbed in that world.

Here is what has been absorbing my time lately:
-apartment hunting
-a new running program
-book: the deep end of the ocean by jacquelyn mitchard. such a sad, absorbing story. I can't wait to finish. Did not know until recently they had made a movie out of it... perhaps I will see that next.
- season 2 of mad men on DVD. I became so absorbed in it last night that I totally forgot the new episode was on. D'oh!

Sorry for my blog-lameness, lame-blogness.
For being distracted.

Hands up if you love Robert Downey Junior!

Last night, Roomie Drew had a girl over.
I was trying to play it cool but inside, so excited for him, because he hasnt had a girl over in an indecent amount of time. I wanted to dish out the high-fives, but somehow it didn't seem appropriate.
Anyway. So I retreated to my bedroom with a book and a pot of tea, you know, to give them some alone time. After a whole pot of tea, however, one usually has to use the bathroom. I come out of the bedroom all sneaky-like, hoping not to interrupt anything which may be going on in the living room. When I come out, Drew calls out - "Guess what we're watching?"

And, without looking, I knew. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Which, by the way, is the most hilarious movie ever made. A prerequisite for being allowed to stay in our house is loving that movie. Luckily, everyone loves it and we haven't had to go through the awkward process of breaking the news to our friends that they are being excommunicated.

So I came and watched. And when it got to this line, drew looks at me and says:
"Remember last summer when this was your facebook status for like a month?"



Um....
Yeah, I named my blog after it, actually. No big deal.

Check it out, y'all!

Hoo, boy. Where have I been?
Friday's party was a smashing success, and definitely a night to remember. I was in charge of decorations among other things, and I didn't get a chance to take many photos! But other people did, and I am working on getting some decoration pictures to show off, because I was pretty darned proud of myself.

HOWEVER, this is not a post about decorations. Oh, no.
I am going to show you guys our engagement photos! Or, at least, a sneak peek.

This gorgeous little courtyard garden is hidden away right in the middle of downtown, sandwiched behind some boutiques and an Italian restaurant.

The graffitied wall is a two-second walk from that gorgeous courtyard.

Adorable, non? We are so pleased with them, we had a fabulous time, and to top it all off, these photographers are new in town and giving us an absolute steal of a deal on their services as they build a reputation here. I wasn't quite sure how I would feel about them, since I often gravitate towards very light, feminine, sun-washed pictures, and downtown on a cloudy evening didn't seem quite like me. However, Kyle was very excited about this idea, and I'm glad I went along with it! The darker photos seem kind of exotic and mysterious, and, given that the wedding photos will be taken in full daylight (hopefully sunlight) and have a much airier, nature-y feel, this seems like a nice contrast.

*Side note: It's not so apparent in these few particular photos, but I am slightly concerned about the number of chins I seem to have in photographs lately. Time to hit the gym.

photos by Orange Passion Photography

Busy Bee

I'm having my last cup of coffee before diving headfirst into a busy, busy weekend!

Today is one of my best friends' 30th birthdays, her day is going to be full of surprises, one of which may or may not involve a diamond ring. We need to keep her occupied the whole day! So, starting at noon, I will be:

• eating lunch at a fine dining restaurant I can't afford
• Playing 9 holes of golf (my first time this year! yay!)
• Dropping her off at home and waiting until 7ish, when she goes out for dinner
• Decorating! like a madman! I've got paper lanterns, adorable fabric pennants (which I made using a no-sew tutorial whose link I will post later) tissue paper pomanders, confetti which I lovingly punched out myself from paper in our color scheme
• fandangling with a disco ball, smoke machine, and light machine for the living room dance party
• shaking with anticipation (ew, that sounded dirty) as people arrive and we turn out all the lights, getting ready for the big surprise

and finally

• giving that old geezer a heart attack.

Ha! thank god she has no idea this page exists.

However, the fun doesn't stop there. Saturday I have to work 11-6, and then we are taking engagement photos! I'm so very excited. We decided on Chinatown, mostly because Kyle really, REALLY liked the idea.

But wait, there's more

Sunday is the season premeire of Mad Men! And hoo boy, am I unreasonably excited for that!

okay. I had better go shower now.

A much needed pick-me-up

Saw this over at a "cheery" disposition and couldn't help reposting, because I've watched it six times already and am feeling the need to share.

Feeling blue

We have some landlord/tenant drama going on right now. We live in the upstairs of a house, and there is a suite downstairs as well. It turns out that the suite is illegal, and the municipality has become aware of the situation. Now, our landlord has decided that he will be building a staircase from our suite to downstairs and tearing out the kitchen down there in order to make it look as if we, the tenants, have been subletting the downstairs space to our neighbors. There is a fat chance the municipality would ever beleive this: a staircase with a locked door on either side does not a single suite make. In addition, the suites are seperately metered for Hydro, and one is heated with baseboard heaters while the other is heated with gas. Don't ask me why. The neighbors are totally on board with this whole situation, but we are totally not. It just seems all kinds of Illegal - capital I. Our neighbors downstairs are [recovering? maybe?] drug addicts whose main forms of income are welfare and scavenging recycle bins for returnable beverage containers and cigarette butts. They don't seem to eat much anyway, and therefore seem to be okay with the removal of their kitchen, as it's probably their only alternative to homelessness.

Sorry - that was a bit on the judgement. I try to refrain from this usually.

Anyway, there are a few courses of action we might be able to take, but all of these seem to end in one place: We are going to have to move.

Despite the neighbor thing, our house is actually quite nice and there are a lot of things I have really enjoyed about living here. One of those being that this might well be the only rental in town that will allow us to have a dog.

I'm very, very worried about the possibility that our Luna Bear might have to find a new home. Not only because I will miss her silly hound face to death, but also because hound dogs are known for bonding very strongly to one person, and having difficulty adjusting to new homes once this bond is established.

I'm absolutely sick to my stomach at the possibility of having to give Luna up. A dog is a dog for life.... right? We really and truly planned on staying here a good long while, until we either left town or were ready to buy. But a circumstance like this... I just don't know what to do. I'm probably getting ahead of myself. There is probably a lovely little home out there for us to live in and bring our pup. Then again, I am doubting that we will get the best reference from a landlord who is pissed that we don't want to be involved in his little slumlord scheme, and references seem to be an important part of allowing a pet.

I can't sleep when I am stressed out like this. Feeling insecure about living situations so very distressing, and I really wish I could just close my eyes and make this go away.
So, at 2:20 in the morning, I decided to blog about it.
Thanks for listening, Internet.

Taking pictures

We think we have found a wedding photographer! We are heading out to do our engagement session next saturday evening, and it has me wondering...
Where to go?
There are some places in town, which, while beautiful, seem to be the automatic spot to to take pictures (cough*dallasroadbeaconhillpark*cough), and really, I don't want to fall victim to those stereotypical places.
So where, then?

I like the idea of playing on a swingset, in which case, almost anyplace would do.
Kyle suggested chinatown.
I suggested playing on a mini golf course.

I wish we had a fair in town, because it would be, hands down, the place to go for this - our wedding is going to be country-fair-western inspired. By which I mean that it's going to be an awesome party.

Photos by Simply Bloom Photography

And what about props? We can't forget those. I love the ice cream cone pictured above, and you all probably know how much I like balloons.

And then also, what should I wear?

I had no idea taking some pictures would be so anxiety-inducing.