A Holly Jolly Christmas

Martha Stewart? Nope. These are in fact the presents that I wrapped for Christmas. I wasn't supposed to get this elaborate, but I got caught up in the spirit. Plus, wrapping paper was on sale...
Christmas morning babay. I was not that excited about being awake so early in the morning, and thus decided to strike a pose at the top of the stairs while the sibs fought their way downstairs.
I was probably more excited about having a delicious Christmas dinner than opening presents. And look closer, that's not Santa sitting at the head of the table, it's just my dad...

Apparently every trip home from now on will include a visit to the stables. As though they think I don't know that my sister got her own pony....

PS: Did I mention I got a Sonic gift card from Santa? Best present ever.

Merry Christmas to all and a most wonderful New Year!!!

Highway to Hell

My car broke down. Those of you who know me will surely know the story. For the rest of you, I apologize-- I started to write the whole ordeal, but the tale is too damn long and I won't le tmyself be one of those narsissistic epic post writers. Anyways...

This is the "shop" where my car got fixed:Notes: 1) This photo is taken from the rickety old truck seat where I had the pleasure of sitting. The chair arm in the foreground is from a grease-covered lazyboy that was buried under a pile of books and manuals, thus making it unfit for sitting. 2) I snapped this picture (with the camera barely sticking out of my purse, might I add. Sneaky.) when I came back to pay, which is why there is no porn on the computer screen. Consider yourself lucky. Seriously.

Holiday Par-Tay

This is my little single gal tree :) I actually have a bigger tree that I put downstairs in our living room, but I am a bit of a control freak and wanted one that I could design to match my room. It is sad and sparse, but I have total faith that in a few short years it will rival Rockefeller Center.

My week was kicked off with our work Christmas party on Sunday evening. There really isn't a department who has as much fun as we do in women's shoes. The night was filled with yummy food (I brought two items just to prove that I'm not completely helpless in the kitchen), a silly gift exchange, and many many stories. If you've ever embarrassed yourself in our department, odds are we laughed at your story at our fiesta.


On Tuesday we went out with some good friends for dinner and a gift exchange. Pictured above are a few of the attendees; I am sitting just to the right of the frame, entirely too interested in my present to look up for a picture.

After supper we headed up to the Great Saltair for a Shiny Toy Guns concert. Please excuse my giant melon of a head (not to mention my charming double chin). I have recently become quite self conscious of my cerebrum size. No more headbands for me....

Look out for this group. We have been known to paint the town red a time or two and are always easily recognized as the people having the best time no matter where we are.

Our own private dance party may or may not have been the best cardio I've gotten in weeks.

Tagged

7 random things about me could be a bit of a trick seeing as I have a previous blog post listing 100 fascinating facts about myself, but here I go:

1. Sometimes I try to be responsible about my excessive spending habits. When I go to the grocery store, I fill up my cart but then slowly remove items as I shop, whittling my purchase down to a reasonable. Somehow, putting back that $5 magazine makes me feel like I am the most responsible person in the world. This whole practice is ruined when I go to work the next day and impulse buy another pair of designer shoes. (pictured at right is my latest splurge...can you blame me?)

2. I am socially schizophrenic. I can chat up a storm with total strangers I'm pretty sure I'll never see again (thus my skill in the retail world), but I get somewhat shy and self-conscious when being introduced to people who may or may not turn out to be friends. Also, when I travel alone I am totally the person with the ipod headphones and hood up on the sweatshirt, avoiding personal interaction at all costs, but if I am traveling with someone, I will strike up conversations with people left and right.

3. I am a do-it-yourselfer. I try to do everything on my own-- setting up tv/ computer/ stereo stuff, fixing my car, painting my room, you name it. I was horribly embarrassed the first time I had to pay someone to change my oil (when I moved away from home and didn't have access to Dad's garage).

4. I can't go to bed if my room is messy. So I will stay up until the wee hours cleaning, only to tear it apart in the next morning's getting ready ritual. Every day. You would think that eventually I would get a clue and just NOT throw my clothes everywhere...

5. I don't type with my fingers on the right keys. My former roommate used to refer to my method as "raptor claws." I only use the pointer and middle fingers of each hand and the thumbs on the spacebar only. It sounds slow, but once I get into the groove I can reach pretty good speeds. I see no reason to teach this old dog new tricks, but I do get a tad embarrassed whenever someone sees me type.

6. I'm a professional stalker. Not in the hiding in your bushes and peering into your window sort of way, but in the myspace/ blogger/ facebook sort of way. This gets especially embarrassing when I actually meet the stalked in person. Once I made the mistake of saying "Oh yeah, I recognize you from your myspace." Oops. Interestingly enough, there are people who I have to be introduced to four or five times before they stick.

7. I have this irrational fear that when I am taking a test my pen will run out of ink. So before every midterm/final, I have to go to the bookstore and buy 5 or 6 new pens. Have I ever run out of ink? Not even close. But there is a first time for everything and I will absolutely be prepared.

I tag everyone on my "blogs I read" list. Ha!

A New Low

How many times did I hit up Happy Hour at my favorite drink location today? Three. For those of you doing the math, that's 132 ounces of diet Coke I ingested in less than a 12 hour period. Spare me the lectures on the dangers of carbonation/caffeine/ nutrasweet. And yes, the drive thru guy totally recognized me. All three times.


If anyone needs me, I'll be spending the next week checked in at the Cirque Lodge for cola addiction.

Drumroll please

Seriously, there was a red carpet. Go big or go home, I like to say...

Fanciest married folk in town. Love these guys (shout out to my fellow blogger!)

...lots and lots of friends were there. At one point, some random dude declared that it was the snobbiest party he'd ever been to. Mission accomplished.

Old as Dirt

My birthday officially ends in 4 minutes, and I think I can say without a doubt that this has been one of the better birthdays I have had. We threw a gigantic party on Saturday, and as soon as I have all of the pics from that i will post a few. But for now, I will just post the pictures from dinner st the Bombay House tonight with a few close friends.