Who's Hungry?

It's science fair time! My cousin Jackson and I have been slaving away to make the most amazing presentation board ever. If he doesn't win first prize I am going to give that judge's panel a piece of my mind, because this thing is perfect. Jackson was tired of getting hungry between breakfast and lunch, so he decided to see which cereal keeps you full for the longest. The winner? Oatmeal. The loser? Cap'n Crunch.


In addition to learning about cereals, I learned that the only thing harder than getting a 10 year old boy to focus is getting that kid to take a normal picture. I won't post any of the other 300 hideous photos, but I have saved them to pass on to his parents for future embarrassment opportunities.

2008 Introspective

I stole this from the blog of brown. Shout out for for the blog idea!

What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Saw Mt Rushmore, went to NYC, went on vacay solo, left a job that I was perfectly happy with.

Who’s new in 2008?
Miley Curus and the Jo Bros. (they're everywhere and I still know nothing about them). Is that what the question is asking?

Did anyone close to you pass away?
Luckily, no.

What countries did you visit?
None. Sad for me.

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A savings account.

What was your biggest personal achievement of the year?
No more school! and getting my first grown-up job

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope. I'm strong as an ox.

What was the best thing you bought?
LAMB bag, LAMB pumps, Marc Jacobs mouse flats (black and silver), turquoise Tory Burch flats, green Tory Burch pumps, Chanel necklace, furniture for the apartment, black forever 21 jacket (I wish I was kidding. That jacket is the best $24 I ever spent...)

Who did you have the most fun with?
Steven, Mandi, and Nat are my go-to pals. Don't believe me? watch this:


ps: to all you wii owners: get Wario Smooth Moves. NOW

Where did most of your money go?
Rent. College debt. Target. Going out to eat.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Buying my Britney Spears tickets. Seriously.

What song will always remind you of 2008?
Womanizer by B Spears, Untouched by the Veronicas, Viva la Vida by Coldplay, American Boy by Estelle

What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating. Ye-ikes.

What was your favorite TV program?
Gossip Girl, the Amazing Race, 90210, American Gladiators, Pushing Daisies, Celebrity Apprentice, Celebrity Circus, Desperate Housewives, Rock of Love, America's Next Top Model, 30 Rock, The Office, Entourage, Weeds, Flight of the Conchords, LA Ink, Project Runway, Top Chef, Top Design, Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency, Blush, Bad Girls Club, Deadliest Catch, So You Think You Can Dance, Real Housewives of New York, Real Housewives of Atlanta, Rachel Zoe Project, I Love Money, Double Shot of Love, Real World, RW/RR Challenge, Bromance, The Hills, The City, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Girls Next Door, Denise Richards: It's Complicated, The Soup, and I'm sure there's more.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hate is a really strong word, but there are definitely people who I have purposefully left out of my life. Ne need to be catty and list them here (...but if you really want to know, I'll totally tell you. jk. kind of.)

What was the best book you read?
Awakening the Buddha Within. And I re-read The Truth About Diamonds by Nicole Ritchie, always a good read.

What was your favorite film of this year?
Forgetting Sarah Marshall

What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned 2-freaking-4 and I hated it. Kept it low key and had dinner with the friends.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
It started out as "the flashier the better" (sequins, stilettos, and more bracelets than you can shake a stick at), transitioned into "business chic" (BR slacks and cardigans), and has now become...well, dresses with leggings and boots. I know, I'm so ashamed.

What kept you sane?
TV.

When you think about 2008 what sticks out in your mind?
Quarter life crisis.

I'll admit it. I use StatCounter, and I love it more that I love actually blogging. I love seeing people from all over the world who look at my site, and if I don't know them I don't care because I am always on the quest to have more people like me. The other day at work we were talking about goals in life and I said that my goal was to have fans. As in, people who like me who I've never met. So stalkers, please feel free to spend as much time as you'd like perusing this little site. I don't even care if you comment or not. I'll never go private and I will always love seeing more dots appear on my map (every continent except Antarctica, woo woo!).
In examining that stats of how people find my blog, I noticed a large number of folks coming from smjgreg.blogspot.com/, a private blog that I'm locked out of. Dear smjgreg, thanks for all of the referrals! I'd love to check out your blog, send me an invite meggan{dot}pingree{at}gmail{dot}com. Even if you're just making fun of me in your blog, I have a great sense of humor and I swear I can take it. Gracias!

LOL

My dear BFFers Nat and Mikey were at the Inauguration on Tuesday, and when she called me on Monday night we joked about the odds of me spotting them amongst the crowd of 1.8 million peeps. The next day, I sent the following message:
Note: I don't know if all you other I phone users already knew this or not, but if you hold the home button and then click the sleep button you can take a screenshot. I don't know why you'd ever really need to use this, but I thought it was nifty.

Is it just me...?

Or has anyone else ever really wanted to respond to one of those poor Nigerian Princes who just needs a US account to move their money out of the country? But not really respond, just kind of string them along for a wee bit to see what sort of sales tactics they employ. I think it could make for a really successful sales strategy book-- look for it in your local Borders business section this fall.

We have chosen hope over fear

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

I have been trying to pinpoint my favorite part of today and I can't I loved that our office shut down as we all gathered in the conference room to watch the ceremony projected up onto our wall. I loved seeing George HW Bush and Bill Clinton walking together through the Capital and the Obama girls walking out so poised and well-mannered. I loved The music, the ecstatic crowd, and the pure silence in the room I sat in as the 44th President spoke. And I loved the feeling that I felt today as I remained glued to the news, watching the same clips over and over.

If there were a way to guarantee that my kids would be like Sasha and Malia and not Jenny Humphrey, I might actually consider having children

No Caption Needed

An Open Letter

Dear Person Who Broke Into My Car Last Night:

I am sorry that the troubling economy has caused you to feel like you needed to help yourself to my vehicular property. I am sorry I didn't provide anything of value for you, but really what did you expect from a car that looks like mine? I hope that you tried the BMW that parks next to me, surely he has a little more to offer than a 96 Acura that's seen better days. I'm also sorry that someone beat you to the punch and broke into my car 2 years ago and taught me not to leave anything in my car, which is really too bad because not only would my ipod fetch a reasonable price on ebay, but there is a lot of great music and tv shows on there (Have you seen the Rachel Zoe Project? I think you'd really like it) that you could have enjoyed while you waited for the highest bidder.

I know that it must have been irksome to walk away from this car empty-handed, and you likely left my parking garage in quite a bad mood. However, bad mood or not, I think it is completely uncivilized for you to have walked away and left my little car in such a state of disarray. Burglar or not, I have to believe that at some point in your life someone taught you to pick up after yourself. And if you really take the time to think about it, cleaning up after yourself would have only benefited you...I likely would not have even noticed you'd been there, so I wouldn't have let the HOA know, and then all the other residents wouldn't be so alert to shady characters and other security matters, which will only make your job more difficult. And now I am annoyed that I had to start my very early morning by shoving all of my ipod/phone chargers back into the center console and picking up pennies from my ashtray, which has caused me to alert an even larger crowd (don't be fooled, I estimate the readership of this blog to be in the thousands), so you can go ahead and count them out as future resources as well. I hope you've learned a lesson from this.

Sincerely,

The Integra in spot #51

the blahs

Maybe driving through awful winter weather took it out of me. Maybe I associate my computer with working and thus avoided it as much as possible from December 19 to January 5. Anyway, the point is that I am back to blogging. Here's what I've been up to:

Drove home to Idaho in horrible weather. Flew to Seattle the next day. Was amused at how the entire city and surrounding area shuts down in snow. Ate crab, salmon, crab, clam, and crab to my heart's content (thank you Pike Place). Spoke at the Pingree family baptism (aunt and cousin) and baby blessing. Flew back to Idaho. Hung with the fam, went auction-bargain hunting, hoisted an epic dance party in the kitchen. Drove back to Utah with icy roads, but at least it wasn't snowing. Briefly entertained the idea of going back to work before the new year, but quickly changed my mind. FHE with Catanos, mani/pedi/shopping/dinner with Linds, date night with Mairin and Ann, brunch with Andrew, visit with Canates, tv with Steven, movie with Ash and Z, and said farewell to Mandi. Saw Benjamin Button, The Spirit, and Bedtime Stories. Watched a lot of tv, welcomed back Gossip Girl, Top Chef, and 30 Rock, and fell in love with Bromance, The City, Rock of Love Tour Bus, and Mad Men. Bought two much-needed furniture pieces: my jewelry armoir and my mirrored tv console. Got seriously depressed last night when I had to take down my Christmas decorations.