BC '11

The 3rd annual Booze Cruise was this past Saturday and was once again successful. Although we were without 2 of our regular crew members (and missed them lots!), we still had a lot of fun.

I wasn't sure how the day was going to go when I got a phone call from Saylorville at 8 A.M. They called to tell me we couldn't boat because ours was broken. I panicked for about 30 seconds and then decided to call over to Big Creek to see if they had anything open and thankfully they did. Phew, crisis averted. Everyone met at the house, we packed up, and in true BC tradition, the boys rode in one car and the girls in the other, and we headed to Big Creek, with a pit stop at the Casey's in Polk City, another tradition of ours. Bobby played captain for the majority of the day and did a swell job. He looked like a professional as we sailed across the lake.

Some highlights include:
*Shot gunning a beer for the first time: My first attempt was a complete and utter failure. I was watching J-rod do it one way and Jake do it another...long story short, I got confused, most of it went all over Jake, and then I threw it overboard in a moment of frustration. My confidence was shaken but after a couple of hours and some positive encouragement, I decided it was time to try again, and that time was a true success.
*Jumping off the dock - We docked for a bit and all took turns doing jumps and flips.
*Les and I attempting to shove whole cupcakes in our mouths - a tradition we started on our maiden voyage. Stacy's cupcakes were a little too big so it took 2 delicious bites.

Booze Cruise is a day I look forward to every year. Such a fun way to spend the day - good food, good music, good friends = a great birthday celebration.

What's Goin On

Last post was July 25th?! Eek, where does the time go?

Let's see what's been going on:

*I golfed 18 holes a couple of weeks ago at Pleasantville (not to be confused with Pleasant Hill). Jake and I took on Stacy and Jared in our first ever golf outing. It was a great day to golf - a little warm, but thankfully the clouds hid the sun for most of the day. We played best ball off the tee, then best ball by partner after that. We played 9 holes and then took a break for lunch and then back on the course for another 9. (which was a great way to do it). It was a fun day and looking forward to another outing soon.

*I got to spend the majority of my Sunday with Les. We ran a few errands, made lunch, prepped for our meal drop-off, and played with Willy. It was a fun day and was happy to be spending 1 on 1 time with my roomie.

*Sunday night I played in my first ever slow-pitch softball game. Jake's team needed a sub and I reluctantly agreed when asked to fill in. I was so nervous, since I have never really played before. (I went to 1 softball practice in high school and after doing a miserable job at bat, decided the sport wasn't for me.) But it turned out to be a lot of fun. Everyone was so nice and I made contact with the ball every time I was at bat. And I even managed to score a run!

*Monday Jake and I went on a mini road trip to Iowa City for the Lissie concert. We first stopped for dinner at Oasis, a local falafel joint I've been wanting to try. We had planned on going before the wrestling meet we went to back in the winter, but lost track of time due to MegaTouch fun, so I was so excited to be eating there Monday. I had the Lamb pita sandwich and it was delicious. Can't wait to go back. Then onto the concert at Blue Moose. It was a small, intimate show, which is my favorite kind, and we were right up front to see Lissie put on an amazing show. It was a very late night, but I did get to sleep on the way home and it was definitely worth the 3 hours of sleep I got that night.

*Tuesday I celebrated my birthday and was definitely feeling the love. Lots of phone calls, texts, and facebook birthday wishes were sent my way all day. I had lunch with Lucas at South Union, got a cake pop from Stacy (yum!), and had some special visitors in the afternoon. My sister spent her 8th wedding anniversary with me and brought Regan along to celebrate my birthday, and even had homemade cupcakes in tow. (what a good sister, right?!) We went to the mall and I took Regan to Build-a-Bear (a belated birthday present for her) and then had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

*And today after work, I headed East on I-80 for the second time this week and met my parents in Iowa City so they could take me out for a birthday dinner and a little shopping after.

So long story short, that's what's been going on lately :)

BossyPants

I'm a big fan of Tina Fey. I liked her in her SNL days and when Mean Girls came out, I grew even fonder. So, I was thrilled to find out several months ago that she had a book coming out. As soon as I heard this, I got online to put in my request for it at the library.

Fast forward a few months to last Friday...I had finally gotten an email from the library stating that they had the book on hold for me and that I could pick it up. I was planning on leaving for home right after work that day, but the arrival of this news changed my plans slightly. I decided it was worth the detour to go back out West first to get my book. After all, I had been without for several weeks and was jonesing to pick up a book and start turning some pages.

When I got to the library, I was caught off guard a little when I saw that there wasn't a hardback or paperback copy waiting for me, but an audiobook. For some reason, my first reaction was a little disappointment. But then I thought for a moment....actually this is perfect! I have about 6 hours worth of driving ahead of me this weekend - what better way to keep me entertained.

Did I mention this was my first audiobook? Crazy, right? I loved it. 5.5 of those driving hours flew by as Tina's voice filled my stereo speakers with entertaining stories. Bossypants is a great book, that loosely chronicles her life, from a young girl at summer theater camp, to her days at Second City in Chicago and then SNL, to 30 Rock and beyond, and the insights she's gathered along the way. A few of my favorite lines:

*In one chapter she addresses some "unanswered mail", as she puts it, from people who have expressed their opinions of her online.

"Tina Fey is an ugly, pear-shaped, bitchy, overrated troll"

Her response:

Dear Centaurious,

First let me say how inspiring it is that you have learned to use a computer.

I hate for our correspondence to be confrontational, but you have offended me deeply. To say I'm an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair. I'll leave it for others to say if I'm the best, but I am certainly one of the most dedicated trolls guarding bridges today. I always ask three questions, at least two of which are riddles.

As for "ugly, pear-shaped and bitchy"? I prefer the terms "offbeat, business class–assed and exhausted", but I'll take what I can get. There's no such thing as bad press!

Now go to bed, you crazy night owl! You have to be at Nasa early in the morning. So they can look for your penis with the Hubble telescope.

Affectionately,

Tina

*When talking about unobtainable body images:

"But I think the first real change in women’s body image came when JLo turned it butt-style. That was the first time that having a large-scale situation in the back was part of mainstream American beauty. Girls wanted butts now. Men were free to admit that they had always enjoyed them. And then, what felt like moments later, boom—Beyoncé brought the leg meat. A back porch and thick muscular legs were now widely admired. And from that day forward, women embraced their diversity and realized that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. Ah ha ha. No. I’m totally messing with you. All Beyonce and JLo have done is add to the laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful. Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes."

*Replaying the first Sarah Palin skit, "...and I can see Russia from my house." That never gets old :)

I really could go on and on, but me listing quote after quote would be both silly and tedious. It's witty, honest, and sincere, and only makes me like her more. I highly recommend checking it out.

Water Cooler Convo

*Thursday afternoon*

Dick: Married yet?

Jane: Nope.

Dick: Getting closer?

Jane: Nope

Dick: You know, Jane, you aren't getting any younger.

Jane: I know.

Dick: Your clock is ticking.

Jane: Thanks.

Dick: Have your parents had that talk with you yet?

Jane: Nope.

Dick: I'm just kidding. You're what, 26? You have plenty of time. My wife didn't start having kids until she was 30.

Jane: Great.

Appropriate work conversation with a co-worker? Signs point to no. Any suggestions on how Jane should have responded?

Fore!

Last week we hit up the driving range, in preparation for the upcoming golf outing. I was excited to use my clubs (and by my clubs I mean my dad's old ones) but was extremely nervous. As we pulled into the parking lot, I actually had some butterflies in my stomach. Seems silly, huh? Well, I am pretty self-conscious about my golfing skills, being that I don't really have any. In fact, this was the first time I swung a club in front of someone other than my parents! Because I never felt ready to subject anyone else to my below sub-par golf game, the majority of my past golfing experiences, which isn't a lot, it has just been my dad and me. And, while we're on the subject, I've lived by a few rules when golfing with him: 1. Do not tee off on the first hole if there are people waiting in line behind us. Rather, drop my ball where my dad's lands. 2. Always politely decline if offered to join a single or twosome we run into along the course. 3. When frustrated, try very hard not to cry. (Shamefully, I actually shed tears one afternoon, after an especially frustrating day.)

Anyway, back to the story...After getting a large bucket of balls, we walked far away from the other people out there (because I was convinced there was a huge spotlight on me and that everyone would stop what they were doing and watch me, and then laugh hysterically at my attempts at hitting the ball) and started swinging. I put my tee in the ground, got out my 3 Wood and.....whiff! Not the best way to start, but the good news is I improved from there. Quite a few were grounders, but I did manage to get some up in the air and most of the balls I hit, I was hitting straight. Now if I could just get some power behind it, hit them up in the air higher, and hit them a little farther out, I would be in good shape. Oh and stay focused. Golf is definitely a game of concentration. And a few things I constantly have to remind myself: stay down, do not try to smack the hell out of the ball (that's when I whiff), and do not get up to watch the ball after hitting it.

The first outing went better than I expected it to and turned out to a be lot of fun. Not to mention it's cheap entertainment. $9 for a couple hours worth of fun!

Case of the Mondays

Monday is not my favorite day of the week. The optimist in me says that it is like a new beginning and a fresh start. But the negative side always creeps in and sadly reminds me that the weekend is over and will not be here again for another 5 days.

One thing I do look forward to every Monday morning is a Facebook status update from one of my co-workers, who dubs himself the driver of the bitter bus more days than not. He is about as sarcastic as they come and I appreciate him for that. Here are a few examples of how he makes me smile as he welcomes in the week:

Dear Monday, You bring rain, wind, lightning and disturb my sleep. You frakkin' vile, dysfunctional cow. Please feel free to go directly to hell. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.00.

Dear Monday, You are dragging on and on like an unstoppable case of dysentery. Or a Celine Dion concert. Please do us all a favor, and end already.

Dear Monday. You bring downpours, flooded streets and wicked lighting. So, so typical for a skank like you. Please feel free to piss up a rope.

Dear Monday, Just because its a holiday doesn't mean you're not still a heinous dirtbag.

Dear Monday, Once again, you have arrived like a boil on the butt of humanity. Please do the right thing and abdicate in favor of Tuesday as soon as possible.

Dear Monday, There is a 10.30am train to Skankville. Please be on it.

Faux Hawk

Ever since seeing this hair tutorial a few months ago, I've been wanting to try it out. I decided 80/35 was the perfect venue to rock such a look.

It only took about 15-20 minutes to do, 5 big hair ties, 5 small hair ties, about 10 bobby pins, and some hair spray. First, I divided my hair into 5 sections, using the bigger hair ties, then used the 5 small ones to form each section into something resembling a bun. Finally, I used the bobby pins to help fill in any holes.

And the final product looked like this:

Backview:


Sideview:


Overall I was happy with how it turned out. I received a lot of compliments and felt more like a rockstar than I probably would have otherwise :) The only thing I think I would do differently next time is pull my bangs back. I, personally, think I look silly without bangs, which is why I didn't do it, but I think it would've pulled the whole look together better, because, as you can see below, from the front, it looked like I was just rocking a high bun.



But it was a fun experiment, definitely something different, and I'm always up for mixing things up. Would I do this again? Si!