Merry Christmas, Mom

A Christmas ornament my mother cross-stitched twenty-five years ago. This hung on our family's tree for years and years and now, I'm proud to have it hang on mine.

Merry Christmas, Mom

He loves me...

He loves me not.

Well hello there!

Hi there, little buddy!

Contography

Matt Nathanson
Iowa State Fair
August 2009

Worthy of a repost

Never forget.

"The Sphere" by Fritz Koenig

The Box

For almost twenty years, this box has held my youth...or the most important things from my youth: my NKOTB memorabilia. I recently retired this poor broken down piece of cardboard and opted for a larger, sturdier plastic tub. It was with mourning that I broke down the box and took it to the trash.

I'll miss you, Box.

Big D

The bright lights of Dallas at 2am from the balcony at ghostbar.

"Love the pic," he says...

My dream is to become a concert photographer...to capture stars at the pinacle of their finest moments...and to catch them at their most candid, too.

I may not be Lynn Goldsmith yet, but dammit, I made Jon Knight smile tonight.

I uploaded this pic to Twitter...

Within five minutes, Jon direct messaged me telling me he loved the pic and asked me to upload it to NKOTB.com so he could snatch it.

Jonathan Knight.

Complimented MY picture.

MINE.

JON. KNIGHT.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Let's Twuck This

Following NKOTB on Twitter has offered me hours of entertainment...such as when Donnie asked for "Twugs" instead of hugs, and Danny trumped him by telling us he just wanted to "twuck."

I took this picture in Chicago of Danny breakdancing. It was only natural that I captioned it the way I did. Danny now uses this as his profile pic on Twitter. (Fan girl squeeeeee!)

Hidden in Plain Sight

As I looked for possible titles to this blog, I discovered that while I was AT Grand Central Station, I never really SAW Grand Central Station. There are hoards of shops & restaurants and areas I never even saw. Guess that just means I have to go back again. Oh, darn!

They really do exist!

I searched for years for a four-leaf clover and never found one. My daughter found TWO in one day! I didn't even think they existed, truth be told. I remember picking two three-leaf clovers as a kid, picking a leaf off each one and scotch-taping them together to make it look like a four-leaf clover. Odd what the mind remembers, isn't it?

New Yoawk City - the Centah of the Univeahse!

Taken from Top of the Rock
New York City
May 2009

Anybody for some S'mores?

Warren County, Iowa
May 2009

Good morning, Mom

Thinking of you this morning.

I miss you.

Homemade Sangria

3 peaches, diced
1 c strawberries, sliced
1 c seedless grapes
1 bottle chilled Moscato d'Asti wine
a splash of Grenadine

Pure. Heaven.

The best part? The drunk fruit when the wine's been drunk.

Because sometimes a picture is enough.

"The Sphere" by Fritz Koenig

Update on the Crackberry

She's earning her keep.

While her battery life isn't as impressive as I would LIKE it to be, she's proven to be more useful than not. Weather Bug and Google Maps were especially useful in NYC.

One of dozens that will end up here

Cheers!

Here's to grown up boy bands, old friends, new friends, new experiences and the fact that Melly didn't DIE in Times Square on her way to Rockefeller Plaza when her body seized up and refused to process the sheer volume of people in NYC!

(Taken at TGI Fridays on 5th Avenue)

Lucky for it, it was expensive

Or I'd launch this son-of-a-bitch across the room out of sheer frustration.

I.

Hate.

It.

That may change someday, but for now, it's right up there with bad drivers and illegal aliens on my HATE list.

Only my hairdresser knows the truth

...about how many bobbypins are keeping this thing together, that is.

This is Jenna. She's a friend of my niece. Their prom was tonight and Jenna asked me last week if I knew how to do hair. I told her I wasn't any licensed cosmetologist, but I could probably manage an updo if she needed me to. So...with an hour's time, a hot curling iron, 500 bobbypins (okay, that MAY be an exaggeration) and some imagination, this was our creation. She loved it, but is probably cursing me right about now for the sheer amount of hairspray we used to shelaque that thing together.

Stahbucks

"What can I get started for you?"

Well, you can start by losing that lame ass "can I help you" and cut the perk down by eight decibels. Coffee. Strong. Now. That's it. Seriously? I adore Starbucks...and the caffeinated delights it brings me. And really, I can handle the occasional perkiness, but all the time? Not so much.

Btw...white chocolate mocha, whipped cream. I'll take one now, thanks.

I love this city!!

House of Blues. Chicago Theater. Nordstroms. Portillo's. Hard Rock Cafe. Hotel Sax.

Walking distance, baby. Walking. Frigging. Distance!

One more week, darlin....

Just one.
More.
Week.

It's like they KNOW!

*SNOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRT*

OMG....okay, so I've been keeping an eye on ticket sales for Moline to see what's still available, etc. So I head over to TicketMaster tonight, search for NKOTB....Moline....and punch in "2" for "best available" and up pops my captcha code.

I'm halfway done typing it when I realize exactly what it says.

I may or may not have pissed my pants and laughed myself into an asthma attack:

...find a reason to be happy each day.

I'm finding myself more and more influenced by the negative lately. Cabin fever? Hormones? Stress? Not sure. I need to remember this more frequently than I am.

I will begin today.

It's the Final countdown

Sixteen days.

Jus' sayin'.

Pasketti & meat bulbs

The best meatballs on the planet.
I'm not just sayin' that because they're mine.
Ask my kids. They'll tell you.

Besides $$ what else could a girl need?

Look! I have all the essentials for my roadtrip to Boston with RiceChex! The visitors guide, a copy of The Block and my ever-popular Questions books!

I miss you, Vodka

Three Olives Chocolate Vodka
White Cran-strawberry juice.
Ice.
Lots and lots of ice.
Is Lent over yet?!

Twitter tweet twirp...wtf?

I don't remember how I got hooked on Twitter.

Wait. Yes, I do. It's Rissa's fault.

For the first three months I came to the conclusion that I live the dullest life possible. I'm sure my follower (notice that's NOT plural) thought the same thing. Then I finally acclimated to it and now I'm up to a couple dozen followers and am following about three dozen or so. My phone goes off CONSTANTLY with new txts and I'm certain Hub's about to divorce me. Poor guy.

But hey...the bonus is, I get to look at Donnie when I close my messages. Mmmm. *happy sigh*

Hi, Donnie.
I love you, Donnie.
Call me, Donnie.
Oh...and if it's NOT you on Twitter, I don't want to know.

Has it REALLY been 10 days?

I can't believe I've gone ten days without blogging. I'm slipping in my old age.

Actually, I've just been super busy (and by busy I mean wasting time on Twitter, nkotb.com and Facebook).

I'm back, though. Here we go!

Because I deserve a good weekend

Less than $10, including shipping. How could I POSSIBLY have passed it up?! Hi, Donnie. :) I really needed this today.

Retail therapy is a wonderful thing

I went into VonMaur for perfume. A little good sniffy-stuff to perk up my mood and I walk out with $75 worth of products for under $30! I *LOVE* Spring sales!

Shortstack!

Hubs's known as the Pancake Man around here, but the other morning, I was *really* craving pancakes, so I threw some buttermilk, flour, sugar and eggs together and voila! Pancakes!!

My only regret is that I didn't make a TRIPLE batch. We *SO* would've finished them off. YUM!!!

A rarity

For the record...they took my hands.

Today has been postponed...

...due to lack of interest.

And so it begins...

Farewell, Sweet Friend.

In forty-six days I can play with you again.

Until then, you're shelved for Lent.

I'll miss you.

How many licks does it take?

Meet Tootsie Pop.
She contains 1 part Three Olives brand Chocolate Vodka, 2 parts cran-strawberry juice.
She's my friend.

I don't do it for the glory...

I took over a hundred pictures tonight at the Toby Keith concert, but there are none that made me as emotional as this one. There is nothing as humbling as standing next to a tearful soldier when Toby starts in with "I'm just tryin' to be a father..."

Alexander Graham Bell can go to Alexander Graham Hell

I LOATHE the phone. No. Lemme specify. I LOVE my cell phone. It brings me fun texts, happy calls and pretty pictures. This thing? I HATE it.

Barbie's Dream House

The other day, we were surrogate house-hunting for some out-of-town friends. After looking at several houses, we happened upon one that completely took my breath away. In the upstairs bathroom, I discovered a bathroom so full of light I had to shield my eyes. In it was this shower stall with a southern-facing glass block window and I knew someday...in that dream house I've built in my head, I wanted a shower Just. Like. This.

Paws and think for a moment

In the middle of shooting an engagement session at a Des Moines park, I stepped over this paw print, stopped and backed up to look at it, again. I try to take a minute to smell the roses every day - to not get so caught up in all the chaos that has become my life that I forget to look at the things around me. This was one of those "pause and think for a moment" shots.

A little old market

Lunch.
Dinner.
Cocktails.

Yes, please?

New colors...

I induldged myself tonight. New crayons. 64 vivid colors!
I still get a giddy feeling as I catch the first whiff of new crayons. I still smile when I pick out a picture to color that will allow me to use RED first (because it's the brightest and most powerful color in the whole box) followed quickly by "Violet (Purple)" (because it comes with its own explanation - who wouldn't love that!). I think maybe I'll dig out my New Kids on the Block coloring book (yes, I totally have one) and have fun.

Quiet, please

This was our "Do Not Disturb" sign from the Q Hotel & Spa in Kansas City when RiceChex, criSILLYus and I stayed there last fall. I fell in love with so many things about that hotel - my most favorite? The quiet!!! Quiet is so very important to me. I seriously loathe noise.

Unfortunately my family isn't as polite as the hotel guests most days and the sign goes unheeded.

Like the back of my hand

Six? Ten? Twelve? Sometimes eighteen hours a day, seven days a week I spend sitting at this computer - working, playing, learning, researching, entertaining, writing, editing....whatever has control of me for the moment. I know this keyboard like the back of my hand*.


*Although I didn't notice until I posted this picture that blob of goo on the comma key. WTH?