Thursday, July 30, 2009

Confessions of a Shopaholic's daughter

Ok, if my mother saw this she would kill me. I want to start by saying she is not a shopaholic. However, today one might think she was.


7:56 a.m.- "Where the heck is my phone"- my first thought this morning

My second thought- "Why the hell am I up so early?!?!?"

But it's too late now, I'm up. So I read a little 'Julie and Julia' and waited for my mom to wake up. I knew she wanted to go to the store, but had I known it would be nearly 10 hours before I ate my first meal- I would have at least pretended to fall back asleep.

I can't lie, I did have some fun.

We are re-decorating the spare room, which happens to be the room I "stay in" while home.

I must confess- I love to shop as well. Money doesn't grow on trees though (wow I am already turning into my mother). when I do have money, watch out, I can get pretty scary.

Target was stop one. Got a Futon, a table thing, a chair, floor pillows, a side table among other random things for the upcoming school year.
Stop off home, put it all together.
Back on out.

Mind you my mother just bought a 2001 Sebring Convertible and it was well over 100 degrees today...and yes, we had the top down.

Big Lots next- didn't buy too much there. Mostly stuff for my sister.

Then back to target for a rug and a fan.

The room looks nice though. I will get to enjoy it three out of the next four weeks.

The one annoying thing I will now rant about- a remote-less television.

It is in my room too. I am lazy, plain and simple. I do not want to get up from the comfy futon every half hour to find something to watch. Or God forbid I want to skim the channels during a commercial to see what else is on. It is a huge pain the butt. Sure I could just go buy a universal remote and then vuala....but nooooooo, I don't have the brains to remember it when I was at target twice today. Yes, I guess that is my fault, so I shouldn't be complaining...but guess what, I don't care. I will complain.

Ok, I'm done.

Complaining that is.

I still have more to talk about. Like the fact that I had Baja Fresh for dinner.

when I lived in Gilbert I discovered this wonderful restaurant, thanks to Lindsey. I enjoyed it for a while, then it closed down. I didn't bother check where there were anymore...but I happened to come across one today (go figure) by Target. It was amazing.

I guess other than that there's not much more to discuss.

One last confession- I got mad at myself this morning for not having a recurring dream with George Clooney in it...isn't that pathetic? what is wrong with me? feel free to share any comments or concerns on that front.

Goodnight and Goodluck (pun included- George Clooney movie)

and...
Bon Appetit!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Planes, Bras, and Automobiles

-Day One-

The clock read 4 a.m, my alarm was set to go off in exactly 15 minutes. I rolled over, expecting to lie there motionless until my alarm jolted me awake (since that was how most of the night had went so far). However, in those few brief minutes I fell into a deep trance. Dreamland as I like to call it. At 4:14, one minute before my set alarm, I was awoken by my brother- much to my chagrin. Well you would be upset too if you were about to make out with George Clooney just seconds before. Now I lay there more in a state of shock than anything. It all had happened so quickly. One moment I was staring into the gorgeous face of George, the next I was staring into the dark bedroom with the realization that I was about to get on a plane and head home from my week long trip in Plano, Texas.

I love visiting Plano. There is really no other way to put it. So, needless to say, I was a bit miffed to have to pack up and leave. Especially at such a time. I had no choice though. I threw on my clothes and headed downstairs. Next thing I remember, is being in the car. Before I knew what had hit me I was there. Had it really been a week since I had last been at the airport? Really?

The thing with stand-by tickets- if the plane fills up, you lose your seat first. (foreshadow much?)
Our set flight was as follows- Dallas to El Paso (switch planes) to Las Vegas.
The guy who got us the tickets (a wonder, amazing, generous man) informed me it would be best to try and get onto the flight that went first to San Antonio, because we had a better chance. However I overheard the desk clerk say that flight was over booked. Back to the El Paso gate we go. As I approach the desk to turn in our stand-by passes for boarding passes, the first thing the woman shares with me, in the peppiest 6 a.m. voice ever, "Oooo, Hope this flights boards before the big storm rolls in, that doesn't look good. How can I help you?"
I got our boarding passes alright, along with a stomach full of butterflies. (I don't mind flying, I do mind the level of turbulence though. And if it was a storm we'd be flying into, one can only expect heavy turbulence.)
My brother's attempts at trying to keep me calm (if you call, "calm down" a solid attempt) weren't working. The butterflies continued to flap away at my innards.
I was waiting for either the delay notice or the signal to start boarding. Finally we board. Sitting on the plane the sun begins to fully rise, but it still remains dark out. No turning back now. I took a few deep breaths and said to myself, "Emily, this is no big deal, pilots know what they are doing. Think of it as a few little bumps in an old country road (courtesy of a Nanny Episode) or the Michigan roadways (courtesy of a recent visit to the motor city).... that all makes sense, except for this one teeny, tiny, minuscule tid-bit of info- there is no ground, we are going to be in mid-air....how can there be 'bumps in the road' if there is no road?" I wasn't helping myself anymore, and now we were taxi-ing.
the tradition in my family is to cross pinkys with whomever we are traveling with. My brother grew out of that tradition though. The trek to Dallas I was in a pinky lock with myself. As I was, once again, locking my pinkys together, he turns to me and plainly says, "Do you want me to be a good brother or a bad brother?"
"Good"
"Fine," and he held out his pinky. I was shocked but found comfort in this. Everything was going to be fine.
About two minutes after leaving the ground he shakes his pinky loose complaining of a loss of circulation (I just draped my pinky over his, how that caused his entire side of his hand to seize up, I do not know). I immediately crossed my pinkys together, we weren't out of the clouds yet.
Most of the hour long flight into El Paso was pretty bumpy, after the first fifteen minutes it became more tolerable and I continued to read my book.

Finally a clear skied El Paso. In exchange for the good weather though, we got to sit in the airport for an extra two hours to wait for a flight that could fit us in.
Finally we board. One more stop in Phoenix (we don't even need to get off the plane) and then Vegas- Home sweet Home, right?

More like, "Whose-bright-idea-was-it-to-get-a-convertible-in-the-bloody-desert"
that's right, mom bought the 2001 Sebring she's had her eye on. (She's been looking for one ever since the one she had years ago was totaled). When we had the old Sebring, my siblings and I were much smaller and could fit in the back seat of the two door sardine can just fine. Nowadays, it isn't quite as luxurious. It was hot, cramped and it doesn't help that I am a tad more claustrophobic now than when I was younger. the thirty minute drive home was just lovely.

The only good thing about mom getting a new car, it re-opened the discussion of getting Emily a car for school. Well, it cracked the window open. I'm still trying to find the door. Basically, I am getting one. Whether it is by the time I go to school or more closer to Thanksgiving is the debate. That and what kind of car to get. It will be used of course (I have no problem as long as it works)...and I get a budget of 3000. (I spent most of the afternoon on craigslist)

Being home is nice though. There's no other place like it on Earth...or beyond. There are times when I am convinced we are from some far-off planet somewhere.

Then I realized it. I have a bra fetish.
Now before your mind gets to wandering.... No one sees them except me, but still I don't like boring plain old bras. My bras need to be more than support, I need personality too. Kind of like a good man- Good looking, supportive and with a distinctive personality. If only I had as many choices in guys as I do bras.

Tomorrow's Forecast:
Shopping with mom and sister. Redecorating the guest room (my room?). Oh and the DMV. Fun. Fun. Fun.

I love Target though. They have really great bras!

Bon Appetit.
Emily

Extreme Blog Makeover

I had told myself I was not going to blog until school picked up again (which is in a few weeks); however I was hit with two realizations while in the shower just a few moments ago.

ONE- I never formally said my blog was taking a hiatus.
TWO- My blogs are somewhat (if not entirely) boring. All I do is talk about classes and family problems and it is as if you are reading the instructions on how to make macaroni and cheese: The overall result is interesting, but the process is ordinarily time consuming.

So, I have decided to re-format and begin anew.
I want to thank all those who stuck with it through the trial and error session.

Now some of you may be saying you enjoyed my previous posts. You are too kind, honestly.
I tried my best to spice things up a bit in the past, but it came and went. Also, I know how much you do care about my life and want to remain informed (hence why you came and put up with me in the first place), but I can make it more entertaining for you.

Now the sudden urge to re-model my entire blog did not come from thin air.
As you should already know, I am a huge fan of Meryl Streep. She has her new movie 'Julie and Julia' coming out on August 7th. So I picked up a copy of the book that the movie is based off of. It is quite the entertaining book. It is based around a blog that a woman decides to make -500+ of Julia Child's recipes in a year-
Her memoir could have been as boring as my macaroni blogs- she was cooking after all- however, they were quite the opposite. They are hysterical. So, I was inspired to try harder in my efforts to express myself.
Now I do not expect that my blogs will be turned into a novel and someday a movie (honestly I don't, this is just a for-fun thing). More sole intention is to keep my close friends and family (and the occasional wanderer) updated on what is going on in my life.

So, without further ado, welcome to the new and improved Breakfast at Emily's

And in the spirit of the Great Julia Child,

Bon Appetit!