soap acrobatics

something crazy happened.

in the shower.

with the bar of soap.

you won't believe this! 

it was so amazing that I had to take a picture when I got out of the shower....confused yet?

so there I was, showering like normal...with an abnormally small bar of soap. apparently it slipped out of my hands and ended up on the tub floor on it's narrow edge. the soap stuck like a dang Chinese throwing star, right on the floor and withstood the running water for the rest of my shower! it looked like a small white boulder in a river of bathwater, holding it's own. such a brave little soap wedge!

here it is, that brave shaving of bubble-maker....

voila! see it? that teensy tiny sliver of soap? it stuck like that for about 5 minutes, not budging! obviously I was very amazed.

I don't know what the strangest part of this post is. what the magic soap did or the fact that I took a picture of it...OR, how about the very obvious: i am posting about it all! soap acrobatics, folks. amazed yet?

that's all for today. I need it to be friday.

right.

now.

waiting...

now?

soon!

enjoy.

winter wonderland... "it's my life..." (tone of ron burgundy)

I am currently living in a glorious Winter Wonderland. and i love it. knock on wood.

here's a snap shot of Lake Calhoun on Sunday around 1 PM (first pic). you can usually see to the other side of the lake, but on this day you just couldn't. too much snow. everywhere! blowing every direction. James and I decided it was a great time to go for a brisk run. I mean, obviously this is prime running weather, right? I know it might seem completely nutso to run in near blizzard conditions, but really it was fine. You run a little slower than usual and really get to take in the beautiful scenerey. it's very peaceful and I like to see this normally very lake and park area in a serene state. as long as you dress for the weather, it's honestly no bother to run in the snow. true story.

Lake Calhoun. Snow ballin'

this is Monday morning on a "side street" on my way to work. wow!

ok, this pic is Tuesday morning 

on my way home from the gym - around 6:40 AM. 

to the right is Lake Calhoun (just about the same spot where the top photo was taken on Sunday) and to the left are the lovely homes...this was fine to drive on for me and my al wheel drive SUV, but I saw MANY cars spun out or simply stuck on ice or in giant chunks of snow.

so yeah - just thought i would share some fun pics from the last couple days here in Minneapolis and how we're coping. 

next are just some random pics from my phone. first up is grapefruit. I've seriously been addicted for the last couple weeks and I do not anticipate this addiction tapering any time soon. I LOVE to peel ALL the skins off...delicious! James once suggested to me to peel all the skin off (many years ago!) and i've been a huge fan of it ever since!

the second pic is James's dinner from a few nights ago. he bought super, heavy-duty, extra thick, double wide, hulkster bacon one day (shopping on his own, of course!) - well, I was excited to see him fry this stuff up and get my house smelling like man...i mean bacon... so I suggested he make a yummy man grilled cheese sandwich. he did, and he loved it! he used havarti cheese (right from the cheese/deli store - "fresh" cheese!), the XXL bacon, sliced turkey, and fresh avocado! he was so kind as to share a few nibbles with me...man, that was insanely tasty!! AND is proof that I don't only provide "His Manliness" with lo-fat, lo-sugar, lo-carb, lo-flavor, "healthy" food. :) I actually DO make sure he eats a variety of foods. :)  so anyway... ON with the pics!

MMM. i had already eaten all the other slices. oops. 

a MANLY grilled cheese! Avocado, turkey, bacon, havarti!

OH my YUMNESS!

finally, i share one of my new favorite things. you know you're in a Winter WOnderland when your city's fire trucks put CHAINS on their tires to help get them through the ice and snow! My dad also put chains on his garbage trucks yesterday morning and told me to listen for him early in the morning... I thought he was kidding, until i heard this firetruck. I thought it was Santa's Sleigh comin' in hot on Hennepin Avenue! ha! i decided this is yet another wonderful, fun necessity of the winter weather.

Minneapolis Fire Department Chain Gang!

so, there we have a clean-out of my phone's pictures from the last few very exciting days. i never promised they'd be insanely adventurous - but i must admit they are fairly unique!

next up on the agenda is some christmas shopping for my dearest niecey-poo. THIS should be FUN!

PS - it's almost he 12 Days of Christmas!!! but...first things first...

happy 12-12-12 EVE.

beware of the moron ladies!

the return of Thankful Thursday. oops, i forgot about it and instead have just been b!tching on a near-daily basis. my bad. BUT in my defense, one must realize they are not going to be reading about rainbows and butterflies on a blog titled "brattyshack." I'm bratty. if all i wanted to vent about was glitter and fairies, i'd have named the blog pinksugarsparklekisses.com. but i didn't. so there.

but seriously, I am nice.

so. what is this little rainbow-gushing rosy cheeked lass thankful for today?  am thankful that I did not plow into that lady this morning on my way to work. "that lady" was a moron who, without looking onto the street, flung open her car door (she was a passenger exiting the vehicle) as 30 MPH oncoming traffic was headed down the narrow pavement and barreling by mere inches from her now open door. she then proceeded to glare at me as i continued on my way down the street, as if I had done something wrong! what!? she did not even LOOK (i saw this as I was approaching, luckily, and was well aware that she was not paying attention to the dangers of exiting a small car onto ONCOMING TRAFFIC during rush hour in downtown minneapolis. man, she is lucky I was not a city bus, and that I was paying attention to her idiocracy! (look ma, i made up a new word!) so I am thankful that she didn't ruin my car. ok ok, and thankful that i didn't hit her. and thankful for my awareness. ha! jk.

i am genuinely thankful for 2 things in particular today.

1. my boyfriend's patience. 

I can never say enough about this. he puts up with all of my weirdo-ness, hotheadedness, MY impatientness, (another new word!), and the list is never ending. In gratitude, I will forever happily make him cookies, buy him bacon (the maple kind!), and let him rub my back. :) thank you for being so patience and at least having the wits to act like you understand.

someone decided to take a silly pic in bed the other morning. 

that "someone" was not me, i assure you of that!

2. my boss.

yes! he is a genuinely sweet, warm hearted, generous person who is far more tuned-in to society than he will ever lead on (and more than most will believe!). he has been a unique and rare blessing to work for over the last approximately five years, and I've truly enjoyed every day, even the long ones, that i've gotten to work with him. he is a great leader even when he doesn't mean to be and has forever changed my life. 

as a bonus round, i'd like to submit a 3rd thankful entry (the moron lady doesn't really count). My neighbor Jill (and her fiance of course) has been so much fun in pretty much every setting i've had the pleasure to share with her! whether it be drinking mimosas in Madison or busting butt at OrangeTheory Fitness, we've had much fun together. It's nice to meet someone who is so similarly natured as yourself - it makes the friendship easy. Her laid back, witty and often times wild attitude has been a ball and i am very thankful our paths crossed...errrm, rather our paths conjoined on Lyndale Avenue. 

very timely and AMAZINGLY ERSERM SONG. CLICK IT! LISTEN. LOVE. SHARE. (make sure your volume is on and up.)

ok. enough sentimental sweetness. I'm also thankful that the weekend is just around the corner and i get to sleep past 5 AM Saturday morning!! YES. Party in the REM stage!!!!! you know i will.

look out for the moron ladies! 

tough tuesday - quickie.

Monday's daytime high was 22 degrees. to all you "trendy fashion" Pinners out there, I say HA. go Pin some "cute winter outfits" consisting of tights, a skirt and an oversized "cozy" sweater for weather like that. folks, that doesn't even include the wind chill factor. so sorry but you're gonna need more than one little pair of tights to get your photo shoot-on in the outdoors with that type of weather. more than half of the U.S. has NO idea what real winter is like. skinnies, a chambray top and infinity scarf don't cut it. good try though. (no hard feelings, i swear.)

the pooping bandit was in full force all day in the rest room yesterday. made my few number one trips quite awkward. 

and today, more toily drama: i desperately need to tinkle and the bathroom on my office floor is being fixed. for like 20+ minutes. my bladder is about to erupt (hence my time I have to make this lame-o entry). no big deal. experiencing semi-severe pains in my abdominal region because my bladder is full of 2 pint glasses of water plus a venti coffee. ugh. i guess i did this to myself! i take the blame.

last night J and i watched TWO episodes of American Horror Story. yup, we lurve it. hopefully we can put out two more tonight. is that sad that i look forward to them so much? yikes.

ok, i seriously cannot think. I need to burst. 

new muffins i made:

1 mushed banana

1 cup oats

1/4 cup egg whites

1/4 cup Silk almond milk

bake for 15-18 mins in 350 oven in greased muffin tin. enjoy! 

well, almost. i suggest adding blueberries or a splenda packet or two. i added 1 cup of pulp form a blueberry-carrot-apple juicer and it helped a little, but it could use maybe a shot of vanilla extract or something else. for the most part, pretty good though! i mostly loved the consistency/texture. mmm!

ok, i am off to find a bathroom. this is getting serious.

Buckeye weekend, bathroom chatter and of course - Turkey day preps!

ok. the pooping bandit... she set up camp in the restroom again today...ugh. i don't even want to describe it any more than "set up SERIOUS camp" in HER stall yet again... so long... so many flushes... so annoying. nothing makes my trip to the bathroom, for a simple mid morning tinkle, more uncomfortable than this lady. get IN, make your deposit, and get OUT! daayyummm.

oh man, I am excited for Thanksgiving. I have been missing doing something "family" for a while, so this should give me my fill until CHristmas. :) aren't I sassy today?!

Last night James and I went to see "Lincoln." it was good!! warning: do not drink approximately 30 ounces of juice (carrots, celery, apple, ginger, pineapple - in case you were curious) and then another 20 ounces of delicious hot Tazo Tea right before you go to this wonderful 2.5 hour flick. yeah, i did it - and i do not recommend it. definitely made a mad-dash for the toily an hour into the film, after debating said mad-dash for 20 minutes. even with the self inflicted intermission, it was a great movie and worth the $10 per ticket and 2.5 hours of no fluid intake. 

wow, two references on the bathroom within the first 5 minutes of my post!? hmm, what's on my mind! yuk

the latest adventure in my life was cruising over to Madison, Wi on Friday night with our great neighbors, Rick & Jill Ma, to see Ohio State beat Wisconsin on Saturday at Camp Randall. OH, what FUN!! It was a superb time and i'd love to make a tradition of it! it was a LONG day Saturday, but we met tons of fun, crazy, friendly people. I think the best folks were, whom I deemed, two members of ZZ Top. They had badgers as hats!! Obviously Wisco fans (ahem, Wisconsin Badgers!), these dudes had dead badgers turned into awesome Daniel Boone inspired chapeaus. super cool - and they were hilarious guys!

badger hats, zz top, and the 

guy on bottom has a beaver hat. go figure!

our view of the game. GO BUCKS!

Jill Ma and Rick...hey, it's Movember! 

in the game, being photo-bombed by the saddest fan.ever. 

is she crying?

yeah, the weekend was a blast and we had a relatively easy commute back to Mpls, especially compared to trying to leave Minneapolis Friday, get THROUGH St. Paul and onto Wisco. Holy cow, what traffic! poor rick :( must have been annoyed trying to get through the build up. of course there was an accident so it plugged up 94. typical. BUT I hope everyone was ok - the wreck site looked pretty bad. 

this morning I tried out another new recipe for "healthy cookies." they were great, but to me they are more like healthy little bite size poppers. one and a half mashed bananas, about a third cup of plain apple sauce, a splash of egg white, a few dashes of cinnamon and just about two cups of plain quick oats. baked in little look-alike cookie shapes on a pan for 12 minutes at 350...et...voila! i ate them all! about 10. ok maybe 12. but they were so little!! oh, and i threw in some golden raisins for about half the batch. i did not see anything wrong with devouring them all, even though it started off unintentionally. there's nothing unnatural in them, no sugar added, fat, etc... just simple. and not messy at all, so i just kept pop pop poppin' em!! definitely making more tonight!

wish me luck tonight; i have some major cleaning and organizing to do, as well as one very important mission. tonight, my friends, i must go to the grocery store to find the most delicious, succulent, flavorful rolls OF ALL TIME. yes, you guessed it. my responsibility for Thursday is to BRING ROLLS. Yes, that's my task. my MISSION. and I have chosen to accept it. never mind that I am an adult who owns her house, has a job, can bake - can read recipes and follow instructions quite well - let me bring the rolls. apparently my family does NOT trust me enough to bring something as important as PIE or CORN or even the olive tray. no no, let me bring THE ROLLS. just like I did when I was in college. hmmm.

i am also bringing wine, but I'm not sure whether that will be shared or not. they can have the rolls.

i hope i don't get beat up at the store tonight - these holidays always bring out the most aggressive housewives shopping for their PERFECTLY PINTERESTED dinners.

are we there yet?

thursday already! friday is almost here!

oh wait..what? it's only WEDNESDAY?! dang. well, at least we got through the "MT" part of "MT...WTF!!" right?

so, here are two umm, two links worth a peek:

poor cheerleader! 

this is SO me, and maybe even you?

ha. go look.

done? ok.

so, i made these pulpfins.

here we go again with the WTF... WTF is a pulpfin!? well, my latest obsession (aside from orange theory fitness, mustaches and trying to adopt a pup) is concocting new "jucipes" for our new...ta daaa...juicer! so far, i am still in heaven. so anyway, you can use the rejected parts (ahem, pulp!) of the fruits and veggies as ingredients for other recipes. like muffins. hence, pulpfins. the only thing that makes these cleverly-named snacks even better is the fact that they are healthy!! at least my version:

1/4 C coconut oil (melted)
3/4 C (maybe a little more?) pulp (mine: mostly carrots, apples, celery, cucumber, ginger root)
1/3 C plain Fage greek yogurt
1/3 C truvia fake sugar crap
1 and 1/4 C Almond Flour
1/4 C brown sugar (i think? maybe not?? I cannot remember if i added this or not)
3 egg whites
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 C golden raisins
lots of dashes of cinnamon. and then one more for the hell of it.

I am pretty sure that was it. I kept adding things until it looked "right." bake muffins (dough is not runny at all) at 330 or 350 for 12-15 minutes in dark, greased tin. (this was made up, on the fly. feel free to color outside the lines if you try this. I was missing a few ingredients i wanted to use so i was shootin' from the hip. next time I will swap in apple sauce for the oil and yogurt and skip the truvia. just to see what happens and to make them healthier.)

ok, this morning (yes, more juicipe talk) i used a grapefruit, ginger, oodles of carrots, half a bunch of kale and 2 apples...and all it tasted like was grapefruit! note to self: grapefruit flavor trumps all other flavors. it was really good, but i love grapefruits. so there ya go.

this morning's ingredients

this morning's pulp - i saved it for more pulpfins!

an aerial view of my breakfast (juice!)

mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

random bit of excitement: J and I booked our trip to Fort Myers today! we will go in March to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th Birthday! hooooray! cannot wait! but I guess i'll have to.... annnnd Kokomo by the Beach Boys just came on my pandora. haha. perfect timing. I def want to get there fast and then take it slow.

i meant to post this yesterday, so pretend this is my tuesday post (i will color it differently as to symbolize that it was from yesterday):

i really wish the Pooping Bandit (an "unknown" lady who works on my floor) would stop ruining my bathroom breaks. it's so awkward to walk into our restroom (we share with the whole floor, which is comprised of three businesses) and just have to pee quickly, but in the neighboring stall someone is .... well you know, it's awkward. it's like... why do you have to poo for 15 minutes? sometimes I will go in there, see the Bandit's shoes in her  stall, and just leave and try to come back later. it's so awkward. why are you in there for so long? why do you get super quiet when you hear me come in? and remain quiet till I leave? I can still hear you when I leave the bathroom. i know what you're doing. just POO and GO! it's not that hard.

or maybe it is?

yuk! you nasty!

back to normal talk...I bought new gym shorts yesterday at Dick's Sporting Goods and i love them. i love/hate going into those stores - i LOVE looking at all the cool under armor and nike running crap...i fantasize about buying so much of it... and i hate leaving without buying any of it. dang. i wish it were not so expensive...but i know it's worth the $$. such a dilemma!! i want it all! and I need new running shoes. $ $ $ out the window.

oh, and now we have Cyndi Lauper on Pandora.... we really DO just wanna have fun! 

stashes of staches

the weekend was fast and furious...and had an overwhelming amount of mustache-induced fun.

Friday night James and I saw Man With the Iron Fists, which is one of Quentin Tarantino's latest flicks. and of course, we both loved it! I can't say much about it other than go see it. BUT be warned - it's super gory! not like, 300 or Gladiator gore, but really bloody and...well you know how QTar. is with his quirkiness in films. just see it! and definitely not suitable for kids.

we actually saw that flick at the Mall Of America theater... hello, ghetto! I can see why no one goes there! it's more of a pick up joint than a movie theater. There were two girls, approximately 18 years old, in the theater who were dressed for da club, hard core, who were basically skirttin' around the theater to another group of approximately 18-19 year old ghetto thug wannabe's, TALKING loudly and being super obnoxious. If you know me, you know I have almost a negative amount of patience for disrespecting, annoying behavior like this. let's just say those two hod rats didn't last too long. the kicker was that James and i watched them walk right into the theater before the show started FOR FREE! they didn't even have a ticket and the so-called ticket taker/usher did not stop them... so annoying. too bad for MOA, because it's crap like that, that makes movie goers like James and me go to a different theater! 

anyway. Saturday I was feeling like crap again (which is why we did not do anything too taxing Friday night) but mustered up the energy (haha) to go to the Metrodome to see the Carleton Knight's last football game of the season. it was a lot of fun and the new Mr. and Mrs. Goolsbey met me there...so I was lucky enough to hear all about their honeymoon in FIJI!! It was AMAZING!! Definitely a new item on my bucket list!! more like bucket novel. haha, it is never ending!

James and his senior receiver, CJ Dale.

sad, it was CJ's last game! he is such a doll. 

and yes, he is standing on his tip toes.

After the game we chowed some apps at Rudolph's, then headed home to shower up for "German Night" in Saint Paul. Happy Birthday to Cody! we met at Glockenspiel ($40 cab ride later! shiiiiit!), then headed to Patrick McGoverns, then home again (+$40 again! crap!). it was a really fun night and so great to see so many people I've not seen in what seems like forever. for...ev...errrr. (Sandlot, anyone?) we had little mustache tattoos for our fingers and probably obsessed over them a little too much. but seriously - when in doubt, whip out a finger-stache! 

Kristin, me, Karin and staches

Me and James...getting really excited

 over the finger-staches, i guess.

my neighbor and buddy Jilly Bean (Jill. Jillian. Fiance of Rick. whatevs) spent the long weekend in Palm SPrings (or maybe Palm Desert?) for her Bachelorette Party (!!!) and sent me some fun pics... this is all I will share for now. I need to get her signed permission before I share any of the other pics online. :) hilarious. see? it was a wild stache party from coast to coast!

please note the nail polish color. do we love? 

umm, YES. E21, right Jill?

wait, are you sitting all alone in a corner? what?

Sunday we spent the day at the Carleton Football Banquet and had a great time. Carleton is a gorgeous campus and i really felt like I was at Hogwarts the whole time - the buildings are very Harry Potter-esque and the weather was slightly overcast so it really just felt like i just might come upon a game of quiddich at any second! 

did i lose ya with that last comment?

what a fun weekend. just looking forward to getting back on the workout regimen ASAP tonight (took three days off due to illness and staying way too long at the banquet! oh...and trading my date with the treadmill in for...i cannot believe i almost forgot...SKYFALL on Sunday night!), and then off to MADISON this Friday for the Ohio State versus Wisconsin football game Saturday! hooray! as I told james last night, i FINALLY get to spend the week obsessing over what I will wear on Saturday to the game!! must be warm and cute, right?! :) executed in plenty of scarlet and gray!

so back to Skyfall. Yes. go see it! awesome. I think the opening credits are the best I've ever seen for a movie - and they set the bar high for the whole movie. worry not, the movie was right on par with the opening credits! loved it. i was not let down at all...and Javier Bordem was AWESOME!!!! great flick. go see it. now! next up on my movie list is Argo. and The Master. and Frankenweenie. and Django (when it opens). so, a lot of movies. :) which is fine by me! considering today's high is 29, I think we are just about in full swing of movie theater season!

happy monday. stay warm!

gimme gimme MORE SUGAR. Christmas Style!

eeek! how crabby was my last post?! my bad. more like my bad side taking over.

i just got back from a relaxing trip to the mothership (more commonly referred to as Target) and oh boy, was it fun! do you know what I found? what i discovered? the magical goodness in which i unveiled? 

please note the holiday (ok, CHRISTMAS!) sour patch kids on the lower shelf, too!

hello, my love!! 

you come but once a year and uplift my holiday spirits, 

caloric intake, trip to the refrigerator, 

and overall outlook on my daily life. 

thank you for making your special guest appearance earlier than ever, this autumn!!

Seriously... i could have spent 45 minutes taking pictures of the Christmas Candy Galore Aisle today! it was filled with everything old and way, way too much everything new to list! let's just say i love peppermint, cinnamon, mint+chocolate and gummie ANYTHING - and this, my friends, this aisle was nothing short of impressive. once i regained consciousness after blacking out, i dried my tears of joy and picked just one bag of candy to take along with me back to my reality. what did i chose? mint M&Ms. thank tiny baby Jesus that I started my month of unlimited classes at Orange Theory so I can burn all calories necessary to zero-out those I'll be consuming from this amazing surplus of CANDY in my life.

I must admit that I also bought this delicious reddi whip (Target brand - "real" reddi whip does not carry this flava!) to add to things like my coffee, ice cream, or just a naked shot to my mouth. let's be real, that's the option i go for 95% of the time. don't judge.

ok my sugar high is fading... on to a new topic. trust me, this will be revisited aplenty in the next month or two. me = love sugar.

last saturday night olivia stayed with my parents at the farm overnight. we had just spend a good portion of the day together at James' football game at Carleton, and I think we had a lot of fun bonding. we are both pretty silly together (olivia and i, that is) so we really have "unique" fun. like, making silly noises, faces, games, names, and other all around goofy ways to spend your time. (note: i say SPEND our time, not PASS our time, because we really SPEND it. she wears me out! we utilize every moment of our time wisely and I simply love, love it. as much as i love sugar! maybe more!) so when I got home saturday night and crawled into bed, here is the pic my mom (whom olivia calls "Nan") sent me

to die for!!

and here's what I sent back...

obviously not as adorable - not even close - 

but at least my camera (iphone) 

and pic look like much higher quality 

than my mom's phone camera (droid). go figure.

so anyway - those are the pics for today. two of my favorite things: candy/sugar/sweets and my candied, sugary, sweet Olivia.

tomorrow night i am going to the "all star session" of Orange Theory Fitness...i am super pumped to go and get my butt kicked for 75 minutes! our usual class is only 60 minutes and it is EXHAUSTING so I am eager/afraid to see what the addition of 15 minutes will do. seriously - these workouts are insanely tough! that's why I love them and am addicted. 

enjoy your thursday evening. 

weekend recap and elmer fudd hats

ok. So we all know Pinterest is amazing. it shows us how to bake amazing eight course meals with only three ingredients at half the calories and teaches us how to make a gorgeous reupholstered storage ottoman using a newspaper and hot glue gun.... but what is up with the "women's apparel" category? I mean, I love the outfits and all, but I do not qualify any of those 5' 10" 105 lbs. 20 year olds as passable for what I am supposed to envision myself looking like in tights, a mini and booties. and how do leggings, a chunky open cardigan and low wedged boots qualify as a "winter" outfit!? c'mon ladies, if you really knew about real winters, you'd know that anything short of a fur lined Elmer Fudd hat (which, by the way, gives your "victoria's secret waves" hair STATIC!) and a shin-length parka from Fleet Farm is just not enough! 

here, in a less cynical version - I love the outfits but am less than captivated with most of what I see because at this point, it's all the same. leggings, tights, or "sweater tights" can only be worn so often with mini skirts or "tunic length" floppy, "cozy" sweaters. I'd like to see more variation - and not on gals who have toothpicks for legs. you all look adorable, but it's just not realistic. and I know someone could point the over the knee boot at me and ask why I don't make up my own outfits to share and go Pin-wild with online, but let's be real... I just don't have it in me. I don't have the time, creativity, fashion sense, or full length mirror with great lighting to pull this fantasy into the reality i (try to) live in.

aside from being annoyed yet impressed with Pinterest lately, i've tried a couple new juicipes (Juicer + Recipe = JUICIPE) and have been thoroughly satisfied with the outcomes (today? carrots, celery, ginger root, apple and a handful of spinach. DELICIOUS. no joke!!). Orange Theory has still been handing my tail to me a couple times a week and I am planning on upping my membership to monthly unlimited! yes. loving it.

last weekend was a great weekend - James's parents came up all the way from Oklahoma! unfortunately I was sick Friday through Sunday morning, but we still managed to have an enjoyable time and show them Minneapolis, St Paul and even southern Minnesota. I took Olivia to the football game Saturday and had the best time with her. She is such a goof ball and makes me laugh and definitely made me forget about feeling sick for a few hours. After the game we went to the farm with Ma and Pa Kilian and my parents and had some hot dogs, burgers and watched football and the Breeders Cup. We were home at a reasonable hour and passed out once our little heads hit the pillows. 

All in all, it's been a great November so far (holding my tongue regarding the Elections!) and I am looking forward to moving right along into a wonderful December and Holiday Season.

pics from the fun...

babysitting Olivia at the game. she was very well behaved.

olivia being a lioness...wearing my furry scarf. rarr!

"duckie, put me up there!" 

"no hunny, you will fall off!"

"no I won't. I will sit up there!"

and...she fell off.

me, baby O and James after the Breeders Cup. 

Our horses lost. wah wahhh.

Tomorrow I get to go to Olivia's school and be her "special guest" for the day! She asked me to be her special guest! swoon. that made my week. I've never looked so forward to going to school, until now! (except maybe in 9th grade when I had a mega crush on a certain someone. ahh. memories.) I am excited to see her school and experience Olivia interacting with her school friends. 

Oh - I almost forgot another highlight since my last post!

I hopped a jet to Paris right-quick. 

just for the day, you know. no big deal. 

ooh la la!

Happy no-more-political commercials!

three weeks till thanksgiving! and pantless PRIDE.

it's the final countdown!....until Thanksgiving, that is. mmm, yum. I cannot wait to see Pinterest blow up with (even more) ideas and insane creations to celebrate the brown holiday. yes, the brown holiday - and I'm not talking UPS. it's the brown holiday because of obvious reasons... we brown out on thanksgiving eve, turkeys are mostly brown (at least in my head), pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes are mostly brown, autumn ales are mostly brown, the trees and grass are brown... so it's the brown holiday.

still wondering what "brown out" means? think about it. the night before thanksgiving, what do TONS of people do (who don't have kids, most likely)? duh, hit the bars! so you don't black out, you.... got it?

so Halloweenie weekend was pretty dang fun. James rocked a handle bar mustache (REAL!) and paired it with a COP shirt and other appropriate accessories, Cody was a PIMP, Karin was a foxy FOX, Kristin was a taxi CABBIE driver, and i was a KITTY. we stuck to the Lyndale Avenue bars and had a ball! the night flew by. so much fun!

Cop. Kitty. makes sense.

 

Kitty. Cabbie. also makes perfect sense.

I do have to be honest. I did not wear pants on Saturday night. I can't help it! A couple years ago I went to a Lady Gaga concert and my life was forever changed. how? well, because I did not wear pants to Gaga - that was my first pantless outing - and it was awesome. i wore, basically, bikini panty bottoms with suspenders and a blazer and - well it was Gaga so we wore whatever our Monster hearts desired!! and to think, I was one of the more conservative outfits of the dresser-uppers at the show! what a hoot. so if you ever get the chance to go see Lady Gaga, GO! and leave your pants at home! anyway, Saturday I wore undergarments for my outergarments. of course! it was fun parading around town in what looked like a leotard. i love halloween, and this is a new reason (just one of many) why! meow.

the best part of halloween is no longer the dressing up, the candy, or carving pumpkins. the NEW best part of halloween is this:

I'll have some CHEESE, please!

Yes, of course that would be miss Olivia! how cute is she!! what a perfect mouse...the one and only mouse i want in my house! squeak!

one of my friends shared this amazing pic with me - any OHIO STATE fans out there will dig this!

 I MEAN COME ON! that is so bad a$$. I'm so proud.

O-H!!    I-O!!

Sunday morning after the witching hour we went to brunch - of course - at Town Hall Tap near Lake Nokomis. here's a pic of half of our breakfast menu... my favorites!!!

delicious!!

Something new James and I have been exploring is thanks to a documentary we recently watched, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly DEAD!" It's basically about a man who saves his own life by cutting out his partying, fast food, eating out, unhealthy habits, and switches to consuming only juicer "meals" for 60 days. he lost something like 85 pounds and gained a healthy new lifestyle. he also inspired a man along his journey to do the same, and the two of them have inspired thousands of people (at least, I'm sure!!) to make healthy adjustments - or UPGRADES as I call them! - in their own lives. James and i decided we should do more clean eating, at least on the weekdays, to help detox our bodies and help fill up on nutrients. We are pretty healthy eaters, as is, but what got me is the chance to detox our bods. get out all that crap we've been collecting over the months, YEARS, and reboot! my booty could use some rebootin', if ya know what i mean. wink WINK. 

new juicer - Breville - and this is a mixture of carrot juice and kale. 

we added ginger root and lemon and it was AWESOME!! 

it tastes delicious and refreshing and i want more! 

mmm! this was just celery, lemon, and apples. also DELICIOUS!

aside from halloween, the new juicer, and the cutest mouse in the universe, that's all for this week. hopefully tomorrow i'll have more to add about some other things going on lately and whatnots. 

thankful thursday... yes, i know. i am thankful for the opportunity to wear NO PANTS to bars and not get thrown out on the streets. oh, what a feeling of FREEDOM! thanks to all the women before me who fought to "wear the pants." I hope you're not rolling in your graves as I celebrate finally NOT wearing pants. glorious freedom.

on that note...

God Bless AMERICA!