I Hate To Be The One To Say It...

Well, actually, I don't because it's very true, but... I've decided that Juicy Couture is the Ed Hardy for Women's Wear. Evidence:



Can these trends stop yet? Are we past it? At what point did things like stripes and paisley go so wrong to the point where we had to incorporate skulls and innocent Schnauzers into our wardrobes? Let's just be honest with ourselves here, people!!!

Easy $5 Redecorating Projects

John's mother is redoing her new townhouse. In doing so, she is basically gutting the entire thing and putting in new fixtures, carpet, tile, cabinets, appliances and so on and so on. A few months ago, she told me and John to come over and see if there was anything that we wanted before she destroyed it or donated it all to Goodwill. Being the cheapo that I am, I was there in 5. So, I scouted the place and found a couple of items that I figured could easily be updated with less than a $10 effort. I found an outdated mirror in one of her bathrooms:

I didn't get a good before photo, mostly because I wasn't in blog mode at the time. I was in art project mode which trumps blog mode any day of the week. So, I took the mirror, covered the actual mirror part with newspaper (very carefully) and then purchased a can of black spray paint and covered the outer frame with it. Behold the final product:

I got Keithy to come over with his tool belt and he hung it for me last week. Done and done! The other item that I snagged whilst rummaging about was John's great grandmother's marble topped 'catch all' table. The bottom was previously (awfully) painted a nasty white color that completely washed out the beautiful marble table top. This time I took a can of brown spray paint and turned it upside down and covered the entire stand with it.

I think it turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. I forgot the before photo due to said art project mode, but here is the final piece:

Seriously. Easiest makeover ever. And these things were FREE! So, a couple of cans of spray paint and a little TLC gave my bathroom and 'catch all' a brand new look! I should start an HGTV style blog, next!

Seven Albums That Changed My Life (This Might Get Long)

Since yesterday at approximately 11AM, Pandora has decided that I have reached my 40 hour a month free listening capacity, which is SO LAME!!! I could listen to that in one week at work. How do they expect me to get by without them for three working weeks a month? I had to come up with some sort of strategy. I am not an Ituneser because I don't really know how to work my IPOD that well and also, I think that I would spend a ton of money on really bad music that I would regret later. So if I want to listen to something really specific, I either go to http://www.songza.com/ or I save up my dollars and go purchase the album. And that leads me to the more important part of this post.

Since Pandora is now an ass, I now choose a CD from my car, burn it to my work computer and listen to it on repeat all day. I have no other choice, I suppose. I'm cheap like that. Therefore, I've decided to discuss the albums that have meant the most to me throughout my life. These albums have helped me through either a breakup, college, a trip to France, or a road trip to Little Rock by myself. These albums are not necessarily from my favorite artists or bands, but they have a special place in my heart (and CD case) for one reason or another. So here we go in no particular order... actually, I think I'll do chronological order, just for my own organizational sake...

#1: Alanis Morrisette and "Jagged Little Pill"

I'm not sure of any person within 3 +/- years of my age that hasn't listened to this album. So, really it speaks for itself. Also, there is a 'hidden track' at the very end that I got super excited about the first time I heard it. I would borrow this album from Jennifer Herron VERY frequently in the 8th grade. I would keep it longer than she liked by saying 'Oh, I forgot it at home, I'll bring it to you tomorrow.' I'm sorry Jennifer, but I was lying. I eventually gave it back, though. This album made me realize that there is more to music than country. For that, I will be forever indebted to you, Alanis.

#2: Dido and "No Angel"

I guess we will skip directly past high school because I don't remember a single album that I owned and listened religiously to, so teleport yourselves mentally to my college days. In my very first drawing class that I took, we would listen to music while we drew (not nudes, this time). This album was one of my teacher's favorites. I never listened to music like Dido's (with the exception of Enya on the radio, which was horrible) and found that I really liked it. I liked this album so much that I raved about it to a boy who I really, really liked at the time. He went off and surprised me by giving it to me for my birthday (what a sweetheart) and I got to listen to it while driving home in the rain for the weekend. So there is the secret reason why there is a special place for Dido in my heart....

#3: Nelly Furtado and "Folklore"

These next two albums are a tie. When I lived in Paris for that glorious month in 2004, I had two roommates that were super interesting. They had brilliant senses of humor and I NEVER would have placed myself rooming with them, but obviously the room assignment person did. I remember being a little upset about it at first, but after I got adjusted to the situation (and was introduced to wine and started loosening up) it turned out that I got to know them and really liked them a lot. Rebecca, the really artsy one, would wake Catherine and I up every morning with one of three albums. "Folklore", "I Am Sam", or "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones. Now, I am not one to want to wake up, but when Nelly's "One Trick Pony" would start up, I would jump out of bed and look forward to the day like I hadn't even been asleep.

I didn't really care for Nelly before (the 'I'm Like a Bird' song), however, this album was less pop and more of a rock sound with an acoustic approach. This album wasn't considered commercially successful, but I like it better than her other two. It seems to me as though she put a lot more of herself into it, instead of being a music industry puppet.

#4: "I Am Sam" Soundtrack

This is the other of Rebecca's morning wake up albums that I love. I'll be perfectly honest with you here. I did not grow up listening to the Beatles. My parents didn't listen to them (at least while I was around) and I only knew that they were a huge successful 60's band. So, when I listened to 'I Am Sam' and I heard all of the artists (The Wallflowers, Sarah Machlachlan, Ben Harper, Ben Folds, The Black Crowes, Eddie Vedder, Rufus Wainwright, etc.) singing these songs, I had no idea that they were ALL Beatles songs. I just thought that these artists were doing a great covers album. Well, after examining the CD case, I realized what was really going on here. Anyway, I love the album. It is comforting. Like going home. Or eating a doughnut. (This album has gone missing from my collection, so if you have it, could you please give it back. Thanks.)

#5: Better Than Ezra and "Closer"

I don't know when this album was originally released, but in 2006, I attended my very first Better Than Ezra concert. Sure, I knew a couple of their songs ("Desperately Wanting", "Good", etc.) but wasn't sure what to expect from a full-blown show. My friend Jamie (who is an intense BTE fan) said, "Don't worry about it, it will be fun and you will know some of the songs." So, I went. I LOVED THEM. Absolutely LOVED them. I might have known like 5 songs total, but after the concert I went out and purchased this album via Ebay because I couldn't find it in stores anywhere. After it arrived in my mailbox, I drove around and listened to the album. My absolute favorite song is "Get You In." I like the first line in the song the best: "I sit and watch your flowers wilting in the kitchen. I felt like I was one of them gasping for air." How many times have we felt like that because of other people? Love this album!!!

#5: Ryan Adams and "Demolition"

During that same year when I found BTE, I also found Ryan Adams. (Side rant: If you don't know who Ryan Adams is (NOT BRYAN ADAMS), I urge you to purchase one of his albums. It doesn't matter which one, they are all amazing. This is your chance to learn what good music is and should be.) When my dear friend Eric Covington introduced me to Ryan, my music taste (and life) changed drastically. Thank you Eric, I will always be indebted to you as far as my hearing goes.

So, anyway, the summer of 2006 was really great, and yet at the same time really hard for me for many undisclosed reasons. I decided to take some vacation days and drove to Arkansas solo to visit some friends. While there, my favorite college friend Libby and I visited the local Best Buy. When I got there, I decided to go and see which Ryan Adams albums they had. They had 'Demolition' and 'Gold.' If I had the money, I would have bought both but decided on a coin flip to purchase 'Demolition.' On the drive back, I decided to listen. Wow. Amazing. I'm not sure what all Ryan has gone through in his life to make his music so powerful, but I applaud him and at the same time sympathize with him (even though he decided to marry that tramp, Mandy Moore) because he must have gone through some bad, bad times. My favorite track on this album is "Dear Chicago." If you are an Ituneser, spend 99 cents wisely and purchase it. I guarantee that you will relate.

#7 and Finally: Ray Lamontagne "Till The Sun Turns Black"

I would again, like to thank Eric Covington (who has amazing music taste) for gifting me with Ray Lamontagne's first full-length release "Trouble." I loved that album so much that I was given his sophomore release, "Till The Sun Turns Black" as a birthday gift the following year. This is actually the album of the day that I happened to grab from my car. So, it's currently playing on repeat. Ray's music is probably the most soothing music that I have ever listened to (with the exception of Damien Rice). He has a soft-spoken voice that can lull me into any sort of calm state. I love to play this album when getting ready in the mornings. Ray's music makes me want to behave. And to also be a better person. I can't say that about many things these days.

There you have it readers, I apologize for the length, but hope that the 5 minutes that you took to read my faves, has inspired you to share yours as well!

Weekend Forecast

So, I got this new map on my blog that tells me the locale of my readers. I had no idea that the Cob was such a popular place in Hungary, Canada and the UK (although I'm 99% sure that the UK is pin-pointed due to my friends Frances and Baby Money checking in on me). I'm pretty sure that I don't know any Canadians or Hungarians so this is a special shout out to them. In honor of Britney coming to see me in Shreveport this fall, I would like to present to you, one of my favorite Britney videos. She represents Louisiana well.



The events scheduled for this weekend include lounging around doing nothing as well as Game Night on Saturday at the Schillage residence. Dear Sass (whose Birthday Dinner Part Deux was held last night and I was unable to attend due to home plumbing issues), Dobber, Rex and Flavor of the Week, John, myself and the Skills are going to play some games. I'm hoping that Sass, Rex, John and I are on the same team. I am confident that we would be UNSTOPPABLE. (Did you know that the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is made of Titanium? Because I do.)

Also, I am going to prepare a crab dip that I found on Campbell's Recipes or something.com and if it turns out to my liking, I will share the recipe with you. I am a modern day Betty Crocker, I'll tell you. Last night I made THIS and even edited the recipe by adding some black beans. I like to call that 'using my artistic license'. Sunday, John and I are going to look at a house with our realtor friend, Chris David (pronounced Dahveeed). Let's hope that John likes it, because I sure do.

Things Every Girl Should Have

Back around 2005 when I first discovered the joy that is Ebay, I had my mind set upon purchasing this:

Yes, a hot pink Swiss Army Knife! Included in the set up is a pair of scissors, tweezers, a toothpick (ew), a nail file and a little bitty knife. I was so excited when I found out that they actually made pink ones, so I snatched it right up by being an aggressive bidder. Actually, now that I think about it, there was a "Buy It Now" option. I also got one for my sister in law, Annie, that was green (Isn't that nice of me?), but I don't think she realizes the awesomeness that she has been blessed with, unlike myself.

Fast forward a few years please to 2007. So, I am at the Dillards at St. Vincent Mall, looking desperately for a black dress for a bachelorette evening (it may have been for something else, but I think that's what it was). So, I look around the dress section and find two or three that I decide that I want to try on and head to the dressing room.

I try on the first dress and I thought, eh? Next... eh? So the last dress that I tried on was adorable. It fit slightly snugly, but it was super cute. Sold! So, I go to get out of it and something similar to this happened:

The damned thing was stuck. I was freaking stuck in this dress!!!!!! OMG What am I going to do? I am not going to call the lady to come get me out of it. I start sweating. A LOT (I'm pretty sure they keep it hot in those dressing rooms on purpose). Panic sets in. I decide that I should sit down, dress halfway over head, one arm out, one arm in. And think.

"Okay Kate. How are you going to get out of this one? It was so easy to get in that it HAS to come off right? RIGHT?? Dang it, this was such a cute dress too. I'm not going to have this moment happen to me again so I guess I shouldn't get it. How did the designer expect people like me, who are extremely intelligent, to get out of this? (Light bulb goes on!)"

So, what do I do, you ask? I reach into my purse and pull out my hot pink Swiss Army knife that has been with me through thick and thin all of those years. And what do I do with it? That's right. I cut myself out of the dress. With the tiny little scissors. Snip snip snip, right up the side. Once the dress was safely off and I was breathing normally again, I discovered a hidden zipper. Idiot! So, I hung it up on the hanger and nonchalantly strolled out of there to the safety of my car. And had a good laugh.

Moral of the story? ALWAYS have reinforcements!

Flashback Tuesday

Once upon a time (about 3 years ago, maybe less) I constantly hung out with some friends of mine at a little house at 174 Bruce Avenue. There were three and a half very interesting characters who lived in this house and one day, whilst I was bored at work, I decided to summarize their lives in the form of a drawing.

So, in honor of 174 Bruce being put up for sale, I would like to present to you this drawing. If you can't read the text, you probably wouldn't get the jokes anyway. Happy Tuesday!

Reasons You Should Always Be Nice To Your Bank Teller

I know that it shocks you all to know that I haven't always had the stable career that I have currently. I've had pretty much every job imaginable (except food service. I think I would lose my temper too easily if I waited tables and would end up hocking all sorts of things in drinks and burgers.) So, once upon about 5 years ago, I was a bank teller. I hated this job with a passion although I was really good at it. It doesn't take many brain cells to be able to count to 1000, and that's why I worked with some of the idiots that I worked with.

My least favorite co-worker was a black lady named Gladys. She loved wearing houseshoes to work on Mondays and stripper heels on Fridays. She also had a gold tooth with a martini glass engraved into it. Front and center, ladies and gents. She was the vault teller (meaning she was in charge of the vault and all of it's money.) Indefinitely on a daily basis I had to 'deal' with Gladys. I would either have to sell her money (if I was over my limit) or buy money (if I had none) and we would sometimes have a 5 minute discussion during this time if she was in a good mood. She would tell me her favorite rap songs or theories on how she thought that drinking water with lemons eats away all of the fat in your body. If she was in a bad mood, she wouldn't make eye contact and would ignore me completely whilst snatching money from my hands or throwing it at me. (A bit of a head case, was Gladys).

One Saturday, Gladys was away and I had to man the vault. I was a little nervous because I didn't really want to be responsible for 100K dollars. NOR did I want to be there on a Saturday when I could have been sleeping in. Well it didn't matter what I wanted because I had to do it because there was no one else smart enough. So I approach Gladys' desk and prepare to count lots of money.

Around 1130AM, in walks a lady of foreign descent (she may have been Middle Eastern, I don't really know, it's been a long time, people). She wants to deposit a check and get two hundred dollars back. No big deal. So, I'm sitting there running the check through the check reader and I get out some twenties and I start counting her change (I always counted it three times in order to not be short or over at the end of the day) to myself. "Twenty, forty, sixty..." When I get to 80, I notice that I have a counterfeit twenty that's been in the vault drawer all day. Dammit Gladys!!! You were supposed to catch this! So, I'm counting silently to myself again and trying to decide if she noticed that I noticed the twenty whilst counting. I decided that I hadn't paused long enough to throw up a red flag. This was the biggest conflict of my telling career.... So what did I do? Did I take out the fake 20 and risk being short that day?

"20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 200. Thank you Ms. ____ Have a nice day!"

Her twenty looked a little something like the bottom one. Oops. I felt a little guilty about it, but she was foreign. She would never know the difference, right? Oh well.

Being A Bridesmaid

To me, there isn't a greater honor than a friend inviting you to be in her wedding, especially as a bridesmaid. I know that a lot of people groan and complain about it, but really, they feel good inside because they beat out so many other people that they thought would be picked and eventually weren't. Suckas! Anyway, my dear friend Laura has asked me to be a bridesmaid in her upcoming nuptials to her fiance, Marcus. The happy couple:

Nothing says true love like people in drag! So anyway, the last couple of weeks she has been on the bridesmaid's dress search which, that itself is enough to make any bridesmaid concerned. A bridesmaid's dress makes it or breaks it for the wedding experience of said bridesmaid. If they are uncomfortable or hate their dress, then they are pissed the whole time and sit around complaining about it to anyone with ears.

So, imagine my delight when an absolutely amazing dress was chosen for the bridesmaids!!! I mean, seriously, gorgeous. I may, actually, wear it again. No really. I know you don't believe me, but I really will. And it was a decent price! Whew.

Now that I don't worry about wearing something God-awful, my next worry consists of the same feeling that Bridesmaid #5 feels in her friend's wedding photos:

Bless her heart! I know what she is feeling, because this is about to be me in this wedding. Laura's other bridesmaids are all practically runway models who prefer 'blah' over savory OR sweet. I lost my personal runway model status after high school when I forgot where the gym was located and discovered Better Cheddars.

So, I have decided to enroll myself in Bridesmaid Boot Camp stat! I refuse to be the fat bridesmaid. My new diet consists of juice, water, cottage cheese, fish (not fried) and celery. If you catch me consuming anything that isn't on that list, punch me in the face. Please.

Flashback Tuesday

Readers, feast your eyes upon this little gem:

Please excuse the picture quality. Above is a little moment captured on film of my Senior Party. All of my friends at church and our mothers decided to throw us each a themed party for our last hoorahs. Mine was "Clue?" themed and was an absolute blast. We all went scavenger hunting all over town searching for mysterious envelopes in the pouring rain. Sigh. Good times.

PS. If you were wondering, in the photo is myself, Rebecca Dufrene Bogan, Laura Jo Caldwell, Krystalynn Culbertson Barre, Brittany Sanders, Jennifer Thompson Winterrowd, Katherine Ketchum-?????, and Leslie Elliott Procell.

I Got New Knobs!

Last weekend when John and I went to Dallas, we did quite a bit of shopping, which is unusual for us since we don't have extra money to spend on such frivolous activity. So we went to this amazing mall in Plano that has a store of which I like to call the 'Mothership'. Others may refer to it as Anthropologie.

After I dropped John off at a gigantic Dick's (no pun intended) Sporting Goods, I wander over to the Mothership. I head immediately to the Clearance Room to see if there's anything good being offered. Of course there are 8-10 people crammed in there so I couldn't get a good look at anything other than what was near the entrance/exit. And that's where I spotted a superb find! Drawer pulls!!!

Now anyone that knows me or has been to my house, knows that I have some less-than-classy drawer pulls in my 1/2 bath. Otherwise known as these:

Please excuse the red paint on Pull #3. Sometimes I get a little carried away with home improvement projects such as painting. Anyway, so I found some really cute new ones but there weren't four that matched. I decided to whip out my Artistic License and get ones that had similar elements in them (the color red) instead. This is what they look like now:

I was so proud of my find! Not only because I feel that they are a vast improvement over the random blue flowers, but because I got them for $2 when they were regular $14 each!!!! I love being a Frugal Frannie!!

New Directions

So I got a new layout because that damned dandelion was driving me crazy making my pictures look all funky and everything. So behold: The Animated Sunglasses. When I changed layouts it deleted my widgets (i.e. those things over there to the right) so my poll got deleted. All 10 of you who had already voted for the hottest Britishman that Kate is in love with, please go re-vote. I need it to be accurate so that I can sleep at night.

Whew!

Warning: This May Be A Long One (Or Maybe Not)

I have somewhat of a bone to pick with ABC. So, apparently they went and cancelled two shows that I semi-enjoyed watching on a regular basis. Samantha Who? and Cupid:

(I'm not sure why Barry Watson was left out of the above Samantha Who? Cast Photo)

Now, I realize that these aren't groundbreaking shows or anything, but they are a nice, lighthearted break from some of the other crap that they show on their network constantly (i.e. Dancing With The Stars, In The Motherhood (which is literally crap, stick to your webisodes Jenny McCarthy), The Bachelor, Supernanny, Wife Swap, I could go on and on...

As I was sitting here racking my brain as to why they would cancel these shows, all of a sudden it hits me. These shows have connections to What About Brian? (which was cancelled two years ago and sent me into a downward life spiral):

Both of these shows have actors who starred in What About Brian? It seems that when an actor from Brian goes on to a new show, they curse the new show with cancellation, with the exception of a very small handfull.

See for yourself:

Barry Watson (who played Brian Davis):

He starred on Samantha Who? as Todd the love interest and the show was cancelled. Perhaps he shouldn't do shows with questions in the title.

Rick Gomez (Dave Greco):

Rick starred on Cupid as Felix. Now cancelled. It does appear that he has signed on to be in the next Transformers. Hope that works out better for him.

Krista Allen (Bridget Keller... not ringing a bell? Well she was the slutty co-worker of Brian that he ended up dating and I'm pretty sure they had a sex scene on a desk in their office):

(This was the only photo I could find. Sorry for the boob shot, or depending on who is reading, you are very welcome.) Apparently all that Miss Krista here has been on since Brian was one episode of Cashmere Mafia, which was cancelled. She played "Victoria."

Stacy Keibler (Stephanie, Brian's sexy co-ed downstairs neighbor who sparked a lot of drama with ole Bridget up there with the boobs):

While Stacy went on to appear on the 2nd season of Dancing With The Stars (and coming in 2nd), she also made a short stint on October Road, which was cancelled after it's 2nd season (what's with her and 2nd's?)

Now that's enough negativity for one post perhaps. I'll go on to list the What About Brian? cast members who are seeing slightly better days than these other ones:

Sarah Lancaster (Marjorie Seaver):

Sarah here is currently starring on Chuck as Chuck's sister Ellie. Good for her that Chuck hasn't been cancelled... yet.

Rosanna Arquette (Nicole Varzi):

Rosanna here hasn't done much since Brian. However, she is in the new TV movie "Northern Lights" starring LeAnn Rhimes and that dude that she cheated on her husband with. Rosanna's character's name is Charlene. This is how you know it will be good.

Finally, we have Jessica Szohr (Laura):

(Jessica) Laura here (the roommate of Stacy Keibler's character) was probably my least favorite because she was SUPER annoying and whiney, however, she has gone on to have the most success of the others. She is now the face of some cosmetic or soap or something and she has a pretty good role where she is less annoying on Gossip Girl (as Vanessa).

Well, all I have to say is that I hope ABC learns their lessons about continually reusing the actors in Brian. They apparently don't have audience appeal or their shows would get better ratings, right? I guess I'll go back to watching the Game Show Network since everything I get interested in gets cancelled.

The Magic of Photoshop

Now, I am not one to normally go out and write something negative about a redhead (unless it's Carrot Top. He is a freak of nature that should be made fun of). However, today as I was hitting "Thumbs Down" on a John Mayer song (why, oh why does he seem to have similar musical qualities to Sting?) I noticed an advertisement where Wynonna Judd is featured. Apparently she has been hired as the spokesmodel for 'Connections' by Hallmark. Of all people, why you would hire this woman to the face of your company is beyond me:

Nevertheless, there she was invading my workspace with her face. However, she didn't look like she did recently in the above mugshot (arrest for drunk driving, bless her heart. GET A CAB WITH YOUR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! Speaking of drunks, take my poll!), she did manage to look like a completely different person:

Wow!!!! If that is what a little Photoshop can do to a person, sign me up! The magical powers that be have managed to skim off, I'd say, about 50 lbs. She lost her other chin!!! And her NECK! I would love to lose my other chin. (Come on Slim-Fast and tennis. I have a high school reunion looming in the near future if you didn't read the first time I talked about it. Must. Look. Hot.) I wouldn't mind being enhanced in all photos, especially the one-armed ones that I like to take of me and my friends when we are too lazy to get up and ask someone next to us to take it. See for yourself:

So after some Googling, I remembered that Wynonna is the spokesmodel for another company. Alli (the diet pill, not Britney Spears' cousin). Maybe she lost all that Photoshop weight on her own (with the help of Alli of course). But for whatever reason, I doubt it.

Things That Happened That Shouldn't Have

Well tennis was an adventure, that's for sure. We went to retrieve our rackets, only to find out that, of course, they weren't where John said they were. So what did we do? Made a trip to Wal-Mart of course. JUST where I want to go at 7PM on a weekday. Surprisingly it wasn't slammed so I picked out my Maria Sharapova racket and went on my merry way.

(On a more interesting and exciting note, between the journey for rackets and the purchasing of rackets, I got a call that one of my best friends in the whole wide world got engaged!!! Congrats Laura!!!!! And Happy Birthday tomorrow.)

We get to the courts and do our stretching and prepare to battle. John:

A closeup for the ladies (he's super excited because he got a brand new Roger Federer racket):

So we got to it. We hit it back and forth to each other to warm up. I practiced my Anna Kournikova backhand, was running back and forth, fetching the balls, trying not to die, etc. All in all we 'played' for about 15 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. My knee started hurting and here I am now:

Great. My knee is swollen and I probably burned 50 calories. Also, don't judge me. Yes, I AM that white. And my camera flash is powerful.