Dear Friends

Great news! My dear friend Ashley has found an old hair dryer with a one of those caps I can put over my curlers! What a dream! Thank you, Ashley, you are the best.

In other news, have you read or watched Anne of Green Gables lately? I haven't seen the movie since college. Ashley caught me watching the movie by myself, bawling my eyes out, after a break up in college. I mostly remember Anne talking about "kindred spirits." I believe Ashley was my first encounter with a kindred spirit, which explains how she found that coveted hair dryer, only days after informing her how much I wanted one! My second encounter, I believe, was my darling Danielle. We shared a summer of misery together, which in the end made us stronger. We spent that summer trying to smoke cigarettes, and listening to the Martha Wainwright song, entitled "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole." And, I believe I have found a third. Just this week I was thinking to myself, how lovely it would be to wear a jacket/blazer to work every day. The weather is so nice and jackets just make me feel fancy and professional. So, I have worn a different jacket each day to work. Just yesterday I was talking to Jess, who informed me she had decided to wear a jacket EVERY DAY THIS WEEK. What?? If we are not kindred spirits, I don't know who is! If you have not worn a jacket this week, please find one and wear it! And if you don't have one, you can borrow one from Jess and me - I think we have plenty to go around! And hopefully you will find a kindred spirit in the process.

SLEEPOVER!!

Saturday the boys went to Shelbyville for a show, leaving Jess and I to entertain ourselves. What happened next involves nail polish, hair dye, snacks, Fiddler on the Roof (although Jess still has no idea what happened in the movie), hair curlers, and french braiding. It was one of the best sleepovers of my entire life. Here are some lovely pictures to document our evening.

Just a few of the essential sleep-over items: movies, cookies, candy, magazines, nail polish.

Then time to dye my hair. Here is the mess we made! The kit did not come with a hair cap, so we had to wrap saran wrap around my head to keep the dye from getting everywhere!Jess was supposed to dye her hair, too. She wimped out, but did a great job on mine!

WE ARE HAVING SO MUCH FUN AT OUR SLEEPOVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zack had a great time, too. He just forgot to look like it for the picture.

Even Peytonmanning had a great time!

Next we painted our toenails. I chose a lovely green color and Jess chose gray (boring!) Way to be creative, Jess!

Then it was time to play with our hair. I put my newly dyed hair in my lovely velcro curlers, as usual.

Then Jess taught me how to frenchbraid! Look! I did it, sort of!

Well, except for that chunk of hair that didn't make it into either one of the braids! Here's two thumbs up for our awesome slumber party. Hope your weekend was as good as ours.

Little 5

And it's here. The weekend most Bloomington residents dread because of the incessant partying by the local college students. Do you have a safe place to go? Jared and I will be camping at the Adams' house this weekend to avoid having our cars vandalized or dealing with drunk people wandering into our apartment. I'm also hoping we can sleep better than usual because we won't be able to hear the party jams from the usual weekend ragers next door. So dear friends, please be safe. Don't get run over (and I promise not to run over anyone) and steer clear from downtown.

Thursday Challenge

For the last 2 weeks I have been using velcro rollers in my hair every day. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to keep my hair curled, like what products to use, put the rollers in my hair when its damp, or wait until its dry then blast it with the hair dryer and hairspray, etc. It really has improved my morning routine. Sure, I'm still usually a few minutes late to work, but who isn't? And usually I'm late because it takes me forever to figure out what to wear, not because of my hair. So my challenge for you ladies with longer hair - buy some velcro rollers! You can't go wrong! They are to die for. Now I just need to find a hair dryer with one of those caps that can cover the rollers and dry while I'm doing other things. Let me know if you know where to find one. Oh and you can buy the rollers at your local Target store (or Walmart I would guess).

Fashionista

Lately I've been reading a lot of fashion blogs. They are pretty intriguing to me, and I like seeing how other girls put outfits together. What I notice is that these fashion bloggers seem to have an unlimited amount of money to purchase new hip looks. Or somehow they get sponsored by a clothing line or online store and get free clothes. Or they advertise these clothes from their sponsors that are WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. How is a girl to dress if she can't afford to buy these lovely fashionable things? And lastly, the fashionistas who write these blogs (that I really do enjoy reading) are typically super skinny and have jobs that allow them to wear whatever the heck they want (like mini skirts)! What about the young, slighty chubby, struggling professional? I've been kicking around the idea of writing my own version of a fashion blog - only focusing mainly on how to have versatile pieces and finding inexpensive things. I haven't totally made a commitment to do this yet, but I might try it a few times and see how things go. Hopefully I won't lose any of my 8 followers. I do love shopping, fashion, and getting dressed. However, I don't have the funds to keep up with the latest trends or buy designer stuff. So today, friends, I am proud to report I'm wearing a lovely black wrap-around dress I bought from Wal-Mart like 6 years ago and some grey tights bought at the outlet stores. Hope you have a wonderful day.

What a weekend!

Saturday is National Record Store Day! So please support your local record store and buy some stuff. Or, if you like, trade in some older records for some new ones. And if you're in the Muncie area, stop by Village Green Records. They are putting on an all-day event with lots of bands, including Rodeo Ruby Love. Check it out! Sunday is the Homeward Bound Walk for the homeless - if you're not doing anything, come say hi to me, I'll be in the media tent checking in all the VIP guests. Or you can just come walk to help raise money for the local agencies that work with the homeless. The walk is at 3rd Street Park and festivities start at 11:30 am. We're even doing calisthenics before the walk begins! I'm bringing my Jock Jams cd to get us in the mood. Have a great weekend.

Adulthood: Straight ahead

WE GOT IT!!! Finally, an accepted offer. We are almost home owners. I can't believe it.

House Part V

Today is day 5 of counter offers on the house. Sellers have until today at 8 pm to respond to the last offer we sent. I hope there is an agreement coming soon.

Today I have to put flyers up around town for the annual Homeward Bound Walk for the homeless. If you see me, please say hello. I'll be wearing my fashionable animal print cardigan and carrying a variety of tape, staplers, staple guns, etc. And if you feel the need to get involved with the walk, check out the website here. It's for a lovely cause and I will be there, so what could be better?

House Adventures

We are totally in the middle of negotiations! This is crazy! We made an offer Monday night, they responded Tuesday afternoon, and now we have to respond by tonight at 6 pm. So far, we have not received the contract yet, which is starting to make me nervous. We only have 2 1/2 hours now to respond with our counter offer. I'll keep you posted. Here is a link to view the house on homefinder.org: http://homefinder.org/public/buy-details.asp?sTransactionNumber=20101249&sCRecord=2

Lately I've been obsessed with friending all these people from high school on Facebook. I don't know why. I don't really keep in touch with anyone from high school, but for some reason I really want to know what they are doing now. So, if we went to high school together, and we're not friends yet - WE WILL BE. I'll track you down. Here's an awesome picture of me from the first of 5 proms I attended while in high school.

Can you guess which one is me?????

Photo Fail

Well, I tried to take a picture of the loot I scored at the Antique Bazaar last week. However, I managed to fail miserably. I couldn't find our digital camera, so I tried taking a picture with my polaroid camera. I took 2 and they both came out blurry. I got angry and slammed the camera shut, only somehow I managed to slam my finger in the camera, which gave me a pretty nasty cut. So I'm still working on it. In other news, Jared and I are meeting with Gail tonight to make an offer on a house we saw this weekend. My fingers are crossed - I hope we can afford to buy this house before anyone else tries to buy it! It would be a good place for us. Stick around for more details..... I'll let you know how it goes. It would be lovely to get out of our neighborhood so the dumb college kids will stop vandalizing Jared's van. The poor van has been through a lot over the past several months. It stopped working all together, tires deflated, eggs thrown at it, neighbor tried to break into it, and now someone has put a big dent in the side. Come on dudes, that shit ain't cool. Also, I tried to register for classes today. It was a terrible experience. MSW ladies, I need your help. (that means Jess and Colleen)