Your Finest Sarsparilla Please

Friday night I went to dinner with Mary, Chet and Nick. We went to one of the best restaurants in all of Utah . . . Maddox Ranch House in Perry, Utah. Ooooo-eee! I tell you what, thems some good eats! Sometimes, and this is no lie, sometimes I dream about Maddox rolls with raspberry butter. And no, that is not the fattest thing you will ever hear me say. (Or in this case should I say see me write? I really don't know.) Some of the highlights of the night were:

1) The Man Crush. Since Nick is both charming and good looking, it's no wonder our waiter was completely taken with him. (We'll call the waiter Charlie because I don't remember his name.) Every time Nick spoke to him, Charlie would blush a little, give a good, hearty giggle with his toothy grin and say something like "you betcha buddy!" It was like watching a high school girl get asked to dance. At one point during their numerous interactions the touch barrier was broken and the shoulder squeeze was received. I'm sure that made Nick a little uncomfortable but that's okay with me if he has to take one for the team so the rest of us could have twice as many chocolate sticks. And what's that Nick? You got stuck with two cinnamon chocolate sticks when what you really wanted was a mint chocolate stick? Don't worry Nick, Charlie will fix that, no problemo. Wink wink.

2)Prime Rib the Size of Chet's Head. Mary, Nick and I had already decided on which cut of meat we were going to order and we were waiting on Chet to decide. He had narrowed his choices down to the Shrimp Steak and the Prime Rib. Now, usually when we go out to dinner, Chet will eat his meal then polish off Mary's and sometimes mine too. (ps- Chet is not fat, he's just really tall so there's a lot of him to fill up.) This night, however, Chet was super-duper hungry so he wanted to be sure to order enough just in case Mary and I both finish our own steaks. So the decision was simple - go with the prime rib. *pictured below* Needless to say, the prime rib that good ol' Charlie brought out to Chet was more than enough to fill up even the tallest of guys.

3)The Pink Hoodie. After dinner we went for a bike ride. Have I ever mentioned how much I like motorcycle rides? Yep, I can't get enough of them. Sometimes Zoseph refers to me as a bike slut (in the kindest way possible, of course) meaning I've hopped on the back of many a motorcycle. Luckily for me, my new bff Nick was more than happy to oblige. We didn't go very far but we sure did go fast and I was laughing the whole time. :) It was getting colder and Nick didn't want to ride all the way to Salt Lake without putting something warmer on. He reached for the hoodie that he had put in my jeep previous to our bike ride. He grabbed my hoodie though and was oblivious to the mistake. I was cracking up just waiting for him to put it on. He was getting everything situated for the long ride and at one point it seemed as if he wasn't actually going to put on the pink hoodie, so I asked him he was indeed going to wear my pink hoodie. He laughed, grabbed it out of my hands and put it on proudly. Pink is a good color for Nick, don't you think? Ha ha ha!

Junk Drawer

I thought this tag was kind of fun, a little revealing - but fun.

What's in your . . .

1) Pick One:
- Purse
- Junk Drawer
- Medicine Cabinet
- Trunk

2) Take a picture of the contents and describe.

I chose to do my Junk Drawer. Ta Da!

Contents: Old Camera w/ Cord; Mini Tupperware Cup filled with Advil; Lint Brush; Parachute Man; Rubber band Ball; Martha Stewart Gift Tags; Lotion; Bowl of - Deodorant, Toothbrush, Toothpaste, a Minnie Mouse Christmas Ornament, Floss, Nail Polish Remover Pads, Batteries, a Hair Elastic, Fingernail Clippers, Play Dough, Toothpicks, and the Earrings my old bosses son made for me the day he faked sick and stayed home from school but had to come to the office with dad because we all knew he was faking; Bleach Pen; Old Mail; Two Old Makeup Bags; Rubber Cement; a Black Clippy thing (I actually have no idea what it's for); Sewing Kit; Cute little Note Cards and Invitations (just in case I need to throw together a shower or a party at the last second); Cute little Brads to go on the cute little note cards and invitations; Mint Flossers; and a Magnet that says "If the Shoe Fits . . . Buy it in Every Color!"

That's it! :) By looking at this drawer you'd think that I floss a lot, but I just like to pretend. Just kidding Dr. Baird . . . just kidding. (ps - I don't think Dr. Baird even reads my blog. Ha ha ha!)

PS!!!!

I got my new laptop! YAY!!!!

Now I just have to think of a name for it. Any ideas? I've already got Hank, my Jeep and Larry, my iPod (ps- I think Larry is gay or at least metro because he's always wearing that pink thing and he likes Opera and Classical music and I know he's a little skeptical about adding the "Education of Rap" cd that Arin is supposed to be making for us, to his collection.) So maybe this laptop could have a girl name - I think she feels a little girly. I mean, she is fabulous!

Oh yeah! And that's the bag I ended up getting. Thanks so much for all of your feedback even though I didn't get any of the bags I posted pictures of, I really appreciate the votes anyway. It definitely helped a lot! So - I ended up at Target one night and I saw this bag and I loved it! It was only $30 too, bonus! The others were all $80-$160, I like $30 a lot more.

Okay I'm done rambling now. :)

Montana

Over the weekend Mary, my parents and I went to Montana to visit my Grandma. Let me tell you a little something about my Grandma - she is amazing! She's almost 97 years old and still kickin it like she were 70. It's been about 3 1/2 years since I'd seen her so I prepared myself to see some really old grandma that I didn't recognize anymore, but as it turns out I didn't need to prepare myself at all. She's the same Grandma she's ever been, small, sweet and very spunky! We had such a great time together. We went shopping and out to eat and we watched a couple of movies. Grandma just likes to chill and do all of those fun things.

Grandma and Dad at the IHOP. She was so excited to go to IHOP for breakfast.

Here we are in the car . . . Hi Mary!

Dad was making me CRAZY! with his constant back-seat driving.

Dad, Mom, Aunt Joy, Grandma and Uncle Gary. We had so much fun catching up with our Aunt and Uncle.

Dad, Mom, me, Grandma and Mary. She's just so cute and little. :)

ps - Keepin It Real! Arin would kill me if I didn't tell you where we always stay when we go to visit Grandma, she thinks it's absolutely hilarious! And it really is. 7 or so years ago my Grandma moved into an assisted living community. She has her own apartment and takes care of herself, but there are people around just in case she needs help with anything. So when we visit, my parents usually stay with Grandma in her apartment and Mary and I stay in one of the extra apartments that my Grandma reserves for us. It's so much fun staying at the old-folks home! I've already decided that as soon as they let me I'm moving there for good. :)

I Miss You Already Just

Justin is moving to St. Thomas tomorrow. He'll be gone all summer and I really don't know how I'll survive without him. Justin is the bestest friend anyone could ever ask for. Just - I hope you have a great time - and remember to call me every once in a while. Love You! :)

Shopping for a Bag

I need your help. I've been completely useless all morning because I've been shopping for a bag for my highly anticipated laptop. I ordered my new computer only a couple of days ago so it won't be here until next week, but I want to be ready for it. I've picked out a bunch of bags but I can't decide. I would love your feed back on which one to get.

In no particular order, here are the ones I like:

# 1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

I'm a little iffy on #5 becuase I think it might look like a diaper bag, and I definitely want to avoid carrying around one of those until it's absolutely necessary. If you see any other really cute bags let me know okay. Thanks everybody!

Ode to the Dentist

To some of you the dentist is a four letter word and I bet you shudder at the mention of it. Right? Well not me. I happen to love my dentist! No really, I do! My dentist rocks! He has all the fancy new equipment and he's just so gosh-darn nice, a winning combination in my book.

Confession - I happen to have the worst teeth in the world, okay - maybe not the worst, but at least second to the worst and over the years I have been to my fair share of dentist appointments, too many to count. I've probably had cavities in 75% of my teeth and numerous problems with the other 25%. I've had a bunch of retainers, which was fun because I got to pick the color I wanted for each one. My last retainer was a lady bug - cute! Then of course, I had to wear braces. I bet you're thinking - come on, that's normal, lots of people have to wear braces - um . . . yeah, but of those people how many of them had to wear braces TWICE! - ha! got ya there, didn't I? I've had fillings and crowns and all of that other crap and - oh this is funny - now that I think about it, I remember when I was little, thinking that the dentist was my babysitter. When my mom needed her weekly break, she'd drop all 6 of us off at the dentist. (She did this with other professionals too - don't even get me started on the piano teacher! Ha! I'll have to save that for another time. ps - I'm totally laughing at all the funny things to put in future piano teacher post right now. Good times!) Needless to say, I spent an abnormal amount of time at the dentist office - it's okay though, I think they liked me, I was super tuff and almost never cried and I usually held my own spit sucker thingy just because I thought it was fun. Oh, and I wasn't shy to tell the dentist when he had boogers, which was the case almost every visit. I really was tuff! In fact, I'm pretty sure I've only ever cried once at a dentist appointment (the single tear doesn't count okay) I was in high school and my dentist, aka my babysitter, aka the booger dentist, that I was already used to decided to move away, so my mom took me to this new guy. The new dentist was old and rather gruff and he would not stop the drilling when I raised my left hand (like they tell you to do) he just kept going until he finally saw the tears streaming down my face. Ouch! Since I no longer needed a babysitter, I did not return to that dentist. Then there was this one time - a few months after I started at my first real job and I thought I was the coolest because I had my own dental insurance, not that I needed it because I had already fixed every single problem I could ever have with my teeth in the first 18 years of my life. I walked in there, the adult that I was, and I sat down with the dentist and explained how I would really like to fix the teeny-tiny little space between these two teeth (I'm pointing at my teeth right now, you just can't see). He then looked at me like I was a crazy person and said How about if we fix your cavities first, hmm? I felt like an idiot after that.

Now we are to my favorite dentist, Dr. Baird, I will forever and always go to Dr. Baird even if he moves away - I will follow him, because he's that good! The first time I went to Dr. Baird I got a simple procedure done - easy peasy, he was very gentle and considerate and he was even grateful when I pointed out that he mistakenly put Don McLean's song Vincent (Starry Starry Night) on his mixed Christmas album (because after all - contrary to what some people may think - it's not a Christmas song). That night I received a phone call from Dr. Baird - he just wanted to check on me to make sure I was feeling okay and to remind me to take some Advil. How freakin' nice is that?!! I've been hooked ever since. :)

(This is Dr. Baird. Hello Dr. Baird - yes, I'm flossing right now, I promise.)

www.drbaird.com

Nerd Alert!

So, a few years back I adopted a Jeep and named him Henry Thomas Jane, I call him Hank, for short. A lot of people ask me how I came up with his name. So here's the deal: (Warning! My geekiness is about to come out in full force!)

I am a lover of comic book movies. I never really got into the hobby of reading comics but I absolutely LOVE comic book movies. Hank was named after two of my favorite comic characters. Hank, or Henry comes from the X-men, Dr. Henry 'Hank' McCoy aka Beast. I've always loved Beast, he's so kind and smart, and really rather gentle but he can also really kick some butt if you need him to. Then there is Thomas Jane. I decided on that name because Hank is a TJ and I thought his initials should stay the same. It just so happens that the actor Thomas Jane plays the character Frank Castle aka The Punisher! I love Frank Castle because he's not some cookie-cutter hero who only does good things. Instead he's a tormented character who is basically forced into doing good for others just because he's there. Okay, so there you have it - Henry Thomas Jane = Beast + The Punisher all rapped up into one adorable little (but still very manly) Hank!

The End

Oh wait! Not the end. I have some pictures of Hank's makeover. Hank, as described before, is no sissy. He's a manly man and could never be confused for gay. (not that there's anything wrong with that, I don't mean to offend any of your homosexual vehicles, it's just that Hank's not one of them, okay?) Hank loves to play in the dirt and hates taking baths, but when he does take a bath he shines up real nice and purty! For his 3rd adoption-birthday, I gave Hank some new bumpers and corner guards, because the old ones were looking a little shabby. We've been waiting until the weather was just perfect so we could get it all done in one day. And here are the results:

(my most wonderful brothers, Jarred and Mark, putting on the new front bumper)

(that's me - I'm trying to get the tape off of the tire holder. and that's my fabulous assistant Jaycee)

(here I am taking the lights off)

(Jarred and I - trying to figure out how to disconnect the lights)

(installing the new corner guards)

(the new front bumper - isn't that just the HOTTEST front bumper you've ever seen?!!)

(the new corner guards)

(the new rear bumper with the jerry cans Mark gave me for Christmas)

Thanks for all your help guys! Hank looks great!

Working For The Weekend

As I was thinking about how to title this post the song Working for the Weekend kept popping into my head. Funny huh! The past few days have been so much fun. I met a couple of new friends, caught up with some old friends and hung out with everyone in between.
My super weekend started on Friday with the decision to buy a new computer, YAY! I will post more on that when it actually gets here, but for now, just know that it's red and fabulous!
Friday night I met up with one of my most favorite friends, Hirschi. Hirschi had contacted me a few weeks ago about setting up a double blind date, he'd bring a guy for me and I'd bring a gal for him. Easy peasy, right? Except there was one little problem - picking the right girl. Since Hirschi is such a great guy I needed a super duper great girl. I scanned through my contact list a couple of times and my eyes rested on Anna. Bingo! Anna could possibly be the perfect blind date. Super fun? Check. Down to earth? Check. Witty? Check. Great conversationalist? Check. Hot as can be? Double Check! Yay, I found a winner! Problem? Check. I haven't seen Anna in a couple of years and after so long how do I know if she still has all of those great qualities? Also - how extremely awkward will that conversation be? "Hello Anna, I want to set you up and ps - are you still great?" Lucky for me, I'm not shy about this stuff. I just sent the awkward message and here we are, skip forward to the date: We decided to meet at Wingers for dinner because we knew that they would have the Jazz game on. Everyone was introduced and we all had such a great time. Although, I think I put too much pressure on myself when it comes to blind dates. For some reason I get extremely nervous and I start stuttering. Note to Adam (my date) I'm sorry for the stuttering. Ha ha ha! Oh yeah - I should tell you about Adam - he's a really nice guy, runs marathons, likes old movies, has lived all over and works as a night security guard at a boarding school. I asked him if he got to carry a gun (because that would be so cool) but he doesn't, I guess it's not such a great idea to be packing heat around the kids. Since Adam has some down time at work, he's going to become my new blogging friend. ;) Don't worry, Adam, I'll help you, it really is a lot of fun. Speaking of fun, back to the date- We watched the Jazz game, or rather, the last 3 minutes of the Jazz game because that was the only time the Jazz actually showed up to play. But oh boy did they play their little hearts out during those last few minutes. Whew, so exciting! It was around 11:30 by the time the game got over and poor Adam was running a marathon early the next morning. I hope he made it.

(This is Anna's shoulder, Adam, the back of Hirschi's head, the Jazz game and the Wingers sign.)

(Hello Hirschi! He'll probably kill me for posting this old picture but I think he's just adorable!)

(This is Anna - I told you, extremely good looking! I stole this pic from her blog, ha ha ha)

(Introducing Adam. I told him to be serious when I took this photo.)

Saturday night the whole crew got together for a "So Long Justin" BBQ. Which, by the way, I don't understand - he's the one who gets to live in St. Thomas for the summer - he should be throwing us a BBQ! A "You Suckers Have to Stay Here - Ha ha!" BBQ. Si - I'm a little bit jealous, but I will definitely miss you Just. :) That night I also got to meet my new bff, Nick. (ha ha ha - sidenote: that just reminded me about that cell phone commercial where the mom asks the daughter who in the world would she need to be texting 100 times a day? and the daughter responds - idk my bff Jill - HA! cracks me up every time! end of sidenote.) Nick is absolutely hilarious! He's already promised me a ride on his motorcycle - hence the "new bff" title. :)

(Ta Da! My newest friend Nick. See, you can already tell how fun he is, takin' a picture with the thumbs up - how cute!)

After the BBQ - I went to see the new Narnia movie with Calvy and Mitch - which was awesome!
See - so overall it was a completely fabulous weekend!

Wow! Those Kids Can Dance!

Yes, it's true, I'm obsessed with DWTS! I just can't get enough Dancing! In fact, if anyone knows how I can get Seasons 1-5 on dvd, please, Please!, let me know. :)

Last night Marissa got kicked off, which is sad because she was a lot of fun but that was not the exciting news of the night. Last night, the kids stole the show, Brandon and Brittany in particular. Their paso was amazing!

Take a look:
(remember to pause my playlist so you can hear the music)


I know what you're thinking . . . Wow! is the only appropriate response. I hope DWTS goes for another 5 years so these two kids can come back as professionals.

OCD? I'll let you decide.

This past weekend I have been taking pictures of all of my shoes. I've known a lot of girls who do this, so I know I'm not crazy, but there are a few people who still tease me for keeping a picture list of my shoes. I happen to think it's a brilliant idea because when you have as many pairs of shoes as I do, it's helpful to have a reminder list. I was just about to do the same kind of thing with my dvd's. (and ps - I think I should have made this list years ago because I've purchased duplicate dvd's a couple of times.) I realized, however, that I make a lot of lists, don't get me wrong, I'm still going to do the dvd list, but isn't list making a sign of being OCD? As funny as this may sound, I'm always worried about my OCD tendencies. I know I'm not 100% OCD, but I definitely have some OCD tendencies. For example, when I put a dish in the dishwasher I put it in a specific place and if someone else has put dishes in the "wrong" place, I will re-organize the dishwasher so that it is all neat and orderly because I feel that it makes unloading the dishwasher easier. Is that insane or is it just being tidy? I bet some of you are probably thinking insane right? ha ha ha Another thing I do is (and this might fall under the lists category) I write out my budget, almost daily. Even though the darn thing doesn't change day to day, or even month to month, for that matter, but I still do it. I also like to alphabetize things. There was this one occasion at the boys' condo - while I was waiting for Matty and Jake to get pretty, I alphabetized their dvd's. One of them asked me what in the world I was doing, as if I were a crazy person. Is that OCD? Probably, huh. Darn! Well do you think there is still hope for me? I really don't want to be OCD, but because I'm not 100% there, maybe I could just be OCandO, no D. Obsessive Compulsive and Orderly, instead of Disorder. What do you think? I need some input on this, so please vote.

A Fun Time Waster

I saw this on a blog I stalk, it's kind of fun. :)

The rules are simple:
1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/.
2. Type your answer to each question in the “search” box.
3. Using only the first page, pick an image.
4. Copy and paste the picture into your blog.

Here it goes!

What is your first name?

What is your favorite food?

What High School did you go to?

What is your favorite color?

Who is your celebrity crush?

What is your favorite drink?

What is your dream vacation?

What is your favorite dessert?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What is your favorite indulgence?

What do you love the most?

Okay - now it's your turn. :)

Remember That One Time . . . Pink Guy

Do you ever have those moments where you look at something or you smell something and it triggers a long lost memory? Well . . . that just happened to me. I was looking at this fancy little blog of mine and thought - there sure is a whole lot of pink on this page and then all of a sudden I found myself laughing out loud at a memory:

Two summers ago my sister, Amy, and I were working at the same law firm. We had just gone out for lunch and we were driving back to the office when I spotted him - the Pink Guy! He was walking down 400 South dressed head to toe in pink. Now when I say head to toe - that's what I mean, no exaggerating - head to toe! At first I thought he was a clown or one of those cell phone guys that try to convince you to come in to buy a cell phone. But the Pink Guy didn't have a clown car or a cell phone sign. He was just a pink guy. I shouted at Amy - hey look at that pink guy! I think I startled her a little bit because she almost ran right into him. We got about a block down the road and decided that we needed to turn around and get a picture of him because it's not everyday you see the Pink Guy. We snuck up right behind him and started flashing away with our cell phones. We got a picture of everything - his pink hat, pink hair, pink lipstick, pink clothes, pink purse, pink flip flops, pink toe nails - everything. Now, I know what you're thinking - gosh you girls are mean! But I happen to think that we are not mean girls - we stayed in our car and did not bother him directly and besides it's not everyday you see the Pink Guy, remember? Well we went back to the office and told everybody about our little paparazzi experience, and much like this post, the actual experience was much, much funnier. :)

Anyway - those cell phone pictures have since been deleted so I decided to google the Pink Guy and I actually found a blog that was dedicated to . . . ta da! . . . the Pink Guy! (yay) It hasn't been updated recently, but it's still there and makes me happy inside just knowing that other people took pictures of the Pink Guy too.

I heart you Pink Guy!

Under Construction

Right now I'm trying to figure out all of the cute stuff I can put on my blog. I just added a playlist - Yay! :) I'm so proud of myself.

Okay Arin - I did it!

I'm kind of nervous about blogging because I live an extremely boring life and really, who would want to read about my boring life, right? But for some reason - I still want to blog. I have another blog dedicated to recipes and I love posting new stuff on that but lately I've been wanting to post more than just recipes - so, here it goes. Wish me luck! :)