Being Sick.

Yesterday was great.  Jeff and I went golfing with friends (I've never been) and food shopping for BBQ essentials before barbequing back at our house.  It was the relaxing Sunday that I needed before starting at a new job on Monday morning.  Technically, since I'm freelance, I'm always starting new jobs...but this one was different.  More advertise-y than television-y.  More scary. (Scarier?)

-Anyway-

Whilst sitting out on our deck, I basked in the sun and enjoyed our company before speaking these fated words:

"I never get sick."

It was true. I really don't ever get sick.  Even when I worked in an office everyday, I didn't catch the bugs floating around or even acquire the occasional runny nose.  It has probably been 4 years since the last time I was actually under the weather.  How lucky.

An hour after our friends left, Jeff started to complain that he felt too full.  We had eaten A LOT so this wasn't at all weird.  Then, around 10pm he called it a night.  We turned off Mad Men, peeled ourselves off the couch, and walked toward the kitchen to shut down shop.  Well, before I could even look behind me, Jeff veered off into the bathroom and started to vomit.  Loudly (Ew, boy vomit!).

He must've had too much of...something. Obviously.

Two hours after falling asleep, I was woken up with a pain in my stomach.  Then in my throat.  I was nauseous, my stomach felt full and acid-y, my body ached and I couldn't get to the bathroom quick enough to revisit our bbq extravaganza. I was sick...with a stomach bug.

This is the first time in my life that I've had to call out of a job BEFORE my first day.  Talk about a nightmare for someone with anxiety.  What if they think I'm faking it?!  Will I ever be okay again?  I kept having flashbacks to calling out of school "sick" and nobody believing me (because I was lying).  Guilt, anxiety and a stomach bug.  That's me. 

Being sick sucks.  But I think the real moral of the story is: never say never.

Damn.

On the plus side, this picture of Remy from last summer makes me happy.  So at least there's that.

Listening To...

Flo Rida and Sia - Wild Ones

The youtube video keeps making me watch a commercial beforehand, so I went to the official Flo Rida website.  I feel like such a groupie.

This song is perfect for my daily 3pm visit to comatose land.

Holiday Fun: Happy belated Earth Day!

Celebrate Earth day with a meatless Monday!

Here's a neat-o article highlighting some benefits to going meatless.  

http://foodbabe.com/2012/04/22/eating-less-meat-can-save-the-environment/

Obviously, I eat chicken (as seen from my salsa chicken recipe post), but I still love to be informed.  Here are some things that I read and loved (in a depressing-but-I'd-rather-know-than-not kinda way) finding out:

• Feed more people – We have one billion people on earth already that don’t have enough to eat and a projected 3 billion more mouths to feed within 50 years. The fact that you can feed 2000 people the same amount of grain it takes to feed only 100 cows should help people wake up, but it hasn’t.
• Reduce pollution dramatically - The meat and dairy industry contributes 18% more climate changing pollutants than all modes of transportation combined.
• Save water -  It takes 60 pounds of water to produce one pound potatoes, but it takes 9000 liters to produce one pound of beef. A vegan can keep their shower running all year long and still not surpass the amount of water a meat eater consumes.
• Improve your health – Over-consumption of meat has been proven to cause heart disease, cancer, and diabetes more than any other food we eat.  If you don’t believe me – read The China Study. Also, you can dramatically reduce your exposure to cancer causing dioxins which are found in chemical pesticides that are used to grow animal feed.

Check out her blog to learn more!  Happy Belated Earth Day! 

xoxo

L

Home Grown - Dining Room Hutch Makeover

HOLY SMOKES! I officially know I'm an adult now because of how flipping proud I am of this project.  I love it. LOVE it. I may marry it.

So, we decided to paint ourselves a hutch.  A dining room hutch.  We have no experience with such things, but we also have no experience in restraint, so we went for it.

It was an old handmade piece that a friend of my Mom's gave to her years ago.  My Mom kept it in her basement, in pieces, so we decided to put it to use.  Also, there is a gaping hole/empty wall in our dining room that needs some covering.

Diving right in, we grabbed our little sanders and began to sand.  Every side, every shelf, every door, every...thing.

Then, we got to painting.  Martha Stewart Heavy Goose.  We had no clue where to start, so we just started everything. At once. 

Hardware - For this, I went to the seemingly massive spray paint selection at Home Depot.  They have about a million colors to choose from and they're all unbelievably boring aside from about 5 vibrant/cool ones.  I went with "Candy Apple"...which incidentally was a green, even though candy apple's are red.

After 2 coats of white on everything and newly greened hardware, we left the hutch to the garage and forgot about her for the past week.  Finally, it was Friday again and time to bring 'er in.  We thought working on touch ups from inside should be fine and not too hazardous.  We were sorta right.

One more coat of touch ups...

Then, it was time for...(wait for it)...ASSEMBLY!!!  Wooooooo!

Dog sitting and hutch assembling go very well together.

My stick-arms got a pretty good workout.

Of course, there were still a few paint fixes to be had.

But once that was done, we were finally, almost at the finish line.  We let it dry before drilling in our new little wine rack things from Bed Bath and Beyond ($9.99).

And then what do you know, VOILA...

We were done! Our dining room is complete!

Since the hutch was free, this whole project cost under a hundred bucks.  It was kind of a pain, especially since the doors didn't line up perfectly (please ignore the hair tie holding them shut for now) but it was completely worth it.  Our dining room feels so different/cozy/us/amazing.

Things that Make Me Laugh...

In lieu of a flashback today, I'm posting this: Pictures you need to see before you die.

Yay!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/pictures-you-need-to-see-before-the-world-ends

Please note:

#2 Are you kidding me?

#6 Reminds me of Remy.  The resemblance is totally there.

#16 Are you kidding me?!?!??!?!

#23 I can't take this one.

#27 ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

#30 They must be kidding. Me.

Relax to Survive.

This morning, I boarded the train, took my seat by the window and pulled out my notebook, ready to get some script-writing done before work.  A man walked by me wearing a hilarious jean jacket circa 1984 that attracted my eyeballs.  I stared as he passed and saw that all down the backside of his jean dream was embroidery that read, "Relax to Survive."   I thought about it. 

It struck a chord.

Reason being: I have anxiety. I'm not someone who you would think has such a thing (because I'm pretty even-keeled and laid back most days), but I do.  It hit me like a brick to the face in 2005 as I walked down the grassy aisle of my college graduation field, changing me in an instant.  I was about to take my place among my fellow hungover about-to-be-graduates when I suddenly became dizzy.  Within minutes of finding my seat, the president of my college took to the podium and something inside me burst.  I had to get out of there.  So, I ran. Off the field, through the crowds, hyperventilating, searching high and low for a bathroom, and basically dying. Or so I thought.  

I used the bathroom, ran back out onto the field and sat. Things turned black.  I became dizzy again. Nauseous again.  Heart pounding again.  I was about to die again.  Once more, I ran off of the field like a mad-woman cloaked in a black cape to search for the bathroom again.  Afterwards, I ran to the ambulance that had been parked on the sidelines in case anybody happened to be dying. Like me.  The paramedics checked me out and told me that I had heat exhaustion.  I disagreed, telling them, "No, It's not the heat, it's everything. Everything is wrong."  


As my graduation continued without me, I remained on the sidelines, head between my knees, with someone else's grandmother applying a wet cloth to the back of my neck.  Then, my number was up. It was my turn to cross the stage into graduation land.  Other-persons-grandma told me that I didn't have to go, but I did.  Shaking like a leaf, I stood up, I crossed the stage, took my diploma and shook the president's hand.  Every step felt like an eternity and every thread of my being begged me to stop because I was obviously having a heart attack. 

My hand escaped the president's and as I turned to the graduation day photographer waiting for me, it was gone.  The shakes, the nausea, the heart pounding, the dizziness.  All of it was gone.  I was no longer dying. Just like that.

That was my first full blown panic attack even if I didn't know it at the time.  Since then, I've had some years where my anxiety acted as a hidden ninja, pouncing only every so often...and other years were plagued with constant anxiety mind games brought on by myself.  Nowadays, it's mostly gone.  I have ways of dealing and overcoming, but that doesn't mean I don't think about it. Often.

Which is why today, when I read that man's coat, I couldn't help but think how correct the words are.  We have to relax or we're not going to make it.  To survive...and really, really live, we need to relax.  A little more each day.

Thanks for the insight, jean jacket man.

xoxo

L

Things that make me laugh...

http://trextrying.tumblr.com/

I feel so bad for the poor T-Rex!!!

Go to the above blog if you need a good (work appropriate) laugh.  These illustrations are awesomely creative and funny, funny, funny.

Listening to...

Go Outside - Cults

Love this song on a day like today (78 and breezy)!

Are you crazy? Get engaged to find out!

So, this is happening apparently...

Hi, I'm a psycho diet, nice to meet you.

First, I would like to say that the whole bridal industry scares the poop out of me (ew, I said poop). Prices sky-rocket, opinions fly, pressure mounts and people say things like, "I'm going to be such a bridezilla," while also thinking things like, "Wow, my best friend from 1st grade should be in my wedding party since she saved my whole family from that sinking ship that one time, but I don't know. Her hair clashes with my theme."

Now, obviously I wanted to look good on my wedding day, too. Duh. I wasn't trying to show up in sweats and be like, "What? This is how I looked when you said you loved me yesterday..."

I had my friend put extension things in my hair and I wore fake eyelashes so that I didn't have to bother with mascara the whole day.  AND when I was about 6 months out from the day, I told myself, "Now Laura, you may want to back off of the cheese and fried food," so that's what I did.  I got excited about the crafty things (handmade wedding dress! hotel gift bags! candles for centerpieces!), lost some weight and most importantly, I didn't go CRAZY. 

Because I'm pretty sure that the above article (i.e. THROWING A MEDICALLY UNNECESSARY FEEDING TUBE DOWN YOUR GULLET AND NOT EATING FOR 10 DAYS) is bat-crap crazy!  I mean...can we all agree that this is looney bin worthy? Not because everyone should just love themselves and blah blah blah (you really should, though), but because HOW do you erase that memory? How is your wedding day memory going to override that of a feeding tube being shoved down your nose?  It is way too rare of an occurrence to forget about.

I guess my whole "issue" with the extreme bride thing is that I honestly don't think these gals are doing 90 percent of the things they do for their husbands-to-be or themselves.  And if not, then what's the point? Weddings should not be an excuse to act mental!   They should be an excuse to eat, drink, and be merry! Yeesh.

Happy Monday!
xoxo 

All Day BBQ tips

Thompson tips for a successful, chilled out, all-day backyard BBQ:

1. First off, you need a Party Box-o-music along with a Ron Burgundy wearing husband to deejay.

2. WATCH THAT VOLUME! Or don't.  I just wanted to post this picture of my nephew being adorable.  I mean...isn't he?

3.  Don't forget your sunglasses during the day...

...and at also at night. 

4. Next you're going to need to grab your friends. To put in deck jail. Obviously. 

5. As for food...that's the best part!  Tons of fresh, tasty food MUST be around ALL day long. Unfortunately our feast was not pictured, but was thoroughly enjoyed.  Actually, it is not pictured because we were busy thoroughly enjoying it...a little too much.

The menu included: Turkey Burgs/Crockpot Salsa chicken/fresh salad with lemon juice dressing/Spiralized potatoes.

Please notice the purple hippo plate.

6. Lastly, don't forget to bring an awesomely selfless friend with a storm trooper-esque camera to take all of the amazing memory-filled pics!  Thanks, Jac!

xoxo

~L

FREE NYC: 'wichcraft ice cream

I'm sorry (not really), but how purple-y weird and good does this look?!  JOG, nay RUN to 'wichcraft in Bryant Park and grab your free tasty treat!

Flashback Friday

Here's a video from Jeff's 30th. He's actually still 30, so although this isn't from too far back, I think it still counts as a "flashback" because it's BB (Before blog).  We celebrated with 2 friends at Grand Cascades Lodge in Northern NJ (out past a bazillion places that I swear did not exist in this state - wild west park, anyone?).  In a word, Grand Cascades is...PERFECTION.  I mean, they have an indoor Bio-sphere and an outdoor heated (and an unheated, brr) pool!    I know it was Jeff's birthday, but it was one of my favorite weekends ever!

PS. This video was not edited by me.  Our friend (in the video) did it for us. Isn't it great?!
PPS. Enjoy!

The Rebel Toothbrusher.

I have a mini rebel living within me (it's like a mini-pony, but in my brain).  It makes me enjoy things that are not supposed to be enjoyed merely because they are different and being an oddball excites me. How to deal? Growing up, I'd flunk a test here or there, draw/paint/vandalize my own bedroom walls, walk to parties instead of drive (and driving was way cooler), or NOT even attempting to have a sip of alcohol at Woodstock '99 when I was 16 and definitely could have gotten away with it.  Isn't being different fun?!  Nowadays, I still have my quirks - the walking thing, not getting an iPhone, not reading Harry Potter or Twilight, or wearing "name" brands.  There are a million things that I find myself being a little rebellious with on the regular.  And toothpaste is one of them.

As a kid, my parents would HATE how gross I allowed my toothpaste container to become.  They weren't even being mean, my toothpaste was nasty...and did no small wonders for making the hallway bathroom appear tidy.  Still, no matter how many times they begged/thought I was brain dead/pleaded for a cleaner toothpaste tube appearance, I couldn't shake my love for a freeing toothpaste application experience.  Oh, kids. So silly.

Now I am almost 30.  I have a career. I have a husband and a super-mutt.  I have my own house...with my own bathroom (see where I'm going with this).  I have my own toothpaste. And it looks like this:

Just enough room for miniscule portions of paste to squeeze out. Perfect.

This glob is hidden when houseguests are around. Don't worry.

Being a mini-rebel is tough. And somewhat disgusting.

Sorry Mom!

The sky is falling!

That's what I thought, at least, when the wind blew earlier today and a branch the size of Hercules fell onto the roof right above the office I was working in (I could have died!!! Crap).  Not only did said Herculean branch knock a picture straight off of the wall, it also scared the bejeezus out of Remy and I! Obviously, Remy ran to the front door to yell at whoever dropped the gargantuan branch onto us so rudely while I went out back to survey the damage.  Yowza.  Living amongst my tree friends is a wee bit scary some days.  Anyone know a good arborist?

Now let's all say a cheer that this didn't happen to your house!  Weeee!

I did this for perspective, but I don't think it worked. Perspective fail.

  Where are we supposed to put this thing?  Chop it up and burn the wood in a fire pit? Great idea!   To do: buy a fire pit.

I'm not gonna lie...you should just lie.

Dear "I'm not gonna lie" phrase lovers and abusers,

First of all, thank you...for not lying to me.  Second of all, does someone regularly accuse you of speaking in non-truths? Are you a recovering pathological liar? Or are you merely making it known that this is a free country and you could lie if you wanted to lie, but you don't so you won't?  

I get that it's the modern-day version of "honestly..." but I am so done with the added sentence bulk.  Maybe we can retire it...just for a little? Til momma's ears have had a rest?

I'm not gonna lie (because if I were, I wouldn't tell you) this phrase is killing me (not an exaggeration). 

Happy Saturday, Passover and Easter!

Flashback Friday

From an early age, I realized that I was verrrry different from my peers in one very huge way: I had parents who did not give a crap what I looked like when I left the house...SO I dressed like a crazy person.

From ages 5 and up, I had free reign of my abysmal hand-me-down filled closet, allowing me to show the world just how disheveled and wildly unkempt a kid can look.  Jealous?  I understand.  Two things came out of this life experiment: I lived a pretty creative existence as a kid AND I have horrendous childhood photos.

Here is a gem taken from the back seat of our mini-van as we drove to North Carolina:

Happy weekend!

Veggie Loaves are...not attractive.

Guess what this lucky girl had for lunch?!

A veggie-filled monster turd with cat throw up poured over it!   

Stop, I'm drooling. 

If the 8 year old version of myself ever caught wind that I would later in life become someone who willingly consumed veggies in loaf form, I would have passed out flat on the playground.  Which is actually great because it would give now-me a chance to slide a nice slice of veggie loaf down my little kid gullet.  Gotta get those taste buds ready! YUM!!! This stuff is awesome.
 

Mama Don't Club No Mo'

Last night, I went where no part of me wanted/but everyone thinks a Jersey girl should want...to go.  I went to a club.  Like an, UNCE UNCE UNCE, fists in the air, guido-loving club.  And I've never been more terrified.  

The days leading up to the big clubbing extravaganza were nerve wracking.  Will I get let in at this age?  What if they see my wrinkles and turn me away?  Must I spring for a spandex tube dress with slits down the side, spray tan myself bronze like a little trophy and drop an ecstasy pill just to belong?  I mean, that's what clubbing is, right?  WHAT DO I DO?!  I figured that I should think back to college when clubbing was a weekly thing.  My brain short circuited immediately because back then when I went to a club, I was always just so pumped to have someone check my ID and let me through the door, that what happened afterwards was meaningless.  Even though, I'm pretty sure it included me laughing at my friends dancing while I never left the bar and inevitably talked someones' ear off.

FACTS: 

~I've always been a horrendous dancer and therefore only partake in moves such as the robot or a Shakespearean interpretation of Beyonce's, "Who Run the World?" 

~I've always liked bar stools. Clubs do not have bar stools. 

~Boozy Laura = Insanely loquacious Laura.  All I wanna do is TALK YO EAR OFF! Just kidding. Sorta.

So, no dancing, screaming over loud music to people who can't hear me with no place to sit.  That's what I went into it thinking about.  HOWEVER, the reason behind this whole club thing was going to be worth it.  One of my very best friends whom I've known and loved since the 6th grade was turning 29.  29!  That's a pretty big deal.  I obviously had to be there. She is a retired club kid who thought that it would be fun to throw the old dancing kicks back on for a night. I get it!  And I was even honored that she invited me.  So that's why I ended up at a "monster huge" club with reviews like: "Guido-supreme on Saturdays!" and "On most nights you can usually find a place to stand."

What happens if we don't find a place to stand?!  

Ultimately, we came, we clubbed, we got home at 2am and ate an entire pizza laughing over how ridiculously FUN the night was.  I can't believe how judgmental I've been to all these crazy clubbers.  Every girl that I talked to or bumped into was super nice and although some of guys were a tad on the scary-tan & muscle-y side, they weren't completely freaking me out with their guido supreme-ness.  I had an epiphany.  Guido's are people too! Sure, I probably won't ever go to a club again but I will definitely have more of an open mind about the whole thing.  Lesson learned. Go me!

Oh, and my voice is shot.  I scream/talked for 3 hours straight and proceeded to go completely deaf as I walked to our cab at 2am.  YAY!

Pictures from our fabulous 3 hour foray into the club scene:

Guido-bait.

Photobombed by the hubs.

Me and the birthday girl. Clubbing into our 30's!

It was WAY past our bedtimes.

xoxo
~L