Katastrophies & Other Important News

Get ready for a few installments of this LA trip, as it’s only Friday and I already have lots to tell you about.  First of all, because I didn’t really book the itinerary I didn’t realize that we weren’t flying into LAX.  Nope, instead we flew into the smallest airport on earth known as Bob Hope Airport.  Really?  I didn’t realize that there was such a place, but there is and they have ONE baggage claim conveyor belt.  I have seen supermarket checkout belts longer than this thing.  But nonetheless it sufficed and we were able to get our luggage and get out.  Here are the first photos taken on a bit of a camera tangent.  Chad was embarrassed that I wanted to take a picture of, well, everything.  It’s just that everything here is so different than Dallas – AKA interesting.

Look at the hills.  We have those in Dallas – they can be found right next to the unicorns and natural blondes.

A bit more interesting arcitecture than Plano, TX.

The famous Pinkberry!

This morning was BLISSFUL.  I woke up in a giant fluffy bed with no little black dog begging to go potty (although I do miss him so) with no real plans!  Well, my name is Katherine so of course I had plans but no certain times or deadlines, just the whole day ahead of me.  I ordered room service, which I can only assume was created by God on the 5^th day because it is the most luxurious act that I can imagine.  Not only do I not have to cook, I don’t even have to leave the room to get it.  So I ordered an egg white omelet with coffee.  But more important than the coffee was the real cream.  I think the coffee was just a means to drink half of the container of cream.  Oh it was heavenly; I love hotel coffee for that very reason.

(And I ate it IN BED!)

Then it was off to Robertson where I was just certain I would run into Reese W. and Lauren Conrad and we could catch up on old times.  But alas they and the rest of the stars must have been busy because it was just me and the rest of the normal folk.  When I say normal of course I mean in terms of LA.  There were old hags with big bags (and bigger wallets) and then there was the typical Beverly Hills blonde: black Mercedes, giant lips with matching boobs, uber tight black dress, super high black Chimmy Choos, and LONG “blonde” hair.  Just viewing the spectacle that was her made me exhausted, it seemed like a lot of work if you ask me.  Oh, and I almost forgot the sales girl at Ivy.  Ivy makes the over embellished tops and dresses that you might see a Real Housewife sporting – lots of bling around the cleavage area surrounded by a flowy printed material.  Anyhow, the tall blonde sales girl was texting while greeting me, and then she and the manager (I assume) began a deep discussion about whether or not you could wear socks at the airport.  The matter was so much in question that they even asked me, so I assured them that while, yes, they make you remove your shoes you do not have to remove your socks.  OMG thank goodness.  She then proceeded to tell her manager about all the men lately that thought she was hot, tried to get her number, stared at her, or otherwise affirmed her beauty.  Which, by the way, was not that impressive (and I can say that because if she were I would say so, I am not a hater, just a realist).    I must go now because there is lots of primping to do before Chad and I hit the town!

P.S.  We had dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse last night with Chad’s boss and coworker – YUM.

P.P.S.  The shopping on Robertson was good overall but did you know that a child’s onesie could cost $195?  No?  Well it can.

Today is a big day for one reason.  Chewy is having his teeth cleaned.  Now I know all of our friends and family will be sad that they can no longer make light of Chewy’s challenged breath situation but I am sure they will all recover once they get a wiff of his minty fresh kisser.  It was difficult, however, this morning when I couldn’t feed him and when Chad had to drag him in kicking and screaming to the back room at the vet.  I have been a little weepy but I am trying to keep it in check.  Apparently our dog is so full of life insane that the vet said it would be best to sedate him in order to clean his teeth.  Chad thought it was a little cool that our dog is so bad ass misbehaved that the vet couldn’t handle him without medication.  I will give a full report tomorrow on the level of breath improvement.

In other news, here are our new trees.  They are bigger than I thought they would be:

P.S. Whitney needs to dump Jay, he is sneaky and I don’t trust him.  She is hot and famous.  He is Australian and in a lame band (nothing against Australians I just couldn’t think of anything else to say about him).  She has a career and an apartment.  He has a beard, long hair and is homeless.  She is tall, thin and beautiful.  He appears to be short and gravitate towards plaid.

This weekend was fun! Friday night was grill night – I prepped and Chad grilled (chicken and veggies). Then we watched Quarantine, not bad for a scary movie, pretty suspenseful. But before that I did some cleaning. And let me preface this with “Poor Chad, it’s not his fault” but whenever it’s time to clean he sort of stands around asking if he can do anything and when I tell him “no” he happily retreats to whatever it is that he was doing. When I say it’s not his fault it’s because it’s mine. I have it all laid out in my head what to do first, how to do it, and to what degree (“high intensity” clean for overnight guests or grandparents or “at a glance” clean, reserved for short visits from friends after dark). There is just no easy way for me to convey all of this to him without sounding insane (like I need help in doing that) so it’s easier to do it myself. The one thing I do allow him to take control over is the floors – Swiffer and vacuum. But even that’s hard, I remind him about the carpet in my office twice, the stairs and I even check his work when he is done, poor guy.

Anyhow, back to Friday night. I am going at it fast and furious because I am hungry and want to get to my prep work. Chad remarks about how sleepy he is – after all, that day he had spent shopping with his mom for his birthday so you can see how he might be totally wiped. So he and the dog curl up on the couch for a little nappy nap. Really? Seriously? He is sound asleep on the couch while I am dusting around him. The dog looked up at me as if to say, “Excuse me ma’am but we are trying to sleep.” But Chad didn’t even open an eye. If it had not been his actually birthday I might have raised a stink, but I decided to let this one slide. After I had washed, trimmed and seasoned the chicken and veggies I woke him up to grill. He hops up puts everything on the grill and returns a hero for his efforts; while I try to get the chicken gunk out from underneath my fingernails (gross). How appropriate and annoying all at the same time.

But Saturday was a ME day – I got my hair did, shopped, tanned (shush) and even found time to do my nails. Chad slept in and played NBA Live. It was a busy day had by all. However, it’s a good thing he preserved his energy because that night we headed to Loft 610 with friends to celebrate his big 25th birthday (haha, he wishes). It was a very cool place, I highly recommend it to those in the North Dallas area who get tired of driving to Dallas or Fort Worth just for a fun atmosphere and cocktails. Speaking of cocktails, I chose to have martini for my first drink….I think it’s a new thing called the Cosmo, not sure if you have ever heard of it, I think I am the first to make it really popular.

NEW RULE: Red martinis may only be consumed while sitting at a table. No dancing or swaying that could be passed off as dancing (hopefully) is allowed while holding the glass with no lip or spill protection that the bartender filled to the BRIM. My brand new beautiful shirt took at hit within 10 minutes and I was NOT pleased. I have had this thing my entire life about stains and being dirty and HATING IT. One stain, one spill and it’s ruined and I must change clothes immediately (my poor mother did a lot of laundry when I was young). While everyone assured me that it wasn’t noticeable I knew it was there and I have been anxious ever since that the dry cleaners would not succeed. But really there is a bigger issue at hand. Why on earth would anyone create a special glass for alcohol that is so prone to spillage? I mean HELLO look at this:

Either they need to give the martini glass a makeover or invent Martini Sippy Lids – for the martini drinker who likes to dance (or sway). I’m just saying, it’s something to think about.

P.S. I have pictures from Saturday but forgot my camera today so I will upload later (maybe).

Nessa, Beth, Me and Tawna.

Me and Jess….notice how Chad didn’t make into any of his own birthday photos – it’s because girls are dumb and love pictures and boys are dumb and don’t.

P.P.S. For someone who is celeb obsessed I sure do hate award shows, they are so annoying to me, so I didn’t watch but I did look up the fashions on line.

So I am at the Gap on Saturday (on the aforementioned mall excursion) and I am looking for long workout pants and a hoodie that won’t make me look like a fat 5^th grader after 4 washes (in other words, the sleeves shrink up to my elbows and the zipper won’t go above my naval).  It’s a constant search; if you are tall you know that workout and lounge pants are the last of the Mohicans as far as pants that don’t come in LONGS go.  Back in the day not even jeans for women came in lengths, oh except for ankle length – since it’s so hard to shorten pants but apparently easy to create more material out of thin air.  Can you tell I am just a little bitter?  And I HATE shopping for clothes on line because they never fit the way I imagined they would when I was staring at them on the super model. 

Anyhow, I am thumbing through hoodies when I decide to ask the nearby associate what XS TP means?  I thought perhaps the “TP” might indicate Tall Petite (which is an oxymoron I realize) but I was hoping it meant Tall something…  She thought for a moment and then told me that TP was the same as XS but in French.  Well, quite frankly I don’t want to meet the girl who is an XS and can speak French because I might have to harm her.  They didn’t have any of the other sizes in French so am I to deduct that all French women are XS TP?  Great, awesome, just another reason for the French to be snotty.  On that note I begrudgingly grabbed my M L (medium long) and headed for the dressing room, cursing the French and the petite skinny bisnatch that would be purchasing the hoodie and matching pants (and probably still have to have them taken in at the waist).  My whole life I have longed to be petite but at this point I am like 99.9% sure it’s not going to happen.  In fact I have the same likelihood of being petite as I do of having a twin, which I have also wanted my entire life.

….with Veggie Crisps.  I just bought a box of 100 calorie packs of these things last night and I have already had 2 bags and gave one away just to share the joy.  They are, obviously, only 100 calories and made of veggies but they taste like chips only not so greasy and the ingredients said nothing about post-snack guilt which is huge for me.  The only danger with 100 calorie packs is eating more than one a day, in which case – what’s the point really.

Last night was very tame, after a long day at work I did my usual grocery shopping, ate a quick bite and settled in for John and Kate Plus Eight and The City.  I can’t really think of two more polar opposite shows so I think they really show my diversity, I have so many layers I can hardly keep up.

This weekend is the big day…..no, I am not getting married again, but Chad is turning 29 31.  While he never likes to make a big deal of his birthday (I think it’s a guy thing) I love birthdays, anyone’s really, because they are a great reason to celebrate!  And as Chad pointed out this weekend I will take any reason at all to celebrate or make a theme party.  This weekend won’t have an official theme except for FUN but I am excited to visit a new location – Loft 610, and the best part is it’s NOT half way across the planet for us, it’s just at the Tollway and 121 (YIPPEEE)!

P.S. I was SO impressed with Whitney’s little snotty attitude with Olivia last night, it was so UN-Whitney but I LIKED IT!

The weekend has been pretty relaxing.  We headed to The Lobster (cool code for Red Lobster) and I sinfully indulged in a cheesy biscuit, I haven’t even been brave enough to see how many calories are in one of those things (scary).  Saturday I awoke ready to tackle my prayer bench project – I measured, stripped the material and old school foam padding and was headed off to Home Depot with nothing but confidence.  I had it all planned out:

1.       Bank

2.      Tan (I know, it’s bad but I really only go about twice a month to keep me feeling less like a frumpy thirty year old)

3.      Craft Store

4.      Home Depot

But somewhere between tanning and the craft store doubt began to creep in.  Like, what about the bench portion of this project, and did I measure correctly?  What if the wood was a little too long or short, I don’t have a table saw, which could mean endless trips to Home Depot and complete frustration.  Hmmm, I could just throw caution to wind and go for it…..or I could go to the mall instead.  BINGO, the mall it was!  Sorry prayer bench project you will have to be delayed for a few more days/weeks.

Saturday night, V-DAY, was nice and relaxing too.  No overcrowded restaurants, no $200 meal, overpriced wine, or dressing up in uncomfortable garb.  Nope, we picked up sushi to go ($25), a bottle of champagne ($4.98, only the best for me and my hubby), and we both sported our most comfortable “uniforms” (AKA elastic banded pants and t-shirts)….oh and some Swedish fish, Twizzlers and Jelly Bellies (for the movie of course).  And then we enjoyed our hot tub ($10 in heating) and watched a movie.  In total about $45 spent, not too shabby for an intimate Valentine’s Day!

Today, Sunday, I had a girl day with Gigi and Sophia (the most precious 10 ½ month old in the world).  We did lots of party shopping (the one year celebration is a little over a month away) and since we were in the area we also had to stop into Nordstrom Rack.  When I arrived home though I was in craft mode so I finished a lamp recovering project and did a cute little table decoration for Sophia’s first birthday in March:

The theme is obviously cupcakes, and personally I can’t think of anything better than cupcakes – in the world.  There will be a full array of pictures to come after the big day on the 28^th of March.

Well, tonight I will wrap up all the excitement with a beauty mask, perhaps some nail polish, and a new In Style magazine.

P.S. Chad and I are sort of waiting for the dog to explode.  Today while we were both away Chewy decided to climb up onto Chad’s desk shelf and eat ½ of a huge bag of Swedish Fish.  Now, I know how I feel after eating too many gummies, they sort of all gather together in my stomach and become one giant gummy….and Chewy is only 20 pounds so it’s only a matter of time before the fish strike back and revolt!  Yikes, I just hope it’s not on the carpet or in the bed.

P.P.S. Chad proudly told me that it was a GOOD THING he had already eaten the other half of the bag.  Yeah sweetie, thank goodness, you are a life saver.

Today I was welcomed home by my dog, the Nordstrom catalog (and my Nordstrom Visa bill, booo) and the Victoria’s Secret catalog. Nothing makes you feel better about the chocolate truffle you just ate than staring at models in bikinis looking beach fresh and sun dried. If you are so lucky as to receive a catalog (I think I get about 4 a month so you are welcome to borrow) you might have noticed their latest promotion: a Super Model Beach Bag. Yipppeeee, because as if walking around half naked in front of friends and strangers is not quite stressful enough you think I want to carry a giant bag on my shoulder with YOUR super models looking better than me in the same bikini? Hmmm, personally I think that VS might want to rethink their strategy. Like instead of super models how about….ANYTHING ELSE. Consider whales, cars, trains, dogs, trees, flowers, or, oh, I don’t know maybe NORMAL looking women. I mean seriously:

I know everyone is on the edge of their seats about the trees that we chose so (drum roll please) after much thought I (I mean WE) chose two Chinese Pistachios.  While the Red Oaks seemed lovely he didn’t recommend two of them because of their size which would have left me with two different trees, which is totally unacceptable in my world.  We would be off balance and I am sure I would eventually start to lean to once side. 

I am looking forward to having something in the yard again, even if they are tiny baby trees.  And NO my dear family members, baby trees will not somehow ignite my motherly instinct and cause me to yearn for a child of my own, sorry, it will take a bit more than that.

NEW PROJECT – so for months now I have been planning (all in my head of course) my next project.  When we moved offices a dear Prayer Bench was not able to make the move with us due to lack of space.  So I rescued the relic (from 1975, indicated by the orange cushion) and brought it home to live in our garage until I was able to find the proper tools.  You see, I have this vision that the prayer bench, once reserved for sacred moments with God, will someday become our entryway bench reserved for coat hanging and clutter storage.  I know that might not sound very good but its other fate would have been the dump, and I somehow think a life of holding coats and scarves is far more meaningful than no life at all.  Anyhow, I have been waiting until I was able to borrow a nail gun from someone as this project will take a bit more than a hot glue gun and a Bedazzler.  And today the small nail gun and GIANT compressor have arrived (thanks Darren).  While the owner seems particularly concerned with me shooting a nail into my leg I am simply worried about the dang thing exploding or something.  The extension of my tool knowledge thus far has been hammers, pliers (mostly for fixing cheap jewelry), staple guns and this guy I once dated (names won’t be named but you know who you are).  But I have total confidence that after a few minor mistakes I will be able to present to you a beautiful Pottery Barn-esk entryway bench that looks something like this:

 At least from afar, if you visit our house after I finish I may require you to stand in the dining room to view, as an up close glance might reveal too many first-timer mistakes.  And it won’t look exactly like this but you get the general idea….maybe I shouldn’t post anything that way whatever I end up with won’t be disappointing? 

P.S. Chad and I are headed to LA at the end of this month – and since Heather Bakes asked advice for their New Orleans trip I too will ask advice – any ideas on cool places to eat and visit?  I will be all alone on Friday while Chad does some work related things (yawn) so I plan to shop on Robertson and nonchalantly look for celebrities.

It has been a very exciting day thus far.  The tree people came at 9:00 AM, right on time and proceeded to hack away.  It didn’t take long at all….then a few hours later the stump grinder specialist came by.  Who knew that the tree people outsource the stump grinding because the machine is so expensive to maintain.  That’s your lesson in Tree Removal today, you can thank me later when it comes up in dinner party conversation.  The next step is to pick some trees and have them planted.  What are your thoughts on a nice Red Oak:

Or a Chinese Pistachio:

Submit your suggestions and if I choose your tree I will let you come over and mow our lawn!  Exciting isn’t it – ok, ok, then you can take a dip in the pool before you trim the hedges.

Here are some photos of the carnage:

(Nice Stump)

Now our yard feels so naked, so bare but at least I don’t have to look at the sad, dead trees anymore – that’s a bonus.

In other news here is a little tid bit on marriage.  Some say that once you get the ring all the romance and surprise just goes out the door.  I beg to differ.  Example A: last night I came home from a long grueling day.  Upstairs on our dresser was a neatly piled “after work outfit” for me and underneath that was……MARIO CART!  Chad finally found it!  My Wii game stash is finally complete.  And it was so sweet that he picked out my sexiest striped PJ pants, an equally cute 30 year old t-shirt that I stole from my Dad years ago and my uber HAWT blue fuzzy socks that I nabbed from Walgreens before Christmas….not to mention that my glasses were sitting atop the pile (are you getting a mental pic yet?).  Oh how love progresses and changes in just a matter of a few years.  No longer are elaborate dinners and nights out necessary, nope.  It really does become about the little thoughtful things that you do for one another.  Me, I keep the fridge and freezer stocked with pudding and Klondike bars at all times for Chad and I make sure to hang dry his favorite t-shirts so that they don’t shrink up and show his stomach (although I will argue to the DEATH that cotton clothing does that naturally after several washes and it is NOT I repeat NOT related to my laundry skills).  Anyhow, I felt led to share that with all of you today.  Have a great weekend!

P.S. This weekend He’s Just Not That Into You comes out, and we are going on Saturday, I can’t wait!

After much heartache and whining my laptop is fixed….the heartache and whining didn’t necessarily fix the virus but the technician did.  So now I can get back to the important business of uploading mission critical pictures and surfing the web at home.  I know you are all dying to see before and after photos of the infamous banister so here they are:

Before: Notice the blah colored wood with peeling polyurethane.

After: Notice the rich dark color.

I am super excited to be done with this project but now I find myself wondering, “What next?”  I need a new project a new focus, I mean, there are only so many recorded nights of TV to entertain me, and one can only MySpace stalk for so many hours.  Which, might I add, I know that MySpace is super lame now and FaceBook is the new thing and I am the last person on earth NOT to have an account but I just have not had the motivation.  All that form filling out and picture uploading – EXHAUSTING.

In other house news this Friday our dead trees will get the axe, literally (well, hopefully they bring something a little more efficient, and with a motor).  Goodbye dead leafless trees and hello……..hmmm, not sure yet.  I have to decide on what we want, I mean WE have to decide on what we want (or I have to decide and then tell Chad what we have decided and why and then why any argument he might produce to the contrary is ridiculous).

Is anyone else itching for Spring to arrive, pronto?  I am SOO over Winter that even on the 67 degree days I start eyeing the pool and wondering just how cold is too cold.  Since Texas rarely experiences the in between seasons known as Fall and Spring I fully expect Summer to arrive by April, at which point I will spend unnecessary amounts of money on floats, water sports games, new towels and a lounge chair.  This is not a threat, this is a promise.

Oh so, the Super Bowl Party, how could I forget.  While I don’t have any pictures of the actual party I do have photos of the decorated table.   I should probably write a book on “How to Girlify Any Party” because Chad just rolled his eyes at this:

Notice the hand made team decals, and tiny footballs at the bottom of each vase.

We were rooting for the Cardinals because we love Kurt W. but alas it was not meant to be.

And while the Cardinals’ hope for a Super Bowl win died on Sunday night their theme colored tulips live on!

It was a great time, I didn’t even have to watch one second of the game.  I spent the whole time eating, socializing and stalking my God Daughter Sophia (poor girl, nothing like an over exuberant Aunt Kate picking you up every 2 seconds when you just learned the magic of crawling).