Annie Leibovitz / NaBloPoMo / Movember

I love this woman. Last night, we went to see her exhibit at the Wexner Center here in Columbus. 156 pictures later, I'm still in awe of her. I'm obsessed with photography and she's one of the best. She got her start in 1970 at Rolling Stone magazine. She's famous for unique shots that aren't always "perfect"... which makes them perfect. The poses and subject matter can be controversial but people are drawn to it. Here are some of her most famous photos. Even if you don't really know who she is, you've seen at least some of these pictures, I'm sure. (Or skip straight to the bottom for more blogging today)



Yoko Ono & John Lennon, taken just hours before his death

Meryl Streep

Angelina Jolie



Blues Brothers

Scarlett Johansson

Whoopi Goldberg

Demi Moore

Miley Cyrus



President Nixon's helicopter

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Today is the last day of November which means NaBloPoMo is officially over. Thank goodness. Blogging every single day is hard, people! You wouldn't believe the time it takes to think of something to say, then actually write it. Don't worry, Lauren. I'll still provide you with reading material while sitting on the toilet. Hey, you said it, not me. 

 

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Also ending today is No Shave November, or Movember for those of you who know about this whole thing. It's to raise awareness for prostate cancer. If you've seen men sporting facial hair this month and didn't know what was going on, that's why. Oh and crawl on out from that rock you've been living under. My husband decided he would go with the MovemBEARD look instead of a creepy mustache. I think he might keep it going until New Years. Maybe.

 

 

It's Ok Thursday

  It's ok...   To bring your own hand soap to work because the stuff there dries out my hands. Big time.   To listen to old school Papa Roach while working. Pumps me up!   To pick loose fitting clothes on days that you feel bloated. Amen, anyone? No, just me?   To throw $5 into the lottery pool at work because I'm not trying to do everyone's job if they all quit.   That my husband wants to buy 5 different brands of ginger ale and have a taste test.   To pay $30 for 1 bottle of shampoo and another $30 for 1 bottle of conditioner. Yep, this happened.   To text my Dad back and forth about Pawn Stars and whether or not Corey will take that other job.   To not know what to get anyone (except my husband) for Christmas this year.   To be told I have uneven eyebrows by my esthetician. Not the hair, but where my bones are. Great.   To be glad that tomorrow is the last day of NaBloPoMo. I need a break.   That my husband is participating in Movember but it's more like MovemBEARD. You'll see tomorrow.  

Dinner and a Movie

Friends of ours found a deal on Groupon for the Movie Tavern so we said we would all go together. It paid for the tickets, then you just have to buy the food when you get there. Well, they expire today so we decided to use them last night. The bummer is the our friends couldn't find a babysitter, so the hubs and I were on our own. If you know us at all, you'd know that we don't like going into situations where we don't know what we're doing, so yea, this should be fun.

If you've never heard of the Movie Tavern, basically it's dinner and a movie all in on. You show up about 30 minutes before the start of the movie and order something to eat. If you need a drink refill or something during the show, you just press a little red button and your server will come help you. Pretty genius, right? I was excited about this. Brandon, as usual, not so much.

We got there, got seated and looked over the menu. We already knew what we wanted because we scoped it all out on their website beforehand. Here's where it gets a little sketchy. You go in and pick your own spot at long bar-like tables with office chairs for seats. You have a number in front of you, which, as you'll hear in a minute is totally pointless. You know the sticky floors at movie theaters? Well, picture that as a tabletop you're supposed to eat on. Yep, sticky mess that a simple wet rag would have taken care of. Napkins from the person before were on the floor, but at least it wasn't sticky.

We figured out pretty quickly that the folks in the top half of the theater got served first. No big deal, just letting you know in case you ever go. Sit back further. When our server finally got down to us, we ordered. Against our better judgement, we decided to get milkshakes. For $4.50 each. We asked for them to come out with our food so we didn't finish them before we even ate. The server responded with "um, they'll probably come out before your food, is that ok?". Really, Steve. I just said I would like it with my food, so my answer is going to be no, but sure, this is your gig and I don't want you to spit in it. We ordered water too. Brandon never did get his.

The food came out pretty quickly actually, which was surprising after how long it took to order it. Still no sign of our milkshakes though. I finally had to stop another server and ask about them. 10 minutes later, we were served warm milkshakes. Mmmm. The glasses were really small for $4.50, too. Remember how I said the numbers in front of you turned out to be pointless? Here's what happened. They brought out food to people and were walking around trying to wisper "did you have the nachos?" etc to everyone around you. Shouldn't you know what seat you're taking the food to? It's all numbered, how hard could it be? The meals were bar-food at best. I ordered the buffalo chicken wrap and it came sorta deep fried with chicken and cheese only. I expected a flour tourtilla with lettuce and such. Not the case. Their fries were good though. All in all, I doubt we'll go back. Our food bill came to about $35 and for that we could have gone somewhere nicer for dinner, then to a movie. 

I'm glad we tried it, and maybe you would have a different experience. It's possible. The concept is brilliant but we found the execution to be lacking. Oh and the movie we saw was Flight. I recommend it! Have you ever been to the Movie Tavern and had a better experience?    

Prom treasures in the closet

I decided to clean out the closet last night and wouldn't you know that I found some of my old prom dresses. These will soon belong to whoever is lucky enough to snatch them up at my local Goodwill. Clearly I had excellent taste in high school. (Is everyone picking up on the sarcasm here?)  

Really, purple AND blue shiny material? Yes, please.

This dress has very heavy fabric

This was $300 when I bought it my Sr year, in all it's hot pink glory

 

I'm a little surprised they still fit, well sorta. The last one isn't zipped all the way. So sue me. Do you still have your prom dresses? Are they as amazing as mine? ;)

 

Picture Day

I can't really think of anything to say today so I'm going to leave you with some totally random pictures from my high school & college days. That is all.

 

Christmas: Music, Lists, Decorating

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can officially talk about Christmas.

 

I love Christmas music. My husband loves it even more. He tries to listen to it before Thanksgiving and occasionally gets scolded for it by yours truly. What I don't like are the "new" versions of traditional songs. Don't mix up Jingle Bells to "make it your own", it's fine the way it was, but I understand wanting to sing the well known songs. Sometimes when singers make up their own Christmas songs, it's a little too cheesy for me. I like some of Mariah Carey's songs, and Brad Paisely's Christmas CD is pretty good. What do you listen to?

My Christmas list is pitiful this year. I couldn't decide what I wanted at all so it's pretty random stuff that made the cut. I need to stop buying things throughout the year, I guess. I sent my mother-in-law on a wild goose chase for specific colors of nail polish for my stocking. Who knew they would be so hard to find? My husband always asks for practical things. And by practical, I mean boring. For example, he wants a new mirror for his car because his driver's side one is cracked. Who asks for that for Christmas?! Aren't you supposed to put fun things on your list? He must not have gotten the memo. Remember when you were a kid and making a list was easy? You could thumb through the ads in the paper and have a list worth over $1,000 in no time. Not that you would get it all, but how kind of us to give Santa options. Now I'm lucky to find 5 things I really want. I don't remember ever writing Santa a letter when I was little, but if I were to send one now it would go something like this: "Dear Santa, I think you've known me my whole life so feel free to pick out whatever you think I'd like for Christmas". Isn't he magical or something? He should totally already know what I want. This would make my job easier. Sit back and wait for the perfect gift I didn't even think about asking for. Brilliant.

I think I'll break out the decorations today. Ya know, just in case the Mayan's were right and the world is ending. Might as well go out looking festive. But we're not putting up a tree. We threw away our fake tree a year or two ago because the cats climbed it one too many times and broke all the branches. We haven't replaced it. Putting up a real one is too messy, even though I prefer them to the plastic variety. Besides, we already know what we're getting each other so there probably won't be any wrapping this year. What's the point of a tree if there will be nothing to put under it? I'm ok without. On another note, what do you think about inflatable lawn decorations? My opinion: Tacky. I'm sorry if you like/have them, I think they're obnoxious. Even worse when they're deflated and laying in your yard like oversized garbage bags. To make things worse, they're expensive! I would never pop one, but I sure do think about it. I also don't care for the illuminated deer that may or may not move it's head. Maybe I'm a Grinch when it comes to outdoor decorations, but what's so wrong with keeping it simple with lights and maybe a wreath on the door? I don't want to have the house that Christmas vomited all over. Like this:

 

What are your thoughts on Christmas?

 

Random thoughts

Here's what's on my mind today...

 

 

Did you go shopping at midnight? How about 3am? I did not. I stayed home, sound asleep and avoided the crowds. I never go out on Black Friday because I don't have the patience for it. Standing in lines outside the store until they open when it's 30 degrees? No, thank you. Standing in lines inside when people are pushing. No, thank you again. It's supposed to be a fun thing to do and many families have turned it into a tradition, but there's always a jerk or two out there looking to pick a fight with the guy who got the last TV.  I would rather participate in Small Buisiness Saturday today or jump online for cyber Monday. I was trying to think of places to go shop small but there really aren't that many around me. Or maybe I just don't know about them, which is possible. Do you have a favorite local shop? 

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Today's the big day: Ohio State vs That Team Up North! If you live in this state you know what you're doing at noon today. Sitting in front of a TV or in Ohio Stadium watching OSU stomp our biggest rival. Again. I'll be sitting on my couch with my husband and cats, keepin' it low key. Let's Go Bucks!

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The NHL has now officially cancelled the All Star game in Columbus. I'm so bummed. We had tickets and even though I'll like getting the money back for them, it would have been nice to have gone to the game. Ya know, if they weren't going through a lockout and actually had "all stars" to pick.

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What's on your mind?

 

Photo-An-Hour (Thanksgiving)

My Thanksgiving day, in pictures...

 

8AM - Had to scrape the windshield before we headed to my cousin's

 

 

9AM - Nice sunny morning for the Turkey Trot 5k

 

 

10AM - Standing at the start line waiting to get our run on

 

 

11AM - Doesn't my cousin look so happy about running? She wasn't.

 

 

12PM - Started putting together our appetizers at Dad's house

 

 

1PM - Killin' time at Dad's before we head to my aunt & uncle's

 

 

2PM - Painted my nails "Skin Tight Denim"

 

 

3PM - Plate full of appetizers = very happy camper

 

 

4PM - Watching a little football

 

 

5PM - Playing Apples to Apples

 

 

6PM - Breaking out the wine

 

 

7PM - Still playing Apples to Apples

 

 

8PM - Me and Dad

 

 

9PM - Of course we had to take our traditional pictures. (Read this if you don't know about the middle finger deal.)

 

 

 

There aren't many of us, but we always have a great time together. Happy Thanksgiving to all the rest of my family in different cities and states! Gobble, gobble.

 

It's Ok Thursday (Thanksgiving Edition)

 

It's Ok...

 

To not stuff your face today. Really.

To not eat a "traditional" meal.

To not spend a ridiculous amount of money for a plane ticket to travel "home" for the holidays. Your family will understand.

To finally turn on those Christmas lights you put up last weekend when it was 60+ degrees and sunny.

To start playing Christmas music after today. But not a second sooner.

To decide for the 2nd year in a row to not decorate for Christmas. (More on this later)

To not tell anyone at work what your holiday plans are because you don't want to hear about theirs. I know, rude. But these people talk for days and I just don't have time to listen.

To take home a piece of pumpkin pie from the Thanksgiving potluck at work. And a piece of apple pie. And maybe a pie of cheesecake too.

To get a text message from your Dad that says "ordered 2 regulars from the Red" and be expected to decipher the code. (He ordered 2 trays of shrimp cocktail from Red Lobster for Thanksgiving. It's a must at our get-togethers.)

Turkey Day

Tomorrow is the big day! We gather, we feast, we take pictures like this:


2010



2011

It started in 2010 because my Dad refused to make an appearance. It was a loving "here's to you, Pops" and now he has it framed at home. How sweet. Last year we just had to repeat it but that time I think it was to Nana for staying home. Hey look, if you don't want a nasty-gram from us, don't be a party pooper.

My aunt and uncle always host Thanksgiving and then everyone brings an appetizer or something to contribute. Well, this year we're going to mix it up. Instead of the traditional meal with a bird, dressing and the whole nine yards, we're going to get a glazed turkey (pre-sliced and put into roll form) from Honeybaked and just do all appetizers. we like to snack all day while we visit anyway and this is a lot less work so I'll all for trying it out. Add a little Apples to Apples and some music and call it a celebration.

Before we can eat, we've decided to run the Turkey Trot at 9:30am. It's just at 5k (3.1 miles for those who don't know) so it's should be fun. My aunt called me from the local farmer's market and said she was signing my 2 cousins up (16 and 20 years old) so Brandon and I decided to join them. I'm excited about it. Brandon, not as much. Yes, it's going to be cold. And early. But why wouldn't you want to burn a few calories before you stuff your face the rest of the day? I'm looking forward to it. 

I plan to do another photo-an-hour post on Friday to recap the day's festivities so keep an eye out for that. Have a good Thanksgiving everyone!!