Well, this past week my Toyota (Stew or Bolt, depending on who you ask) decided to add more complications to my oh-so chill life. I was driving, went over a speed bump and my radio decided to stop. That's cool. I was at work and just had to stop by somewhere on campus for a bit. When I got back in my car, music was playing again. I actually think it's the speakers that were going in and out, radio worked fine.
I went to pick up Jamie at the airport on Sunday. Music was not playing at all the whole way there. Thought, "This could be it. The death of my speakers as we know it." I just don't have the money to put into that right now so I prepared myself for a life of no music in my car.
I pull up to Jamie at the airport, I open the trunk for her, she closes the trunk, aaaaaaaaaaand music is on. Of course.
So apparently my music will go on and off when driving over any bumps or if someone opens and closes my trunk and/or car doors. This results in me hitting speed bumps at mach 8 or pulling over to randomly open and close my doors.
"These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you..."
You know it, Alicia!
I mean how many people can say that they made it on a billboard in Times Square...the FIRST day of being in New York?! What can I say...we know people who know people.
The second day of NYC 2010 was a GORGEOUS day that we couldn't help but spend it in Central Park. Carousel ride = $2. Picture at the amphitheater = free. Epic moments with friends = priceless.
Definitely had a calorie deficit from the non-stop laughter that is always present when this group of gals gets together, so had to replenish at Carnegie Deli with a sandwich they've deemed the "Woody Allen." Oh my word, peeps, the divine stack of corn beef and pastrami on rye was one of the most incredible things I've ever tasted. I recommend...
We finished off the day with a little previewing of a Broadway show that was actually opening today called Promises, Promises. It starred Sean Hayes (Jack from Will & Grace...hysterical fella!) and Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies and Glee...WAY gifted singer!). It was fun being able to see a Broadway before it releases...again, we know people.
I love, love, LOVE taking trips. There's really nothing like going somewhere with your best friends because, really, you could place us in the middle of nowhere and we'll still have the time of our lives. The one thing that's tough for me and vacations is that they all have to come to an end and I have to come back to reality. Cue Soul II Soul, "Back to li-ife; back to reality..."
This trip to NYC was unlike any other trip with the besties because it was a surprise for our Lena's 30th birthday. =) If it wasn't for the surprise part of it I would have had a 4 month countdown to April 14, 2010 on here. Work has been so draining right now so anticipation for this trip was like anxiously waiting for my wedded bliss to a certain Criminal Minds stud muffin. (I've been wanting to insert a reference to him for awhile, but didn't have an appropriate time till now...he's so dreamy...) This trip will have to be divided into a few posts due to all the pics, the random adventures, and the abundance of laughter-inducing moments, so I'll begin with this video of the actual surprise, but first here's the background details that lead up to this moment...
We all have been trying to brainstorm about what to do for Lena's big 3-0 since last year. She's the first of our group to hit the big milestone in life so we wanted to do something BIG. In January, we decided NYC would be awesome. Most of us had been there already, but not all together so it seemed perfect. Then we decided to make it a surprise: Lena wouldn't know where she was going or who was going. Besides her and Erin, all the rest of us live in other states so she wouldn't really suspect we would all be able to take time out of crazy life to go somewhere. Little did she know that we got on board: Sheena from Wisconsin, Jaci from OKC, and me and Jamie in Austin.
So exactly a month from April 14, Erin gave Lena a letter that said that she needed to take this amount of time off on these days, she can't ask any questions about it and Erin would let her know what to pack when the time came. The letter mentioned that she could either be flying, driving, or boating somewhere...she wouldn't know anything till the day of. Sneaky us would randomly email or text Lena to throw her off a little and get her thinking that we have nothing to do with it and that we're excited for her and that she's gonna have a great time.
Wednesday, April 14th arrives. Erin and Lena wake up pretty early. Erin's mom is waiting outside to take them to the airport. Lena still has no idea that she's going to the airport and Mom McGee did a great job confusing her even more on the way. They get to LAX...Lena now knows she's flying. Erin checks them in and then shows Lena her ticket. Lena gets super stoked: she's going to New York and will get to hang out with our friend Nicole who lives there. Awesome...Just wait, Lena, it's gonna get radder... 30 minutes before landing in NYC, Erin gives Lena a card from Sheena that reads, "See you in 30 minutes!!" Lena is shocked and super happy. Erin, Lena, and Sheena meet up at JFK airport.
Lena thinks that's the last of her surprises...
In the mean time, Jamie and I met up with Jaci at LaGuardia airport a couple hours before the other crew landed. We went to our hotel, checked in, and informed the front desk of our plan: our friend Erin would be coming in to act like she is "checking in" and requested that they play along. And they did so convincingly.
Scene: Mariko, Jamie, and Jaci, in hotel room waiting. Erin, Sheena, and Lena, just arrived at hotel and walking to room....
Saturday morning out running errands with Jamie I remembered that she was doing the Capitol 10K the next day. I also remembered that she hurt her knee during the half marathon in February and hasn't really ran since then. I continued to remember that our friends that were running the Cap 10 also were probably going to run it to make a good time and most likely not want to walk/jog with an injured-knee Jamie.
I should have just stopped remembering and kept my mouth shut at this point, but compassion decided to spew out of my mouth and I sort of said something like this, "Well,......I guess.....I mean......I don't want you to run by yourself........And I wouldn't know where to go to cheer you on........and I have been running 2.5 miles a few times a week.........I mean........if you wanted.......I could.......maybe........jog/walk along with you, OR maybe at least for part of it."
Jamie: "OH MY GOSH, MARIKO, YOU SHOULD TOTALLY DO IT!!!!!! DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!!!! I'M NOT FAST!! YOU'RE GONNA DO IT!!!!"
Next thing I know I'm waking up at 6am on a Sunday morning to run 6.2 miles. Folks, I'd like to re-iterate that I DON'T LIKE running. I do it only because I need exercise and, again, it's only for a couple miles or so. I have NO desire to run more then 3 miles. And we definitely ran most of the 6.2 miles and made pretty decent time.
It was definitely an experience and there were some fun characters to run with out of the 20,000 other people there. One thing that was really cool for me was running through the heart of one of my favorite towns. I love Austin and our downtown is a mixture of history, nature, eccentricity, and friendliness. I love it!!! So running through all that was just heart warming and sentimental. =) Yes, I'm a geek.
Running 6 miles was more than I have ever done at one time and there was definitely a sense of accomplishment in that....especially since I only had 1 day to prepare for it. Here are some pics from my momentous run. =)
So I didn't register for this run since I decided the day before it that I would actually do it, so friends Bart and Jessica gave me one of their bibs from when they ran last years Cap 10.
As you can tell, I was sponsored by Guaranty Bank while the 20,000 other runners were sponsored by HEB.
And since we're on the topic of "new limits," Maximus just discovered his aquatic siblings this morning...
I can't say enough of how blessed we are to have so many of our Cali friends have come out to visit us in Austin. It's not even just Cali friends, but friends all around too.
Lisa and I met in youth group at church when I was in junior high. We didn't really hang out much until after high school in college group. During college we just realized we had tons in common. I have memories of late night talks till 2am while getting up at 5am for my 7am class the next day. We shared adventures ranging from using fake ID's while I was consumed with paranoia and was convinced that the FBI would come in and bust us to watching the ball drop in Times Square for New Years. No matter what there was always laughter.
In 2005, I had the blessing of being apart of her wedding as she married Mr. Nate Allen: hilarious, talkative, outgoing, adventurous...PERFECT for Lisa. And a few years later she gave birth to an adorable boy, Blake. It's so weird when you think of how you were in junior high and never thought that you would reach the age when your friends would be moms!!! Crazy, but awesome.
This last weekend Lisa, Hubby, and Baby came out to hang with the coolest gals in Austin. We had a great time with the Allens and loved touring Austin with them. They really enjoyed Austin and we're praying they decide to live here and not Dallas. No offense, Dallas, but you just got nothin' on Austin.
Thanks for hanging, Allens, and hope to see you guys soon!!!....with your U-haul right behind ya!!
My attempt to get all of us in the picture but instead got just our food...let's be honest, that's the best part of Rudy's anyways.
Meet Maximus Meridius Decimus Optimus Prime...or Fang for short. =)
He's the new addition to 1028 and is the BEST roomie we could have asked for. Snuggly, playful, soft, "helps" with the house work, and affectionate. He enjoys long walks on the beach, listening to Louie Armstrong, and waxing his DeLorean. =)
A friend from our community group forwarded an email from his friends who were looking for a good home for their precious feline as their ADORABLE baby was allergic. Attached were pictures of the little stinker. His pictures pretty much made up 98% of the decision to snatch him up. So cute! We set up a time to go and visit with the little guy to see how he was in person. I wasn't able to make it, but Jamie went and next thing I knew I got a text that read, "He's ours!" I worked 21 hours that day so coming home to such a loving and sweet kitty was such a blessing to my long day!! And what's more awesome is that his former owners live right down the street from us so they can keep close tabs on him still.
If I could re-live the night of March 7, 2010 everyday, I would.
I had been waiting for that evening months in advance. Needtobreathe aka Best Band E.V.E.R. would be playing in Austin. Not sure if I've raved about them enough on here, but they truly are awesome and, if possible, even more incredible live. Love 'em!!.....old love.
I hardly ever recognize opening bands and it was the same for that night. BUT, opening bands tend to find their way to my heart and ears quickly. (That's exactly how I came upon the amazing treasure of Needtobreathe). Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers were no different. They'll probably never replace N2B's place in my heart, let's be real, but they were AWESOME!.....new love.
Here's a snippet of each. I dare you to NOT find your lips singing along and your foot tapping away.
Hanging with the rents and bro was so great. Andrew brought his girlfriend, Amanda, to spend some time with us too. It was nice having her there and getting to know her better. She's a sweet gal and great for my brother. Still so strange to think that he's growing up so fast!!!
We ate, we played games, shopped, watched a movie, and just spent some awesome time together. It's always hard to say bye though, but at least I'll see my parents in a few weeks for Christmas.
This blogger hasn't been doing her blog duties: reading blogs and posting blogs. When I open up Google Reader after neglecting it for so long and seeing I have over 500 new posts to read, I admit, I move my little mouse to "Mark all as read" and try to do better next time.
Let's sum up what's been goin down since the last time I was on here:
Job....new position, exhausted, rewarding and yet also tough. Cali.....cousins wedding, reception had sushi bar=awesome. Thrill the World.....yep, sure did. Hair....chopped it. Glee......my new most absolute FAVE show right now. Phone....upgraded. Christmas tree.....already up.
Tomorrow I fly out to NC to visit with my parents, brother and his girlfriend for Thanksgiving. They live in a small town outside of Raleigh and it's absolutely beautiful there. I'm so excited to just spend time and rest with my family while playing games and eating some goooooood food.
I've been failing in blog land. There's just been several things taking up my time lately and having epic times with friends has been one of them. We headed to Angel Fire, NM to enjoy some mountain time and then went to Albuquerque to visit with some of Em's friends. It was such a blast climbing a mountain, (falling down a mountain), taking pics, laughing hysterically, and meeting new peeps.
It's been awhile. Shame, shame on me. To make up for my lack of posts, here's a long one.
I've been super obsessed with home design blogs. I have no decorating creativity whatsoever, but I'm GREAT at replicating. So, after spending an embarrassing amount of time looking at blogs and HGTV type blogs/sites, I've accumulated pics that would make up my ideal home. Please, come in....
When you walk into my humble abode, you'll most likely cross a foyer such as this. Love those double doors and the splash of yellow and purple on the table.
Then I'd lead you into my living room.
Sit down, relax, take a load off, and let's chat.
Help me in the kitchen? Well, sure...let's go. Option 1: I absolutely dig these colors. White, baby blue, green, and yellow=awesome.
Option 2: Add the colors from above to this kitchen and BAM that's my perfect kitchen. Lovin' the space, the windowed cupboards, and chair style...and the stinkin TV above the stove!!! Holler!!
Option 3: Kay, very small piece of the kitchen, but you just can't say no to a yellow chair and windows that over look trees.
Well, now that dinner is ready, let's head into the dining area. I think wherever you eat, it needs to be bright and cheery, because eating is a joy and makes you happy....at least it does for me. Minus the monstrous seahorses and hard liquor cart, this is exactly where I want to satisfy my tummy.
I just thought this was a very cute color combo...again, the yellow chairs.
This was just such a cute, eclectic nook I thought I would throw it in.
What? You have to pee? Let me show you to the guest powder room... A bright bathroom is just as awesome as a bright dining room.
Of course you can see what our master bathroom looks like! It is one of the most important rooms in the house! Bathroom 1: Love the space and windows. My perfect house can have average rooms everywhere EXCEPT the master bath. The master bath needs to be the size of a small kingdom.
Bathroom 2: I've always wanted a bath tub with feet. How cute is this?? Loving the high ceilings. Now combine this somehow with Bathroom 1 and, VOILA, perfection.
Well, since you've already toured our bathrooms, might as well take you through the rest of the home. This is my study. This is where I....don't draw, work on my novel, or finish my doctoral dissertation,.....but where I stalk blogs, do an occasional puzzle, and have my quiet time with Jesus. Don't you love my blue oil lamp??? (Is that even what an oil lamp is?)
Where would you sleep if you were to stay over? Come this way. Guest Room 1: Great for your kiddo's. Hope they like earth tones!
Guest Room 2: Here's where you guys would stay. Cozy, right?
Guest room 3: If you don't like the first room, feel free to move to another room!
The master bedroom is right this way. I love a variety of colors. Ever since Home Alone, I've always thought having a fireplace in your bedroom was so cool. And that plasma above it...radness!!
Well, we've gone through the whole house. Why thank you; I like it a lot too. Let's head out to our patio and share in some more convo's and possibly some drinks. Option 1: I mean, just look at that view and openness!! I could spend many a night out there.
Option 2: Oh, Cabana Boy!!! My Pina Colada, please!
Option 3: Awesome festivities are foreseen to go down here. Fun and funky.
Well, there ya have it. Hope you feel like you know me that much more now. Our friendship/bond has grown to a deeper level. You're welcome. =)
All pics were from House Beautiful. I encourage you to mosey on over there and create your ideal home when you're bored, don't want to do work, or have nothing better to do with your time!!
Meet Maximus Meridius Decimus Optimus Prime...or Fang for short. =)
