#1 Fan (of Lisa)

I will always, always be a fan of Lisa M. She is my best friend, my roommate, and the sweetest girl I know.

Although tonight was her last night, she did me and all our friends and Kansas fans proud.  No embarrassing girl fights, no drama, no crying after day one.... She is completely legit, I assure you.  Like most Lisa fans out there, I  wish they would have shown her more often, but hey... that's reality TV for you.. they just want drama and they will depict the show in their most favorable way.  What I CAN tell you is... that she DID have multiple one-on-one times with Brad, she DID show her true personality, she DID make great friends on the show, and she DID have a fantastic time.

In fact, they didn't emphasize this enough on this episode, she actually had the fastest NASCAR time on the track of all the girls! She's speedy on the NASCAR track and the KU track :) Lisa actually received a trophy!

With that said, while this was the end of Lisa M. on the Bachelor for now, this is not the last you will hear of her.  I think she will do great things with her life!

P.S. Don't forget to check out Lisa's fashion information and more here!

Bear.

I am about to introduce you to my all time favorite thing ever.  I've known him my entire life, he is white and furry, about a foot tall, could use a nose job, and really needs to take care of his poor eyes because they are getting worse by the day. His name is Bear. 

Now... I know this is a bit silly, but I still sleep with Bear every night.  Some of you may think it's a bit weird that I still do this, and some of you may be able to identify with me not being able to let something go you've become so accustomed to sleeping with every night. 

Then, there are other people that are probably reading this thinking, "Gosh, this girl must not have been that creative to come up with a name like Bear for her white bear."  Am I right?

To give you an idea of what this bear means to me I will tell you a short story:

When I was in London when I was two, my parents and I were on a train when I flung Bear right as the train doors opened.  Bear went flying off the plane and onto the tracks.  Most parents would cut their losses and opt to buy their two-year-old a new bear.  Nope.  Not mine.  My dad quickly jumped out of the train and reached down to grab Bear off the tracks.  To a two year old, that is heroic. To everyone else on the train, I'm sure there was some major relief to not hear a screaming kid on a train who just lost their toy. 

All and all, I can't bear (no pun intended) to put him away.  Bear and I have been through thick and thin together, he loves me regardless of chewing off his nose and eyes.  What woman wouldn't keep around something so tolerable...?  

Do you have a favorite thing you still like to sleep with that you wouldn't be able to sleep without if you lost it?

Remember When.

I posted about how great my trip to Vail was last weekend?

Well, I had completely forgotten about these pictures I took on the mountain and on my way back to the house last weekend I took with my iphone.

Funny thing is.... the picture below was taken when it took me all about 30 minutes to chug along the flat surface next to the river in Vail to get back to Walt's house.  I convinced myself I would look less ridiculous chuggin' along by myself going the pace of a snail if I had a purpose.  PICTURE TAKING!!!!

Girls Night!

Tonight I had a much needed girls night... I am racing against the clock to get today's post in but I think these shots are well worth it....

Kara, Katie (KJ), Mandi and I went to Houlihan's where we slurped down some Long Island Ice Tea Raspberry flavored drink as we waited for 45 minutes to get a table... then enjoyed a two hour long catch up dinner that was much overdue.  Approximately 30 minutes of this dinner consisted of coming up with team names for our upcoming pub crawl which was probably the highlight of the evening.

After dinner, we went over to Mando's house to continue cocktails (well wine...). After we proceeded to break the wine cork...

...We finally got to our favorite part... the drinking of the wine. 

And to give props to my ever so wonderful friends, I captured a candid moment (or as Kara calls it "natural" moment) of the three of them:

Love you girls and had a great time tonight! 

Bride with Butterflies

This afternoon I went with my friend Kristin to get her wedding dress fitted as she nears the big day.

Right before we left, she had come over to me as giddy as a little girl getting to go try on princess dresses saying she had butterflies in her stomach.  Her just saying that gave me goose bumps.  She is a true bride-to-be and I was SO excited to see her dress in person BECAUSE she was so excited to try it on.

I knew immediately I wanted to capture her fitting on camera, but trick was... how can I show her WITHOUT showing the dress. Big Challenge when you keep getting yourself in the background because of the reflection in the mirror, or getting a portion of her dress and have to disregard that picture, but somehow I managed.  I got the beautiful bride-to-be looking ever so naturally beautiful taking it all in as she looked in the mirror.

Canvas On Demand - Save up to 30% off Today

I actually am a fan of CanvasOnDemand on Facebook and in today's mini-feed they are offering up to 30% off your purchase until tonight (1/27) at midnight. 

Enter 60JAN on orders of $200+. Enter 40JAN on orders of $160+. Enter 20JAN on orders of $100+.

What Should I Get Him/Her for Valentine's Day?

The other week, Megan (aka ChasingDavies) suggested an idea for my blog posts.  Ideas for Valentine's Day gifts.  What a great idea.

I feel like every single year V-Day sneaks up on us like we never knew it was coming.  Then come week of Valentine's Day you panic thinking: "What should I get him/her for Valentine's Day?" "Where should we go to dinner?" "Should we just do dinner?" "If we decide let's just do dinner, is he/she secretly going to get me a present and I will be S.O.L with no gift to gift them back?"

With that said I am going to try and dish out some Valentine's Day gift ideas for your loved ones so you can be prepared before V-Day gets here, and avoid crappy gifts you think at the time are a good idea, but then come to realize when they open the gift you have NO IDEA why you thought it was a good gift. Yes, I'm sure we've all been there....

So to kick off the ideas, I used Megan and her hubby Greg as my subjects for tonight's post.  I've seen lots of great hand holding pictures as I sift through the internet trying to find pictures I aspire to be able to take someday. Here is my attempt:

I'm sure you can think of plenty ideas to do with this picture right? Canvas (of course), frame it in a 5x7 frame to put in your bedroom, print a 4x6 and put it in a cool frame for his/her desk.... What other ideas can you think of?

Canvas Deals for Today

Its been a while since I've posted some canvas deals....and since I showed you just how cool the canvas gift idea can really look, I wanted to give you the opportunity to prove yourself to your loved ones with a canvas gift.

Here are the deals I found TODAY.  Please keep in mind these are DAILY deals so will expire by the end of the day.  If you end up forgetting to buy these deals or choose to wait until later, you can always reach out to me directly at lmajor9@gmail.com and I will help you search for a canvas deal when you're ready.

Living Social Deal (It's sent for Kansas City locals, however you can use it even if you don't live in KC)
Shutterfly
One 16x20 Canvas Wall Art ($40) or One 20x30 Canvas Wall Art ($60) only costs $40

 
Groupon Deal (Deal is from Winnipeg, but is an online deal so again can be bought from any location)
44Wide
$69 for a 16"x20" Gallery-Wrapped Canvas Plus Shipping

Also, thought I'd include some other gift ideas since Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  When searching for canvas deals I also stumbled upon this great deal:

Groupon Deal (Deal is from Tallahassee once you reach the site)
$74 for a Customized alphabet Frame from Frame the Alphabet

Stay tuned for tonight's post when I show you another great Valentine's gift featuring Megan from ChasingDavies!!!

Picture Perfect!

Today was the day! I ordered my Mia picture that Matt made me (Walt gave to me for Christmas) from CanvasOnDemand a couple of weeks ago and I finally got it in!!!

I was ecstatic! I couldn't have imagined my picture to look any better than it did.  It was perfect.  Perfect size. Perfect color. Perfect artwork. Perfect gift. 

I highly recommend this PERFECT gift to anyone looking for gift ideas for a friend, significant other, family, especially if they have a pet! Matt did a great job as did CanvasOnDemand with getting it to look PERFECT on a canvas, and Walt did a great job on his present :) 

Mia was trying to figure out if she had a giant twin or not

Lisa Lovin' Vegas

After a fun, but exhausting weekend, I got home and started to brainstorm ideas for my Lisa picture today.  Sorry to say I'm a lazy bum and opted for a picture her and I took together last year in Vegas at our friend Dena's bachelorette party!

I wanted to show this picture because it just goes to show that Lisa and I are two peas in a pod when we get together.  Give us a camera and we'll undoubtedly strike a pose! :)

Love you little Lisa and whoop whoop! Made it to another round!!

P.S. Dress look familiar?  This is the dress she wore in tonight's rose ceremony.  To find out where she got it and other fashion information from "The Bachelor" check out Chasing Davies blog!

Make Good for the Weekend

As I promised, I have come home with, what I think are, great pictures. To make up for my lack of blog posts over the past few days!

This past weekend I went on a couple's ski trip to Vail, Colorado with my boyfriend Walt, and three of his best guy friends from the KU Golf team. It's been four years since I have been skiing so was a little nervous to start off but once I got going I felt much more comfortable.  The best part was everyone kept saying it was the best ski weather Vail has had in two years, PERFECT TIMING.

The first day I had to go home pretty early due to misfitted ski boots (note to self: slim ski boots are NOT meant for me). After getting home I wasn't going to pass on a chance to get a few pictures of the beautiful snow in Vail.

View from the hot tub in the back of the condos

After getting this picture with the sun sneaking in the background, I wanted to see what other photos I could get with that lighting.  This is what I came out with:

To wrap up the weekend of sking, we made our way back to Walt's parent's house in Denver to catch the last round of the Bob Hope Classic where our friend Gary Woodland was leading the tournament.  

While we were watching, I got a candid picture of the boys cheering Gary on! 

And... posing to take a picture with their favorite golfer! 

Props to Walt's mom for the picture idea for this weekend! 

The result... tied for second place.  Gary had an amazing tournament and really showed people what he was made of out there this weekend and from the Denver watch party this weekend, we think he did fantastic and hope more great things lie ahead 

Time for a Vacation

I know what you are all probably thinking... we just had a vacation (or at least I did) for the holidays. However, it IS pretty tough getting back on the horse sometimes and I am dying to ski this year.  It's been two years since I've been, and I made Walt promise we'd make at least one trip to Vail this Winter.  If he opts to go more than once he knows I'm game!

I got my packing done early last night, and got Walt's blessing on what to bring as far as ski gear goes since I ALWAYS either over-pack or under-pack and this time I HAVE to get it right so I don't freeze to death on the mountains.

Onto the more important things, I'm sad to say Mia will not be able to travel with me on our ski trip.  She refuses to take ski lessons and demands to go down blacks and I am simply not that great at skiing yet. After seeing that I was really leaving her behind, Mia thought she'd sneak into my suitcase without me noticing... sneaky little kitty!

On a different note, you will notice two key things for my trip to Vail. Pedialyte & a disposable camera. These are easily explainable... the Pedialyte is a trick I learned from Walt's brother that is supposed to save me from a hangover.  With the high altitude and the fact I KNOW I will have more than one glass of wine on my vacation, this is necessary.  I have tried it before and it works about 40% of the time.

Onto the second item, my disposable camera.  My last small digital camera finally kicked the bucket and I am too cheap right now to buy a new one, for it to just break again in two years, or for a cooler one to come out in a month (you know that always happens when you buy cameras and electronics), therefore I opting for a disposable camera I have had sitting in my junk drawer for over two years. Hope it works when we get on the mountains!!

Lastly, with being on vacation, I will get a little behind on both my daily posts and my training for ChasingDavies Challenge (I will feel the pain next week when I make up for it!!!).  I'm really hoping to get some great pictures this weekend to set me up for the weekend and make it up to you all.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Its a Blizzard... or is it?

This is the SECOND huge snow Kansas City has had in two weeks that has exceeded 7 inches. I have never personally seen it snow so much here, nor have I seen it snow this much when I lived in Oklahoma..... people are calling this a blizzard, however, when I visited Walt for the first time in Denver four years ago, it snowed 3 feet... so I have a hard time believing this is called a blizzard.  Thoughts?

I couldn't help but run outside and snap a quick photo before I got covered in the huge snowflakes falling from thy sky.  Just to give you an idea of what we are dealing with right now, and have been since  2pm today:

Street lamp with huge snowflakes (white spots) landing on the camera.  Wish my camera could see the actual snowflake!! 

Surprise Yourself.

When you finally take a minute to stand still and enjoy yourself, it's kind of crazy how much faster everything around you seems to be moving.

I went to a happy hour on The Plaza and I knew I had to get my picture in for the day and by simply stopping for a moment and snapping a quick picture turned out much cooler than I had expected with all the moving cars.

I found sometimes you will surprise yourself when you are least expecting it.  That's probably one of my favorite things about photography and will keep me motivated through this entire blogging experience.

Right outside of Kona Grill on The Plaza located in Kansas City, MO

Sweet Little Lisa

Good Evening Bachelor Fans!

Tonight was the third episode of The Bachelor and little Lisa made quite the appearance when we saw her practicing martial arts, well sorta.... :)

Any who, for those of you who did or did not watch the show tonight... Lisa M. got another rose! WAHOO! She actually was the THIRD one to get a rose! You go girl!

Today/Tonight's post is for little, sweet Lisa. As you may have noticed, she isn't one of the girls on the show who is talking crap on anyone, looks the other way and tries not to listen when someone IS talking crap about one of her friends (AKA when the girls were talking trash on her good friend Michelle), and also shows genuine concern when other girls are going through a hard time on the show (when Madison walked off during the rose ceremony that was Lisa who asked if she was okay).

As a result, we have silly Lisa:

Lastly, you can find more information on Lisa's style during the Bachelor and more at ChasingDavies and/or follow myself and ChasingDavies on Twitter.

Brrrr.... It's Cold Outside

This weekend I spent A LOT of time indoors, primarily for two key reasons:

1. Its FREEZING here, and just walking our front walkway is an accident waiting to happen because we are too lazy to salt the walkway and/or shovel the walkway (again... its too cold to do anything that productive)
2. I've been going non-stop with my social activities and am completely and utterly exhausted... Burst Dinner at Benton' Steakhouse I mentioned Thursday night, Walt's corporate party in St. Louis, and last night we celebrated little Lisa's 25th birthday! 

All and all it wasn't a productive weekend but it was a heck of a lot of fun! 

In order to keep chugging through with my daily posts I stepped outside momentarily to see if our house had any icicles, sadly it did not since we do not have any gutters I just learned.... HOWEVER, my neighbors DID have some and I was excited to snap a photo of them (and mid-drip I might add).

Meet Ed.

A year and a half ago Lisa and I moved into a cute little neighborhood off the Plaza in Kansas City.

We were welcomed with open arms by our neighbors and especially by Ed.

Ed is a cat.

We quickly learned Ed's owners down the street didn't really give him the love, care, shelter and protection he needed. They also owned another cat Sherman who is pretty much the neighborhood bully cat who Ed is scared to death of.

With that said, Lisa and I would also put out food for Ed after noticing how skinny he was getting.  Ed started showing up at our door every morning and every night when we got home from work which was a sweet little surprise. Lisa immediately thought Ed reminded her of a cartoon, and we both thought he fit nicely with our cozy little family (Lisa, Me, and Mia).

Last Winter his owners convinced us that they took him in when it was freezing outside, but we noticed that they lied.  So THIS Winter, we opted to give Ed shelter for the freezing cold nights. While he is very much so an outdoor cat, he loves having a warm bed and some lovin' just like anyone/anything else.

Ever since the snow hit last Monday he has pretty much turned into our second cat staying inside all day and night to avoid the snow covered ground.  He begs to go out every now and then so we crack the door open for him... but give him 15 minutes and he realizes "HECK NO! Way too cold out here" and comes rushing back to our front porch.

Mia loves him just as much as we do and enjoys the company while we are at work.  After giving her some time, Ed finally cozied up with me and they are best friends.

Today in Kansas City it is currently 27 degrees outside and needless to say Ed has been cuddled up in my bedroom.  With the fact that I am doing the EXACT same thing after a great night with Walt last night in St. Louis, I thought I'd make today's post about Ed and introduce you to him since he is slowly but surely becoming a part of our family.

Mia and Ed "BFF"

P.S. Just to set the record straight because I know Walt would want me to... he does NOT love the idea of having TWO cats, but has been a sweetheart and adjusted well for the time being. Poor guy :)

Why it's Great to Work in Media...

You get amazing desserts that take patience and preparation like so:

Taken at the Benton's Steakhouse in Kansas City, MO

I just wanted to send a friendly reminder that Kanas City isn't THAT BAD.... We have great food with a great atmosphere just like everywhere else.  You just need someone to push you that extra mile to try something new! If you're in town and looking for a great place to visit try Benton's!

After I took this picture, I looked at it several times... It looks like there is someone reaching right out of her pan trying to touch her, kind of creeped me out a little bit. Obviously she has seen this before and is clearly not as scared as I would be with a fire that big two inches from my face.  What a pro! 

Thanks again to our friends at Burst Media for a great dinner last night, all of us at VML greatly appreciate it! 

What a Night, What a Night!

Tonight our friends at Burst Media (Brendan and Kevin) took a group of us to an amazing dinner at Benton's Steakhouse.  The restaurant is located on top of the Westin Hotel in Kansas City in case you are looking for great food and a nice hotel.

Get the drinks flowing with great red wine and there is only fun to be had with my co-workers.

Sure we may or may not have said things that are no to be repeated beyond our dinner friends, but it sure does make for a good laugh when you look back at it.

Thank you to my mom for introducing me to red wine two Thanksgivings ago... My life will never be the same. Love you mom (and not just for the red wine introduction).

This picture is to say the least about how much fun we had tonight... stay tuned for tomorrow's post!

P.S. If you are a red wine lover like me, you should try the King Estate and Erath Wine.... 

100 Mile Challenge

So I know this isn't the artsiest photo you have ever seen, but I wanted to share a little bit more about what's going on with me this January....

A friend of mine Megan, also known as ChasingDavies, is currently running a challenge on her blog for the month of January.

The Goal: Run/Walk 100 miles in January

At the end of the month, we will be running the 5K Groundhog Run  (all underground) for the Children's Therapeutic Learning Center. I got started a little late on the 3rd, seeing as the 1st was definitely not gonna happen after New Year's celebrations, and the 2nd was the last official day of my "holiday break."

To date, I have accomplished 41 of the 100 miles, so 59 miles left to run in 19 days.  I thought this was a great idea, and perfect way to get my butt into gear for the New Year! Are you trying anything new this year to whip yourself into shape?

Something I would recommend if you are looking to try out some new workouts is ZUMBA!!! Megan and I took lots of classes over the past couple of years and its a great workout.  From what I understand it burns 800-1000 calories in one session. This is also highly dependent on your instructor and how many breaks you take of course.... but you should try it out if you are looking for something new to do! I promise you, you will feel and most likely look like a fool, but the laughing at yourself is the best part of it and works those ab muscles!! I am going to try and get back into the swing of Zumba come February after my challenge!

If you are a Kansas City local, I recommend Amore Dance Studio in Overland Park, Kansas.  They used to be based in Westport - Kansas City but sadly moved last year farther away so I can't make it all the way across town in time!!

I wanted to send out a personal THANKS to Kristin J. for assisting me in my running project and Megan for the idea!

Re-Cap From Last Night's Bachelor (Week 2)

Bak again because you missed Lisa on The Bachelor last night for week 2?

Don't fret, I'll give you a breakdown of where you can spot her on last night's episode online.

While she didn't get as much air time as we'd all love to see her get, she did look super cute when we did get to see her.

Part 1: 
2:16, 4:14-4:16, 18:29, 18:39-19:32, 20:00-20:05
Her first on camera interview: 21:04-21:09
Her preggers scene: 22:51-53, 23:10-11, 23:36-24:30
Pool Scene: 33:39, 33:57

Part 2:
Rose Ceremony: 29:57,  30:18-19, 30:44, 30:45, 30:50-30:57

Inside Scoop: All the girls DID get time with Brad and Ali &Roberto although they didn't show it.  Stupid dramatic Melissa and Raichel!!!

Also, to set the record straight, Michelle really isn't CRAZY like they made her seem.  From what I've heard from Lisa, she sounds like a very sweet, funny, kind person.  ABC sure does like to edit :)

Lastly, for additional details on the fashion side of The Bachelor check out ChasingDavies!!!

Would You Rather?

Be in the snowy Kansas City, seven inches deep in snow making snow Angels with me?

Outside my front yard

OR

Outside our room at Rui Palace in Cabo San Lucas, November 2010

In Cabo San Lucas soaking up the rays while all the poor chumps are stuck in the snow?

I was really struggling tonight to get the picture I wanted to show you exactly how much snow we got in Kansas City the past three days.  I went to a local park and got quite a few shots of kids sledding, the empty playground covered in snow, and a tiny 3-year old little girl flying down the hill on her pink sled as her dad chased behind her... but wasn't feeling them tonight.

I tried to convince Lisa it would be a good idea for her to go make a snow angel in our front yard, but she refused.  I don't know why... it was only 8 degrees outside :)  So I opted to make my OWN snow angel.  I bundled up and planted myself in our front yard and swished back and forth like a complete and utter fool.  I hope none of my neighbors drove by and saw my doing this AND hope that my kind neighbors who planted our plants last summer didn't catch me ruining our plants!).

Lisa Lu in Round TWO

Happy Bachelor Monday Everyone!

Watched our lovely Lisa M. on The Bachelor tonight and I wanted her to share her opinion on what she thought about all the Melissa and Raichel drama tonight.  I personally thought they looked like fools, but let's here what she has to say:

"After watching all that drama that aired tonight makes me realize thank God I wasn't involved in it! :)"

I was so excited that it snowed today over 6 inches in Kansas City and knew that I could get lots of great pictures, but I REALLY wanted to get one of Lisa playing in the snow showing her fun little self!!!

  

More Discounts on Canvases

I just saw in my mini-feed on Facebook that CanvasOnDemand is having 20% off your order, ending Thursday, 1/13 at Midnight by entering: SNOWBALL in the promotion code section at checkout

Also, if you want to have CanvasOnDemand updates in Facebook just click here.

Lastly, two more deals you may want to consider:

• There is a Groupon today for CanvasOnDemand for $45 for a 16x20 (worth $126).  This is the exact Groupon I just purchased and used for my Mia picture
• Snapfish is also having a deal with 20% off now through Monday, 1/18 when you enter Canvas20. I used Snapfish's canvas for my Mom's birthday gift this past year and was also a great investment and she loved it! 

Stay tuned for tonight's post on our Lovely Lisa! 

Cold Feet

I will give credit to Lisa for the clever title as I was at a loss for words for tonight's post.

To give a little back story, there is a neighborhood cat named, Edwin, we call him Ed.  Lisa and I learned very quickly that his owners down the street don't take the best of care of him, especially during the Winter. Lisa and I took it upon ourselves to house Ed during the snowy Winter.

Ed got a little stir crazy after being inside all night last night, and was waiting patiently at the door ready to see how much snow fall had hit Kansas City.  Luckily for him, there was maybe 1/2 inch - 1 inch of snow, if that. I LOVE when it snows so was a little disappointed when I learned of this when I opened the door to  let Ed out.

But before Ed got to explore the snow covered block, I looked outside and noticed little, bitty bird feet on our front porch.  I couldn't help but try and get the little bird prints to show you all.

What Else Happened Today?

While Lisa and I were sitting around the house today, not paying much attention to Mia.  Mia took it into her own hands to play with the $5 cube my sister, Katie, gave to her last weekend.  She is oddly obsessed with this cube which I love because there is something to keep her occupied in the middle of the night!

Looking for something similar, try Walgreens, this little distraction is only $4.99

Look Familiar, check out Simon's Cat in "The Box"

Just to put this out there... I really do love my cat Mia, and I promise to all my readers I won't continue to obsessively post about her.  I just wanted to give you a glimpse into my life and what just makes my day sometimes. 

Mia and Me

Really running against the clock on today's blog post.  Today has been a busy day...

My dresser I bought from Target about 2 1/2 years ago has shut its last drawer... I put it together myself and was very proud, however, their furniture cannot handle the large amount of clothes I jam pack into them.  I do not recommend a build it yourself dresser, drawers fall through. With that said, I made a quick and easy trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart and purchased myself a new dresser for only $150 ($163 with tax).  Like it?  I figured it would hold up until I was ready to invest money in a full bedroom makeover when my room wasn't the size of a peanut. 

On another note, I'm sitting at home writing this blog post at 12 a.m. because I went to dinner and movie with my girlfriends.  We saw "Country Strong." I am not one to go see a Country movie, even growing up most of my life in Oklahoma, but I would highly recommend you see it.  Just enough country and actually a great soundtrack. If you are hearing that a Country music soundtrack is good from me... it must be good since I hate twangy Country music and its far from that in my opinion. 

Lastly, onto tonight's post.  I sat figure out which picture I've taken over the past two days I wanted to post, and right as I was doing so Mia, remember her.... plopped herself right onto my lap in front of my computer.  With my camera within reaching distance I decided this was worth capturing and showing you all how much of a true princess she is. She tends to do anything for attention as you can clearly tell.

Based on yesterday's post, I have yet to crack open the book my sister gave me.  I have all intentions of starting it tomorrow, my dresser dilemma took over my day today but it was well worth it! I also started "Knight and Day" last night with Walt but got too late to finish it, but what I can say about that movie is that it is one heck of an action packed movie! I'll let you know what I rate it once we finish the second part of it

It's the Weekend!

All I can say right now is "Thank God it's the weekend!!!" First week back at work after not working for over a week and a half is tougher than you think :)

To start the week off right I hit the ground/treadmill running to catch up on my miles for ChasingDavies 100 mile Challenge for January.  The goal: Run 100 miles in January.  Considering I started two days behind I have been playing catch up all week to get to 25 miles this week.  However, I put in my final run for the week and reached 24, so not bad after not running for two weeks right?

Now that the weekend is upon us I plan to get some R&R.  Walt and I are doing date night tonight and I am doing movie night with my girlfriends tomorrow night.  What lies in between is still TBD...

I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing weekend, I'm going to try my very hardest to get you some great pictures to see!

But for now, this is what I already know my weekend will consist of:

Side Note: My sister sent me the book on the far right, "Forgiving the Unforgivable." I was a little hesitant at first, but coming from her, I'm really going to try and read it this weekend.  I haven't talked to my dad is coming on 4-years and have to see him at her graduation for the 1st time, and needless to say I have some concerns about it....

Plaza Lights

In a sad attempt to capture The Plaza lights before they come down to put an end to the holidays, Walt and I ventured on top of a parking lot to see what kind of picture I could get...

Needless to say, I really need photography lessons AND I really need to book a room at the Intercontinental across from The Plaza on the 15th floor in order to get the kind of picture I was hoping for.

Any who, this is what I accomplished in my pathetic attempt to be artistic tonight.

I do think it's pretty cool how the buildings disappeared and the lights popped, but I was hoping for a bit more of the view. Guess the parking lot doesn't cut it :) Next Christmas Plaza lights I will get you!

Plaza Lights January 2010

Matt Shaw the Designer

For Christmas this past year I told you part of what I gave Walt. Now I want to tell you about his gift to me.

Recently Angela's fiance, Matt Shaw, made an awesome picture of her Italian Greyhound, Carmine.

 Carmine by Matt Shaw

I quickly became obsessed with her picture and was dying to have my own of Mia. Well as it so happens, Walt had asked me what I wanted for Christmas and this was one of the first things that popped into my head!  Walt tracked down Matt Shaw and asked if he would make a picture of Mia for my Christmas gift. Matt said YES! I was SO excited to see the final result. 

Mia by Matt Shaw

I absolutely LOVED it.  Matt was so sweet and altered the background to whatever color I wanted and got it done pretty quickly considering the holiday business and his getting engaged and all :)

If you or someone you know is interested in getting your pet's photo designed, or have another picture in mind, I would highly recommend Matt Shaw.  He gets his work done in a timely manner and for a great deal. To reach him, you can email him at: mshaw8730@gmail.com.  Additional details on getting that perfect gift or decoration for your house:

Price: Negotiable

Timing: Takes about 3 weeks

Requirement: Provide 3 pictures of your pet/subject you would like him to work with and choose from

I plan on using my Groupon from CanvasOnDemand to get mine put on a canvas and so pumped to hang it up in my room!

Again with the Canvases.... Great deal!

CanvasOnDemand & greatBIGCanvas which I mentioned in a previous blog are having a great sale today.

25% off your everything when you use the code: NEWYEAR

The sale ends tonight, January 6th at Midnight.

Happy Shopping! I plan on using this today!!!

Little Mia

Introducing.... my kitty Mia. 
If we did this Mia's way, she would have some grand entrance sitting on a fluffy pink pillow titled princess riding on me as I walk in on all fours. Yep, my cat thinks she owns me, kinda sad but kinda true at times.

Walt, my boyfriend as you may remember, gave me her for our 3 year anniversary after I begged and begged to have a kitten.  She was cuddly, cute, laid back, friendly, and purred her little heart out, and to top it off she was a Calico cat which is my all time favorite (although I found out AFTER I got her they tend to be a bit neurotic).

Now, after having her for over a year, I have learned that having a cat is not as easy as it sounds.  Sure they sleep half the day away and are cute a cuddly and Mia personally looks like a baby rabbit, but when YOU want to sleep, nope try again.  Mia becomes crazy around 5-6 a.m. every morning because she wants to be fed.  This is the smallest cat and the fattest cat EVER. Always wanting to eat, no matter what.

She will walk all over my face, meow, shake my blinds above my head and so on.  In effort to get her out of my room I shut her out and put a towel on the other side of the door.  You would think that would work to muffle her meows and tampering with my door, it doesn't. She pulls the towel aside and sticks her paw under my door and shakes my door until inevitably I roll out of bed and feed her breakfast.

While I have many of stories about her, I'd rather not spill them all now. For now, I'll just leave you with an idea of what its like to really have a cat like mine. I love these Simon cartoons and highly recommend them for hilarious entertainment.

All and all, Mia is my baby kitty and I love her to death and nothing will change that.

Still Looking for a Canvas?

Just a quick note this morning.  I received an email from Living Social featuring today's deal which so happens to be a 16x20 canvas for $39 from Image Canvas.  Visit the site and check it out: https://livingsocial.com/redeem_invite/1798408-lmajor?ref=lnk

I have not used this site directly, but I would assume it would be similar to all the other options out there for a cheaper price (I'm all for the deals these days!!!)

These deals are very similar to Groupon Deals and come daily if you subscribe, they have some pretty good offerings. I recently purchased a 2-hour photography lesson. 


Stay tuned for today's post later this afternoon/evening.

She's Engaged!!!

After waiting her whole life to meet price charming, my good friend Angela Suzanne Hunter found the love of her life, Matt Shaw.

A little over a year ago the two love birds met. As it turned out they had many things in common.  Mutual friends. Their careers in advertising. They lived two miles away from each other. They both love to have fun and they can both put down a Natty Light or two :)

Angela knew he was the one almost instantly.  I just remember hearing her say "I think he's a keeper!"

After hearing multiple stories about him and seeing a picture of this guy I was just dying to meet him.  So one night when I had had a liiiitttle too much to drink and noticed Angela and her man sitting across from me at Kona Grill I decided to send them some drinks.  She waved me on over and off I went.  She introduced me to Matt Shaw (she never referred to him as Matt, always Matt Shaw, which I thought was a term of endearment). After quick slightly intoxicated introductions, I leaned over to Matt Shaw and said in more or less words, he better not hurt my friend in any way or I'd sick my cat Mia on him!! (You will meet Mia tomorrow on my next post). He assured me he would not.

As it turned out, he also found the love of his life and had intentions to marry her!

So he proposed on New Year's Eve, Eve 2010. Long story short, Angela is the hardest person ever to surprise, and Matt Shaw really wanted this to be a surprise.  After playing sick and suggesting they stay in for the evening, Matt was taking out the recycling at Angela's house and started to yell for her to come over  and see something in her dining room.  Matt Shaw is pretty much on the ground trying to look for something as Angela walked into the room.  He slyly looked up and shifted to one knee and told her how much he loved her and wanted her to spend the rest of her life with him. She said YES!!! Angela now has a BEAUTIFUL ring on her left hand and they couldn't be more happy!

So congrats to Angela and Matt Shaw on your engagement.  I love you both very much and wish all the happiness in the world for you!

P.S. Matt Shaw also has his own blog for you to check out it's called LunchBlogKC

The happy couple and Ang's bling! 

Re-Cap From Last Night's Bachelor

For those of you who didn't have the opportunity to watch Lovely Lisa last night, you can catch her online:


Part 1 was the introduction, including meeting with Jenni and Deanna, the two women he did NOT choose his last time around.  It also included all the girls getting out of the limo including Lisa (located at 41:28-41:56) in her ruby heels (P.S. The shoes were just a joke, she switched into her hot little sparkle ones inside you can notice during the rose ceremony).  Just FYI this was not in sequential order based on when they really arrived, according to Lisa they mixed it up a bit....

 Lisa's Ruby Red Shoes

 Being her cute self! 

Also, fun fact, all I REALLY wanted to know when she went on the show was if they watered down the driveway since I noticed every single season (including The Bachelor Pad - yes I watch that one too...).  The answer.... YES. She said they spray it down before tapings occur so keep your eye on that and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Part 2  The girls get their time with Brad. Lisa actually DOES get time with Brad, however, due to editing this portion was not shown during the episode. For the rose ceremony they try and make it seem like she was near the end when she received her rose and kept zooming back to her, but really she wasn't.... ohhh reality TV!!! Gotta love it! 

If you want to zoom just to Lisa's portions here are the majority of the clips based on the timer at the bottom of the screen:
Throughout the Evening: 8:42-8:54 when they watched Brad get his wrist waxed

Throughout the Rose Ceremony multiple zoom ins!!! 24:38-40, 24:48,24:59,25:04, 25:22-23, 25-59 27:07-08, 27:39

She got her rose: 27:17-27:28 She looked so cute and excited!

Celebration making it through the first round, wahoo!!: 33:54

In the season preview that followed the celebration; She gets pushed in the bright green: 35:28-30 and they show another close up at 36:08 by the pool!

Again, you can follow Lisa or Me on Twitter.  While she can't post anything while the show is running, I sure as heck can!  Also, ChasingDavies can keep you up to date on her fashion throughout the show so visit her blog and follow her on Twitter as well!

Check in later tonight and today's main blog post will be posted.... Hint, its a tribute to my good friend Angela Hunter....