January 2010

My January consisted of blistery cold weather and a lot of exercising and eating better. I did manage to find beauty all around when I looked though. Mission accomplished. Goodbye January, see ya in 2011. (Isn't it weird when you think about it like that?) Bring on the month of love.

You say it's your birthday..

Over the weekend we celebrated Bonnie's Birthday. (Happy Birthday Bon!) We had a yummy lunch, and then just talked and laughed. It was such a fun day. For part of Bonnie's gift I gave her this picture of Ella, I had taken awhile ago.

I didn't get too many pictures of the adults, and Ella was sleeping most of the time, but I did manage to get a few of London..

Thanks to everyone for making it such a fun Saturday. We really do have great friends. (And thanks to Bob for smoking up some seriously yummy food.)

La de dah

Do you ever hear a song that makes you stop and it seems like the gate in your head comes down and the memories come pouring in? Like whenever I hear "I Only Have Eyes For You" I think of Bob. That's our song, it's the song we danced to at our wedding. Or when I hear "Hands Down" by Dashboard, I instantly think about how that was the first song Bob ever sang for me. Or with "Waiting on an Angel" by Ben Harper, I always think of my first boyfriend.

It's weird, I will be sitting in the car and a song will come on, and I will suddenly be thinking of an ex-boyfriend, and be totally confused as to why, until I realize what I am humming along to on the radio.

My friend Holli and I used to sing a song from Moulin Rouge whenever we would get in the car together. Or when I hear the sweater song, my mind jolts me into remembering when I was sixteen years old sitting in my cousin's room hearing it for the first time, and then after, being in love with Rivers Cuomo, and The Weeze.

Or when I would deliver batteries with my dad we would sing at the top of our lungs "Sixteen Tons". Or going camping with my brother and wearing out the Beastie Boys CD.

Songs are a powerful thing. I still can't listen to Sarah Mclachlan's song "Stupid". It brings back bad memories.

This got me thinking if I could have one song that when people heard it, they thought of me. What would it be? I decided my criteria would be that I would want it to be fun, a classic, and it would make people happy. So I decided on "My Girl" by The Temptations. It was the song my dad and I danced to at my wedding, and I cannot hear it without being filled with glee. It's also my go to song on the jukebox.

So what would your song be?

Random little list..

a few things that are on my mind..

01. i am getting mighty sick of this cold, dreary weather. though, i did appreciate the blue sky i saw from my window a couple days ago.

02. been working out about 4 times a week, i feel really good, but am tired all the time.

03. i have been contemplating cutting my hair short lately. but then i will hear someone say how much they miss having long hair, and i chicken out.

04. i can tell eating healthy makes my body feel better, but why does so much of the healthy food have to be so bland? kashi.. i'm talking to you.

05. the month of january is always busy, but it's the month that i feel most like staying at home and curling up lazily. (i am convinced if i hibernated, this would be the month i would do it.)

06. my birthday is less than a month away, meaning i am turning 27. twenty seven? when did that happen? and if i'm getting older, how come all i want to do lately is go to disneyland?

07. speaking of birthday's.. there are quite a few this month.. happy birthday to all of you january babies.

08. last night i grilled some garlic, and ooh ee, it still smells in my apartment. (am putting that on the list of things to avoid grilling in a small space.)

09. am getting excited for some awesome smoked steaks, and crab legs tomorrow with friends. dieting is a whole lot easier when my husband makes everything taste better by putting it in his smoker.

10. my life seems pretty boring right now, so you will have to excuse me if i don't blog every day.. it would just consist of me telling you about my work and exercising, and no one wants to hear about that.

Nature Walk

On Saturday after my workout, I decided I wanted to cool down by taking a walk around my neighborhood, and decided while I was out, I would take some pictures. There's something very calming about finding the beauty in things you pass daily. I was surprised to see that even in this drab January weather, there were spots of color that caught my eye.

Burgers and Art

Friday consisted of an awesome art show that included one of my awesome friends and some really tasty "Madden Burgers". After a week of diet and exercise I needed a little greasy food. I'm bad, I know. We ended the night with a movie. I love weekends like these. (thanks to eric for providing the pictures.)

Give-a-way Winner..

Wow, I have funny friends. I have learned a lot about all of you this week. I have also learned that Bob doesn't even like Tina Fey. When I came home from work one day last week we had a conversation that went something like this..

(Bob) "I don't like Tina Fey."

(Cat) "Oh I thought you said she was cute when we were watching Baby Mama."

(Bob) "I don't remember, I guess she's okay, but I definitely wouldn't rank her as one of my favorites, and she's definitely not in the same league as Jessica Biel." "Caity, come on it's Jessica Biel.".. now if you were going to put Cobie Smulders or Amanda Peet in the race, I might have a tougher time deciding."

That's when I walked away.

Anyway onto the winner of the give-a-way..

Congrats to Melissa! You have won a set of three of my 5x5 holga prints and a donation in your name to the Haiti relief. (I was going to buy a gift card to go along with this give-a-way, and then realized with all that's happening in Haiti, maybe a donation in the winners name might be a little more appropriate.)

Thanks to everyone who commented and made this week so fun. A couple of comments that had me laughing out loud were..

The VIPs said...
Christian Bale ala Newsies. Do I still get butterflies when I watch the new batman movies? Why yes, yes I do.

P.S. said...
Oh Ryan Reynolds why did you have to marry that whore? It's just too sad to even look at him anymore. But I guess that would still be my pick. Can't beat the wit+hot body package.

Heather said...
Shakira....her hips don't lie he says.

Bonnie said...
Gosh I love Tina fey! I practically have a crush on her! Jon's crush is Mandy Moore ... Weird. And Matt Damon... Even weirder.

melissa said...
That would be way too dangerous. I wouldn't want to have to go back to the real thing the next day. Plus, talk about having to explain to your husband the next day why the "hot bod" is gone!

MisterE said...
I used to get that kid from the final destination movie, devin sawa. Now I look like someone who ate him.

katiekimmcdermott said...
I always get Lucy Liu obviously even though I don't really think I look like her at all. Except the Asian thing.... Also, when the "When You Were Young" music video came out from the Killers there is an Asian girl that I got asked like 50 times if I was her.... Basically any Asian actress/model/any random person always looks like me to someone. But you know, all "my people" look alike. :)

Slight change of plan..

I will announce the give-a-way winner Monday. {Hey what better way to celebrate a holiday?} This gives everyone a chance to comment once on each of the five posts from this week to increase your chances of winning. You have until Sunday @ midnight. {mountain time}

Have a good weekend. See you back here Monday.

Look-a-like

Have you ever been told you look like a celebrity?

I get this a lot.. "Hey, you look like the girl from that 70's show." (I don't see it, it must be the red hair.)

Celebrity Switch

If you could look like a celebrity for a day who would it be?

Kate Beckinsale, she's gorgeous.

Crushes your crush crushes on..

What celebrity does your significant other have a thang for?

Bob digs Jessica Biel and Tina Fey.

List of Five

Name your list of five. Just a silly list of celebrities that you find most attractive, most alluring, most dynamic.

I think it's harmless and fun to have celebrities that you think are attractive and interesting. So in the name of fun, I am listing the five celebrities that I wouldn't mind {if I were single} being placed on a deserted island with..

1. Andy Roddick (Super cute, and I am a sucker for tennis players.)

2. Jared Leto (Ever since I saw him on My So Called Life, he's had my sixteen year old heart.)

3. Jack Johnson (I find musicians extremely attractive.)


4. Ryan Reynolds (Funny, and his physique? Um hello?)

5. Daniel Craig (My favorite Bond of all time.)

(Honorable mention goes to Paul Newman circa 1967)

Now I want to hear your "list of five".. (and none of this "But Caitlin, I'm married, I only think my husband or wife is attractive." This is just for fun, nothing serious.)

Childhood Celebrity Crush..

The other day I was watching one of my favorite talk shows and Christian Slater was her guest. Oh how the memories came flooding back.


Christian Slater was the guy I "crushed on" when I was younger. He was always the first celebrity I would talk about at sleep-overs. He was the coolest. His hair, his bad boy attitude, his voice. And I was obsessed with this show.

Sure I had the fleeting crushes of Jonathan Taylor Thomas.. or better known to people from my age group.. JTT. And Andrew Keegan. But Christian Slater always had my heart. This got me really interested in who every one's childhood crush was.

So please indulge me and share which celebrity's pictures you had adorned on your walls or shrieking to your friends about.

So here's the skinny..

It's January, I'm bored. It's cold outside, and I just feel blah. Y'know? So here's what I'm going to do to entertain myself and hopefully entertain some of you..

Next week I am posing five celebrity oriented questions. (one per day) Just for fun, and everyone always has an opinion about celebrities, so I figure no one will be at a loss for a comment. At the end of the week I will take every one's comments (you can comment once on each five posts) and pick one winner who will get a special prize to brighten your January. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to play along. (Even if I don't know you.)

I think in these cold, dreary months we need something fun to do. So starting Monday the give-a-way week will start. And Friday night I will reveal who the winner is.

Have a good weekend, and I'll see you back here Monday.

January Schmanuary

January. January. The month of cold, dreary weather. Don't get me wrong. I like the snow. I like seeing it in the valley. It's pretty. But come January is hazy and cold, with little snow. And plenty of frost on the windshields, from the icy winds.

Needless to say, it's not my favorite month. The excitement of the holidays have passed, and now it's just cold, cold, cold. There's not enough sun for my liking and that sometimes puts me in a sour mood.

So to get me out of my grouchy January funk, I am turning to photography. (I was inspired by this cute blog.) At the end of every month I will post a couple pictures that remind me of that month. That way, I can get out there and explore the beautiful things January has to offer. So play along if you like. I always love seeing photography through other's eyes. (above is an example of what December might look like.)

Communication is key..

{I should preface this story with the fact that this was during a special time of month. And I was weepy and cranky.}

A couple nights ago my friend came over to workout with me. After we were finished, Bob had made us a healthy dinner and we were all talking. Well at one point he complimented my friend by saying that she was an excellent communicator. After she left, we had a conversation that went something like this..

(Bob) "Caity, do you want to watch this show with me?"

(Cat) **pouty silent treatment**

(Bob) "Caity, are you giving me the silent treatment?"

(Cat) "No." (still pouting)

(Bob) "Cait, what's wrong?"

(Cat) "You didn't say I was an excellent communicator."

(Bob) "Well that's just implied. You are the best communicator."

(Cat) "Really?"

(Bob) "Yep, and you're pretty."

That Bob, is one smart guy. {And let's all just ignore the fact that the silent treatment might not be the best form of communication.}

Happy Twenty Ten

At first we didn't know what we were going to do for New Years. We thought about the Gallivan Center's party. We thought about renting a movie and just chillaxing. Instead we got to hang out with Bob's brother Mike, and my friend Kristen. And suddenly it became a mini party at Casa Selle.

We started out with some yummy food at Macaroni Grill. Where we saw some very interesting outfit choices. (ie: see-through pants at the table next to us)

Then we headed back to our apartment to play games and ring in the new year. Somewhere in the mix, we all decided we were going to pull an all-nighter. We decided to play a game of Truth or Dare that included dressing up in bizarre clothing, pounding our chests and yelling like Tarzan out on the balcony. (Our neighbors were quite entertained by that one.) Bob slow dancing with the scary yellow doll, Kristen having to dance with no music, and me chugging almost a whole Full Throttle energy drink.

We played a game of Cranium (I was surrounded by cheaters) and then decided to watch Dick Clark. I forgot that I had paused it during the commercial, so we were counting down a minute late. We watched the fireworks from the Gallivan Center on our balcony and thought it was weird they were doing them 45 seconds early. Until finally it dawned on me we were ringing in New Years a bit late. (I know, not real bright.)

We banged on pots and pans, and snapped pictures. Then drove around downtown trying to stay awake. (We split up and did a photo scavenger hunt.)

After a while we got so tired, I'm not even sure what we were doing. But we made it to 5 am, and then we all crashed.

The night was hysterical, and a great way to ring in the new year. The next day I felt like a zombie, and I quickly realized I'm not 19 anymore.

Traditions

Everyone has New Years traditions. In fact it's a holiday that has an abundance. From kissing at midnight, to raising your glasses in a toast at the new year. Fireworks, and banging on pots and pans have always been a favorite at my parents home.

Well after getting married I realized I would have to expand my horizons on the traditions. Add new ones and tweak old ones. Usually Bob and I see eye to eye. But this year when Bob's brother came to visit over New Years I saw how the Selle brothers display their holiday spirit and witnessed their tradition..

After watching the fireworks and banging on pots and pans we sat back and watched the intriguing and might I say barbaric ritual of the spoon slapping.

What? You haven't heard of it? But it's seems so logical to ring in the new year with spoon shaped welts on various places all over your body.

You start with two opponents..

They then take turns hitting each other with plastic and wooden spoons as hard as they can muster until one of them says they want to stop..

And fun is had by all. Or at least that's what they tell me. I passed on this specific tradition this year. I'm just not sure if this is what that guy from the Fiddler on the Roof was singing about.