Small Things.

You know when something bad happens and you freak out about it a little bit and another person it affects doesn't really freak out much even though you know they should really be upset too? Well if you know me at all, usually I am the person freaking out and someone else is the one trying to talk some sense into me.

And here's a story about one of those times.

Yesterday at work, right about 15 minutes before I was supposed to walk out the door to go to a yoga class, I realized that I had ordered the wrong forms for something that needed to be mailed out by TODAY. I talked to my work BFF (who is responsible for ordering said forms) and she started calling around to find out where we could get some.

Well they were sold out online. So instead of yoga, we walked to the closest Staples store (about 2 miles - still needed that exercise!). Well they were sold out. So we walked back to the office and started calling around. We found a store about 6 miles away that had them in stock. Which is like a lifetime in Alexandria, Virginia. And instead of that being the end of the road for my coworker, she offered to go along for the ride with me.

Stop and think about that for a second. It was already almost 7:00PM on a Monday night. I'm sure she could think of 453356093840958 better things to be doing. I know I sure could.

So we went. We got the forms. We started our trek back home.

When we were pulling out of the Staples parking lot, I said outloud "I am so mad at myself." And my coworker turned her head to look at me really quick. She said, "Well, why?" I replied, "Because I wasted all this time tonight because I told you to order the wrong thing. And I wasted your time too." She said, "Well you can be mad at yourself, but will that make you feel any better?"

And the truth was it wouldn't. It would only make me feel worse.

She said, "Well then quit being mad. No sense in it."

And I thought for a minute, because I was still mad. I said, "How do I get over it?" And she said, "Well, you just do. Just forget it ever happened."

So I did just that. And, with her help (and one glass of red wine upon arrival home), I salvaged what was left of my evening.

So what I'm trying to say here is, you should be this person every once in awhile. You should surprise someone with a kind gesture. It was probably so small to her to give up another hour or so of her evening to help me out, but to me it was huge! And since we are honest with each other, if it were her that was responsible and therefore SHE was the one going to Staples, I'm not sure I would have offered to go.

But that's changed now.

You never know what impact you have on someone, but you just have to know deep down that they appreciate it - no matter how they show it.

I look up to this woman. I respect her. I learn so much from her.

And I really hope she rubs off on me a little bit before she retires in 29 days.

Lots of Weddings and a Baby!

So on New Year's, I put on Facebook that 2012 holds many exciting things for us. But, really, it's other peoples' news this year that has us ready to pee our proverbial pants.

First thing's first. My sister, who has been engaged since her 24th birthday - and in that time I've gotten engaged AND married AND America elected a black president, has FINALLY SET A DATE for her wedding. But wait, yinz. It gets better.

Her WEDDING is going to be in LAS VEGAS!!!! AND! I get to be the maid of honor! I prefer to call it the Best Lady, though, because really I guess I'm a matron since I'm married, but GOSH THAT SOUNDS TERRIBLE. AND! I get to plan her bridal shower. She didn't want one at first for understandable reasons but come on. When am I ever going to get to be Best Lady again? Never, that's when.

As if that's not enough for one year...

Drum Roll Please.....

......

Come July, yinz can call me at Auntie Morgan!

That's right! My lovely sister-in-law is pregnant with my first niece/nephew (NOT TO MENTION Zach's brother's CHILD)! We aren't sure what it is yet - but I'm going with girl. She has already been blessed with the best little boy in the world.

So anyway - this year has the ingredients to make it the best. Not only is my sister getting married, we have very close family friends who are getting married too. And Zach's college friend. And my internet friend - who I met on the internet. And in real life.

Happy 2012! The end.

Texas is a GREAT State.

Okay, fasten your seatbelts, people. Shit is about to get real.

During my visit in San Antonio, Meghann took me to this place called Midnight Rodeo. It had nothing to do with bull riding, or horse poop, or hay bails. It had everything to do with cowboys, line dancing, cheap beer, and some solid entertainment. Best people-watching of my whole life.

Midnight Rodeo is a really interesting concept. It's a circular dance floor with a bar in the middle. Actually, there are 6 bars in Midnight Rodeo, 5 around the outside edges of the bar and one big one in the middle. Imagine if you will a skating rink, only with line dancing. People line dance in a circular motion while others people watch in the center. And take in the, er, sights.

And I'm sorry all of these videos are sideways. It took me an hour to get them to this point. And we all know how much patience I have.

Here is what it looks like during an average country song:




And that's all well and fine.

But every so often they play a song that there is a choreographed dance that everyone seems to know (except us):



I'm sorry but this guy's dance moves were hilarious. I promise we were laughing with him, I swear. Does that sound convincing?

BUT THEN! The other kind of music they play at the Midnight Rodeo is RAP MUSIC. These following videos are the opposite of what I expected to see at the Midnight Rodeo. But was just as happy that we did.

Watch Red Suspenders.





And again...



We LOVED this guy. He asked Meghann to share her videos of him. He had a business card and everything.

If you can't tell by the laughter in the foreground of the videos, we had THE BEST time that night. The words "best night of life" even escaped my lips. But Meghann reminded me how sad that actually was, so I quickly came up with a mental list of other "best" nights of my life that perhaps weren't so pathetic. There were arguably two, maybe three.

Just kidding.

I think.

And even though line dancing (or rap dancing?) as a pastime is a little out there, all I could think to myself was that when I was this guy's age, I hope I'm having just as much fun on a Friday night at 11PM. And if nothing else, everyone at Midnight Rodeo had one thing in common that night. We were all having a GREAT time.

San Antonio Highlights in Photos

1. Bike riding along the River Walk and through the streets of San Antonio.2. Drinks at the Esquire Tavern. If you go to San Antonio - don't miss this.3. Rudy's BBQ! This joint is attached to a gas station. But don't let that (or these photos!) steer you wrong! They give you half a loaf of white bread with you meat (which they sell by the pound!)! Exclamation Point!

4. Drinking (free) beer out of styrofoam cups!
5. Margaritas for lunch! (And dinner!)

6. (More than one) festive Mexican restaurant!
7. Daily walks with The Bun. Here is her daycare:
8. The Alamo!
9. A tree growing out the side of a building along the River Walk!
10. Edward Steves Homestead Tour. Did I ever mention I love house tours?
Meghann calls this one: "Band Photo"
And, yes, Jared's shirt says "Bacon is Meat Candy".

11. Live Music (and Texas wine) at The Cove. Sung by this good-looking man.So those are the photo highlights. I have some video highlights from our visit at the line dancing bar and other memories to share, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

If you ever have the chance to visit San Antonio, you should. And if you have friends as good as Meghann and Jared in any city, you should go there. Immediately. It's funny how much you think you miss friends until you spend time with them and realize you missed them so much more. I had the most gracious hosts during my trip. Couldn't have asked for a better time.

$20 TV Console Makeover!

Well it was more than $20.00. But I only paid $20.00 for a solid wood "low-boy" TV console. Considering we already had the sander, sand paper, and Kilz, all I had to pay for was the paint. I think that was about $15.00.

Let me show you what I did.

First, I bought this piece of furniture at a thrift store in my hometown of Monongahela, Pennsylvania when I was home over Veteran's Day weekend in my mom's living room in all of it's cell phone photo glory.

Then, I stripped it. Sort of. You see - the day I was supposed to strip it my Mother-in-Law was all, "You have to do it today, it's the last nice day this year!" and even though I knew she was right (as mothers always are), I really didn't feel like doing it. So I hate to admit the truth - I half-assed it. Spoiler Alert: Luckily for me, it worked out okay in the end.Then, I used some Kilz and sealed it. Twice.

Then, I painted it. Twice. We used Sherwin Williams Super Paint in Still Water. I heart it.
As you can see, at this point my project moved into the house because, you know, it was freezing cold outside (and mothers are always right).

And then!

Zach put the doors back on for me because at this point I was really over the whole project. But also very very glad I did it. And the right side doors don't open at all anymore (because I primed twice and painted twice ... I thought I was being patient and doing it right, but turns out I should have given in to my impatience and maybe only did one coat of each.)

It sits much higher than the old TV stand that I conned some man into buying sold at the low low price of $15.00 on Craig's List did. The new one makes our TV look HUGE! Which Zach really likes.

And then I used a real camera to take photos of the finished product!Side Story: I was so excited that the TV stand sold for $15.00 and Zach, feeding my fire, said "What are you going to buy with it?" And without even a thought, I said, "Probably beer." He laughed really hard, but I'm on vacation in Texas as we speak so what else do you spend $15.00 on when you are on vacation? Margaritas, that's what.

So anyway, here are a few more photos:


Pretty, right?

Pin-spirations from my House Details Pinboard

I heart Pinterest. It's a virtual pinboard for all of your favorite things. Browse hundreds of thousands of photos (pins) and post them to your pinboards for inspiration. It's eye-candy for home improvement wannabes like me. And eye-candy for everything else you could ever think of (wedding details, recipes, fitness inspiration, travel destinations - you name it).

Here are some of my most favorite Pin-spirations. Things I intend on implementing in our home. One day.

Porch Wall Bar:

(source)

Framed Fabric Wall Art:

(source)

Crate Book Shelf:

(source)

Suitcase Nightstand:

(source)

Just a few of my favorites. From one of my pinboards. I have moooore.

This Weekend!

So this weekend Zach and his friend are going to a video game convention or something like that. I don't really like calling it a convention because that implies business casual clothes and stuffy conversation. (And even though I'm pretty sure Zach already has his outfits planned, I know they won't include collars or khakis.) This is more of a "fun" day where he can nerd out and for once be surrounded by people who understand it all.

So with most of my girlfriends spread across the United States (and most of whom I'll be seeing within the next 1.5 months!), I find myself with nothing to do on Saturday. I imagine it will include lots of bad television and probably a lot of full garbage bags.

That's right - I have big plans for our closets. I also have big plans for the entire series of Sex and the City. It makes me giggly just thinking about it.

And as geeked as I am at the prospect of not having to leave the house at all this weekend, there are three good reasons why I will:

1. Zach and I are going to enjoy the high-50's degree weather on Saturday before the convention and go for a little run.
2. I am going to an exercise class with a coworker on Saturday evening.
3. STEELER PLAYOFF FOOTBALL! I'm heading downtown to a friend's house to catch the game on Sunday night. And I will cheer against Tim Tebow for the first time all season. Go Steeeeeelers!

So there you have it. How this lonely gal will spend her weekend.