When I grow up, I want to be the Barefoot Contessa.

A few years back, when I started getting interested in cooking, I told my grandmother that when she passed away I wanted her stand mixer. Now, I realize that sounds slightly morbid, but she's big into passing things down and my cousins had already claimed other family "heirlooms." Yes, I consider the KitchenAid to be a family heirloom. First, because I am not interested in her china really. Sorry. And second, because she has a big ole KitchenAid and those bad boys are expensive! Lastly, because she is a fantastic cook so maybe that good luck (butter, grease, whatever) will rub off on me! :)

Anyway, so a few years back I mentioned the stand mixer. And since I am super pumped about holiday baking right now, I asked her to let me borrow it for tonight! woo woo!!!

When I got there, I saw that she had a piece of tape stuck on the back with my name on it. I think that means it's mine, what do you think? :)

It's probably been well over 5 years since she's used it, so it took me a while to get it all cleaned up for use. While I was happy to do the cleaning, I was not so happy that it postponed my baking...

On my list for the holidays so far:

1. Spiced pecans (not exactly baking, but whatev!)
2. Cheddar dill scones by none other than Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa incaseyoudidn'tknow)
3. Chocolate Peppermint Wafers

Now, keep in mind this is just so far. I will be traveling this coming weekend so it seems silly to make more than this right now. I have been dying to try to make scones (Ina makes them often and they look surprisingly easy) so when I saw these on my new favorite blog, cupcakesandcashmere, I decided maybe I should give them a shot! Emily also made the wafers! Unfortunately, tonight I was only able to make the pecans and wafer dough... but I'm excited to make the rest tomorrow! YUM :)

Okay, now it's time to watch the soyouthinkyoucandance finale with my mom! yay! go jakob! (or russell or kathryn i guess) fingers crossed.

The best things happen while you're dancing...

One semester down! 7 more to go! Well, 5 schoolwork semesters so lets say that. 5 sounds way better than 7. And pretty much that's all I have to say about school for now. Unfortunately, the lack of sleep and eating and far too much caffeine stemming from finals week have caught up with my body. I mean, I drank OJ and took vitamins every day. Come on! Oh well, it's just a cold, I'm sure. (And since I know about viruses in depth now I know that my amazing immune system will have me back to 100% in about a week.) Hopefully I'll be feeling much better tomorrow though. I have some time off to enjoy :) Now, here are things I want to do before we go to Iowa for Christmas.

1. Work at the pharmacy here in Jtown... money money money
2. Shadow a hospital pharmacist here....

okay, now the things I actually want to do on my time off:


1. BAKE!!!
2. COOK DINNERS!!!!! ( I have asked for several cookbooks for Christmas and I can't wait to get them!!!)
3. Finish wrapping Christmas presents
4. Watch the SYTYCD finale with my mom!
5. See my friends Ellen and Lauren some more. It makes me so happy to be in the same town with them!
6. Make some canvases, necklaces, headbands, DIY anything and everything...
7. Blog more than once a month.
8. SOOOO many good movies coming out I want to see!



Right now, since I'm feeling crummy I haven't accomplished too much. BUT I did just finish watching my favorite Christmas movie... White Christmas! The music and the dancing and the DRESSES are just fabulous ahhhhhhhhhhh it makes me so happy! Vera-Ellen has the tiniest waist in the world and her legs are such long beautiful sticks! Here are some pictures of my favorite costumes... and a link to my favorite dance scenes from the film.








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZXYYfHICSc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1zk3OsIPus



I hope my fantastic friends Hill, KK and Jacquelyn have a fantastic last week of school! Good luck friends! I love you!

i'm happy. promise.

I'm about to attempt to take a nap after sleeping about 2 hours last night. I took a disaster of a pharmaceutics test this morning. seriously, more material on this one test than any comprehensive final I've ever taken. It's ridiculous. and for our next pharmaceutics test, we'll get to know all of that and more. excellent. cant wait.



What I have learned about pharmacy school, and graduate schools in general thanks to my dear masters and law school boy/girl friends, is that it's really not so much about how difficult the material is. Sure, it's difficult, but that's not so much the issue. It's how much material there is. It's how many tests there are. It's how many papers there are. It's how just when you think you're caught up, you're behind again. It's how after every test you think "oh thank goodness it's over. i can breathe." but it's not. it's not over. it's a test in two days. it's comprehensive finals just around the corner. it's this sometimes overwhelming anxiety stress thing that weighs on you. no time to breathe.



the motivation. the perserverance. sometimes it's just so hard to find.


and all you want to do is relax. right now, i'm dreaming of relaxing. day dreaming. but not in my real dreams like while I sleep. oh no. because those dreams will be about science. or about failing a test. or failing out of school in general. not about getting dressed up at 1013 california with my friends while drinking k's cosmos and then going to get wasabi and drinks. no. i'll dream about science in my real dreams.



biochem exam 4. friday.



fayetteville for the weekend. thank goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



then test the next thursday. see. i'm not kidding.







ps sorry about the whining. but that's kind of what these things are for sometimes, right?



i'm happy to be here. i can't wait to be a pharmacist. $100,000 salary. i wanted to be here. this is a great profession. - okay. happy now :)

.......................... kind of.

where did you go, Fall?

For like maybe 2 days it was perfect, beautiful fall weather. Sunny, crisp mornings and warm-ish afternoons... and now it's just cold. Fayetteville this weekend was so chilly. I think it actually might not be that cold right now, but I haven't gone outside in LR really since I've been back so I'm just going to be mad that it was cold. Oh and so rainy.. so gray. Unacceptable. I can totally understand why people have seasonal affective disorder or whatever its called.

Anyways, I have a test Thursday, so I should be studying, but instead I'm doing this. I saw a girl with this bag earlier today and I'm in love. I actually saw it in a tan color which I prefer. love love it! Since I can't afford it right now, maybe I'll talk my roommate into buying it when she goes shopping in Dallas this weekend. It's too perfect! I think she'd love it. But she just bought a pretty rocking Tory bag, so maybe not..

Anthropologie e-mails get me really excited... usually during class and all I want to do is look and shop and get dressed up and NOT be in class or studying. But moving on. My old roommate Jacquelyn and I have been obsessed with this headband/headwrap thing since last year sometime and I cannot wait to purchase it for this winter! The only question is what color: neutral, pink or navy? navy is like my favorite color right now, but I feel like maybe not navy would be better against my hair, ya know?

I also want some new skinnies... a leather coat and.... way too much more, as always. On another note, I want to show off the fabulous work my family pulled off... this is my new headboard! I love it!

It all looks a little blah from this photo, but that's just bad lighting. The colors are beautiful together. and I love it. Okay, off to be productive! Have a fabulous week all three readers of mine :)

see, this is me avoiding studing. sorry biochem.

this is funny funny funny! the end is the best part. don't skip out early!

http://melodymaker.posterous.com/the-reason-some-girls-stay-single-very-funny

school is not cool.

What am I doing? Studying.

What would I like to be doing? Anything but studying. Honestly, anything. But, this in particular:

Can't wait for Thursday, approximately 2:30 pm. Boyfriend time, Thursday, then friend time Friday. WOO!

i'm alive.

i'm alive. i promise. not like really, really alive... just a little bit alive. making it. but that's about it. schools really not that bad necessarily, it's just the whole not having enough time in the day thing. seriously, i need like two more hours for sleep, five more hours for studying... oh and maybe a few more to, ya know, have a life. i seriously haven't even turned on the tv. it's nuts!!

hopefully i can upload some pictures of our condo soon... it looks GREAT! but, right now i'm off to a picnic. yeah, a picnic. a pharmacy school picnic. which is extra awesome because we had a picnic yesterday too. and we're going to a baseball game thursday. didn't they say we need to be studying??????

RIP Sally Samsung, you will be missed.

The funeral for Sally the Samsung was held today, Friday, August 7th at 2 pm. She was a good Sally. For two years, she lived a strong, sometimes soggy, sometims rough life. AKA she got dropped a lot. sometimes in water. A yet to be named iPhone has taken her place. (WOO) But before the excitement can begin, proper mourning must occur. So, thank you Sally for bein such a good Sally. Rest in Peace... you will be missed. (maybe.)

--Sally--

I won't show you a picture of an iPhone cause you either have one or your best friend does. For real, I am SO pumped!!!!! I wasn't expecting it at all. (Clearly I didn't know Sally was going to give up on me) I just assumed we'd try to bring her back to life or I'd get a cheapo. But, considering I am also in need of a new iPod and my parents ROCK, I got this fabulous thing! Now if only I had time to figure it all out.....

I'M MOVING TOMORROW!!!!!

DawnDawn and I finished my new headboard tonight and it looks so fabulous! I can't get over it! i'm obsessed. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow when it's all set up! The cars/trailer is almost all loaded up! We'll be taking off early in the morning! Yuck. It's sure to be a long day, but I'm still excited. Dawn always tells people that when she and Den moved me into the dorm, they weren't even sad because I was such a b*tch. Moving doesn't exactly put a smile on my face. But, I am very hopeful that tomorrow will work out well and I am going to pray for patience. (Our sermon last week was on patience... doesn't preachers timing sometimes just really make you laugh? ha)

Here's to patience! I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend! Can't believe summer is almost over! :(

My thoughts today..

I love this. Both looks are from Anthropologie! Clearly, I would wear this "masterpiece jumper" without that funky 'do and without the gloves. But, I love it for some reason.

Isn't this a cute photo? Anthropologie, again. Love the outfit! Love the stovepipe jeans and the cape-jacket. I'll take it without the child though. cute, but no thanks.

I love fall clothes!

On another note, let me tell you about my workout schedule this past few weeks.....................................................................................................................

Okay, I'm done. That's right. Nothing. No workout. I miss my Fayetteville schedule.

Once I get moved... once I get moved...

Not Ready

I move this weekend. I start pharmacy school on Monday. A week from today. I am not ready. NOT ready.

These are other thoughts on my mind...

1. I really want a floor mirror for my new room. I like these from West Elm and Pottery Barn, but... yeah can't afford them right now. At Target I found one for like 70 bucks... I'm considering buying it and painting it since finding wood to match my furniture would be tough. Maybe like a metallic bronze-y color? maybe crackley? Or maybe just a fun color? Any thoughts?

--West Elm--

--Pottery Barn--

--Easel Mirror from Target... needs to be painted for sure--

2. I want a haircut. Like a real haircut. I've had this 'do for too long... and I'm considering going short. As in a little above the shoulders short. But GOSH so scary! I really do like my hair now. as it is. long. I don't have to really fix it. I can wear it up, down, straight, curly, wavy, curled, hotrollered... I guess it's perfect for me. But I still want something different. This is the cut I'm into and I've actually been into it for a while now. Probably a year. Still thinking about it..

--jennifer nettles (sugarland) how cute is she?--

--Rachel McAdams from a recent Marie Claire article. When I was trying to find this picture, I came across pictures of her with about a million different 'dos. For real. Blonde, Brown, short, long, spiky, curled, straight... it's nuts! And she looked good in every single one. Bitch. :) I'm kidding. I love her. --

DC, please

So, as you know from my previous posts... I went to D.C. to see one of my best friends, Keeley. We were sorority sisters and close friends in college, but now she's moved on to the big-girl world and she's doing great! We had a blast and it was really, really great seeing her again! We spent a lot of time doing nerdy,touristy stuff, but we also just spent quality friend time doing normal stuff. like going out :)

I got there on Wednesday at like 6 and we immediately went to a Nationals baseball game. Am I a Nationals fan? No. Mets fan? Absolutely not. But am I a fan of the "presidential race?" YES! Abe, Teddy, George and Thomas ran around the ball park during the 7th inning (i think)... Abe won! Real funny! After a long day and night, we just got burgers from Five Guys - delish! The next morning, we went to the American History museum! I really enjoyed it! We looked at Carrie's computer, the First Wives' dresses, Julia Child's kitchen and sooo much more!!

I LOVE CARRIE BRADSHAW! and this is her computer from Sex & the City :)


Considering Julie & Julia is about to come out (and I am obsessed with cooking) this was the perfect time to see her kitchen! They literally moved every square inch of her kitchen into the Smithsonian. It's amazing! They also have certain appliances and stuff surrounding the kitchen and have a dvd of interviews and her cooking show playing nonstop. It's really something special!

As you can see on the opposite wall, she kept her pots and pans hanging on the well on pegboard. What we're looking through in this picture is where her pots would have been hanging. i think her husband marked the wall so she knew what went where. Such a cool system. Cluttered. but cool.

After the museum, we met Keeley's roommate Landon for lunch. btw I lovelovelove Landon! He was a blast! Anyway, we picked up lunch and brought it to his office. His building is right next to the White House. They have a rooftop "terrace" that is PERFECT for lunch! And overlooks the White House lawn (and Sasha & Malia's playhouse). Needless to say, we were really excited about our beautiful view. Too bad the weather had other ideas! It POURED. Sososososo much rain. Thank goodness we had covered tables.

Can you see the White House behind us? It was still really cool!

That night we went to dinner at Matchbox! My favorite restaurant in D.C. If you're ever there, you must go! And, then the next morning we toured the capitol. It was really beautiful..

After our Capitol tour, we went out to Georgetown! There we went to several stores, including Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters...and you've already seen those purchases. Georgetown is the best! I just love it! I especially love Georgetown Cupcake! they were the best we had all trip. (We also went to Red Velvet in DC and Magnolia Bakery in NYC)

This was us on our way to "Town" with Landon. It's a gay bar and it's awesome! Huge tv screens and dance floor... serious dance party-ing. After my first time seeing Landon, he told Keeley I reminded him of Miley Cyrus. Um, yeah, vomit. no thanks. He called me "miley" the entire trip. Honestly don't know if he has called me by my actual name yet. so, this is me being Miley.
"Hey, she's just bein Miley."

Yes, this girl (and I) went to NYC approximately 4 1/2 hours after this priceless photo was taken. Not our best decision, no, not our best.

Overall, we had an excellent trip! We went to some awesome places, but, cheesy as it sounds, it was just really great to be with my friend again! I was scheduled to fly out on Monday at like noon. Too many storms in Dallas changed my plans. I was so stupid. I walked in and saw that the 11 flight to Dallas was postponed and thought "oh, poor people, that stinks" ummmm duh, callie if their flight is delayed, yours is too. idiot. I was already worn out from our trip inside a trip that I was just utterly pooped. Upon learning of my delayed flight, I was actually texting Keeley and she jokingly said "oh don't worry you can just stay another night... or the rest of the week whatever." ha... little did she know... After twenty minutes of standing at the special help desk while the man stared at his computer screen... he said "there is no way to get you home today." Wow. awesome. So, I called Keeley and said "so, for real, can I stay with you another night?" haha it actually worked out well... we got some downtime and just hangout time at her apt. I made them watch the Bachelorette finale (which they hated) and then I was off at 4 am to catch a flight at 6! woohoo! I made it to LR at 9:45, to Jonesboro at 12:30 and we were on the road to Iowa by 1:15! Can you imagine how much i slept in the car? haha I'll try to post about that fun trip tomorrow, but I'm pooped.

On a side note, Jillian, you are an idiot. Ed has bigger boobs than you do. And, he wears shorter shorts than you do. It almost doesn't even matter how HOT and PERFECT Reid and Kiptyn are... there was just no excuse for choosing Ed. You suck.

I hope you all had fabulous weekends! Only one more week in J-town! AHHHHH!!!! scary!

NYC!!! Warning: way too many pictures

This is Keeley showing off our fabulous bus...

The night before our trip to NYC we went out... went to bed at about 3:30, woke up at 6:30... hence, this god-awful picture. truly embarrassing, but I had to do it.

NYC is truly beautiful. These views are around every corner.

Saturday night, we met my fabulous friend Jonathan Parkey for dinner/drinks! I was soooo excited to see him! We did theater together in high school, but I haven't seen him much since because he went off to the theater department at the university of michigan! he is so incredibly talented... as an actor of course, but also just overall. he has great style, is probably smarter than me and is so incredibly fun and nice. It was great catching up with him and hearing how grown up his life is! Our dinner made me so happy and he made me so proud! Oh, and he looked amazing! I forgot to take a picture, so I stole a headshot off his facebook haha don't kill me! He said I should come live there with him in 4 years and practice pharmacy, but also I could try to write articles for magazines on the side... won't happen, but gosh, wouldn't that be fabulous! here is my superhot friend!

Hey j.lo! Her 40th b-day party was next door to our hotel in the Edison Ballrooml! Of course we had to stop on the gold carpet to take a picture..

hahahaha in Keeley's copy of this the asian couple to the left is actually laughing at me. Clearly she doesn't know I'm making fun of her.

If you haven't been to the City lately, you may not know, but the street is actually blocked off in Times Square so there is no traffic. It's pretty stinkin' awesome! And, there are some tables and chairs set up that anyone can hang out in. They also have these giant, giant stairs... at first we were laughing about them, but then we thought we should probably see what it was all about! This is the view we got... soooo many people. and it was so strangely peaceful! we were shocked.

These are the goofy stairs we sat on haha, see how the peaceful-ness was surprising?

St. Patrick's Cathedral... truly beautiful

We decided to take the Staten Island Ferry! best.decision.ever.

Apparently the captain and his crew thought we were pretty cute... We were just standing on the front observing/taking pictures and keeley got tapped on the shoulder by a boy. A pretty attractive boy, I might add. (sorry boyfriend) He asked if we wanted to come up to the Captain's deck. I wasnt really paying attention and was incredibly confused/scared/is this a good idea?/is this safe? but Keeley said YES without hesitation so we went! Very good decision! Great view and they were all super nice! The boy who came to get us was SO Joey Tribbiani from Friends! his name was actually Nick, but he was from Long Island, slick black hair, attractive, told us he hoped to see us later (yeah in a city of millions, that'll happen buddy) and the best part... he told us to be watching for him on tv "cause that's my next stop" hahahaha doubtful, Nick! but he was cute! And he took this great picture:

This isn't Nick, this is the Captain... John. But here we are in the Captain's Deck. They let us drive so... beware if you ever board the ferry! ha! They said yesterday Tobey Maguire and his daughter came up there and she drove! I bet we were disappointing!

hey manhattan!

Cental Park is my favorite.

I would like to live here. In this house. With those fabulous plants.