Brixey Banter

"Make cupcakes not war"

Hello friends.

The first thing I want to do here is give a big shout out to my old Ikon 5 coworkers! I can't believe you guys still read this silly crap I write about!!! I love you!

Andrea - keep up with the running. It sounds like you are still loving it!

Dan - I just downloaded an entire Citizen Cope cd from Itunes the other day after seeing him on Ellen and thinking of you :)

Ben - a kid? Really? Congrats!

Ryan - I'm glad to hear you are still the same Ryan I know and miss :)

Mike Deak - I miss your sense of humor but I don't miss answering the phone when you weren't around!

And to everyone else I didn't pick out individually, I DO miss you :)

Nextly, ha ha...that's not a word, is it?

The wedding seemed to go on without a hitch. Christie and Mike are now happily married and all of us architect geeks had a nice time enjoying the beauty of Saarinen's chapel. If you read my article last week (hint, hint) you will know that I was doubly admiring the awesomeness of the locale for the nuptials.

The food at the reception was amazing! And, I got an A+ for remembering all 8 of the little girls' names (Christie's nieces). Her family is so beautiful! So many kids! I truly enjoyed spending time with her sisters and Mom. Julie Monroe is an amazing woman.

Christie's dress was exactly perfect for her.

Yes, I realize that my grammar in today's post is pure nonsense. Moving on...

After the wedding, Russ, Lee and myself went out and I should have stopped drinking. I tripped over a curb while running in my beautiful red heels and skinned up my knee (ouch!). In my stupidity, I decided it was a good idea to take my shoes off and therefore ended up stubbing my toe so bad that my toenail is going to fall off.

*GROSSNESS ALERT - SKIP NEXT PARAGRAPH IF GROSSED OUT EASILY*

So when I got home at 11:30 on Sunday night, my right big toe was throbbing SO BAD that I took a look at it and it was all bluish underneath the not quite attached at the end toenail. I ended up having to take a utility knife (couldn't find my No. 11 exacto) laced with triple antibiotics and sliced the skin between the toenail and where it attaches (it was all swollen). All this blood just oozed out like crazy. It took like 3 minutes to get it all cleaned out and not bleeding. Gross. So gross. But now it isn't throbbing anymore!

*GROSSNESS ALERT OVER*

Yesterday, Lisa's parents had a nice lunch at their house so all I had to do is literally skip over across the street for awesome food. Of course, skipping is off the agenda for a while so I gimped over instead. After 3.5 hours visiting, I went home to take a nap and slept a REALLY LONG TIME. Ugh. I'm still tired!

Anyway, I got a new Johnny Cupcakes shirt "Make Cupcakes Not War" and another shirt at a fairy shop. It's a David & Goliath so you know it rocks!

If you want to see wedding pics, you'll have to go to my Facebook page because I am so not ready to sit here for another hour and upload an album on the blog. Sorry!

And I forgot to mention that I got to visit with my mentor and friend, Kendra and Ripley (her doggie). That was nice getting to see her house and her!!

And I want this tshirt because I love zombies!

"I'm glad it's your birthday - Happy birthday to you"

Unemployment Day 25

Why hello there!

Yesterday was my day of running around spending money on Christmas crap. I decided to get a (super early) start on my Christmas projects. I have time and why not? All the Christmas crap at Hobby Lobby was 50% off so I indulged in some interesting items. I will reveal all in a matter of time (i.e. when I am done with current project). Here's a hint what I'm working on...there are owls made of felt on it and it hangs on a door.

Here are the new friends I made... 

I still have to sew them together (I didn't have the right color embroidery thread) and stuff them. I need to name them too! And take a better picture. (I got the idea from a girl on Etsy...more about her work later.)

So I worked on that most of the evening when I got home yesterday. I should have ran...I'm feeling quite rotund. I will be running this afternoon at least!

I also got a haircut yesterday! No more she mullet! I can't tell you how great my neck feels without any hair tickling it! I hate hair on my neck. Yeck.

This morning I dyed my hair a lovely dark brown. Of course, it will probably turn back to red in a couple of days. It always seems to do that. Stupid hair.

Fe comes in early this evening for a coworker's wedding I will be attending with her. It should be fun. We're meeting Colleen for lunch on the Plaza tomorrow before the wedding. I'm going to make Farrah work tonight by helping me decide where my wall decor should go. Woo! Fun times!

I am wanting to make a post about all the cool things I want in life but I guess I'll do that next week. I need to find something to wear to the wedding and will therefore have little time to write a massive post (things I want) today. Oh I assure you...I dream big. And kind of weird.

So I am going to call it a day and go search for something appropriate to wear to a wedding with a reception at a casino. Sweet.

Ciao.

Oh.

Happy Birthday Christie!!!

"I'm glad it's your birthday - Happy birthday to you"

Unemployment Day 25

Why hello there!

Yesterday was my day of running around spending money on Christmas crap. I decided to get a (super early) start on my Christmas projects. I have time and why not? All the Christmas crap at Hobby Lobby was 50% off so I indulged in some interesting items. I will reveal all in a matter of time (i.e. when I am done with current project). Here's a hint what I'm working on...there are owls made of felt on it and it hangs on a door.

Here are the new friends I made... 

I still have to sew them together (I didn't have the right color embroidery thread) and stuff them. I need to name them too! And take a better picture. (I got the idea from a girl on Etsy...more about her work later.)

So I worked on that most of the evening when I got home yesterday. I should have ran...I'm feeling quite rotund. I will be running this afternoon at least!

I also got a haircut yesterday! No more she mullet! I can't tell you how great my neck feels without any hair tickling it! I hate hair on my neck. Yeck.

This morning I dyed my hair a lovely dark brown. Of course, it will probably turn back to red in a couple of days. It always seems to do that. Stupid hair.

Fe comes in early this evening for a coworker's wedding I will be attending with her. It should be fun. We're meeting Colleen for lunch on the Plaza tomorrow before the wedding. I'm going to make Farrah work tonight by helping me decide where my wall decor should go. Woo! Fun times!

I am wanting to make a post about all the cool things I want in life but I guess I'll do that next week. I need to find something to wear to the wedding and will therefore have little time to write a massive post (things I want) today. Oh I assure you...I dream big. And kind of weird.

So I am going to call it a day and go search for something appropriate to wear to a wedding with a reception at a casino. Sweet.

Ciao.

Oh.

Happy Birthday Christie!!!

"Woke up to a world that I am not a part except when I can play its stranger"

Umemployment Day 11

(Post written last night)

So today I took a killer nap. It was such a great nap. Complete with hardcore drooling. Mom called and woke me up. I probably shouldn’t have napped that long anyway.

I had this crazy dream that I was getting engaged. At first, I think the person was supposed to be Adam. Weird. But then he turned into Dale. He had invited a bunch of my friends, including people no longer my friends. He didn’t want me to be upset by that but he thought that they should be there and neither I wanted them there nor did they want to be there. But there they were, Julie and MZ. Dale had picked out this ring for me. At first it looked like a simple platinum band with diamonds around it, which I thought was a strange engagement ring, but then in the dream, because you know how time never matters, he took me to this jewelry store to get symbols laser cut into another ring within the ring so tell the story of our life. It was all very surreal. We were trying to get the engagement party over before some big storm was coming because everyone was parked at the far end of the street. It kind of looked like Dickson Street in Fayetteville (which would make sense if Dale was there) but none of the same stores were along it - it was just the same street with the same hills and streetlights. And no Old Main.

Anyway, it was just weird. I haven’t thought of Dale in ages.

I met Dale my last year of college at a party. I’m pretty sure I had just gotten dumped but it’s hazy now. Nearly ten years have gone by. Dale and I went out a couple of times. I remember he had a little pickup truck. And I remember where he lived although I never went inside. We went out for Chinese once and I can’t remember the name of the place now. I DO remember that I told him he looked like Harry Potter and he made me tell him why. It was because of his black hair and his glasses of course! He was a really fun date.

I had worked at B. Dalton bookstores in the mall all summer. They allowed us to check out hardback books for two weeks without paying for them. All we had to do was take the jacket off the book. I read the three Harry Potters that summer and fall and was completely addicted. (Bet you guys didn’t know what about the B. Dalton/Barnes & Noble peeps, eh?)

Dale did look a lot like a real Harry Potter. And he was tall. I remember that. He had a very animated personality.

You know how you meet people and they seem right for you but it’s just the wrong time and place? That was how it was with Dale. He was such a great person. I’m sure I would have made his life hell in the end. Maybe I did? He had a terrible year the next year. I talked to him via email a few years ago when I lived in Memphis. I hope he’s doing well. I think that in college I wasn’t as aware of other people’s feelings as I am now.

Still strange that I dreamed of him this afternoon.

My last semester in college was probably the best one I had in terms of being less addicted to studio. Funny since it was finally worth 7 credit hours. I mean, not to say that I didn’t spend all of my time there like I had every semester for 9 semesters before because I did let it kick my ass. It just felt more free. We actually indulged in Big Ass Vodka (pints of vodka with a splash of something for $3!!) at JR’s on Wednesday nights and sometimes even went out the night before studio! Sometimes, we even skipped of out studio a tiny bit early and went to Jose’s for swirls. I remember one afternoon Christie and I went to Common Grounds about 2 or so in the afternoon to get lunch and we didn’t leave until probably midnight! I think that afternoon we tried every drink on the menu. We sat right in the front. It was one of the first warm days of spring and they had the garage doors open and that’s where we hung out all afternoon. Every now and then people would walk by and see us there and sit down for a little while. We saw tons of people that day! We probably only ended up spending about $30/each too. Big money back in those days! What a good day though.

I feel like I’ve written about that before. I probably have…4 years is a long time to have a blog without saying the same thing at least once. Or twice.

I also remember one night, while I was dating Reb, early in the spring semester, I left studio late one night. There were fire trucks at Matthew’s house. I couldn’t tell what was going on. It was weird. I went over to Reb’s and there was Matthew. Travis had apparently knocked over a candle and had burned the house down or something like that. Well, nearly. All of Matthew’s clothes were smoky and ruined. It was sad sight. Not Matthew at Reb’s house but the actual burned house and all his belongings. I remember he had this silly little Polaroid camera that developed tiny pictures that didn’t get burned.

After that, Matthew lived with Reb and Sarah. We all got drunk one night so that Reb said Matthew and I could hash out our feelings for each other: Matthew and I, not Reb and I. I wonder if Matt remembers that…what a weird semester for all of us. Me dating one his best friends…I remember asking his permission one night while we were sledding down the hill by his house. Not that it would have mattered. I would have dated Reb anyway. I was head over heels for that boy.

I’ve always said it was pointless to regret anything in life. It will get you nowhere but unhappy. You can only take the things you have done that you feel weren’t your best moments and do better next time. Learn by your mistakes as they say. So there is nothing in life I regret. I can only do better in my future.

In order to cyber celebrate my favorite semester (and year) in college, I present you all with my favorite 5th year drink recipe. It’s a Common Grounds classic that would make Justin laugh at me just because he knew how much we both loved this drink. So, here’s to meeting Dale that year and dreaming about him today. If I could see you now, Dale, I would toast to what a magnificent person you were and probably are now :)

Leapin’ Lizard
½ ounce rum
½ ounce Midori
½ ounce banana Schnapps

Fill pint w/ ice. Pour ingredients.
Fill with pineapple juice and a splash of sweet & sour. Pour into shaker.
Shake well and drink!

Unfortunately, I’m out of Midori and I don’t drink alone. Damn. Have a good night, kids.

Surprise! Simply 30...

What was the big surprise about Farrah's birthday?

A surprise party of course!

Here's how it was SUPPOSED to go:

I was to bake a cheesecake.

After working my 7.5 hour shift at the roller rink, I was going to decorate the cheesecake.

I was supposed to meet Fe and Gus and a small number of people at Murry's for dinner at 8 pm, so she thought.

I took a cab down to The Wine Cellar & Bistro, where earlier this week I had chosen a number of various yummy Hors d'oeuvres.

I decorated the room that the party was in...Guests (about 25 RSVPs) would begin arriving at 7:30.

Shortly before guests started arriving, I would call Fe and Gus and explain that I had gone downtown to get my camera and by golly if my car didn't break down (Gus was in on the plan). Darn! Could they please come and get me to take me to Murry's?

Fe would believe the story because my car is a piece...I had to call early enough because she is perpetually late.

She would come in to the restaurant being completely baffled and we would all yell "Surprise!" and she would be surprised!

We would drink and eat and have fun and end our evening at Shattered getting our drunk on while dancing to retro (80s) music.

Here's how it REALLY went:

I mixed up the cheesecake and right when I was putting it into the oven (well, like 4 minutes after) I realized that I had forgotten a whole 8 oz. of cream cheese (out of 32 ounces in all). The cheesecake puffed up really high, the back fell off and then it collapsed, resembling something like a giant crater with a 1 inch crack in the very center.

I got off work with sore feet, bought a cheesecake at HyVee for $10 (it ended up being awesome) and took a bath when I got home, instead of decorating the imploded cheesecake I had baked.

I took a cab downtown at 6:30 with balloons (helium-ized from my new party hostess job), decorations and myself.

It was beginning to snow...really hard. It was gross.

I decorated while drinking a raspberry champagne (Cava Royale).

Gus texted me and let me know that all of the Jeff City kids had bailed due to nasty weather.

I called Fe. She was sad about my car and said they would get down there.

7:50 p.m. came and no one was there yet.

Fe called again to tell me about how they almost died trying to come pick me up to take me to Murry's because the roads were nasty with lots of snow.

Don and Lesley showed up and I almost wet my pants out of sheer excitement that I wasn't the only one in the room to yell a lame "Surprise" to as Fe entered.

Alexa showed up.

Fe and Gus showed up and she was really surprised!

Misti showed up and that was our party.

Seven whole people for a ton of yummy gourmet food.

Stupid mother nature.

 

Why hello...is it Thursday already??

Ha! I totally forgot to post yesterday! I am beginning to get more and more distracted in my everyday life. Geez.

Yesterday was a pretty busy day at work...although I probably should have worked a little harder. Yeah.

Today at 10 am someone is coming to take my picture for that article I interviewed for a few weeks ago. That should be interesting. The last time I got my picture in the paper I was surrounded by men asking me about myself...that would be nice.

I'm super tired this week...sleep has been something that hasn't been easy to come by this week. So sad. I've been going to bed at a (very) decent hour every night but I haven't been able to really fall asleep for hours. Therefore: tired. Ugh.

Yoga was last night. I really like yoga. It really helps my back...but also kind of hurts, but I figure it's okay to have a little pain.

I am REALLY going to try to go to kickboxing tonight. As many of you know, once I go to something once, I am fine...getting there on my own the first time is really hard for me...I get a little anxious. I'm SUPER anxious about kickboxing because it's going to kick my butt. Hard. I'll probably die of a heart attack from being so lazy for the last few months.

Anyway, the girl came and took my picture. More like about 200 pictures. She was here over an hour. We became friends. She was asking me how you meet people around this town who aren't undergraduates and I honestly couldn't tell her how because I'm lame and have like zero friends in this town. Lame. Oh well.

In other news, I bought a jumprope last night. And some 5 pound dumbbells. I realize that 5 lb. dumbbells don't sound like much but when you have to lug them through the entire mall, believe me, 10 extra pounds of point loaded objects really affects the way you are walking in 3 inch heels.

My landlord came down last night and lit my pilot light. Now me and my kitties are so cozy and warm! It's so nice!! I love having heat when it's 32 degrees outside!

I heard the newest Damien Rice song "9 Crimes" last night on the radio. It is SO good! I love Damien Rice! I can't wait until his new cd comes out in November!

Aaah...better get back to work. We'll see if I chicken out on kickboxing tonight...

*asks magic 8 ball* Will Carrie chicken out on kickboxing tonight? "Can't tell."

What a big load of crap!

Some pub crawl pics:

Hee hee...

He's cooking me dinner tonight :)

A sorta fairytale.

Okay. So you know when you have an absolutely dynamite evening with someone and you just would hate to spoil it by telling everyone because then for some reason you think you are cursing yourself for future fun with this person?

Well, that's how I feel. But you know me...I love to talk (type).

I had an absolutely fabulous time on my date last night. So fabulous that we are going out again on Wednesday night. And to a Mizzou football game on Saturday.

He's a real gentleman, very sweet and very fun to be around. After dinner out, we went to some hole-in-the-wall karaoke bar. I stink, by the way. Anyway, it was so fun because we were the only ones there! We got to sing whatever we wanted and even just had the owner show us how to look up songs to queue them up. We had so much fun! And I actually sang! We danced and laughed and it was just an all around good time.

He opened my car door, brought me flowers when he picked me up and was just super sweet.

:)

I am floating on a cloud today...

new photo album

Bday Photos

party like its 1989

yesterday was seriously one of the laziest days i have ever had.

i stayed at fe's house saturday night and didn't get to my house until about 11:45 am or so. josh and lisa had stayed at the house, but it sure didn't look like it! there was no sign of them at all! crazy!

i took a shower and sat down for a bit to think about lunch...ended up making hot dogs on the grill. they were tasty. alicia called. mom called. i watched the cards vs the royals, bad tv and more bad tv. all day. around 4 pm i went out and got a banana split blizzard. it was my birthday after all and i had no cake.  i started making dinner around 6 pm and realized that i had brown lettuce. since i was making a salad for dinner, i had to go to the store. then i came back home, ate dinner and watched more tv. my highlight was watching desperate housewives. woo hoo!

now i will backtrack.

friday afternoon we all left work aroud 1:15 to go take a look at a project being built here in town...site visit, no hardhat required. then we went out to the par 3 golf course. it was freaking hot and i got a tan. only it was a farmer's tan. how golf is a popular sport, i have no idea. it was hot and boring and i'm not really bad at it. after golf we hung out and hit some balls at the batting cages. i went home and watched the cards play the royals. lisa called and ended up staying at the bride's house so i just stayed up watching tv by myself and talking to venus the cat.

saturday i got a slow start. i ended up having to come up here to work to send mom some drawings and to get my camera battery. i met up with fe to go to kohl's and i think we were there nearly 1.5 hours. we both had $10 off cards so i just bought a headband thingie and a necklace. i wanted to have punk rock natalie portman hair that night. then i just went home and hung out until i got ready to go out.

josh and lisa met up with me and gus and fe for dinner at teller's. yum. cosmopolitans. i had a 10 oz steak on their special and it was fantastic!! yum-mee. we stayed there nearly 3 hours then made our way down to shattered. the dj freakin' sucked. the music sucked. my drinks were awesome. i had a good time but that guy needs to be fired. his "popular" retro songs were all obscure 80s non-hits that like 5 people there knew. it was sad. oh well. amber and her friend jeremy joined up with us there so that was good times...

we stopped by hardees on the way home and although i was starving i didn't eat much...seemed my tummy was a bit upset. however, i took a couple of excedrin before bed and woke up feeling just fine.

here are some pics. please note that i didn't take the time to rid our eyes of redness.