Sunday, September 30, 2007

A New 'Do

I got tired of the lighter hair and wanted to go brown again. Ashlee suggested going a little darker than my natural color so I went for it. It came out looking slightly red, which I hadn't expected, but I still like it.

Can you tell the difference?

Before










After

Trauma: Life in the Pet ER

On Thursday night we noticed that the right side of Max's face was looking swollen. We thought maybe he had been stung by a bee or bitten by a spider and that it would go down on it's own. But Friday morning it was worse and by the time we got home from work on Friday night his eye could barely open and it was very pink. We went out to dinner for Lindsay's birthday and when we came back we decided we should take him to the vet. The only one we could find that was open that late was the "Pet ER".

The car trip was traumatic. Lindsay had purchased a "Pet Taxi", which helped in the transport, but Max was moaning and crying and it was breaking my heart to listen to it. Because he got so upset on the way down, both of his eyes were opened wide when we pulled him out of the carrier in the exam room and it was then that we saw the extent of the injury. Whatever was swelling in his cheek was pushing on his eyeball and bulging out through the bottom of his eye socket. Yes, bulging up through his eye socket. I gasped and nearly started crying. This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but you can kind of get the idea.

Max was being very good and brave. I may need to take back all the times I've called him Princess Max.

The doctor finally came in and examined him. He thought Max had probably gotten in a fight and had a wound that was infected, but he couldn't find one. As he was pushing on Max's face to find the wound, he must have pushed too hard because brown goo started pouring out of Max's eye. I couldn't watch it. It made me want to cry again. I guess the good news was that they didn't have to lance it, but the bad news was that Lindsay and I were supposed to try to push out the rest of the goo for the next few days at home.



The doctor left and Max was scared. He jumped off the exam table and onto the bench where I was sitting and tried to hide between me and the wall. We got his drugs and were able to take him home. He's doing much better now.



I told Lindsay that Max got her one night of not muddying up her sheets for her birthday, but I guess he decided to get her a$200 vet bill.

TIVO Catastrophe 2007

September is the best month of the year. Not just because September marks my birthday and the beginning of autumn, but because the new television season starts. I love TV. I get excited during the day about shows I know are coming that night. I re-watch my favorite episodes. I have weekly conversations with people to see what they thought about each episode. I just get "involved".

Thursday night was the night of television I had been looking forward to, even preparing for, since May. My two favorite shows were premiering: Grey's Anatomy and The Office. We had made plans - Jill was coming over and we were all going to order food and be excited and watch. I had stayed up until 2 am the night before finishing season three of Grey's on DVD so it would all be fresh in my mind.

Things did not go as planned.

I got home from work around 7:15 and Lindsay informed me that the "TIVO is wigging out". Uh oh. She continued to mess with it as I gently reminded her that this was a very important night and we only had 30 minutes before it started. She eventually determined that it would be fine, I trusted her judgement, and we left to pickup our food. We got back to the house at 8:15 and decided to start The Office first. We all settled in with our food as Lindsay hit the TIVO button...it froze again. This time we couldn't restart it because then it would stop recording and we were taking small comfort in the fact that both lights were illuminated indicating that two shows were recording.

So for the next 45 minutes all three of us stared at a frozen TIVO menu on a 61 inch TV. And for 45 minutes I got more and more angry. Lindsay said she was afraid I was going to hit her. Of course I wouldn't hit her. Doesn't she know that heavy sighing and the silent treatment are my weapons of choice?

At 9:00 the red lights went out and the TIVO restarted itself. We thought this was a good sign since it had waited until after the shows were over. We were able to pull up The Office and found that it had only recorded up to the point where we tried to start watching. 15 minutes. We got 15 minutes each of two hour-long shows.

Something had to be done. I suggested inviting ourselves over to Carlee's in Layton and Lindsay suggested inviting ourselves over to Danny & Stephanie's in Sugarhouse. There was no way I was going to miss these shows and if that meant inviting myself (and two other people) somewhere and intruding, I was going to do it. We went with the closer option and I sent Danny a text. Steph called me right back and said they were just on their way home to start watching and that we could join them if we wanted. I think she might have been a little surprised when I said we'd be right over. I wasn't messin' around.

It ended up being a fun night and we got to see both of our shows. But why is it that after a month of working perfectly, the TIVO had to break on the night we actually needed it? Why couldn't it have broken on one of the nights we were recording The Pick Up Artist or even The Soup?

As it turns out, it is irrepairable and they are sending a new one. It won't get here until Thursday or Friday so we may need to go old school and set the timer on the VCR this week.

I know I said a DVR/TIVO would change your life but sometimes it will let you down.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

"You wanna be me, but you can't be me..."

This post is brought to you by the Grey's Anatomy Trivia Board Game champion!

That's right, tonight was the official Grey's trivia competition and I rocked it like I knew I would. Brian, Amanda, Lindsay and I cracked open the game (that B & A gave me for my birthday) for the first time. The game started off with Brian spontaneously calling out, "I get Izzie!". We didn't know he had such a strong preference. Amanda was Meredith, Lindsay picked Cristina and I got one of my favs, George.

It was less trivia than I thought it would be and Brian claims I did not win because of skill. I strongly disagree. We were surprised by how easy some of the questions were but there were some tough ones scattered throughout.

I won the first game and after "challenging" Amanda during the second game, I got to switch places with her on the board and ended up winning the second game as well.
I answered some pretty random questions that impressed the competition. I guess it doesn't hurt that Lindsay and I have recently re-watched seasons 1, 2 and over half of season 3 to prepare for the season premiere on Thursday.

Gold Star to whoever can answer all four of these correctly:
1. How long were Addison and Derek married?
2. What is the name of Joe's boyfriend?
3. What was Addison's FULL name before the divorce?
4. What is the name of Joe's bar?

My favorite wrong answer moment went something like this...

Lindsay: "Who claimed Meredith's panties off the bulletin board?"
Brian: "Uhh..."
Everyone: "C'mon! You have to know this one!"
Brian: "Addison."
Me: "No, Addison put them on the board!"
Brian: "Oohhh. My first thought was McFatty. Was it McFatty?"


Stephanie's Trivia: Who am I quoting in the title to this post? That statement was a result of what event?

Monday, September 24, 2007

That's Official


How awesome is it to have friends that feed your obsessions?

I'd say it's pretty awesome.

California Knows How To Party

How was California, you say? Well, I'll tell you...It was fantastic!

Wicked was so great! Lindsay, our sisters and Julie's friend, Audrey, met up for dinner before. After seeing the show I realized I didn't really know the whole story so it was fun to get filled in on the details. Ga-Linda (with a "Ga") or Glinda (the "Ga" is silent), whichever you prefer, was hilarious. Julie and I decided that she was a cross between Elle Woods from Legally Blonde and Mary Katherine from SNL. Over the top, but great. Julie and I also agreed that Elfaba was not as good as we'd hoped. I just wanted her to be better, but it was still so worth it!















On Sunday I hung out with Julie and Audrey. We drove up the Pacific Coast Highway but never actually got to stop on the beach.






Tuesday was Ellen Day! Lindsay and I got up early and drove up to Burbank. As it turns out, we didn't need to go quite so early, so we decided to hit up Denny's for brunch. That's the type of high-class establishment I like to frequent.

We waited in line after line for what seemed like forever. Lindsay's friend Emily and Em's friend Kate came with us. Kate got picked to ask an audience question so we were able to get seated first and in a great spot. The first few guests weren't that exciting but at the end we got to tape a segment with Jamie Foxx. He's hot and very funny. His interview made the day. The first show already aired, but the segment with Jamie Foxx airs on October 3rd. Set your TIVOs!

It's fun to get away for a few days but I always feel like I need to take a day off to recover from my vacation. I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking around Utah until Christmas. My bank account can't handle another trip!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Kourianos Is The New Kanye

Danny's performance of "Stronger" in the San Diego airport was the highlight of the trip on Friday.



I don't know how to rotate the video. If you know how, let me know.

Got Fat?

Yup, I did and do.

I have a confession to make. I went on a business trip on Friday and wore a pair of pants that were 1.5 sizes too small. I couldn't button them. Well, I could have, but I chose not to. I spent the entire day with pants that were safety-pinned together.

Awesome.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

One Year Older and Wiser Too

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday celebrations were very mellow this year, but I loved it. Since I was flying to California on my actual birthday, we decided to celebrate the night before.

A group of us went to dinner at Biaggi's after work and then went back to the house for some delicious ice cream cake - a Howard family classic. Others came just for cake.




Grey's Anatomy Trivia board game! How awesome is that!?














Audrey and Patrick's little boy, Oliver, was a huge hit with the ladies. So adorable!

















Thanks for all of the texts, calls, cards and emails. Natalie was the winner with two texts, a gChat and a Facebook post.

I feel like 25 is going to be the best year yet! (At least I'm hoping so.)

We Have a Winner!

This is my favorite email of the day, brought to you by our very own Cambo.
*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.


Question to Jane*: “Recent polls have shown that a 1/5th of Team 4 employees can’t work on a new client without being told to by a spreadsheet. Why do you think this is?”


Jane*: “I personally believe, that, Team 4 employees, are unable to do so, because uh, some people out there, in our workplace, don’t have spreadsheets, and uh…I believe that our training, like such as, planners and the list people, everywhere, like such as…and, I believe that they should, our training over here in the strategist department should help the strategists, or should help planners and should help the list people and the researchers, so we will be able to build up our proposal, for Silver’s client.”

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Almost Famous

Be sure to check out Ellen tomorrow (Wednesday). The taping we attended today will air tomorrow.

Kate (Emily's friend) got picked to ask an audience question but Ellen never made it to her because the mothers of the Kid Nation kids were too chatty. Regardless, because of Kate we got some pretty sweet seats.

Ellen was standing on our row when she was talking to the second audience member (whose question sucked, btw). We were in the center section to the right of Ellen. I'm sure you'll see Kate. She has blond shoulder length hair and was wearing a blue button-up shirt. Emily was next to her and has short blondish hair, glasses similar to mine and was wearing a black shirt. I was next to Em in a purple shirt and Linds was next to me in a black and white shirt.

Hopefully more than my saggy butt pants and off beat nervous clapping make it on TV this time!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Who thinks of this stuff?

Tonight I had my birthday celebration (since I will be heading out of town tomorrow) and this was the card Lindsay gave me.

It could not have been more perfect.

In case you weren't aware, I love my cat. A lot. I talk about him like he's person. I hate people like me, but I can't help it.

But seriously, who comes up with this stuff?

Small World

My college roommate's husband's sister wrote some books about vampires that are wildly popular. Who knew?!

Life by Numbers

In ONE day I will be 25 years old.
In TWO days I will be dancing through life at WICKED.
In THREE days I will be laying by the pool.
In FOUR days I will be stalking Rob and Big.
In FIVE days I will be chillin' with Ellen DeGeneres.

Now that you mention it, life is good.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Eights

Natalie tagged me a couple weeks ago and I'm finally forcing myself to do it. It's harder than you would think!

8 Things I'm Passionate About
1. Music
2. Finding what it is I'm supposed to do with my life
3. Pop culture/celebrity gossip
4. My cat, Max
5. Self-improvement. Working on the little things.
6. Blizzards - The peanut butter cup variety
7. Finding happiness
8. 2007 or 27

8 Things I want to do before I die
1. Travel the world
2. Learn to play an instrument well
3. Become a morning person
4. Learn photography
5. Get married
6. Learn to swim
7. Meet my potential
8. Live in a big city

8 Things I say often
1. "I'm just sayin'..."
2. "Seriously?"
3. "I heart ____"
4. "Let's be honest"
5. "I love it so much."
6. "Oopsy daisy."
7. "Did you watch ______ last night?"
8. "Too funny."

8 Books I've recently read
1. Eclipse
2. New Moon
3. Twilight
4. A Thousand Splendid Suns
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
6. The Reading Group
7. US Weekly (Every Saturday morning)
8. The Book of Mormon (Cheese-tastic, but true)

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over
1. "Everything" - Michael Buble
2. "Bicycle Tricycle" - Rosie Thomas
3. "Tune Out" - The Format
4. "Ok, It's Alright With Me" - Eric Hutchinson
5. "How to Save a Life" - The Fray
6. "Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey
7. "On My Mind" - Kalai
8. "Lost" - Michael Buble
*This was too hard! There are a lot to choose from.

8 Things that Attract Me to My Best Friends
1. Someone who loves to laugh
2. Someone who is intelligent
3. Someone who is a good listener
4. Someone who has a big heart
5. Someone who doesn't take themselves too seriously
6. Someone who is real
7. Someone who can be serious when the time comes
8. Someone who is loyal

8 things I've learned in the last year
1. Time does, in fact, heal all wounds. Or at least some you felt wouldn't ever heal.
2. I'm a better spender than a saver.
3. A swimsuit isn't necessarily of the devil.
4. Jim loves Pam.
5. I'm willing to suffer through a lot in order to avoid change.
6. I don't give myself enough credit sometimes.
7. I love to see new places.
8. My haircut made me look like a boy and no one bothered to tell me.

Well, there you have it.

170 Calories

Today I drank a non-diet root beer. A&W Root Beer. It was delicious.

Say root beer six times in a row and try to tell me it doesn't get weird.

Monday, September 10, 2007

This is my jam!

The Jamboree Music Festival was fun on Saturday. We didn't get there until almost 5:00 so we missed a few of the bands but made it in time to see everyone I was looking forward to.

We saw The Aquabats (who are possibly the most annoying people ever created), Colbie Caillat, The Format, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Dashboard Confessional.
Those people on the blanket in front of us Lindsay called "the fondlers". As soon as it got dark they were all over each other.

Colbie sounded as good in person as she does on her CD. The video quality is pretty bad because I was so far away, but you get the idea.


The Format were great! I realized I don't know their Dog Problems album as well as I should, but the songs from Interventions and Lullabies were fantastic! They played all of my favorites.

This is my absolute favorite - "Tune Out".


They also played "The First Single". This one is for you Angelique!
(Sorry if you can hear my singing in this one...)


Dashboard finished up the night. I wasn't as impressed as I was when I saw them in Vegas, but it was still good.


There's just something about a large group of people all singing together (in a non-church setting) that I love. It gives me the chills sometimes.


Next up in my fall concert series is Brandi Carlile in Boise and possibly Dashboard and The Plain White T's in SLC. I act like I have a lot of money (which I don't), but really just love live music!

You're No Good

How awful were the VMAs last night?!

Watching Britney was like watching a train wreck. I couldn't take my eyes away.



Quite possibly the worst awards show I've ever seen. Way to "reinvent" the VMAs MTV.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

"Worst idea you could do"

Dear Vanessa Hudgens,
I know you've had some publicity trouble lately so I'd like to offer you some advice. My feelings would be best expressed in a PSA from Ryan the temp.

He may be talking about sex tapes, but I'm pretty sure it applies to naked pictures of yourself too. Think about it.

Love,
Stephanie