Ladies and Gentlemen...

...you heard it here first, I am burned out.

All I can think about when I am at work is what I need to do for my trip and all I can think about while I am getting ready for my trip are the things I need to do at work. I love my job and I love what I do but I am starting to think this "big girl", "real world" thing is way overrated. Let's face it, real life has started. Apparently it started a year and a half ago and I'm just now getting that to sink in.

I just need a break from grown up world.

Maybe next week I can live crazy and young where no one knows me. That way I won't have to explain myself to anyone about anything. Yep, we're gonna live it up in Europe. That is if I don't fall asleep first.

Side note: I keep buying songs that I hear on the radio that are relating to my current state of craziness and attitude but keep leaving my iPod at home. Everyday I think about how much encouragement I could be getting from my pink little musical friend and how it is sitting alone on the dining room table. Scratch that, it isn't alone. It has my cat to keep it company, on my dining room table. There's another problem I need to try and fix. Is there such a thing as cat obedience school?

She's making vintage fabulous.

What an absolutely beautiful day! I love the beginning of fall in Oklahoma, it's like what summer should be (and probably is everywhere else up North). This weekend was reserved for deep cleaning the house and doing laundry in preparation for our trip. So far we have done nothing of the sort.

Last night we spent the evening at The Wedge eating delicious pizza with Keith, Meagan and Zach and playing poker at our house late into the night. I also stopped by a new store that one of my co-workers had heard about, Mister Rabbit.

 

A lot of the vintage stores here in Oklahoma City FEEL old. Mister Rabbit is in a gorgeous little old house next to Cuppies and Joe and has some of the best vintage furniture and clothes and it doesn't feel like you are "antiquing". The owner, Keri, was so friendly and I hope her store thrives down here! This is Keri by the way, modeling one of the awesome headbands she sells. (And check out that fabulous turquoise wall. The girl has style.)

I can't wait to go back to pick up some of the things I saw! Like the yellow Lacoste cardigan on the model by the front door...I may be going back sooner than I thought! All of the photos came from Mister Rabbit's Facebook page with permission from Keri. Please stop by her store and check out her great stuff, but not the sweater I want. You can't have that.

I attended a tea-party baby shower for a college friend today. Her baby was born 6 weeks early and is one of the most precious little baby girls I have ever seen. Mandy even painted her little finger nails for the occasion.

The Alice & Wonderland image just seemed appropriate since we were talking about vintage things earlier. Makes me smile too.

Now I am listening to Paul try and fix our broken, thumping dryer. That's one of the reasons laundry isn't being done and I'm getting a bit antsy because doing laundry means we're leaving soon! We're spending the afternoon at Mesta Festa (our neighborhood's large block party that happens every year at our park) where I plan to eat a fabulous taco and then hopefully were going to the zoo tonight. Maybe I can convince a giraffe to come close and then I can pet it and knock it off the list. Keep your fingers crossed, mine will be!

my crazy is showing

I'm the kind of person that has thoughts that jump all over the place. Have you ever seen this guy? He makes me laugh a lot. The way he describes women's brains - it's like he studied mine for years. P.S. The video is 10 minutes long, but worth it.

Did you enjoy that? I've seen it before and I still laughed.

I had a couple of major "jumping all over the place" moments today. One of my favorites occurred on my commute home just a little bit ago (I saw a lot of birds at the intersection by my house). Start scene:

Lots of birds.
Lots of birds in the fall at dusk.
Scary movie-esque.
Edgar Alan Poe's The Raven
Raven Symone
What happened to that girl?
Disney Channel
Orlando 2012?

Whoa. Did you just have an aneurysm? I'm sorry for my crazy. It tends to show a lot.

miscellaneous

Today was the best way to start "Fall" EVER. The day was absolutely beautiful.

I wish I could say the same for my stress level. My job is stressful. I probably tend to make it a little more stressful than it could be (not because I exaggerate but because I am passionate about it) and find myself regularly wanting to lay down under my desk with a coloring book like I used to do at my dad's office. No wonder I wanted to be a designer, it was so easy when I was five and coloring.

All I can think about is Europe. What we are going to do, where we are going to eat, what I am going to wear, how early I am going to wake up, how late were going to stay out and which trains were going to take as we make our way through three countries. I am officially excited. Seven more days of work and then I am out of here.  It's OK to be jealous a little bit.

Off to call the momma to make plans for the birthday weekend! Ta-ta for now!

State Fair 2009

This year was all about trying things with the camera and eating my funnel cake. Ya know, the important things in life.

 

embarrasment

Ok, I have these white silk capris that I love wearing. They are super cute and comfortable however they have the worst zipper in the world. They zip up in the back and two years ago, the zipper started catching really easily and it was hard to get them zipped up or down. Two years ago, I was wearing them at work (my old job) and could not get them to unzip and I had to pee so bad I thought I might just have to go on myself and then sit in the stall for the rest of the day until everyone went home for the day and my pants had dried. I was mortified but if I didn't get someone's help I was literally going to lose it.

So I asked all of my female coworkers to try and unzip them for me (I was wearing the skimpiest underwear I own so it wouldn't show through the pants) but none of them could get it down. So I was down to my last option. I had to have Cody unzip my pants so I could pee. Super embarrassing.

That should have been enough to keep me from wearing them again right? Wrong. Now however, I rarely wear underwear because the pants really do show everything and today I could not get them to zip up and there were two women waiting to use the bathroom! I prayed, hard, that I could zip them up and not have to ask for help because I would then, inevitably, have to off myself shortly after.

So now you're going to get rid of them right? That's the crazy thing! I'm still debating keeping them! I'm nuts. Absolutely nuts.

chills make me smile

Today, the weather made my chest hurt. Which is a good thing. I love fall. All day long I heard "oh this weather is so depressing" and "I wish I didn't sit next to a window today" and I thought are these people nuts?! It wasn't cold out today but it was cloudy and damp and every time I looked out the window a huge smile came across my face. All I wanted to do this afternoon was go shopping for sweaters, scarves and boots.

A few weeks ago when we went shopping everyone had fall clothes out. And as much as I love fall, I still had a summer trip coming up and was not ready to buy jackets and orange. Plus it was 90 something degrees outside when we were there. But a week later my fall officially started (the morning we left for Michigan). I went to get my hair cut before heading out and was early for my appointment and decided to run next door for a coffee at Starbucks. And wouldn't ya know, that little chalk board sent from heaven read "Pumpkin Spice Latte". Yes, please. Since then, fall has been non-existent around here until today. Well unfortunately for my husband, the urge to go shopping took over after work but it was the weathers fault! I got drapes for the bedroom that I need to install tonight and a new sweater and necklace.

Oh how I love fall. Have I mentioned that?

ordinary life: to blog or not to blog?

As I was washing my hair this morning, I started thinking about what "dramatize the ordinary" was and is and should be. I'm not just talking about this blog but the idea in general. I think so often I overlook so much of my life. At least the "ordinary" parts. I'm tired have having ordinary parts; nothing in life should be that way. Why can't everything, including hair washing and driving to work, be special?

I think my original hope was that this blog would reflect that.

Just recently my brother-in-law mentioned that blogging is again the "cool" thing (i.e. the new Xanga) but that people are posting about what he considered nothing ("like what their children eat and stuff"). Some out there, especially the mommy blog community, and not all of them (trust me, not all of them), fall subject to that.

I feel like I am part of that community and I don’t even have children. So far, I feel like this site has been all over the place jumping from my 100 list to my agenda and back to more frivolous things like passion tea lemonade and shoes. I love having this site and started it more than a year ago but just recently got a fire lit underneath myself to write. However, now that it is the "in" and "cool" thing I look like I am just jumping off the next fad cliff. I want to post things people want to read but one of the main focuses of dramatizing the ordinary is writing about the nothing sometimes. I feel like I rarely write about anything with substance and I think that sometimes I am trying too hard to avoid certain topics. Maybe I need to be more specific with my posting, maybe not. If I bore you, I'm sorry but you could just move on and read something else.

Home Alone

with nothing to do. But ya know, I'm OK with that. Today has been a busy day but it's been good. Got Paul off to Columbus, went to church, had lunch with some girlfriends, had a Dr. Seuss baby shower complete with turquoise feathers and red and white lanterns, grocery shopped and made fruit salad. Now I'm just debating what to have for dinner.

The baby shower was for one of the girls in our church class, Tara. She and her husband just moved here a few months ago but have fit right in with everyone! She is a week away from her due date and neither one of them knows the sex of their baby. In fact, her new doctor (here in OKC) doesn't even know. She loves the idea of being surprised but can't wait to find out if its a boy or a girl. She finds the idea "old fashioned" and thinks there is so little in this world to be surprised about that this was one thing she wanted to be shocked by.

 

Live on the Plaza

Yesterday evening I finished the artwork I was putting together for the mom-to-be that I am hosting the baby shower for and then had an impromptu Chinese dinner with Paul (where I convinced him to go fabric shopping with me). I found the perfect fabrics for my shoe bags and then felt it was only fair to finish the evening doing what he wanted to do. I mean, I did just drag the guy through a fabric store with the strangest ladies in OKC in tow (you know what I am talking about). So we made a stop to get a new map of Amsterdam and then headed to Live on the Plaza where we drank great coffee and felt the pulse of that area come alive once the sun set.

This area is starting to thrive with art galleries, coffee shops and stores. Monday through Friday Paul is in charge of working with the people in this area and therefore we know all sorts of people when we head down there. I found a couple of things I loved and am excited to go back in January to see one of our friends art being showcased at DNA. The coffee kicked me into high gear which got me moving at home but on nothing productive, just my shoe bags. Which are done. I will make hundreds of them if people want them. I love them. So, no french pressed coffee after eight for Christa again because I am pretty sure it was a full hot bath and benadryl later that I finally fell asleep at 2 am.

Found and borrowed the photo from Collected Thread's website.

creative play

How vintage Hollywood is this?! I have a ton of projects that I should probably complete before moving on to the more frivolous ones but I am seriously considering jumping past them (the more seriously needed items) in order to make some of these shoe bags for travel. Are they not the most gorgeous things you have ever seen? Betz White shows you how to make them here. Turns out one of my favorite blogs is featuring this item too!

 

Paul is out of town this weekend and I was hoping for some quiet evenings at home, watching whatever movie I wanted, maybe eating ice cream out of the container but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

A) I am back on the weight loss wagon. At the beginning of this year I got on the scale and about had a fit. For those of you that don't know me, I am not one of those girls that is skinny but pretends to be overweight and claims they need to loose weight. My senior year of high school, I gained a lot of weight and since then have struggled to be at a good spot. I have yo-yoed all over the place but this year was going to be different. By April I had lost 20 pounds. Since April I have gained 10 back. So it looks like eating ice cream out of the carton is off of the list. 20 pounds to go. I can seriously do this by the end of the year if I just stay on top of it (yea, I know..."that's what she said").

B) I am going to probably be so swamped with things to do the entire time Paul is gone that I won't have time to pop in a movie. Saturday will be a busy day helping Paul get packed up and getting the house tidied. Paul is also on the board for the Oklahoma University of Michigan Alumni group and there is a football game watch party being hosted at our local fav, Iguana, that we also will be attending. Then he is off and I am going to spend time at the office, help host a baby shower, attend a neighborhood potluck and repaint the front porch, maybe get drapes in the bedroom and make myself some bags for my shoes. I may have to go fabric shopping before because I'm just not quite sure if my huge stash of fabric will cover it. I also want to get a new rug for the bathroom and organize our cabinets in the kitchen. I am already tired thinking about it but very excited.

Paul and I rarely travel without each other yet. However, once a year since we've gotten together, Paul goes to a national conference leaving me at home for anywhere from 3-5 days. As much as my previous post still stands, I enjoy those 3-5 days being at home (especially since I have started my job and I don't have the 'me' time at home before he gets off work that I used to get). I'll miss him, but hooray for doing what I want when I want and not having to coordinate with someone first. Happy weekend!

Refrigerator Organization Love

I want these. Badly. I want to attach a magnet to the back and I want to hang them on my fridge. I mean, I really really want them. (This is a hint to the boy to either get them for my birthday or to go ahead and prompt me to get them now...)

yea, one of those moments

So today I had one of those "whoa" moments. Ya know, where it is powerful enough that the word actually comes out of your mouth? I had one of those.

Paul left for work this morning as I was just starting to get ready (how our mornings have been going lately) and I thought about the fact that I am married. That was a "whoa" in of itself but Paul and I have been married for three and a half years and we've known each other for five. For all of you that are out there that have been together with someone for that long (or longer), you probably get it. Time has flown by, and for five years I have been with this one guy who I want to be with forever. Not once have I gotten tired of him, or not wanted to see him or needed anything else, that deserves a "whoa". Next year, I plan to write the same post and the year after that as well. I hope to write it at least once every year from now until I can't write anymore. Whoa.

Holland the hometown, not the Motherland.

This past weekend was one of those vacation/breaks that I needed. I mean needed. Friday morning we had breakfast at our favorite bakery and ran all around town seeing my brother-in-law's new office and meeting the baby and picking up t-shirts. It was such a "typical" start to the vacation, checking in with everyone first, but it was relaxing and it helped us to get the weekend moving. We shopped, we laid out in the sun, we laughed until it hurt over smores and watched the most amazing sunset over Lake Michigan on the boat. There were moments where I could have stopped time and sat right there forever. With that sunset, or at that fire, or even on that dock enjoying the sun and conversation. But time moved on, and here we are at home. Enjoying our time here. I love it here. It is so hard to describe why I love Holland so much but why I'm not ready to be there. It's hard to even describe Holland, MI to people who haven't been there and haven't been there during the "on" season. I love seeing our family and our friends and the local shopping is great and there is just this "community" feeling that resonates through everything that breathes in that area. So why do we shrug and shy-ly smile at the "when are you moving back to Holland" questions? Why is it so hard to know the answer to that question? I don't think we are ready to go back. I don't think I want to go back right now. We really do have a fabulous life in Oklahoma City. And it's sort of "our" thing. Maybe we won't go back. Maybe we will. We don't have a plan. I like that there is no plan. Lets see how long we can go without a plan, shall we? 

PS - the Motherland is 25 days away.

day two continued

Don't kid yourself, there will probably be more tomorrow too.

 (Great)-Grandma Dood with Ava.

My niece, Ava Rose.

Hanging out after dinner.

 

 Ava Rose

Sunset over Lake Michigan

Sunset and Big Red over Lake Michigan

day one / day two

DeBoer Bakkerij

Butch's Dry Dock for lunch.

 

Raspberry Sorbetto at Kilwin's

 

Farmer's Market

 

Farmer's Market

 

Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market Flowers

 

Watermelon on the pier for breakfast.

we have arrived.

To our destination. Not to that final place in life that we are trying to get at and achieve. Just in Michigan, which right now, this morning, feels like that final place.

Our first flight arrived early in Detroit and I hoped that it was a good sign for the remainder of the evening but I was wrong. Our final 30 minute flight from Detroit to GR was late which is so frustrating when you are so close. However, by the time we took off (which was when we were supposed to be landing) we flew into the most beautiful sunset. Probably the best sunset I have ever seen and I would have missed it if we had already landed and been driving down M-6. We had a good drive into Holland with our friend Jon and I love how relaxed and himself my husband becomes when hes around. Windows down in the car, taking in the cool air was a good way to end the evening.

I am excited for the morning to begin but need to get up and showered and moving in order to get it rolling. Tons of pictures to come I am sure.  

teal flats, gelato and sunsets - a perfect evening

I know I've posted about Market C before but after reading Jeremy & Kathleen's blog today, I/we got inspired to visit and pick something up for dessert. So after dinner and some quick shoe shopping we stopped by for gelato. We sat out front sharing our cappuccino flavored dessert and I kept kicking myself for not having our camera. It was such a perfect, beautiful evening and I could have nabbed some gorgeous shots. But I didn't.

Planners Anonymous

Hi, my name is Christa, and I am an incessant planner.

Sometimes.

I was born to organize and make lists. I sometimes feel that maybe that is my purpose in life. To stay organized, to make lists and to keep myself and the people I am going through life with on track. Yep. It might very well be my purpose.

But like I said before, only sometimes. There are few things that I don’t want to have control over, but they are actually some of the biggest things. Travel is one of the biggest ones that I really want nothing to do with, other than to show up when I am told. Paul buys the plane tickets, schedules our drives, books our hotels, finds restaurants and stores and then tells me where we are going and gives me options of things to do. It is fabulous. For example, I know we are going to Europe and I know roughly where we will be most of the time but everything else, to me, is all ‘minor details’. With every trip, however, comes packing which must, and I mean must, include a list. I go over every outfit that I might wear and why and when and if the weather is right and then write out my outfit for everyday I’ll be gone. Shirt, pants and shoes for Monday? Check. Tuesday? Check. I then take that list and transform it into a larger packing list that includes everything down to the jewelry and shampoo that needs to be in my bag. We aren’t talking about a scrawly handwritten list on the back of a receipt here, oh no, we’re talking about the most organized list, on a nice clean white piece of paper with the total packing list, the to-do list of items before we go and any other list that might be needed. Call Betsy to have her pick us up, paint toe nails, make sure Paul cuts his hair, and change the kitty litter. Can you imagine (if I didn’t have a list) how easy it would be to forget some of these things?!

I make lists for my job. I make lists of things to do around the house. I make weekly meal plans and shopping lists that are organized and stylish. I also LOVE calendars. Starting the school year was beyond delightful for me because I got to buy a planner. I think about formatting and check boxes and where to get them on the Windows character map. I know what you are thinking, this is sick. Like, I should go see a doctor about OCD, but I really am not. My desk and my house seem to always be dirty; there are plenty of things on the lists that don’t get done so there is nothing OCD about me. But there is something so simple, so planned and so organized about lists and calendars that give me chills. I may go into the business of making planners and list pads that all coordinate. Hmmmm.

In other news, I am thinking about going to get my master’s degree next fall. Depends on if Paul gets himself moving on the PhD road or not. More to come later.

In better, again unrelated news, we are going to be in the 76 degree Michigan weather in two days!