I want to be a cowgirl!

Warning: Random late Sunday night thoughts to follow.

Have you ever wanted to try doing something radically different from that which you are currently doing? I mean, you liked what you were doing but thought to yourself: "Self, what would it be like if you did ___ or ___ ?

I recently stumbled upon a new and fun blog and while checking out all the interesting things I found there, I started to think. It's okay to be shocked and worried by this, the proper authorities have been notified and future activities are being closely monitored.

It all starts with the fact that I am a city girl. I was raised in a seriously suburban neighborhood, within a pretty modern city, located in relatively progressive, mostly left wing and often eyebrow raising state. I like freeways, the beach, shopping (obviously), unique foods, the swift city pace, museums, movies, bookstores, and lots of different kinds of people. Now while none of these things are bad, reading about The Pioneer Woman's life on her ranch in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma made me think about what it would be like to live that kind of life...and I think I could do it, or at least it would be fun to try it.

But I mustn't get ahead of myself, such a change will require a little bit of preparation.

To do list:

• Find some fabulous, but functional, boots
• Hat, definitely, def-definitely need a hat
• Get a few more horseback riding lessons in...
• Find a ranch that is looking for a girl who is willing to exchange her homemaking/cooking skills for some experience living and working on a ranch.

Yup, better go check Google, and the want ads...

The healing power of ice cream

It is a simple fact that some days require the healing power of ice cream...today was one of those days.

So I took myself off to one of the houses of retail worship in search of a cure for a lousy day, and fell prey to one of my new obsessions.

Fleur De Sel Caramel Ice Cream

I know, at first glance salted caramel ice cream may seem like an iffy choice, but once you try it...there is no going back. I would even go so far as to say that this ice cream could- quite possibly- have magical powers. Scoff if you must, but I believe!

Try it. Your taste buds will thank you!

A shopaholic on the subject of Valentine's Day

As soon as Valentine's day products go out in stores we have all been given a not so subtle reminder that we need to start thinking about the Valentine's Day gift, or gifts, we need to find. Some of these gifts are for sweethearts, some for beloved little ones, and some are for our friends and loved ones that may not have sweethearts of their very own.

Now this lady is great about serving up fabulous gift ideas, but today I have a gift suggestion of my very own...

Do you have single friends?

Do you worry that they are lonely, especially during this Valentine's season?

Are you a single person, who feels unsettled when you go to sleep at night all alone in your home?

Well if any, or all, of these statements apply to you then I have the perfect solution to all your problems!

Wait for it.........

The "Hug Me Pillow"!

Ooooh!

Ahhhh!

The Hug Me pillow is made of 100% polyester, dry clean only, and the microfiber shirt is incredibly soft and conveniently machine washable. :)

Best of all, in addition to being the perfect snuggling companion, the Hug Me pillow provides comfort as well as piece of mind. (Muffled giggling)

So this Valentine's day when you are trying to decide on the perfect gift for your poor single friends, consider the Hug Me pillow - and give them the gift of hugs and snuggles long after February 14th has passed.

And Happy Valentine's day to you all!


Kisses!


Note: The Hug Me pillow can be found on overstock.com (if you need a laugh check out the product reviews)

Are you ready for some football?

I love the Super Bowl!

Not because I harbor a passionate love of the game, have a deeply personal investment in the teams playing, or want to channel the power and greatness of my favorite team players by wearing my "game day" jersey. Oh no, I love the Super Bowl party.

Last year my roommates and I decided to have a little get together for the Super Bowl and it was so much fun that I had an epiphany, I thought to myself: "Self, this must be why the Super Bowl is so popular!" We invite our friends over, eat lots of yummy (fat and calorie free of course) food, and scream at the magic box with the moving pictures on it - what's not to like?

So, this year, following my new tradition, we had a Super Bowl party. My roommates, sisters, brother in-law, and friends came over and we dined on popular Super Bowl foods: walking taco dip (also known as seven layer dip), bacon wrapped Lil' Smokies in barbecue/grape jelly sauce, veggies and ranch dip, and baked potatoes with all kinds of toppings ranging from chili to steamed veggies. Then for dessert...a giant chocolate rice krispie treat in the shape of a football!

Now, I ask you: does that say Super Bowl or what?

So, as I cleaned up the mess and washed the mountain of dishes that were a by-product of said fabulous party, I heaved a little sigh of understanding. The Super Bowl isn't about the game or the players, the jersey's or the crowds, the touchdowns or the calls - what the Super Bowl is really about is the fun you have while you completely ignore the game!

Okay, I can explain...

Finding fun stuff to entertain myself with on Sunday is always a little interesting, so today when I heard that there was a CES fireside tonight where President Monson was going to be speaking, I thought to myself: "Self, going to listen to the Prophet speak would be a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon." So the fireside started at 6pm so we went over at 4pm so as to have the best possible chance of a non-nosebleed seats. Well, when approaching the Marriot Center we saw a crowd of people heading in, so we just went on in with them. While walking around to the side we wanted to sit on we beheld through the windows a HUGE line of people and we realized that the group of people we came in with was the choir and that we weren't really supposed to be in there yet.

At this point the four of us were faced with the age old quandary - do we go back outside...into the cold...to the wait, or do we stay inside...in the warm building and hide out in the bathroom for a half an hour until everyone else comes in. Ya, we chose warmth. Well as soon as we heard the din of voices in coming from the entrance at 4:30pm we exited the ladies room and made a mad dash for the closest seats we could get. We ended up in the third row of the stadium seats.

This is a pretty small picture but this was our view - we were less than 100 ft. away from the podium.

(From left to right) Alyse, Me, Jessica and Elyse

Me and Elyse - so tender! We had time to kill since we were an hour and a half early.

The fireside was really great, and our adventure to get into it was just a bonus. All in all a pretty great Sunday that we topped off with pancakes, yummy!

Hide and go...WHAT?!

So I couldn't sleep, and as I lay in bed trying to go to sleep I remembered something that I wanted to post about. Well, no time like the present, this one is for you Ash.

Last week my parents, my sister Phyllis (her real name is Emily but we all call her Phyllis...it's a long story) and my brother Eric were in town because they were here dropping Phyllis, our little BYU student, off at school. Along with my immediate family, and the other members of the family who are here full time, one of my uncles and his family were here so Grama decided that we would all have dinner together, all 28 of us. Whoa, family togetherness!

We had a lot of fun making dinner, finding places to sit and eat our dinner, mocking the people who made the dinner funky, and then cleaning up dinner. Afterward a bunch of the cousins went downstairs to play cards. Now here I must explain that our family on my mom's side is split up in an interesting way: my mom is the oldest of six children, three girls then a space and then three boys. So given that my mom and my aunts are a little older than my uncles they all got married and had kids long before my uncles got married and started families of their own. So the result is half of the cousins being in the 18-30 range and the other half being in the 3-15 range. FUN!

ANYWAY, we decided to play "Spoons" and my silly, silly brother in-law decided it would be fun for the first person to take a spoon to then throw the rest across the room and watch the resulting melee as the other players grappled for their own spoon. Well in a moment of hyperactive chaos I dubbed our new game "hide and go spoon". Well the minute it was out of my mouth I clapped my hand over my mouth and looked to see if anyone else had noticed. After a moment of stunned silence, the five of us over the age of 15 looked at each other and just died laughing. Me and my mouth! The five younger ones thought we had all gone totally mental but I will say this - I will never be able to think of playing "Spoons" the same way ever again!

A Blessed New Arrival!

Happy New Year to you all!

I hope your holidays were safe, happy and above all totally fabulous.

Well I have some news...over the Christmas holiday my little family was blessed with a few new additions...

I have wanted a Food Processor for soooooo long! Yay!

A Jessica Simpson purse - the picture really does not do it justice! It is brown faux crocodile with gold buckles and zippers. Ooh so pretty!

And, in case you didn't notice, the pies de resistance...

Pretty, pretty snake shoes! And on sale too. Oh, I am so happy!

Needless to say -this material girl is very happy but sadly, due to the cataclysmic amount of snow we have had of late, the pretty snake shoes may have to wait for drier weather conditions. Have I mentioned that I am not the biggest fan of snow?

All in all Christmas and New Years were quite loverly. My parents were driving my younger sister Phyllis out here for school, so that visit continued even when I was back in Utah. And then, to add to the family I already have here, my uncle Todd and his family were here for a visit from Washington so I got to see cousins I haven't seen in a long time. So fun!

So as we start into this new year may we all remember to try a little harder, love a little more, and to treat ourselves from time to time with a new purse of some new shoes - or whatever you like to treat yourself with if shoes and purses aren't your thing. (CRAZY!)