Favorite Commercials

I think most commercials are super annoying, but these few have a special place in my heart.

My "lala land" world.

"What the french, toast?"

"Pickle you, Kumquat"

"Who are you calling a lint licker, you cootie queen?"

What good times.

Stop motion goodness.



One of their less risque commercials...



Ok, this one has a scooter and pretty fabric samples. AND a nice foot shot at the end. Have you seen my flickr?

Let Me Count the Ways

Dearest Fall,

Is that you?

I know you're coming soon.

Are you right around the corner?

Are you here?

I would really like for you to stay a while.

Every other Texan probably would, too.

You are my favorite season.

The cool nights.

Crisp air.

Vibrantly colored trees.

The ability to wear sweaters.

Not running the air conditioner.

Do you know how much I love sweaters?!

You mean Thanksgiving is almost here!

And you mark the beginning of quilt season. (!!!)

Oh Fall, please stay.

I don't like how 98  degrees talks to me.

Sincerely,

Me

Confession #20

Hobby Lobby, I really like you, but when you put out full on Christmas trees and Christmas-type decorations out in SEPTEMBER it really is hard to get along with you.

When in Rome

From my sketchbook.

Nichole

Dear Nichole,

Today is your heavenly birthday and I bet you are having a wonderful time. Maybe someday we'll meet, but for now I've been getting to know you through stories from your family.

My favorite one so far is the one where you invited one of your friends to church. Your Mom says that you didn't even think twice about asking her. You knew you liked church and your friend, so why not bring them together? After you brought your friend to church, her whole family started coming! Look at you go! Did you know that your friend's older sister recently served as a missionary? Neat, huh? I admire your fearlessness. You always come to mind when I'm debating whether or not to tell some one about church happenings. Thank you for the example.

Love,

Julie

Monday, 27 September 2010 is Chili's "Create a Pepper" day. On this day 100% of their profits go to St. Jude's for childhood cancer research. For more info: www.createapepper.com

Promised Land

On HEB watch.

Folks, I have been to the promised land, and folks, the promised land looks like the HEB on South Congress and Oltorf. Yes! I have selected my HEB home. This one is busy all the time, so I feel pretty safe doing my grocery shopping and day dreaming there. It isn't quite up to the European HEB standards, but I will give it time. Most of those standards are determined by my emotional attachment to the European HEB, anyway.

1. This HEB is nice-looking.
2. Its food is wonderful.
3. It has a bulk section. Mom your cashews are coming.
4. It's clean.
5. The workers are polite and helpful.

This is a good one!

Maybe I Shouldn't, but I Will

1. Maybe I shouldn't paint my toenails mint green. It could be mistaken for toe fungi.

2. Maybe I shouldn't tuck my shirt in. I could be mistaken for an over 35-year-old.

3. Maybe I shouldn't wear my hair like this so often. My classmates might think I never wash my hair.

But really, I can do whatever I want because I'm an art student.

Anthropologie

That store really does love me. I doubted its love during this past summer.

The month was June and it was hot. A brand new Anthropologie store had just opened up at the Domain Shopping Center in North Austin.

Being the best Anthropologie fan girl that I am, I decided to stop in and give the store some love with my mental "ooohs" and "ahhhs." I walked in and it was lovely, but one thing was missing. The friendly greeter lady who is always right by the door folding the same shirts over and over. I looked for a greeter type lady and there she was greeting the people in front of me. My turn to be greeted came... and then went. The worker totally saw me and made eye contact with me, but didn't say anything. Jerkette! As I walked around, I noticed none of the other workers were particularly polite either! What kind of black hole Anthropologie is this?! Normally, they are super nice and helpful. Distraught and frightened, I left that store feeling like an unvalued customer. Really, I'm not a 'valued' customer, because I only buy things on super sale every once in a while, but still.

 
So, the other day after church I didn't have any pressing appointments so I thought, "I'm going to visit the Anthropologie on 6th and Lamar, and see what art installation is up." This girl loves art installations. I marched myself right into that store and had a look at that art. And I was greeted by a very friendly worker, thank you very much. The Domain Anthropologie location can kiss it, because the 6th and Lamar location is where it's at.

 
After giving the store the once over, I heard a faint voice calling my name. It was the sale section! The dear, dear sale section! I looked through the racks- all of them. And there it was:

the best bolero jacket ever. Ever! I had to try it on, even if it was way out of my price range. Oh boy was it cute. Alas, the price tag had a firm $98.50 marked on it. Prepared for certain heartbreak, I took it to the counter and asked if it was on sale, since it was in the sale closet. The chipper worker said, "Yep. $19.95." and I said, "Ring me up!" And that was when I felt loved by Anthropologie again.

 
I also felt loved by the store when I saw this month's catalog It was beautiful as usual, but the themes were so great! The first section went along the equestrian theme. Wow, did they do a great job. The shoe area was a rainy day type deal, and that was cool. BUT THEN, the last section of the catalog was done in a sewing theme. Giant scissors, spools of thread, dress forms, tape measures. Man oh man!

Can they just hire me right out of college? I want to work for them. We have the same brain. So any Anthropologie executives who will probably never ever read this- hire me because I say so.

Puppies!!!

If you don't think this is cute, I don't want to talk to you for a while.

Confession #19

I have watched all of the Glee episodes that are on Hulu and I like it. I like it a lot. The new season starts September 21st! I'm eager to see how much of a train wreck Britney Spears is when she is a guest star. Also, I love Jayma Mays' character and I want to see what she is up to.

Yaay!

Facebook Dreams

Dear Facebook,

You are stupid. You are stupid and take up far too much of my time. The worst thing about you is your effect on my mind. Stop that.

Sincerely,

Me

"Oh that would make a good profile picture."

"Let me take this picture so I can tag so and so."

"That would be a great status."

Should my mind work like that? No! I find myself pushing myself to finish editing pictures, not so that I actually finish, but so that I finish then post them to Facebook. I sometimes just read my news feed on Facebook instead of reading about actual news. Why are that girl-that-I-went-to-high-school-with's love life status updates that are horribly misspelled and grammatically incorrect so, so interesting to me? Why do I feel the need to view that other person's vacation photos? I'm not even sure I have ever talked to them!

Facebook is a great mindless break for me when I need a break, so I'm not going to delete my account. However, I might have to get my sister to change my password and not tell me what it is... I have come to this decision because of my dreams lately. Facebook has infiltrated my subconscious. The other night I had a dream: the plot was a status update I remembered and the main character was this girl I played softball with forever ago. The dream even had jello shots in it, probably because I saw pictures of someone's jello shot adventures the other day.

Oy vey. It's a good thing real college had made me suddenly very busy. Now my Facebook time has to be extremely limited.

Home Sweet Home

Home is where the heart is, right? I recently discovered that I was a little jealous of Boyfriend. It wasn't his 100+ page thesis that is almost finished I was jealous of. It wasn't that cute girlfriend he has. And no, it wasn't his ability to understand just about anything that I was jealous of. It was his childhood. Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful childhood and wouldn't trade my memories for anything.

It was just the fact that he and his sister friends were able to grow up in the same house, same church and the same town the whole time. They might not think that's as wonderful as I do, but I have lived in three different states. Where is my home? Is Mississippi my home, because I was born there? Is Louisiana my home, because I went to elementary and middle school there? Is Texas my home because, well, it's Texas?

I love all of those places dearly, but I don't think any of them are my "home." I can't go to any of those places and catch up with all of the people I miss. They are scattered across three states. Even though this is true and it makes me a little sad, moving has been pretty good to me.

In all of my new environments I was able to make great friends and be successful in school. Moving is now no big deal, because I have done it so many times. When we moved to Texas, Mom, Dad and I moved our entire house with a 20' trailer over a few trips. I know how to pack.

Moving so often has also made me realize where my home is. *cheesy alert* Home really is where the heart is! I know I can go to my parent's house and I will receive the same kind of love- no matter what house they live in. They were the same parents on Glen Cove as they were on Sophie Anne and now are on FM 450.

Isn't that nice? I think so.

Mr. Williams

Meet Mr. Williams.

See him jump high.

See Mr. Williams play frisbee.

See Mr. Williams with long hippie hair.

See him with a cute girl.

See him scare children.

See him catch a fish.

See Mr. Williams hold a bouquet of flowers and a camera bag.

See him crash a picture.

Let me get all Tyra Banks on you for a minute

Growing up in the United States of America is easy.

Growing up as a girl in the United States is hard.

Growing up as a girl anywhere is hard.

Being a girl is hard.

How women see themselves is always interesting to me. I have grown up in a culture that is so caught up in its own personal appearance it doesn't know what beautiful is anymore. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about personal appearance. Okay, so maybe lately has been the past 10 years, but whatever. Being a girl is hard. Social expectations are hard to live up to. I have felt the pressure and I have tried so hard to live up to those expectations.

I have bleached my teeth- they weren't white enough.

I have tanned in a tanning booth- my skin was too light.

I have tried to "dress up" every day- my worth is determined by my looks.

I have cut my hair- my long hair was not chic.

I have covered my skin in makeup- my complexion wasn't good enough.

I have worn a control top- my curves were not acceptable.

For so long I thought these were my fault. That if I didn't do certain things to my body it wouldn't be good enough. I think a lot of girls go through this, no, I know girls go through this.

One night at Bible Study this past spring, my dear friends Rachel and Jamie told me I should read Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. When they first told me this I blew it off. I don't like 'spiritual' books. They are always corny and I don't like them. So there. But when they talked about it... it didn't sound that bad. The book has Lord of the Rings quotes in it? I'm in. I set out to read it not expecting any grand revelations from it.

I was caught completely off guard by that book. I wasn't expecting anything from it, but it showed me so much! Thank you Lord for giving me good friends, who recommend good books. The chapter that particularly spoke to me was "A Special Hatred." It discusses the one person/thing that hates women the most. Satan.

"Satan fell because of his beauty. Now his heart for revenge is to assault beauty. He destroys it in the natural world wherever he can. Strip mines, oil spills, fires, Chernobyl. He wreaks destruction on the glory of God in the earth like a psychopath committed to destroying great works of art.

But most especially, he hates Eve."

Of course! Of course all of my negative self image thoughts are from Satan. He hates who made me, who I am, and what I'm here for. Why would he want me to love myself? Duh. That simple thought makes all of my negative thoughts so much easier to deal with.

The book also points out that the Bible says Eve was the last item that God made. (My Rachel friend likes this part of the story the best: we weren't made from the dirt like Adam, we were formed from a piece of him. We aren't from the dirt- that's why some of us are so prissy.) The Eldredges say that Eve was the "crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God." God one upped Adam and made something really pretty. We were the icing on the cake.

Ladies, you are pretty. Nice looking. Beautiful. Whatever you like to hear most. You look how you do because that is how God made you. You aren't too pale. Your worth is not determined by how you dress. Your hair is great. You don't need 5 layers of make up. (I'm not trying to say make up is a bad thing, but you are not a monster if you don't have it on everyday.) I have to tell myself these things quite often.

I hope you got something out of my rant.

Boys- tell a lady she is lovely!

It's Friday!

People.

It is Friday!

Fridays are nice.

Beezus likes Fridays.

Although, he might think everyday is a Friday...

So simple, so true.

Holy Moly.

This is what $154.12 worth of art supplies looks like.

Art school is out of control.

Arizona Border Dispute

This is quite the discussion. And I think I have opinions? Yes, on this I believe I do.

So, there are tons of Mexicans crossing the United States-Mexico Border undocumented. All of the border states have a problem with this. Arizona is the only one so far to take action against having all of the undocumented people in our country.

I really applaud them for doing this, but for them to ever be successful, they really need the support of the United States Government.

If immigration to the United States or work visas were done in a more timely manner, I think some of the Mexicans would immigrate. More obviously, if there was a completed fence, some of the people would be hindered in entering. Even if there was a fence, it would probably need to be patrolled. Some of the people crossing over can be a little "rough."

That is one of the things that confuses me about this topic. A lot of the Mexicans come to the US for a better life. Why, pray tell, do they then bring the violence of their own country with them? This doesn't improve their quality of life at all. A majority of them work very low-income jobs, are still surrounded by violence, and still live in low-income housing. They have just changed locations, not their lives.

I don't blame them for coming to the US; it's a wonderful place. The US-Mexico border is the only border in the world that has a first world country on top of a third world country. It is as different as night and day. In El Paso, Texas you can clearly see the border. One side is the US- grocery stores, Target, The University of Texas at El Paso, etc. The other side looks like one house stacked on another. This might be something you just have to see for yourself.

The Mexican people are great and I enjoy spending time with them, but I just wish they would come here on better terms. This should be an interesting topic to watch as it develops.