countdown.

i'm counting down the minutes!

7 miles on 30 minutes.

This is gonna take a while!

ike.

the city of league will soon be under mandatory evacuation so i'm outta here. hopefully it won't take me 6 hours to make it the atx.

circe 1954.

if, and that is a BIG if, i attend my high school reunion, there are two separate occasions and i may just wear this little get up to cocktail hour. it's all about the skirt! when it is all on, it looks a little housewifey circa 1954.

all the things i want...

Stork Scissors

all the things i want...

it is a classic!

cupcakes.

okay, okay.... so i have jumped on the cupcake craze! i know, i'm a little behind but it's frickin' cupcakes... it's not like it's a new discovery or something. i picked up this cookbook at WS about two weeks ago and while i don't exactly need recipes for cakes in cups, i was interested in the clever combos they had come with from rocky road to jumbo malted chocolate chip cupcakes.

for labor day, the roberts had a little get together and i made tiramisu mini cupcakes.... not be best attempt but hey! it gives room for improvement!

my first faux pas was the mini idea. there is alot going on with this cupcake so i think you need a lot of cake to make it work.

my next uh-oh was that i used silicon liners. while they are amazing, i needed a paper liner for this sweet treat. you are suppose to inject the cupcake with a liquor/coffee mixture and with no liner on the cup, the cake doesn't hold as much as it should.

my last oh-no was the frosting or lack there of.... i'm not sure if the marscapone mixture was suppose to be a glaze or a frosting.(btw 'cupcakes', that is what's in your freezer in the throw away container. dispose of it as you wish.) there are no egg whites in the recipe so i'm guessing a glaze. and i'm not liking that so much so i think i'm going to fluff it up some way.

i'm going to attempt another batch but make them full size and go about the drenching and frosting a liiiiitle bit differently. and maybe add a something to kick it up. stay turned for how they turn out.... i know you are all holding your breath in anticipation.

all the things i buy...

talk about impulse buy... i love it so much but i'm not quite sure if the colors work on me. i'm holding on to it for a few more days hoping to find some great shoes to make it come together.

I <3 u..

But why are you so slow in the lc?! AND out of coke?! I mean...

nie nie

by blue lily

i came across stephanie nielsons blog about two weeks ago when another blogger posted about a horrible accident that had occurred August 16th, 2008. for the next few hours i was completely engaged in the nie nie dialogues. i was consumed by how much this young woman was madly in love with her husband. emotions ran over me as it pulled up wonderful memories and horrible heartbreak that i feel for my sbj. not only is she a loving wife but a dotting mother of 4... at 27! simply amazing. i think that is why she has captivated me and thousands more. her simplicity.

since i have become of aware the nielsons, i lay awake at night thinking of them and their family and what they must be going through. and i wake up wondering how they are coping and what changes have occurred. i pray that the family is not bestowed with the job of grieving, knowing the toll that it will take on the family is weighing heavily on my heart. i pray one day they will be able to rejoice when stephanie and her husband, christian, can join the family that adores them to the ends of the earth.

since the accident, stephanie and her husband are both in a burn unit in mesa, az. while their children are being taken care of by a wonderful community of siblings who reside in utah. i encourage you to read stephanie's story and then read what a wonderful and amazing job her family is doing from her sister's, jane, point of view.

since the accident, the family has been bombarded with a huge amount of love from their local community and to much of their surprise, the blogging community. efforts are being pulled together to support this gracious family in their time of need. i encourage you to read about all of it. and maybe you too will feel what i felt and send your support as well.

it's inspiring to see what people will do. INSPIRING.

a boy and my dog.

not only do i love nephew no. 2 because he has an old soul and a simple disposition but because he embraces my boys when everyone else pushes them aside. thanks dawson. xoxo

lovebugs.

the season is upon us. eww.

saturday night lights.

my first time witnessing family and football.

i grew up in a football house. i've been watching football since i can remember.

my parents worked the LSU football games every saturday when we lived in baton rouge. my sisters and i would tune in to watch the game, hoping to catch a glimpse of our dad standing on the 50 yard line in death valley.

when i was in high school, i was on the drill team for a few years and then on the cheer leading squad. i watched football every friday night from the stands or the side lines.

i now gather in local bars, get comfy on the couch, or if i'm lucky actually get invited to a Texas game to watch those guys in tights take on the top colleges fighting it out on the field.

i have even had boyfriends and friends take the field week after week. i've watched them get slammed around, laid out and hell, i've even been taken down by a close friend while standing on the side lines cheering on my own team....

but for the love of God! When that first tackle made contact with Taylor after he kicked off on saturday night, i didn't know whether to jump down 23 rows of benches and over a fence to beat the crap out of that kid who laid taylor out, say a pray for taylor to to get up, or stay calm and keep my composer. i took a queue from my seasoned sister and remained calm... fighting back the tears of worry and at the same time tears of pride. i love that kid. i don't think he'll ever know how much he means to our family and how proud we are that he's such a good kid!

No. 22

the game went on for the woodville eagles to take the win. i later talked to taylor about the game and asked him if he ever gets nervous or hesitant when he gets on the field. he said, 'i get butterflies when i take the field but once the play starts the adrenaline kicks in and i love it!' i told him not to forget that in the office season when he gets down and out... remember how it feels when you play under those friday night lights... play for that! he replied 'but ge-ge i'm playing for those saturday night lights in death valley.' shoot for the stars, kid... shoot for the stars!

a walk in the park.

literally... i had a walk in the park! and it was fantastic! i noticed the other morning that the temperature has been dropping a significant 10 degrees so i thought it would be a perfect time to get outdoors and experience some urban area parks. i snatched up my quilt, packed a few things for entertainment, stopped off at whole foods for some eats, and headed to downtown houston for a walk in a park and a day under a tree.

here's my spread. after i snacked on my good eats for a while and took in the scenery, i pulled out my pedicure set and painted my toes.... nothing better than natural light!

there wasn't much foot traffic tracing around since it was a work day but i was lucky enough to catch the sight of two grown men walking around calling out for the squirrels and blue jays to feast from the two big buckets of peanuts they lugged around. the squirrels would eat it right out the mens hand and the blue rays would swoop down to catch the peanuts thrown up into the air. it was a great sight! i sure did get a tickle out of it. after the men left, i threw some pieces of bread out to see if i could get any takers and sure enough, i did!

after play time with the wild life... i kicked back and read for a while.
...it was such a lovely afternoon.