My Punch List....

My friend Jordan just posted her "punch list," which was inspiration from the blog Things I Want to Punch in the Face and I felt inspired to do the same.... Although most people list their top 10, I couldn't stop at 10.... so here are my top 25 (in no particular order):

1. Those annoying stickers that people put on their cars representing how many people are in their family. If you have a giant suburban with greasy finger prints and stickers all over the window, I already know you must have children.

2. Bikers who don't ride in the bike lane. Unless your bike can accelerate like my car does when the light turns green and you can pedal the speed limit, don't ride in the regular lanes. Bike lanes were made for a reason.

3. The word "epic." It is over-used and annoying.

4. Shakira. She sounds like a frog when she sings and she just bugs me.

5. People who update their facebook statuses in third person. Do you talk like that in real life? I didn't think so, so stop it!!


6. Fake designer purses. What is the point? I don't get it. There are PLENTY of nice inexpensive purses out there. Why would you pay $100 for a fake LV or Coach? Doesn't make sense to me.


7. All of the ridiculous virtual games on facebook. If people want to harvest their crops or pretend like they're in the mafia that's fine, but there IS an "ignore" button.

8. Revolving doors.


9. Arizona newscasters. "Carwash on 32nd and Camelback today" does not qualify as news, sorry.


10. Self-portraits people take of themselves on their cell phones in front of mirrors, usually taken in bathrooms. First, do you really need a mirror to take your picture? Can't you take it of yourself without a mirror? Second, you think we can't see the toilet in the background?? Gross.

11. Umbrellas. People who use umbrellas are usually tourists or people who are not used to the rain. Get a jacket with a hood on it, umbrellas are just dumb.


12. Ryan Seacrest. I don't think this one needs an explanation.


13. Anyone over the age of 3 that cannot eat/drink something without making a slurping or smacking noise. It's annoying, obnoxious and disgusting.


14. People who take the elevator to go up/down one flight of stairs.


15. Late people. Usually late people think it's funny when they say "oh I'm always late" - it's not funny. If you say you're going to be there at 6, be there at 6.... better yet, get there 10 minutes early. It's the right thing to do.


16. Ringtones. The last thing I want to hear when I'm sitting in the airport is "Party in the USA" coming from your phone.


17. Political discussions with people on the complete opposite end of the political spectrum. There really is no point to try and persuade me, just like I know you're not going to listen to anything I'm going to say either. It's just not worth it. You believe what you believe, and I'll believe what I believe. I'm not going to change my mind, so just let it be.


18. Parents who update their facebook statuses with "Johnny had the biggest blowout in his diaper today!" or "Katie went pee pee in the big girl toilet today!" This is not what I want to read when I'm eating my breakfast. Yes, I understand this is a milestone, but not everyone on facebook wants to read about it.
 

19. Speaking of facebook, people who talk about working out all the time. "At the gym again for the 15th time today, it's gonna be an intense workout!" Completing a marathon is one thing, but going to yoga, spinning class, pilates, and then running 2470 miles in one day is just annoying (and likely not even true).


20. Bad grammar and misspelled words. There is a difference between they're, their and there. Know the difference. Same with your and you're. Drives me insane.


21. Parents who don't discipline their children and let them run around like wild animals in public places.


22. People who use excessive abbreviations in text messages. I shouldn't have to ask a 12 year old to translate.


23. People who walk slow, or walk slow and then stop right in the middle of a walkway to have a conversation or point at something. If you're going to walk slow or decide to stop, move to the right, just like if you were driving in a car. Come to think of it, these are probably the people who drive slow in the far left lane. Speed up or get out of the way!!!


24. Incorrect use of words or phrases. This goes along with people who constantly use the same words (usually in the wrong context) - GET a new vocabulary!


25. People who sit next to you on the plane and don't get the hint that you do not want to have a conversation. When I have my headphones on, that doesn't mean you should ask what I'm listening to, or if I'm reading a book or magazine, that does not give you permission to ask 20 questions about what I'm reading. Leave me alone!




The end.

Austin is weird.

I'll start with saying how much I LOVE going to Austin. It's really one of my favorite cities, probably because it reminds me a lot of Seattle (minus the rain). It's very laid back, fun music scene, very "earthy" and lots of weird people/things.

Last week I was in Austin teaching a class and had the chance to hang out a little on 6th Street after work one night with my friend Blake.

We weren't out for long, but during the time we had dinner and drinks (and Tiffwiches), we saw the most RANDOM things/people that I was speechless for most of the night.

We had dinner at Paradise Cafe--- enjoying some chips and queso when Blake said "Did you just see the lizard guy walk by?" Lizard guy? Yes, he said lizard guy. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I didn't see him. But Blake pulled up a picture of him on his iphone... apparently he's famous... famous because he's like a human lizard-- complete with the imbedded beads in his forehead, split tongue, shaved teeth and tattoos all over his body that look like scales. Here he is:

A few minutes later, I see this interesting guy walk up to the bar and sit there for a minute. After getting a better glimpse of his "outfit" I asked Blake what was going on. This guy was sitting pretty close to me so Blake said "I'll tell you about him later." My curiosity was piqued and I kept looking at the guy, so Blake (probably annoyed/embarrassed with me) pulls up another picture on his iphone... apparently this guy is famous too. His name is Leslie. If you google "Leslie Austin" you'll find him.... Here's what you might find:

During the whole Leslie ordeal, Blake said "I swear I just saw a dog walk by with a cat on it's back." Normally, I would probably think anyone who said that was on some pretty strong drugs, but given the circumstances and our already interesting night, I would've believed anything. I turned my chair around at this point because I didn't want to miss anything else that would've walked by. A couple minutes later I saw a bunch of people gathered around taking a picture of something on the other side of the building... One of the beer delivery guys stopped to take a picture and I just figured "ahhh.... probably nothing." Finally when more people continued to gather around for pictures, I grabbed my camera and walked outside to see what was going on.... I'm so glad I had my camera with me:

Then it was time to drive to Tiff's Treats for a Tiffwich.... which, by the way, is quite possibly the best thing ever. Two fresh/warm (better than Otis Spunkmeyer) chocolate chip cookies, with Blue Bell ice cream in the middle. THE perfect way to round off an hour of craziness on 6th Street.

As we were driving back, I saw someone on a bike and did a double-take. I said to Blake, "Is that a girl in a bikini on her bike?" We got closer to the bike, and realized that, no, it was not a girl on her bike in a bikini..... it was a MAN, shirtless, wearing nothing but a g-string. It was terrible. Sorry folks, no picture of this one.... even though I did try. You can thank the weird flash on my phone for that. :)

Our little lioness...

For the past couple years we've helped Zoe stay cool in the summer by giving her a little "haircut." Well, WE don't actually do the cutting, we take her to the groomer. Instead of just a simple haircut, we decided to go fancy.... or exotic. However you wanna put it, she gets shaved like a lion. And she LOVES it!

Phoenix.... the windy city??

So while we were in Vegas a couple weekends ago, apparently Phoenix had a crazy windstorm.. The lady who comes to take care of our cats called and told us there was a little issue with our patio table. Glass everywhere. We thought she might have been exaggerating a little, but we came home to see this:

Stefan has been talking about wanting to "re-do" our backyard for a few months now, so I found this VERY coincidental. If you know my husband, you know that he is ALWAYS wanting to do something that involves spending money and making things look nicer (even though it already looks nice).

So we spent Memorial Day weekend shopping, running errands, and putting together our new backyard furniture... including a giant gazebo that will help add some shade in the summer months! We can't wait to enjoy our little outdoor paradise :)

Now it's time to plan our first BBQ (not cookout) of the year!

Carrie Bradshaw

So I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some Carrie Bradshaw....

Yes, she's a fictional character, but I love her style. I love her shoes. I love her attitude. I love that she's smart. I love how she writes. I love her charisma. I love her.

I am obsessed with Sex & the City. I loved the movie. I even bought these shoes after the movie:

I've only worn them twice. Once at the Biltmore and the other time was in NYC (only appropriate).

So the new movie comes out in a couple weeks and I cannot wait. As I was typing the last sentence, the trailer for the movie just came on TV. I am SO excited.

Stefan even watches the reruns with me (on DVD of course, the ones on TBS aren't nearly as good). And he liked the movie too (even though he probably wouldn't admit it).

So last weekend I was at Costco and what did I see?

Of course I bought it, why wouldn't I? Even if it said "For the Young Adult Reader." Embarrassing? Yes.

But it brings me back to when I was in high school (my 10 year reunion is this summer) and answers all the questions I've always had about Carrie before Sex & the City.....

A little mindless reading never hurt anyone, right? :)

We'll miss you Uncle Willie.....

Life of the Party. Stylish. Jokester.
Happy. Entertaining. Fashionable. Fun-Loving. Crazy.
Father. Brother. Uncle. Husband. Cousin. Friend.
Uncle Willie.

We got the worst news yesterday, Uncle Willie passed away unexpectedly.

The first time I met Uncle Willie was at the Thorne Family Reunion in 2002. I had always heard he was crazy, but when I saw him for the first time wearing his African suit and hat, making his grand entrance, I instantly knew I loved him! When he saw Stefan and I, he came with gifts.... I got an African skirt and top and Stefan got a hat and tie (to match Uncle Willie's outfit of course).

Stefan even wore the hat and tie to one of my sorority dances in college!

Uncle Willie always dressed to impress. His outfits were part of his personality and he ALWAYS knew how to make people laugh, without any effort. His family meant everything to him. We received a card and a picture in the mail from him a few years ago.... it's an 8 x 10 picture and he told us he never wanted us to forget him. We LOVE this picture because it's a true reflection of who he was and who he will always be.

Stefan and I were so fortunate to see him and the rest of the family on Christmas last year in New Jersey. It was truly a memory we will never forget.

We'll miss you Uncle Willie.

Visitors and surprises!

My dad and nephew Zak left today after a fun week in Arizona... we had so much fun hanging out by the pool, showing them around Arizona and pulling off a huge surprise on Monday...

Here are the background details of the surprise....

* My nephew Chris has been in the Marines for almost 2 years now (so proud of him!)

* He has been stationed in Okinawa, Japan for the last year...

* He went to Thailand a couple months ago for a short trip with the Marines
* He got an assignment in Yuma, ARIZONA and was set to arrive on Friday (the same day my nephew Zak got here)
* MAJOR detail: NO ONE in our family knew he was coming except for me and my sister (his mom) because as soon as I found out it was the same time that my dad and Zak were going to be here, I knew I could attempt (and likely pull off) a really cool surprise....

This is how it went down...

We picked up my dad from the airport on Monday, stopped for breakfast, and then started driving. I didn't tell them where we were going, so we just kept driving.... and driving... It wasn't until 2 hours into the drive that my dad said "Where are we going? I think we've seen enough of the desert, we can turn around now." Meanwhile, I'm texting Chris figuring out exactly where we were going to meet up, completely ignoring the questions that were coming from my dad and Zak. Originally, I was going to take them to Yuma and just walk around, go to this historical prison and stop for lunch at a restaurant where Chris would show up and surprise them. Instead, Chris had the day off (unexpectedly) and said to just come to the base.

When we were about 30 minutes away, my dad said "I just saw a sign for Yuma, we might as well go there since we're this far." I said "We can stop through Yuma on our way to where we're going if you want." And when I finally had everything squared away with Chris on our plan, I told the worst, most unbelieveable lie I could come up with....

Side note: Zak really wanted to cross the border to Mexico while he was here, but with all of the violence in the border towns recently, we decided right before he got here that it wasn't the best idea.

So here's the worst lie on the planet.... (I don't even know how I kept a straight face when I said this): "Ok-- since you keep bugging me about what we're doing I'll just tell you. I know that Zak wanted to go to Mexico so I looked online and found out that there's a military base in Yuma where civilians can cross the border into Mexico with the protection of the military, but you can only do it during the week on certain days during the month."

Yah.... horrible story, right? Well, my dad and Zak both fell for it. My dad said "Oh cool! Do you think there's a sign that says 'Welcome to Mexico' that we could get a picture of?" I was trying SO hard not to laugh but they both believed it so we were good to go....

We pulled up to the base and originally went to the wrong gate so we had to turn around and go one further.... As we pulled up, I saw Chris standing on the corner waiting.... Before we got there he told the guard what we were up to and told him to just point us to the parking lot/visitor's registration and he would walk over to our car. As my dad and Stefan were talking to the guard I was in the backseat waving to my nephew out of the window.... As soon as we started turning into the parking lot, my dad said "Hey, that guy looks like Christopher..............

Wait--- that IS Chris!!!!"

It was SO perfect! I LOVE pulling of surprises, and this one probably tops the list--- it was so good to see Chris and priceless to see my dad's expression and excitement.

I'm just glad my dad didn't say something to the guard like "We have reservations to be escorted to Mexico today, where should we park?"