Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Just because I liked it

Mox nix.  I just liked it.
April 2, 2012


Real friends don't underestimate Little Debbies

To all those girls who don't have girlfriends and claim "I just get along with guys better...girls don't like me", I have to ask you: will your guy friends bring you snack cakes and daiquiri's when you're sad? 
April 1, 2012

Nope.  Stop being such an asshole and get yourself some girlfriends.  They're where it's at.  I promise.

Happy Birthday I-Shien!

When I was a Freshman in high school I went out for the JV basketball team.  At the unexpected invitation of girls in my class, I had played one season of Rec ball in 8th grade.  It was probably an invite that these girls (and the coach) hugely regretted the minute I showed up for the first practice.  I was terrible. I was SO terrible that I didn't even know how terrible I was, hence the questionable decision to go out for JV ball the next year. 
All I can say, is Thank GOD for private school and it's willingness to put me on the team.  Whether it was because there were so few of us or because our parents paid a not insignificant amount for us to be there, it frankly doesn't matter. I found my uncoordinated, seriously uncomfortable self on the JV basketball team with as close to no basketball skills as one can get.

There was one girl. The most outgoing, the most universally loved girl in our class and one of the best basketball players (the only Freshman on the varsity team) was SO unbelievably kind to me.  Amidst the rolling eyes, she would come up and physically rearrange my arms and legs until they were at least close to the correct place.  She'd stop and spend 30 seconds re-explain what our coach had just spent 15 verbose minutes trying to say, boiling it down so that it made sense to me. 

She didn't have to be so kind, but in a world of mean high school girls it just who she was. 

There are few things that I feel defined my high school experience and basketball was one of them.  I played for all four years and learned an incredible amount from being a part of that team.  I learned that my body is capable of more than I thought.  I learned that you are who you choose to be, that you define yourself with each action and that you can change your mind. I would have quit the basketball team if it hadn't been for I-Shien. 

Two weekends ago, several high school friends and a handful of post-high school friends got together in Jacksonville to celebrate I-Shien's30th birthday. Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday I-Shien Shiao!!  We love you more than you know!

March 31, 2012


Twinkle lights and Margaritas

I love me some twinkle lights and I love me some happy hour.  Add some of my favorite people and you've got yourself a damn fine Friday evening. 

March 30, 2012


When do we grow up?

I still occasionally wonder what in the world I will do with myself when I grow up.  It's generally a wonderment that is quickly followed with the rankling idea that I am already grownup and it's time to figure it out already.  But I just take that feeling, shove it in a pocket and forget about it until it turns up in the wash or next winter when I pull that coat out of the closet. 
There was something about this woman on her motorcycle ahead of me on the way to work the other day that reminded me that while we may grow up, we don't necessarily grow old. 

Who says that you're too old to strap your teddybear on the back of your bike and watch the wind roll through your handlebar tassles? 

March 29, 2012
Not being seven anymore hasn't stopped this bad ass broad.

Morning Head Scritches

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
March 28, 2012

Not exactly a meatless monday

I know that it's Monday and Monday is supposed to mean meatless but bacon doesn't really count right? I mean, it's like 97% veggie and just the teensiest, most insignificant bit of salty delicious bacon to make the Brussels sprouts more, shall we say, delicious?
March 26, 2012


Tired of Playing Catch-Up

So I have been about two weeks behind on uploading my pictures of the day for about three months now.  I've been trying to upload two or three a day to get caught up but then I miss a few days and find myself even more behind than I was before.  I like to consider myself reasonably intelligent but this is complete madness and much like The Bumper Sticker of Doom, I refuse to let it hold me under it's tyrannical and evil thumb much longer. Similarly to how accumulating TV shows on my DVR occasionally results in irrational feelings of stress and anxiety, being this far behind on the blog makes me iggy.  I have so many things that I want to write about but I don't because I'm behind on my 365 project and keep putting it off until I get caught up.

So. 

Despite previous complaints that I post in waves, please prepare yourself for a blogging picture tsunami. I'm getting caught up so that I can write about the things that I want to write about, the things that are changing my life each day. 

Hold on to those nipples, a series of less than exciting pictures are soon to follow. :)

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Just your average evening

Netbook - check. Kindle - check.  Kitteh treats - check.  It's just your average evening in the Kingdom of Ashton.

March 27, 2012


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Tootsies

Hullo spring tootsies. 
March 24, 2012

Please pass the granola

This past weekend I went up to Jacksonville for my friend I-shien's 30th birthday.  It was a great party and deserving of it's own post, but of note is that during the morning-after-party conversation I was described as "totally granola."
Granola!? Me? And when I protested I was assured that I shouldn't worry, because I'm not "crunchy granola", just granola.  It's really not the noun that I would have chosen to describe myself but now that I think about it...I like it.  Still, I'm not sure the wearing flats and driving a Mini Cooper make me granola. 

But I do love my yoga, farmers market Wednesdays are a highlight of my week and I truly believe that organic apples, milk and eggs taste better than their non-organic counterparts.  That all being said, I think that these:
March 23, 2012
are crossing the god damned line.  Organic cotton balls, at (do the math) four cents a piece?  One the line between granola and crunchy granola you will find a bag of organic cotton balls and I'm staying on my side of the line.

Todays' workout brought to you by...

I think that I've mentioned that I've started theming my work outs with things that I want.  It helps when Khloe and Lamar are on the DVR and I just don't want to tie on those shoes to conjure up the sundress I'm hoping to wear in NYC in August to get my butt in gear. Shorts, muffin-tops, not hiding behind friends in pictures, beer on Sundays and taming the urge to scream and shed my own skin have all gotten me out the door over the past couple of weeks. 
Today however, was special.  I know I've already used muffin-tops before but this charming ensemble give "muffin-top" a whole new meaning:

Today's workout was brought to you by extra large muffin-tops and some other stuff that I don't have a name for.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Spring in full swing

I've been going bananas for the spring time this year. Everything that smells good and looks pretty starts blooming in Florida and the humidity is still low enough that you can actually smell all the good smelling things.  It's also still nice enough out that you can lay by the pool of an afternoon with a dwink and not risk second degree burns and heat stroke. Don't judge, it's a small window of time that needs to be fully appreciated and taken advantage of. 

I really love it when the azaleas and jasmine bloom.  The smell of jasmine just sneaks up on you, more on that later though.  Don't pretend like you're not antsy with excitement over that one. I really love azaleas though, so much so that when the neighbors bushes get pretty faster than the ones out front of The Castle, I get a titch jealous.  That being said, you can well imagine my glee when this little guy popped up outside the back windows the other day.

March 22, 2012
Now all that's left to do until Thanksgiving is hang out and sweat. Sigh...

Orange fur on the keyboard


Of that whole darn couch and he picks my teensie tiny netbook to park his cute little butt on.  Of course he does.

March 21, 2012

You'd better be running

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows that must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.  It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up, you better be running."

- Roger Bannister