Category Archives: Wanna Chuckle?

08.22.12

Inspired by Design Mom’s “Love the Place you Live” we decided to have a hometown weekend.

A weekend chock full of St. Louisie goodness….yes please.

We cheered on the hometeam, ate some frozen custard, hung out with some fuzzy friends, and visited a St. Louis favorite, the Missouri Botanical Gardens. 

Since I know you don’t want to look at 476 photos in one post….I will do us all a favor and break them down.

You are welcome.

We went to the Botanical Gardens for the Lantern Festival, and trust me I will tell you all about that tomorrow, but I think I was more than a little obsessed with the botany.

Hello and welcome to my garden…..ok I wish.

Get ready for greenery overload, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I seriously want to frolic in those flowers.

         

We even found a little friend…..hello there.

Would you believe me if I told you that our camera battery died after about 20 minutes of being there.  I guess we over worked her.

Now please don’t ask me what any of those plants are, I am not a botanist….just a lover of pretty things.

Ask Tim….he is a botanist.

A gangster botanist.

Word.

Written by Christina and Tim
08.21.12

Fairly certain I am coming down with something.

Not sure if it is allergies, or my first cold of the year, or just exhaustion from our crazy weekend.  But it goes a little something like this….

Constant sneezing, splitting headache, itchy desert eyes, scratchy throat thus husky voice, muscle aching, did I say splitting headache…oh ok good, dry cough, and the ability to fall asleep at my desk in 2.34 nanoseconds type exhaustion.

Let me draw you a picture.

Yea, I understand if you want to run.  I would too.

On the bright side….I have no fever.

That little piece of inspiration can be bought on the cheap right here.

When I get sick, all I want is my mama.  Yes I am a fully grown woman, but my mom is the only one who has the patience for me when I feel like this.  I need my head rubbed not naps people.

When Tim is sick he does a man-detox.  He bundles up in like forty winter blankets, drinks a lot of fluids, and just “sweats it out”.  Hogwash I tell ya.

How can guys and gals be so different?

I should write a book about how we are basically from two different planets, oh wait…that’s so nineties.

I find the best cure for this kind of sickness is a hot bath, and some sort of juice.  I don’t like tea and I am not much for soup, so I am doomed without juice.  I am off to heal myself.

Feel free to send soup…..Tim needs dinner.

Stay healthy my friends.

Written by Christina and Tim
08.17.12

Making bonds.....

Posted by Christina // 5 Replies

Not the “get out of jail” kind of bonds.

The kind of bonds you make with family, friends, co-workers, people standing next to you on the metro.  The heart-string bonds.

I got to thinking about bonds because my sister is about to make a whole lot of them by living in the dorms away at school.  I remember the girls I lived with.

Yes this is a shameless attempt to remember my skinnier days.

I have bonds with those girls that I could never have with other girls.  Because we lived together.  They saw me not take showers for days at a time, eat a whole carton of ice cream because a Spongebob marathon was on, they even saw the ugly cry when my favorite shirt got attacked by a dryer.  And the crazy thing is, they remained my friend.  Sure a lot of us aren’t BFF like forever and ever anymore.  But we will always have great memories and funny stories and a bond.

But before you ever knew about girlfriend bonds, you had your family.  Growing up “family bonding” was where it was at, mainly because it meant there was ice cream involved.

Most people, emphasis on most, have strong family bonds.  You live with em, they generally are forced to like you or at least tolerate you.  These bonds are deep and lasting.

I call those my “easy bonds” because although we don’t HAVE to like each other….we always love each other.

But what about the bonds that don’t come easy, the bonds you have to work at.

That’s where I come in.

Not saying everyone likes me…but this is what I have learned observing the most liked people that I have worked with, sororitied with, and lived with.

I will try not to be cliché and give you advice you have heard a million times, because things like eye contact and smiling should be elementary my dahling.

1.  Make eye contact and smile.  For those of you just list reading and skipping my storytelling.

2.  Do not cut people off.  Listen to what they have to say, even if your point is way better.  Definitely do not talk over them, it makes them feel unimportant.  Make them feel like you care about everything they say, which means they are important.

3.  Give them compliments, flattery will get you everywhere.  Kidding, if they aren’t genuine don’t give them.  But odds are, you can think of one genuine compliment.  Make them feel special, even if you just like their burrito they brought for lunch.

4.  Use your manners, if you don’t have them learn them.  Say please and thank you…and mean it.

5.  Say hello, to everyone.  I don’t know when it became custom to look at the floor when you are walking past someone, but stop it for the love of bacon.  You never know who you will make an impression on.

6.  Ask questions, be interested in people and their stories.  You can learn something from every single person you meet.  Steer clear of questions like, “so are you a serial killer” and “how do you get so much lint on your pants” because you might get some info you didn’t want to know.

7.  Go out of your way for people.  Hold doors open, bake treats, help them with projects, do favors often.  Remember the girl that everyone loved because she brought in salted caramel brownies…be that girl.  No time to make a Santa sleigh made out of candy canes, just buy doughnuts.  Hi Ruth, I still loved those salted caramel brownies.

8.  Touch them.  Don’t be a creep okay, but lightly touch their arm or shoulder to make them comfortable.  Don’t blame me if they place harassment charges.

9.  Dress cute.  Sad to say that this matters but boy does it.  You do not need to go and drop your whole salary on clothing.  Find a style and stay true to it.  And brush your hair.  And don’t smell like a foot because no one likes a foot.

10.  Don’t be a hater.  Don’t criticize or put people down.  No one likes the bully, truth.  Don’t gossip unless you fully expect the girl you said “gained 5 pounds” to find out you called her a smelly fat cow with halitosis.  Don’t be mean, easy peasy.

11.  Be happy.  Your attitude is everything, and while the peppy cheerleader can be super annoying…she’s got nothing on Daria the downer.  Normal human beings don’t like being around people who are going to complain all the time.  So check your last 5 facebook statuses, if they are all negative then you better check yo’self before you wreck yo’self.

12.  Find a balance between your confidence and humility.  You are awesome, so keep any insecurities you have at bay…and tell yourself that you are awesome.  Don’t tell yourself you are as awesome as Chuck Norris or some jazz, you gotta keep your feet on planet Earth.  It’s a hard balance to find, and you will always be working on it.  But you know the girl that always needs reassurance, or the girl who thinks she knows everything, or the one who is too shy to talk, or the one who brags non-stop….do you like any of them?  That’s what I thought.

13.  Channel your Jerry Seinfeld.  If you can make them laugh then you will have them in the palm of your hand.  Why?  Revert back to number 11.  Everyone likes to laugh, even really serious people.  Bonus points if you get a belly laugh or snort.  Take pictures if they blow milk out of their nose.  It helps if you don’t take yourself seriously, because you are eventually going to do something dumb….and when you do it is crucial that you laugh it off.

14. Tell the truth yo…be honest with people and keep your promises.  If someone calls you, call them back.  If they ask you out for fried chicken, go.  Keep an open mind, some of the most fun you will have will be in the most unexpected places.  Also, people don’t like liars.  Trust me on that one!

15.  You do not want people to like a phony version of you, because then you will always be putting on a show.  So be yourself, because you are the bomb diggity anyways.  This is the most important tip, because there are some people that you don’t need a bond with….the people you have to change for.  They aren’t worth it so drop them like that 50 pound weight you accidentally picked up at the gym.  Yea, that happened.

Yup, it is that easy.

Now I am really craving some salted caramel brownies…..Ruth are you listening?

Written by Christina and Tim
08.16.12

Tim works…..a lot.

We both have full-time jobs to support our saltwater addiction, and you know the whole roof over our heads thing.  Details.

The difference is, most nights he comes home and works instead of watching TV with me or snuggling.  He actually forced me to start blogging so that I could keep him company in the office.  Ok, that last part is a lie, but he does enjoy me not constantly begging him to come snuggle the extra company.

He works in real estate, foreclosures to be all literal.  In order to make money in that dog-eat-dog world, you have to put in some extra hours.  Which includes late nights and even get this….weekends.

He has a lot on his plate, and even more on his mind.  Which would explain why he can never sleep.

I have a hard time falling asleep, you know with all of my compulsive list making.  But Tim can’t fall asleep OR stay asleep.  Poor thing.

And it has nothing to do with this…

Still sorry honey.

Recently, one of our friends told us about a miracle.  Hi Nikki!

We had never heard of Melatonin, but she told us it is all natural and it actually works.  As opposed to most things you read and then try and then wonder who thought it was a good idea in the first place.

I’m the skeptic, so Tim took it about a week before I gave into the peer pressure.  I was jealous, he was sleeping so soundly that now I was the one that had to get up to let the dogs out.

I needed in on that.

I don’t want to jinx us like I did our Dori.  So I am just going to say we give it two thumbs way up in the air.  We have been giving it out like candy….to dogs, family, even the kids across the street.

Original photo found here.

Please don’t take that literally, we do not condone drug dealing.  Even if it is all natural.

If you look around here you can tell we are clearly not endorsed or perked for saying nice things.  But we like to share things that we like.

And we like Melatonin.

Most nights we take it about a half an hour before we climb into bed, so it can work it’s relaxing magic.  Then when our heads hit the pillow, we are out.  I usually have to get up at least once to go potty, but Timbo is now sleeping through the night.

I’m not saying it’s a miracle…but that’s only because last time I bragged about something, it died.

Are there any other miracles out there that we don’t know about yet?

Written by Christina and Tim
08.13.12

My baby sister is abandoning me on Thursday.

She is leaving me forever to go off to college, and who knows what kind of trouble she is going to get into.  Everyone knows I am way overprotective, or you should after reading this…so I am a worried mess.

If it was up to me she’d be chained in a library at a dry campus all-girls school, with surveillance from nuns.  Scratch that, because it sounds like the opening scene of some “brown-chicken-brown-cow” flick.

I have tried my best to prepare her for college, being an older sister and all.

Please don’t hate me for that Leika.

But how on earth will she ever survive without me, and my “guidance”

I don’t know either.

So I have made her a little “take care” package.  My way of saying, “please don’t go but if you absolutely have to then you need to be prepared and I can help with that”.

The going-away gift contains all of the things that I never thought about buying but apparently needed once I was on my own.

I also gave her two worded advice, to help her survive.

The best way to make friends is to smell good….truth.

Having snacks is vital.  You make friends by being a junk food dealer, and never go off the deep end out of hunger.

Try not to get sick…..a red, raw nose is never attractive.  Streaming snot will make people avoid you at all costs.

This is more for my sanity.  The girl needs good grades and solid morals, since I had neither.

I also packed a lot of personal surprises in there for her, she loves flamingos.  So I included a flamingo kite, blow up flamingo, and a cookie.  There’s a back scratcher, a cute planner, lots of post-its, and second-hand kitchen utensils.

The best part of this basket….her reactions.

Enjoy.

She was a very happy sister.

“When will I fly a kite Christina?”

“Oh my gosh, it’s an edible flamingo!  I can’t eat that!”

“Oh yea, that hits the spot”

“I haven’t had these since summer camp circa 1997”

“Oh man, I love trash liners”

“Now I can be as organized as you”

“We must be a fish family”

Who is excited for kitchen utensils….this girl is.

“Seriously, did dad make you put this in here?”

“Did you steal this from a hotel you cheapo”

*once I told her it was from my Birch Box, I got the reaction above.  Hmmmm. 

“Ummmmm, this is used.  Did you really give me a burnt spatula?”

“A blow up flamingo, where do you find this crap?”

“It’s fine, I’m grateful for all the used and stained stuff.  Except your sheets, that’s not ok”

“Don’t be cheap next time”

“So what are you trying to say with all the smell good stuff”

I’m not trying to say anything Leika….except that’s what they had at the Dollar Store.  I’m sorry about the lint roller, but Scotch tape works just as well.

Even though she made fun of almost everything in the basket, she was very happy to get a bunch of stuff that she hadn’t even thought about.

I think she is ready.

However, I don’t think I am ready for her to be ready.

Can’t I just keep her like this forever….

Best of luck my little Leika.

Written by Christina and Tim
08.09.12

Get your mind our of the gutter.  It’s L-I-S-T.

I am a compulsive list maker.

There I said it.  I have post-its all over my desk, notebooks full of ideas, scrap paper with the grocery list.  Lists are everywhere.  At least once a day, every day, I jot down a list of some form.  Usually it’s more than once.

I would be embarrassed to show you my planner from school because every. single. day. I wrote down what I thought my grades were going to be.  They never changed, but I had to write them down.  I guess it was motivating…or some other weird logical explanation for my illogical tendencies.

At least there are an abundance of cute paper options.  Right now I am oogling these bad boys.

And don’t get me started on Excel.  For our vacation this year we are going on an East Coast road trip.  This list has been written, rewritten, completely scratched and then rewritten again.  I’ll spare you all of the “what to bring” and “music to download” lists.

As a joke a friend got me this.

I’m in deep you guys.  The papers sticking out…..more lists.  It’s a sickness!

So it should come as no surprise that I have a bucket list.  It’s way too lengthy to burden you with, unless you ask then I will totally let you bear that burden.

I also have a leap list.

My big life event will change my life forever…so I need a list so I don’t forget things like “Open a Roth IRA” and then accidentally spend all my money on shoes.

Here is a list of things that I need to do before I can make another human being.

I may not accomplish all of them, I may not accomplish any of them…but it’s all about having goals people.  And I got plenty.

What’s on your Leap List?

Written by Christina and Tim