30 Before 30 Movie Challenge

I adore classic movies. I plan on seeing the Top 50 Movies of all time before I turn 30. Something tells me that I will get this one done before too long. I am surprised about some of the ones I haven't seen.

 1. Citizen Kane (1941) *own it
2. The Godfather (1972) *own it
3. Casablanca (1942) *own it
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
6. Gone with the Wind (1939) **own it; Favorite Movie
7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8. Schindler's List (1993) *own it
9. Vertigo (1958) *own it
10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
11. City Lights (1931)
12. The Searchers (1956)
13. Star Wars (1977)
14. Psycho (1960) *own it
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
16. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
17. The Graduate (1967)
18. The General (1927) * seen about 1/3 of it
19. On the Waterfront (1954)
20. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
21. Chinatown (1974)
22. Some Like It Hot (1959) *own it
23. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
24. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
25. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) *another favorite!
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
27. High Noon (1952)
28. All About Eve (1950) *another favorite
29. Double Indemnity (1944)
30. Apocalypse Now (1979)
31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974)
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
35. Annie Hall (1977)
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
40. The Sound of Music (1965)
41. King Kong (1933)
42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
45. Shane (1953)
46. It Happened One Night (1934)
47. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
48. Rear Window (1954) *own it
49. Intolerance (1916)
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)                     

Reality is setting in

Let's be honest... I have done NOTHING with regardds to my impending move across country. NOTHING. I haven't found a place to live, haven't found people to live in my place, haven't found a job, haven't packed a thing! I told myself, "Self, you are in denial, but admitting it, is half the battle."

Today I said to myself, "Self. You are full of crap."

I walked into our third bedroom (used to be the "wedding room," instead it was an empty room filled with junk that drives me craaaaazy so I don't go in there) last night. I expected it to be more empty than when I last entered it. Happy Hubby was supposed to clean out all the junk so we don't move it across country.

Last week, just days before he left for Greenville, I walked upstairs, noticed the door was open and Hubster was sitting indian-style, looking intently at objects on the floor.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Cleaning stuff out," he said.
"Oh really," I questioned skeptically.
"Yeah, because if I don't you'll just throw everything out."
"Ha!" He knows me so well. I walked out and didn't hink of it again... until last night. Behold, an episode of "Hoarders" exploded in that room. Piles and piles of the "stuff" he was looking at covered the carpet. Anxiety attack! KA-POW!

I have a reoccuring nightmare that I am in a cold concrete room surrounded by stacks and stack of paper. Suddenly the cieling fan goes on and the cieling-high stacks begin to sway. Single sheets of white paper float down on top of my head. I start to brush them off but then they come faster and faster, I keep flainging my arms and covering my face, but they keep coming faster, there's so many... AHHHHHH! and then I assume I am crushed (and probably covered in thousands of tiny papercuts) because the dream is over.

Get Me Out of Here!
 (via)

That is the feeling I got when I walked into that room last night. Reality is a skyscraper of paper that squashes you when you least expect it. Hopefully this new degree of anxiety will spur me into action and I'll get packing... right after I envision a new, more comforting dream of packers who do it for me.

Falls Park at Reedy River

How many places have a waterfall downtown? No, not a manmade fountain, a real waterfall. Greenville, SC is one of them (seriously contemplating looking up exactly the number of downtown waterfalls there are in the States, no time no time). We spent Saturday downtown walking in and out of vintage shops, dined al-cheapo in a great Italian ristorante, an visited an old timey general store. The best part of the day was spent walking along Reedy River and relaxing at Falls Park.

Falls Park

Enjoying my new favorite place in town

O Serenity!

We're putting down some roots in ol' SC

One of the "Mice on Main" when I move in June, I am finding them all!

I think I am going to love it here. <3

2 Attractions in 1 Day

Why is it that we tend to take the places we live for granted until the times comes when you must leave it? Oh, you don't? That's just us? Let me tell you that cramming in to very big and very lovely attractions in four hours is tough and I really don't recommend it for the most fulfilling of experiences.

Happy Hubby and I spent last Sunday at the Desert Botanical Gardens followed by the Phoenix Zoo. It was certainly in the 90s and I certainly got a sunburn (my face, neck and chest are three very different colors and my freckles are out in full force). Hubby has lived in AZ for 8+ years now and had been to neither place.

Leg Envy

A roomy one-bedroom studio apartment

Spelunking

Bringing heat to the desert

Slippery lil otter

 

Le Lagoon en Feeenicks

Flamingos... my favorite bird

Happy Anti-Versary

Happy Hubby and are nearing our one-year wedding anniversary. Awwww! So wonderful for us!

I am vewwwwwy sneaky

 We will not be in the same state on this most magical of days. He will be drinking a mint julep in the Palmetto State and I will be slaving away in the Copper State (yes, Arizona is actually the Copper State, not the Grand Canyon State, though it certainly has both). Since Tuesday, April 19th, we have been wishing each other a Happy AntiVersary. Clever, I know ;) Tuesday night we dined on Domino's Pizza and feasted on year-old wedding cake. There was NO WAY I was eating one year and even one day old wedding cake!

Both of us were stunned that the frosting tasted so fresh. The gorgeous mocha cake was a little spongy once it thawed from the freezer, but we each ate a piece.

Happy AntiVersary, love of my life! I really, really cannot wait for our second anniversary so we can celebrate it together!

You Got a Funny Accent

Overly simplistic title, I know. Hubby and I have enjoyed our first night/day in Greenville, SC. Here are a couple snippets of our adventure so far:

via

• Wednesday Night: Explore Downtown Greenville! Main Street (OMG! Just saying "Main Street" is so quaint, I can't get enough) is tree-lined and beautiful. Brick Mom and Pop shops and independent restaurants dot the courtyards, bistro tables greet cheery customers in front of open and welcoming doors. We grabbed a pint of Kurli Blonde Pale Ale and a honey stout at Blue Ridge Brewing Company after our long flight from Phoenix (by way of Houston). Once the sandwiches settled in our tummies, we walked the banks of the Reedy River. Falls Park at the Reedy River is so pretty, so tranquil. I never would have thought that right in the middle of ANY downtown area that a place so nice could even exist. Across the river is a Hampton Suites, which is definitely the chicest one I have ever seen. We made our way back toward our car after walking by the Westin Poinsett. I was in awe of the sweeping architecture. I was also in awe of the bat-poo-crazy thunderstorm last night. We might not be in AZ anymore, but I didn't think we were in store for a KS tornado!

• Today, Thursday: we sweet talked the GPS into not getting us terribly lost. Both Hubster and I were not feeling our prettiest. We hopped into the nearest discount hair salon for a couple cheap and easy trims. Tee-hee is all I have to say about that. We intended on visiting apartment complexes in search of our new home. We walked the grounds of a very pretty one, but something struck me about not wanting to live in an apartment anymore. We have house in Chandler, AZ (please, please someone rent it quickly!) which means a house full of furniture and life. I just can't justify spending money on a storage facility while renting a lil two bedroom place. We then searched (oh, you sneaky fritzy-internet and your troublesome ways!) for a realtor that could help us find a rental house. We met one, who pretty much just pushed us out the door so she could start her weekend early. I know it is Easter weekend, but we could be HOMELESS, I thought to my selfish-self. She was lovely enough to let us know that it will be extremely difficult to find a rental in which we can not only house our pup, but one with a washer/dryer. Ugh! As much as I hate laundry, I really don't want to buy a washer/dryer, or worse, truck my delicates to a sure-to-be public laundromat. 

• Thursday Evening: After that pointlessness that was our afternoon, we had dinner at John Paul's Armadillo Oil Company -a steak and rib house- with Hubby's new boss and coworkers. s soon as we saddled up to the bar, and ordered our drinks we got wham-o'ed with the accent. No, not that gorgeous southern drawl I have been practicing for weeks now. Hubs ordered a Miller Lite and got served with "Where you from? You got a funny accent." I almost fell over. He told her from Phoenix and she responded "I could tell you're not from here with that funny accent" The irony!!!

Update y'all tomorrow. g'night!

Send-Off Soiree

We threw an impromptu get-together to send off Hubba Hubby on Friday. Friends came over to hang out and see that magic man of mine before he moves. We reminisced about old times: life in his Fraternity House, how we move every two years, the funny stuff we did as brilliant, but silly college kids. It was great seeing everyone, but a little sad that we don't know when we'll see them next.

In honor of the occasion I made a southern like menu:

Grilled Burgers and Grilled Brats (he insisted)

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Coleslaw

Sweet Tea Vodka

Lemonade

Beer

Baked Beans

Homemade-From-Scratch Two-Layer Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing  

(Am in total denial that he is moving away from me, but I'll see him soon)

Okay so the menu wasn't Southern at all. I just wanted to have chocolate and Sweet Tea Vodka with Lemonade. Very refreshing!

Was going to take a picture of the very pretty cake, but, it was eaten waaaay faster than I thought. Here is the original recipe instead. My revisions are as follows:

Very Impressive Chocolate Cake
2 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. cake flour

1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 egg

1 c. skim milk

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce (use this instead of oil and save hundreds of calories)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. boiling water + 1 tsp. instant coffee granules

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9in. cake pans.

2. Mix together dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add in wet ingredients (except water/coffee combo), beating on medium speed for two minutes. Stir in boiling water/coffee, little bit at a time until all is in. Batter will be very thin (like how you will stay thin after eating this cake).

3. Evenly divide into two pans. Bake 30-35 minutes (mine took 38 minutes so check for doneness by inserting toothpick into center, if clean when it comes out, your good to go).

4. Cool 10 minutes, then remove pan and let completely cool on wire rack. 

5. Frost top of one cake with half of a tub (ha ha, I didn't say it was all homemade) of Betty Crocker's Coconut Pecan frosting. Top with second cake, then frost that top. Add an adorable strawberry to the top of it to see what mine actually looked like :)

My! How my garden grows!

It doesnt look like much, but my little seedings have sprouted! We have lettuce, carrots and cucumbers growing in our raised garden. Hopefully they start growing like mad, because I want to enjoy the little fruits of my limited labor before I move next month. I'm a little peeved that the spring onions are a complete fail.


To the salad bowl they go!

In honor of having to coordinate another High School Prom tonight, I give you the ugliest Prom dresses (that I found on the internet) of 2011:

I feel like they have it on backwards, but thank you for covering your navels.

There are no words.

I received something like this at my bachelorette party

Could have used the extra fabric for the train in the front

She's on the prrrrrrrowl tonight

Looking for the limelight, well you can't miss them... wowza

A little fact you may not have known about lil ol' me: I worked at a store that sold prom dresses when I was in high school. All the scratches my arms got from putting back sequin, bedazzeled, beaded, sparkling confectionery gowns have scarred my mind so much that when I picked my wedding dress, I specifically stayed away from a lot of sparkle (but chose on that had a little beading just under the bust far away from my forearms). Have a happy prom, class of 2011!

Kale Chips

Taking something healthy, drying it out and dumping salt on it... oh yeah!

Actually kale chips are really healthy and I don't add much salt and almost zero oil.Here's how to do it:

1. Wash the kale and then dry thoroughly (or you'll get soggy chips...gross)
2. Cut off/out the stem (the stem is also gross)
3. Spread out in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet
4. Lightly coat with cooking spray followed by a light sprinkling of sea salt or seasoned salt
5. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes (they burn very easy)
6. Consume... delicious!

Too busy to be sick

I have a lot on my plate right now. I have sales calls to make, events to coordinate, emails to follow-up, a house to pack, a hubby to keep on track, a dog to snuggle, a friend to say bon voyage to, laundry to do (even after the laundry marathon that was this weekend), photos to take and post of the house, renters to find, appointments to make, and a nose to blow with a teary eye to wipe. I am a human ground-zero for debilitating allergies this week.

"I am misery," I would say to Hubster.
"Do you need something, my love?" he would reply.
"Help me," I would roughly whisper, "this may be the last day I am alive."
"You want some water in your final moments," he'd play along. "Take an Advil Cold & Sinus."
"But, Sugar, I can't die yet," I'd remind him. "I don't have life insurance yet. I am worth more to you alive right now."
"You better not go dying on me."
"I am too busy to be sick," I'd remind him."Misssssery..." I trail off in a sudafed sleep state.

We've been on this road before. I am a very dramatic sick person (not to mention my face warps into a scary troll mask - swollen eyes, beet-red nose, dried and scaly lips, always dirty glasses, and I smell like medicine and vitamins). Hubby plays along with me, coddling me like I need. He's a good man and he doesn't tell me to get over it, when I act this way, he just loves on me.

I have a roll of toilet paper on my desk for the never-ending nose. I wrote "Heal Me" on it, so I may fool myself into feeling better. I hope I don't get black writing on my nose!

My Next Pet

Ever Since I have seen those CRA-ZAY DirectTV ads, I have been desperately wanting a Petite Lap Giraffe. Who wouldn't?!? A very clever company, that ad firm for the satellite dishes, created a site where you can watch those little guys go about their nonexistent lives. This is a video on the site and below is the link.

 

Behold: http://www.petitelapgiraffe.com/index.php

Goodbye Gina Bean

Last night I said my first good byes to one of my best friends. No, she's alive and kicking, she's not dead! She's shipping up to Denver. She was born and raised there and sought new adventures at age 18 when she enrolled at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Best decision she ever made if you ask me. We bonded over playing dominoes and talking about boys and drinking beer and staying up for days and mayhem and mischief and so on and so on.

I'm going to miss Miss G. She is the first of my group of girlfriends to move out of Arizona. (at the end of the month Lil Miss Kenda moves to Dallas and then a month later, I will take my own wild ride across country). You better call me as soon as you date the doctor I promised you you'll marry :) I just want my, "thank You , Mo, you were right," because I always am right and its nice to hear it from someone else's mouth aside from my own.


Have a great time in Denver, dahling.

Put on your Dancing Shoes!

Pretty in Pink - whatever happened to white dinner jackets; they're so classy and debonair

Its Prom season, y'all! (see, I'm practicing before the big move) This means ridiculously oversized hair, skirts either up to here or necklines down to whoa! I will be scouring the corners and stairwells of Arizona Science Center keeping my eyes out on your creeping teenagers with your underage flasks and raging hormones. Behave tonight, kids! (Anything you do right now can really mess up graduation, and really put a damper on my enthusiastic prom-lovin'.)

I have five Proms over the next six weeks (and the week I don't have one I will be in Greenville, home-hunting). However painful this may be for me, the pain only lasts until my next Hubby-foot massage. You pain will last forever when you look bak in ten years and think to yourself, "Who let me wear that?!"

For the record, I looked like a peach colored Vegas showgirl. No one is immune. Have so much fun and make tonight one of the best nights of your young lives! Dances are really hard to come by when you get older, and so are meals that faculty pay for!

PS, is it weird that a 27-year-old woman is excited to hear Prom King and Queen announcements?

Note: Must learn to say "Reckon"

The paperwork is signed and faxed. Happy Hubby and I are moving to Greenville, South Carolina. So long stifling hot summers! Hubster and I are flying out to search for an apartment on April 20th. I return to the desert. His first day of work will be the 25th. I will work my current job for a month while he gets acclimated to Southern Living.  Then after a bachelorette-beach-extravaganza Memorial Day weekend, Hubby and I will finally go on our epic road trip (so what if we can't road trip up PCH- Pacific Coast Highway, driving across country in a two-seater car will be fun even if we can't stop at Vineyards). Along for the ride will be Remy, our poochy-poo, and Buddy, our little turtle who must endure a few days in a tiny plastic box with an inch of water.

What about my little house? Do you know anyone who wants to rent an adorable three-bedroom house in Chandler/Gilbert? Send 'em my way!

What about a newer-new job in the same state as my hubby, you ask? Eh, I'll find one... hopefully.

I'm stoked about this new adventure ahead of us. If anyone is ever in the Blue Ridge Mountains-area, stop by and I'll pour you some Sweet Tea.

99 Problems

Bashful Fool

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone! Get silly and act the fool... unless you are in Arizona, in which case stay inside where the air conditioning blasts the most. It is a delicate 99 degrees in the Copper State today. Yes. April has barely begun to shine and the weatherman announced the smashing of the previous record high of 96. We are all winning in 2011, I guess. Breaking records and hitting new highs.

PS Planning a lil joke on Hubby for when he returns home from his interview in Greenville, SC. What shall it be? (I wish the joke was on me about this incredible summer we started a month early)