NEED TO MAKE SOME

I think I love these.



I found them here and I'm pretty sure I NEED to make some!

POWDERED SUGAR ON TOP

Is it just me, or do most people have a love/hate relationship with baked goods that have powdered sugar on top? Love them because they just look so pretty and delicious; hate them because when you go to take a bite, every once in awhile you inhale the powdered sugar and start choking.

BUY ME THINGS

If you know me, then you know I kinda love hair accessories right now. My pal Molly had some super cute homemade clips and headbands on her blog and I made a comment about them. So what did this amazingly creative and kind girl do? She sent me one. It's made from a zipper...what a treat! I can't wait to rock it!



Two things I concluded from this event: 1) it pays to have cool friends and 2) not enough people buy (or make?) me things. Love you Mollister! xoxoxo

GOODBYING

Three things I've discovered lately that I am not very good at:

1) Scrabble. But I will challenge you to a game of Boggle ANY time
2) returning phone calls
3) Saying goodbye

The word goodbye didn't even belong in my vocabulary for the longest time. Once I let someone in my heart (lovers, friends, coworkers, neighbors, doctors, whatever), I kinda don't know how to forget about them.
So this makes it rough for me to say farewell, even if I know one of us will return.
Silly heart. My solution? Tim McGraw says it best in his song Everywhere:



...But ever since you said good-bye
I've been out here on the wind
And baby you would be surprised
All the places you have been

I've seen you in Albuquerque waitin' out a blizzard
Arizona dancin' 'cross the desert
Watchin' the sun set in Monterey
Girl I swear just the other day you were
Down in Georgia pickin' them peaches
Carolina barefoot on the beaches
No matter where you choose to be
In my heart I'll always see you
Everywhere

...Still I know I'll hear your voice
And see you down the road
Maybe in

Oklahoma drivin' 'cross the prairie
In Dallas Texas isn't that where we
Always said we would like to try
But never did so maybe that's why
You're on every highway just beyond the high-beams
Right beside me in all of my sweet dreams
No matter where you choose to be
In my heart I'll always see you
Everywhere.

I love you; you're my friend.

QUESTIONS, NO ANSWERS

Please help me if you can answer these questions that seem to baffle my mind lately:
1. Why does ranch dressing taste SO good on SO many things? I think I would go through a family-sized bottle a week if it was available.
2. Can a man wear anything more ridiculously unattractive than a deep V-neck t-shirt?
3. Is there some super magnetic attraction that forces a person to put their dirty dishes in the sink instead of in the dishwasher which is 1 foot away?
4. Do girls really need to carry such big purses and do they actually need to take that many things with them every where they go?
5. Why oh why does the guy/girl who acts like a jerk/bimbo seem oddly attractive to us?

WASH YOUR HANDS

It's a little disturbing to me that people need to be reminded to wash their hands after they use the restroom. Is it that hard to remember?! Especially if you work at a restaurant and are handling my food...gross.

MOVIE POUNDS

Last week, on the Today Show, Paul Bettany talked about his role of playing Darwin in the movie Creation. He had to gain 45 movie pounds. How'd he do it? His answer: cheese sandwiches and booze. He ate cheese and drank beer. Maybe he moved to Wisconsin for a few months?!
But I love it, I do. I enjoy seeing blocks of cheese at the salad bar for you to slice up, sausage and cheese plates at the local euchre tourney for all to enjoy, and fried cheese curds around every corner.

PS I'm NOT here to bulk up for a part in a movie.

LOVE ON SALE

Chick flicks and lovey stuff don't interest me normally. But right now I totally love cute romantic songs and junk. I blame Super Target for their clever Valentine's Day decorations being on sale so early.

Maybe you think it's too commercial, but I am a total sucker for 5Buck heart-shaped pizza, donuts with pink and red sprinkles, and these super cute typography plates with hidden messages. It's love on sale. And I love it...I'm sold.

ROUND 3: LOST

I wore a brand new pair of earrings Friday night and lost one of them. The thing that makes this such a big deal is that this pair was a replacement for a pair I replaced after losing one on the dance floor in Tulsa. Seriously...round 3 for the big, goldies: lost. What's my problem with earrings?! Maybe I can glue them on.

CAN'T TAKE YOU OFF MY REPEAT

I'm kinda obsessed with the group Lady Antebellum. They're just so hot right now. And I discovered this song which I just can't take off repeat for the last week:


(You may have to push the play button for it to start up)

It almost makes me want to fall in love, then I remember I'm boy retarded.

*To all my Utah friends, go hear them at the Sundance Film Festival
OR anyone wanna go to Madison and see their show with me Feb 12th? They're touring with some fellow named Tim McGraw...heard he's pretty good as well.

ONE OF THOSE DAYS

I went to Super Target in Madison for some much needed emergency essentials. First of all, the floor plan in that store is the strangest I've ever seen. Cat and dog food have their own separate aisles next to the shampoo and luggage BUT A BOTTLE OF MIDOL IS NOT TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE. Trust me I looked. So as I took my bottle of Ibuprofen, I also saw Pasta Roni shells and white cheddar were on sale and grabbed a box. Love that stuff.

I chose a lane that looked like it had the shortest wait and the cashier told me to watch out for spilled water on the ground by the conveyor belt thingy. So I stepped back as another employee came over and tried to mop it up. She was about 142 years old and I felt like I should've mopped it for her, but right at that moment I had some cramps show up and say, "Hello , deanna, my old friend," so I was trying to play it cool. Instead I stood back and let her do her job as cheerful and helpful as she was. The person behind me with their cart was loudly sighing at me for standing back so far from the belt probably so they could put their items on. As soon as the Target lady finished mopping up and warning me about 5 times to watch my step on the slippery floor, I turned around smiled at the sigher, and moved forward in line...grabbing some chocolate on the way and putting it with the rest of my items.

The cashier was trying to win customer service rep of the year and took way too long to ring everything and then started in on the 375 coupons the lady at the register had. By this time, I felt as if my ovaries were punching me one at a time saying, "Make! Some! Babies! Make! Some! Babies!" over and over again. So I opened the bottle of IBU, grabbed a few, walked over to the drinking fountain, swallowed them, and came back to line as the cashier was just finishing up with the lady in front of me. FOR THE LOVE! Bless her heart, I know she was trying to be kind, but she picked up my items and bagged them saying,"Well, now, you've got your drugs, these (pointing to a box of unmentionables), and your Kit Kat. Anything you're missing?!" and looked at the lady behind me making a face like 'YOU know what I mean!' as they both giggled.
To which I replied, "Yep, it's just one of those days." THANKS FOR ANNOUNCING IT TO THE OTHER CUSTOMERS! Maybe you could've jumped on the intercom and made an announcement for me to the WHOLE store:
"Attention Super Target customers, today on checkstand 5..."
Oh well...I want my chocolate.

CHUG

"Ladies sip; they don't chug."
Some wise advice my friend's Grandma Beverly once gave me as I received my third refill of strawberry lemonade at Red Robin.
But I'm not very good at this one. I notice if you give me a drink...I drink it. That's it. No messing around. I'm pretty sure it's a good thing I don't drink alcohol.

TWENTY-TEN

While in Utah, I went to the wedding shindig for these kids:

And I caught this:

Now this is a big deal for me. I went to a reception lots of years ago for the Jubers where I caught the bouquet. The next day, for no good reasons at all, almost every boy I knew either stopped talking to me or phoned to tell me they didn't want to talk to me any more. No exaggeration. My super smart friend Danae and I discovered it was the curse of the wedding bouquet. So we went behind the Wendy's near campus in Provo one night and burned it to destroy all of it's evilness. However, there were metal leaves in it that couldn't be destroyed no matter how hard we tried. For every reception since then I avoided the bouquet when it was tossed and have even dodged, swatted, or kicked it away a few times.
Well, it's twenty-ten, a new decade, so I decided it's time to face the flowers and kick their trash. Misty threw the bouquet to all the single ladies and I caught it. Done and done. No bad messages yet...keep your fingers crossed for me.

BLOWED UP

Whatever your opinion is about this story, cnn news has been on all day and every time I hear the mother's plea I giggle:

"I don't understand why this has got blowed up so big..."
(you just have to watch the first 7 seconds to hear it). Blowed up...wow!

BACK HOME TO YOU-TAH

I went here:
Utah

for these holidays:
Christmas

New Years

to see these people:
love them

Only to come back to this:
freezing cold weather in Wisconsin

where I have to dress like this:
or I'll die

CLOSET SHOPPING

Sometimes I live out of just enough items to fit in a suitcase or duffle bag for months. Then when I go home to my closet I get SO excited. I feel like I have just been shopping, but I haven't spent a cent. I love it. Today, I found a chest full of "skinny jeans" that I fit into and it pretty much made day. Now which ones to pack?

SNOWFLAKES

I kinda really love it when I spot snowflakes that actually look like the snowflakes you cut out of paper in elementary school (at least those made by the artsy kids who knew how to make them look like more than a square paper with crazy eyes).

BOXING DAY

Today is Boxing Day and what's a girl who isn't Canadian but loves a good reason to celebrate supposed to do on this day besides get together with an old pal and have a Rocky movie marathon and box around the house a little bit?! Yo, Adrian!

COURTESY FLUSH

I like to wash my hands after I workout at the gym, just incase some big, hairy man sweats all over the machine before me. Today when I walked into the bathroom I was blown away by a foul smell. I know, I know...everybody goes to the bathroom every day hopefully, and sometimes it's a doozy. But if you're in a public place please be kind enough to do a courtesy flush for the next person who might walk in after you.

THE CHEAT

I'll admit I didn't go to a gym once while I was in Wisconsin so it feels super good to get my exercise on while I'm home. I usually go Monday thru Friday and then on the weekend I cheat and wear heels so my legs still feel like I've been working them all day long! Wait, maybe I should wear high heels when I exercise...

CLEANING UP

The main reason people go out to eat sometimes is because they don't want to have to cook, clean up the mess, and do the dishes. But for some reason I still find myself feeling like I have to stack my dishes nicely for the server to take them away and clean up the table as I leave. What is my problem?! At least I get to see cool kids like these girls when I go out:

THE FACTS OF LIFE

Who knew big hair and shoulder pads could be so inspiring?! But these ladies had it right in their theme song:

You take the good,
You take the bad,
You take them both and there you have
the facts of life.

PEELING ORANGES

I love to eat oranges, but I hate to peel them. I don't like the way it makes my hands feel or smell afterwards. This would cause a dilemma for most people. However, ever since I can remember, if I wanted to eat an orange all I had to do was take it in to my dad and he would gladly peel it for me...as many times as I asked.

Growing up, I never really cared about the thought of the size of my house or how much money my future husband would provide for me. Instead, I simply thought it would be super romantic if he would peel my oranges...that's it. Of course I'll accept other gifts as well.

BLUFF

When people say "Because I like you, I'm not gonna respond to that" or "I could say something, but I'm just not gonna go there" I kinda don't really believe they have anything to say. In fact, I think they are just trying to get others to think they're witty when they're not.

So, to those of ya'll who use those lines or anything like unto them, I call your bluff...go ahead and say it. If what you have to say is really that good, then I really want you to 'go there' and say it.

SNOW DAY

I believe I only had school cancelled due to snow one time in Utah. ONE TIME out of 5 school years. And then we had to make it up during Christmas vacation. I remember church was cancelled once; that was a sweet snow day.

But, here they cancelled school like 2 days in advance because the weather man said it would snow a bunch. Last night it was snowing and so everyone stayed home and some businesses even closed early. I went out in the snow....it wasn't that bad. Why is everybody so afraid of a little powder here?!

BLADES

Random fact about deanna #37:
I shave my legs in the shower every day. Yep, EVERY day.
As I was in the shower today, I looked at my razor and wondered if people even buy single or twin blades anymore? Why are they even made when you can enjoy the smoothness that comes from 3, 4, or even 5 blades at once. It's incredible.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

I don't consider myself to be a rude kid, and I can be very patient with people most of the time, but have you ever been so fed up with a customer service agent you want to tell them to suck it, hang up on them, and then secretly hope their place of business blows up and they never have another customer as long as you both shall live?! AHEM...me neither. Just wondering.
PS don't shop www.NeimanMarcus.com.

UNATTRACTIVE QUALITIES

For some strange reason, I find these qualities to be very unattractive:
1) Horrible spelling
2) Unwilling to share food at a restaurant. (I mean, come on, that's what makes it more fun is when you take a bite of something tasty and then say to your friends, "Ah, you've gotta try this!" and share.
3) Showing crack
4) Stuffing food in your face while driving (I don't know...there is just something about seeing a Big Mac being inhaled by the person next to me in traffic that totally grosses me out).
5) Arguing...about EVERYTHING. You aren't always going to be right; no one is. And if you're wrong, it's OK to admit it.
That's my list so far.

BAGEL ME

Once upon a time, a young girl worked at a small bagel shop in Utah. She loved her bagels. In fact, she only ate bagels from this shop and refused to eat crappy Einstein Bagels, mostly due to their inferiority in taste (except the asiago) and high price, but also mostly because of her loyalty to her bagel shop. Then one day, the owners came in while the girl was hard at work, put a closed sign in the window, and the shop was gone. RIP Bruegger's Bagels of Orem, UT.

As fate would have it, 10 years later (don't do the math), this still young girl was driving down University Ave in Madison, WI, and to her surprise saw a magnificent building with the words Bruegger's written in that oh-so-tacky font she once adored.
She carefully changed lanes, walked in the door, and left with some honey walnut cream cheese and a bag of boiled, baked, and round happiness. Mmm...bagel me, WI.

COWBOY VS FARMER

I've learned there are many differences between cowboys and farmers. #1 difference that drives me crazy is that farmers don't dance. I feel like I'm in a place where people should be listening to (then that obviously leads to dancing to) country music. But, I'll be darned if I can find a place to scoot my boots around here.

The Farmer and the Cowman

Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends.
One man likes to push a plough, the other likes to chase a cow,
But that's no reason why they can't be friends.

Territory folks should stick together,
Territory folks should all be pals.
Cowboys dance with farmer's daughters,
Farmers dance with the ranchers' gals. (but they don't!)

Farmer:
I'd like to say a word for the farmer,
He come out west and made a lot of changes
He came out west and built a lot of fences,

Rancher:
And built them right across our cattle ranges!

Rancher:
I'd like to say a word for the cowboy,
The road he treds is difficult and stony.
He rides for days on end with jist a pony for a friend,

Farmer:
I sure am feelin' sorry for the pony!

From Oklahoma, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein

THANKS: GIVEN

I am thankful for you.
And for me
Maybe even for you & me
And all the stuff that is in between.
And ice cream.
I am REALLY thankful for ice cream.

YOUR DUTY

I was sitting behind a girl yesterday who had a loose hair on her shirt. With my ninja-like skills, I gently removed it without her noticing. I then glanced over at the boy next to her and saw he had a string on the back pocket of his pants. Not sure if that was appropriate for me to remove for him, I dared the girl next to me (who was actually closer to him) to grab it off. I mean she'd be doing him a favor after all. She declined. Then I felt bad letting him walk around possibly for the rest of the day with a white string attached to his black pants.

I absolutely DO NOT find it creepy when someone grabs a fuzz off my shirt, tucks in my tag, or tells me I stuffed my skirt into my pantyhose when I leave the bathroom. In fact, I expect people to tell me if they notice any of those to avoid embarrassment for myself.

OK everybody reading this blog, promise me this...

Raise your right hand and repeat after me (come on...do it...even if you're a dude):
I, (state your name), promise to do my best to do my duty to help other people, whenever and wherever I may see fit, to aid them in looking their best and avoid any potential clothing disasters.
Done and done. Duty served.

ATHENS MARATHON 2010

In 490 BC, the outnumbered Greeks defeated the invading Persians on the fields of Marathon. Legend has it that a soldier named Phidippides ran 24.85 miles from Marathon to Athens to bring news of the shocking victory. His heroic effort was memorialized in 1896 when the first modern Olympics, held in Athens, recreated the run officially dubbed the Marathon. During the 1908 London Olympics, the British changed the course to 26.2 miles.

2500 years after the original Marathon, we have the opportunity to re-trace the legendary route. Had the Greeks not stymied the Persians from conquering the mainland, the glory of ancient Greece as the cradle of Western Civilization might never have come to pass. The 2010 Athens Classic Marathon offers an occasion to honor the roots of a culture whose accomplishments continue to inspire greatness in each of us today.


So I remember when I used to be a good runner girl and thought 'I'll run a marathon at least once in my life just to do it...when I find the right one.' Well, this might be it! How cool would it be to run in Greece?! This is going on my list to Santa for sure. Anyone interested in joining me?

**And maybe to warm up for this I can do the Great Wall half marathon in CHINA. I better dust off my running shoes.

PREDICTIVE TEXT

My name is deanna and I use predictive text option when typing text messages. Theoretically, the number of keystrokes per character, provided that all words used are in the dictionary and that no spelling or typing mistakes are made, should allow your cellular device to type the word you desire when writing your message. ie. pushing 8398 should form the word TEXT. In practice, however, these factors are found to be crucial to speed and accuracy, as has been demonstrated in experiments with real users like myself:

I invited someone to come along to have dinner with me and the local Wisconsin morons last night.

Oh wait...actually there's another M in there...it's the Mormons!

Thank you predictive text and my lazy fingers for that laugh.
deanna: world's most professional text messager.

LOOKING FOR LOVE

Looking for love in all the wrong places. The evolution of the number on the mens bathroom wall:

attempt #1

#2 making sure not to get any DIFFERENT kind of cowboys texting...

final attempt

PS If anybody asks, I don't know who wrote this at Kleeman's!