Thursday

Hey Austin bloggers (again)- do we wanna meet and play on Thursday?
Send me your email addresses and Ill start a chain to get ideas of where to go!

kthanksbye.

Dexter

Just got around to watching the season finale of Dexter from last night. My jaw is literally on the floor. So shocked.

Thoughts?

Adventures in Babysitting

I had the distinguished privilege of babysitting Dereks niece, Macey last night. What fun we had. She fixed my hair, we tickled, we had a tea party (which resulted in each of us sucking our tea cups until they stuck to our chins- remember that?), we chased each other around in circles, we read books and we wore each other out.

She wanted me to take my shoes and socks off... so she could put them on

She kept saying "soft, fuzzy socks"

at this point in our tea party, she realized I was snapping her picture and wanted to see them

enjoying the birthday gift Derek and I gave her

playing hard to get

Overall, Im not sure who had more fun- me or her!

Happy 101

One of my real life favorites, Erin, gave me an award today- and who doesnt squeal with excitement when such an honor is bestowed upon them?! Wahooooooooooo!

This award, meant to be gifted to bloggers who make you smile, has two requirements.

1. List 10 things that make you happy.

2. List 10 bloggers who brighten your day.

10 things that make me happy:
-cheese (cubes, queso, string)
-red wine
-the endless comforts of friendship
-inside jokes
-the companionship and growing love with my special someone
-really good tv- the kind that when the episode is over, youre a little sad
-a good book thats impossible to put down
-my sweet and crazy, hairy pups
-tempurpedic pillows
-being able to babysit Miss Macey tonight!

10 bloggers who brighten my day:
Organic Meatbag
Enginerd
Courtkneerawks
Dallmeyer Days
dot...dot...dot
French Kiss
Handbags and Handguns
Happy Meals & Happy Hour
I Love You More Than Carrots
Live.Love.Laugh

Attention Austin Bloggers

Jill is usually the one who sets these up but I have yet to attend due to my unpredictable schedule. I thought it may be worth the effort to try and schedule a gathering for next week before the holidays get too hectic and we have no free time until 2010. I was even thinking we could do a white elephant gift exchange?

Since Im the one making this suggestion Ill go ahead and suggest days:
-Monday 12/14
-Thursday 12/17

Any takers? I know some of you live south and some of us live north so we could pick a place in between and make it easier for everyone!

Once we get an idea of who all wants to play, Ill set up an email chain for organization so if youre interested, comment with your email address!

Hope it works out!

Smell Your Heart Out

The New Black is hosting a giveaway I couldnt wish any harder for! Stop on over for her Smell Your Heart Out Giveaway- but really, maybe dont so I can win.

You see, Im such a candle person. And Yankee Candles? What more could a girl from MA ask for? Its like a dream come true!

When awaiting company at the house, I always light candles. When curled up watching a movie, I light a candle. When cleaning and organizing, I light a candle. When taking a bubble bath, I light a candle. When reading a good book, I light a candle.

I suppose the shorter list would be when I dont light a candle...

So What

So what if none of my pants fit me? So what if that includes my ELEVEN pairs of designer jeans Ive spent a fortune on? So what if I try to nap daily? So what if I sit on the couch watching bad tv mindlessly eating Reeses peanut butter cups? So what if Im obsessed with my dogs? So what if Id rather eat pizza than something healthy? So what if I make the pillow cushions line neatly before bed every night? So what if I vacuum my car weekly? So what if I sing loudly to every song on my ipod while driving in traffic? So what if I feel a warm and cozy home means having a candy dish in the entry way? So what if I still watch The Hills? So what if Im obsessed with Edward Cullen? So what if I read gossip magazines and websites daily? So what if I like to spend lots of my hard earned money on handbags? So what if Dumb and Dumber still makes me laugh every single time? So what if I enjoy facebook stalking? So what if I prefer pearls to trendy jewelry? So what if I prefer handwritten snail mail to gifts, emails or phone calls? Who cares if I have split ends and need a haircut?

SO WHAT? Its me!

Christmas Party Pics

Derek won a $50 gift card to Target!

Kicking Myself

I have spent the last 30 hours in a deep depression.

You see, Friday night was Dereks company Christmas party- started out at a country club here in Austin and ended at a bar hotel downtown.

I woke up Saturday morning with a hefty headache (see: too many vodka sodas) and my camera nowhere to be found. I literally checked every single place I could think of and eventually started making the rounds calling each place wed been to the night before.

Country club: no such luck. Also not too helpful over the phone…
Hotel bar: no luck there either. Must think Im a drunken fool…
Dereks truck: nothing…though I told myself Id do a once over myself asap…

I even started thinking of places to look such as the freezer, my make up bag, in our junk drawer, and my sock drawer. I was frantic and would put nothing past myself. Its not like me to lose or misplace things, I unpack my purse pretty much nightly when I walk in the door so this was very frustrating and was beginning to really stress me out.

As of this afternoon Id given up hope and started looking online for deals on a new camera. Dont get me wrong, I was sick at the thought of spending so much money on myself before Christmas but if you know me, you know how odd it would be to have a Dez with no camera. I thought about all the upcoming events Id want to capture and convinced myself it would be a necessary purchase.

Then I started to do laundry to get my mind off of it, and when hanging up clean clothes I caught a glimpse of the coat I wore Friday night. Guess what was in the pocket? Yep. My camera. Why on earth didnt I think to check there in the first place?

Perhaps I killed too many brain cells on Friday night...oops.

Online Shopping Can Ruin Lives

Im a little peeved and Im going to tell you why.

I ordered a winter coat online about a month ago, I patiently waited for it to arrive and when it finally did, it was too big (story of my life). It was only after trying it on that I went back online and read reviews of the coat. Much to my dismay almost everyone that had taken the time to type out a review said it ran way too big. Well that’s for the information- a day late and a dollar short.

(I cant get the damn picture any bigger- stupid problem causing jacket!)

I decided to return the coat, but no my friends, Dez couldn’t do so in the store. Girlfriends coat was only available online. I could return it to the store for a refund and reorder the coat online- and wait- AGAIN. I decided to return it through the mail so I didn’t have to pay shipping a second time, BIG MISTAKE. Turns out that by the time I returned the coat they were all sold out. Rather than let me know I would only get a refund and no smaller size, they refunded my money and didn’t send me an email, a phone call or even a carrier pigeon. Sure, I was happy to have the money back after still not having my new winter coat but I was annoyed at the whole process.

I finally caved and called customer service this morning. Not only was the jacket so popular that there are ZERO left in the US, but I had to settle for another coat completely. I kept my cool and stayed polite, even made good friends with the gal on the other end of the line (we talked for over an hour). She said even shed wanted to buy the same coat I was robbed of but shes expecting so it didn’t seem to smart to buy a new jacket that may not fit in a few weeks.

Anyway… long story short, she gave me a 20% discount, waived my shipping fee and guess what? Dez has TWO jackets on the way… for only $20 more than what I paid the first time. I wanted to teach them a lesson and not order anything else for a long long time but theyre my favorite and she offered me a pretty good deal and made it all worth my time. I even asked to speak to her supervisor and made sure they knew what a wonderful job she had done with me and my coat drama. Homegirls got a green and black coat coming her way...

Moral of the story? Maybe don’t shop online so much- sometimes its worth a trip to the store.

All dressed up and nowhere to go

Our pretty lady...

Oh, Christmas Tree

Despite needing a tree topper and a tree skirt, here is our progress thus far:

Ill post pictures when shes really done and fully clothed!

US

What are your middle names?

Desiree Kara
Derek Troy

How long have you been together?
2 1/2 years

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
4 months

How old are each of you?
I am 26
Derek is 29

Did you go to the same school?
Nope

Are you from the same home town?
Austin/Pflugerville- close enough

Who is the smartest?
Derek when it comes to math/science, me when it comes to everything else ;)

Who majored in what?
Me- Psych/Spanish
Derek- Civil Engineering

Who is the most sensitive?
Me

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Thats hard to say...

Where have you traveled together as a couple?
Boston, Puerta Vallarta Mexico, Colorado, Miami in January

Who has the worst temper?
Derek

How many children do you want?
A lot

Who does the cooking?
Id say its pretty close to even

Who is more social?
Toss up

Who is the neat-freak?
ME!

Who is the most stubborn?
Me

Who wakes up earlier?
Derek usually does unless its a Tuesday morning

Where was your first date?
Eddie Vs

Who has the bigger family?
We both have pretty big families but he has a larger immediate family than I do

Do you get flowers often?
Define often?

How long did it take to get serious?
Not too long, actually

Who eats more?
Me if were eating pizza

What do you do for a living?
Me- I sell beer to bars and restaurants
Derek- Civil Engineer

Who does the laundry?
Me

Who’s better with the computer?
Probably even

Who drives when you are together?
Usually him

What is "your" song?
Hey There Delilah

Do you ever argue?
Of course!!! But Im usually right ;)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I am so excited for the holidays- literally bursting at the seams-and suffice it to say my countdown usually starts in July or August. Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, I allowed myself to bust out the Christmas decorations. Derek promised me this year we could get a real tree and I cant believe I actually told him a fake one might be easier. We do a lot of traveling and also have two rowdy dogs so until theyre a bit older and can learn to keep their distance and we can learn to stay home more, a real tree sounds like nothing but a giant mess. I always swore once in my own home I would only buy and display a real tree and now that its an option, Im starting to see the advantages of fake.

Does that make me a scrooge?

Do these decorations help (Ill spare you an entire home tour)?

What about these elf faces?

I will post pics tomorrow after we have our tree up and decorated- my family is all still in town and are coming over for dinner tonight so we plan to put them to work!

Thanksgiving

My extended family Thanksgiving which took place Saturday

So many reasons to be thankful this year...