You Know It's Halloween When ...

* You pull up next to the Bride of Frakenstein at a stoplight

*Mario and Luigi are stocking the shelves at the grocery store

*Indian Jones is in timeout at Target for using his whip on his sister Tinkerbell

*An Oompa-Loompa draws your blood at the doctors office

And so because this never stops making me laugh here is my Halloween gift to you ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Latest Obsessions ...

Thanks to my cousins cute roommate C ... I cannot get enough if this salsa verde. I put it on EVERYTHING!! The only downfall is that you can only get it in Mexico! 

Looks like Christmas break might bring a trip south of the border!

I have wasted A LOT of time playing around with this ...
It lets you take any of your own pics and turn them into Polaroids ...

Love it ...

Last of all... I cannot get enough of Eli Stone.

I love it.

And I wish this happened to me every time I walked down a street ...

(It sort of happened one time in my high school hallway with Bianca, the president of the Black Student Union ... but it didn't last long enough to catch on ...)

(Also ... that song always reminds me of way too many adolescent years doing Richard Simmons' Sweatin' to the Oldies ... )

I'm It ...

Trina tagged me ...  4th picture in my 4th folder ...

This is Christmas 2004. We spent it in Oregon. This is my dad, my brother, me, Corbin, my sis and bro-in-law at the beach in Seaside. I LOVE it! What is even more exciting is that we are going back for Thanksgiving this year!

If I Could Sew ...

I would make myself this ...

Make It All Mine ...

Last night my friends Becky, Summer, and I went to the Jason Mraz concert ... and I fell in love! 

He was AMAZING!!! He sounded fabulous live and was a great performer. He sang his own stuff as well as a few oldies, but goodies including "Build Me Up Buttercup" (a fav of mine) while playing the tambourine (it was like feeling the love for Davy Jones all over again! I obviously have a thing for tambourine players).

He was adorable and sounded great and we were all swooning by the end of the night. 

Ticket: $35

T-shirt: $25

Hearing Summer (mother of 2) scream "Shake it!" at the top of her lungs: priceless

Enjoy a little buttercup for yourself...

For Becky and Summer ... you can thank me later. (Beck ... your roadie boyfriend even makes an appearance at the end!)

An Apple A Day ...

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE fruit ... but I hate apples. I don't enjoy them. I like byproducts like apple cider, apple pie, apple butter, apple crisp, green apple jolly ranchers. I just don't like apples themselves ... or so I thought. That all changed the day I bit into one of these ...

A Honey Crisp apple.

Friends ... these apples are divine! I crave them and they haunt my dreams! The problem is they are not easy to find. Apparently, they are a "designer" apple. (If the red delicious was a pair of Old Navy jeans, the Honey Crisp would be a pair of Citizens.) It is some weird cross breed that the University of Minnesota made up. I have to search high and low to find them, but I found them today! Apparently, the middle of October is the optimum harvest time for these crispy delights!

So, go out and find yourself one. You will not be sorry!

A Kindred Spirit ...

So the other day as I was flying on JetBlue I met my kindred spirit ... 

I was watching Top Design on Bravo (the beauty of Jet Blue ... you can watch TV!). When I saw this clip I guffawed VERY loudly out loud. I'm pretty sure the guy next to me left thinking he had sat next to a crazy lady on her way to the loony bin ... But I couldn't help laughing. He (my new kindred spirit) cracked me up!

So without further adieu, my new kindred spirit, Eddie ...

(it begins at 5:32 and ends at 6:15, but the best part starts at 5:59)

I laughed out loud at "funky". Oh, Eddie. You made my day!

(PS ... for you trivia fanatics the contestant Andrea is married to my old boyfriend ... Ricky Schroeder!)

Baby, Remember My Name ...

I have been watching the first season of the tv show "Fame" the last few days. I love it! 

Just so you all know this is totally what my friends and I do when we go to a music store ...

(PS .... what was it about the 70's that made men in short shorts on roller skates ok?)

More From Santa Barbara ...

So I have two major dreams in my life. One has to do with a barn in Connecticut, gingham curtains, ducks and pie .... it's too long to tell. My other dream is to own a cute little house that is the office for my event planning business.

I found just the house when we were in Santa Barbara. The wedding dinner was at a restraunt called "Stella Mare's". It was adorable! I fell in love with it the minute I saw it!

Always love a white picket fence!

I loved the paint color and the red door!

In case you were wondering, it really is old!

I loved the shabby chic chairs!

The table settings were beautiful! 

Court and I sat in awe of the beautiful building. Too bad it was too big to put in my purse. I would have taken it home with me.

Fall-ish Music ...

I have been asked by many what "fall-ish" music means ... I will tell you.

Call me crazy (which you probably will by the end of this post) but for me music falls into seasonal categories. When it comes to fall I like more somber, earthy music. Music that fits a gloomy, cold, rainy day ... like Jack Johnson, Eva Cassidy, Joshua Radin,  or anything acoustic. On a cold, drizzly, overcast fall day I don't feel like busting it out to Sexy Back or Umbrella. I prefer to belt out some Barry Manilow or some Carpenters. 

There are, however, exceptions to this rule ... road trips, or when you are driving alone and are trying to keep yourself awake. Otherwise, I stick to the seasonal.

Does anyone else do this? Or did I just show my crazy side?

Because ...

It did this ...

I jumped on this ...

To come here ...

And see them ...

And go here ...

And now I am much happier!

A Morning Spent With The Children ...

I watched my niece and nephew Saturday morning and had to immediately start writing down what they were saying because they were cracking me up. Hope you enjoy their quips as much as I did ...

* I pointed out to Corbin that it was snowing ... His response ... "I knew it! I could smell it in the air just like Lorelai!" (Why can a 5 year old quote the Gilmore Girls?) "It's snowing ... wait it's not Christmas."

*I took them to Carls Jr. to play in the Play Zone. Corbin: "I love this place! Last time I was here we played that fun game 'Hide from the Chinese Lady' !" (What game is that?)

*Corbin : "Missa, you have to listen to me. I am the manner police."

*Corbin while driving to Target: "Man, I could really go for a pickle right now." (huh?)

*Mia when we pulled up to Target: (at the top of her lungs in a very excited voice) "We're going to Target !!! (That's exactly how I feel Mia. For that response she got a cute stuffed Love Bug from the dollar bin.)

*Corbin: "We used to take turns Corbin, Mia, Corbin, Mia. But my mom changed the rules and now it is Mia, Mia, Mia, Mia ... it's not fair." (Sounds a little Jan Brady-ish Corb.)

And now because I've been told I shouldn't blog without pictures, and because they are adorable, here are some pics.

Top Ten ...

Songs on My Ipod

1. So Much Better - Legally Blonde, the Musical

2. But I Do - I Love You Because (A Modern Musical)

3. Our Song - Taylor Swift

4. Love You I Do - Jennifer Hudson/Dreamgirls

5. Say It Again - Marie Digby

6. If We Were A Movie - Hannah Montana (Yes, I am admitting it!)

7. Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake

8. Guy Love - Scrubs, The Musical

9. I'd Rather Be With You - Joshua Radin

10. Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood

What are yours?

A Weekend in Santa Barbara ...

So my roomie Court asked me to go with her to Santa Barbara with her last weekend for a wedding. We had quite a weekend. It was blast and we have a lot of stories to tell! I will share a few highlights with you ...

*The minute we got on the plane the man sitting next to Court fell asleep and started snoring ... VERY LOUDLY! Everyone on the plane kept turning and staring. We were laughing! Then he started leaning over onto Court and blowing sleep breath on her. EWW! We were crying we were laughing so hard.

*While on the plane Court and I looked around to decide who we would let be our friends if the plane crashed and we had to play LOST. We decided on the 3 male flight attendants. They were cracking us up.

*Delta had a little movie playing on the TVs showing all the great places you can fly with them. Paris, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Kuwait City. Kuwait City? Why would you want to vacay in Kuwait City?

* When we landed at LAX I went to grab my suitcase and did this to my finger ...

I nearly passed out! I could see the muscle ... never a good thing. Luckily, Court was willing to play Florence Nightingale in the CVS parking lot. Thank goodness for liquid bandage!

*Friday night we went to a rehearsal dinner at a fab Mexican restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara. But we laughed when we saw that in the corner of the room they had a small room with windows that a woman stood in and made tortillas for all to see. It was like a tortilla sweat shop where she was out on display to a. make mass amounts of tortillas quickly and b. do it while entertaining everyone. 

(the tortilla prison)

To Be Continued ...

Realizations ...

Today I had two realizations about myself. 

#1 - I'm not really sure why, but lately I cannot stop using the word "Awesome". Maybe subconsciously I am wishing I was on an excellent adventure with Bill and Ted. It is embarrassing! I just say it without thinking! Starting tomorrow I am stopping.

#2 -  I drink A LOT more when I have a straw. That goes for water and DC. I need to start carrying my water with a straw. Apparently, having to twist the top on my water bottle and tilt back into my mouth is just too much work.

I Can Smell It In The Air ...

I think fall is officially here!

It is the one thing I love about living in Utah ... I LOVE fall!

I love the smells ...

the air at night

cinnamon

pumpkin

apple cider

I love the gorgeous colors.

I love the night air that is perfect for lightly bundling up and going for a walk.

I love making yummy harvest foods.

I love the cute fall decorations.

I love pumpkins.

I love fall-ish music.

I love the rain.

I LOVE FALL!!

Brother Blogger ...

My brother has decided to start a blog to inform everyone of how his treatment is going. Check it out!

Perspective ...

I am realizing how important perspective really is in the scheme of things. Last week we found out that my brother Davids' cancer has returned. He had surgery today and starts treatment tomorrow. It is times like this when I am grateful for a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the perspective it gives. I am grateful to know that there is a loving Father in Heaven who has a plan for each of us. I was so grateful for General Conference this weekend and for such incredible talks that buoyed my spirits and helped me realign my perspective. 

I have a wonderful family, and my brother is strong. We will make it through and come out the other end stronger, more compassionate, and with a deeper faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.