Bits and Bots

Since my time back has spent preparing for our housewarming party and then cleaning up after the massive party I have yet to update you on things that you might be interested in. The second part of the story as it were so here are some tales for those of you who like some closure in your life.

Kyle : You will all remember him as the personal trainer who laughed at me and my grease stains. Well I ran into him on one of my million pre-party Wal-Mart runs and fortunately for me I was buying cleaning supplies and not frozen burritos and liquor (that was a later trip). Kyle informed me that he was not at Gold's anymore and he had left while I was on break. But the upside is he is opening his own training place now and invited me to take his Boot Camp class in February which contingent on my employment situation I might actually consider. The Boot Camp classes are the ones where you wake up at 5:00 and go running around in the freezing dark and while it would be hard I think it would be fun to try to push myself, plus I am at a weight loss plateau and it might help me reach my goal.... we shall see.

KFC Grilled Chicken : For those of you who are wondering Gus and I have still not gotten to try to elusive grilled chicken platter. It comes out to 7 weight watchers points which is completely acceptable but neither the Murphysboro or the Carbondale KFC believe in the power of grilled. The only one that has it is like 45 minutes away and I can grill some chicken and microwave some green beans in the time. I mean really. I don't know why our current hometown hates on the grilled so hard core but I am really not surprised. It would be very easy to allow yourself to get very fat here. Luckily Gus has me and my point system and I refuse to let that happen :)

Job hunting : Things are looking up I have some interviews and am doing some odds and ends for people in the area it must only be a matter of time before I break on through to the employment side.

Fun people and activities : One awesome thing that came out after our party was we were able to narrow down and single out the people who we want to spend lots more time with and those that we don't. This weekend was our debut into social society and it was so much fun. We were busy social butterfly's with more invites then time. It was a wonderful feeling. We spent Friday at out favorite Mexican restaurant with out Atomic Homeboys gossiping about the party and telling stories. Then we were up early to ride to St. Louis with our friends Stephen and Viet. We were heading to St. Louis where the boys were going to play some poker at Harrah's. No one won big but it was fun to be out of Illinois, even if it was just across the river. For our happy hour we went to this INCREDIBLE piano bar called the Big Bang which was two pianos on a stage and these really fun boys playing songs, parodies, dance melodies and sing alongs. We got the best corner seat and I had an absolute blast. It was so cool being out with fun people playing in the city. Sunday was a football day and the boys got like 9 straight hours of the sport but it was nice to be out watching the games with other people, instead of alone at home on the couch like we normally do.

Overall I would say that things are looking up :)

Some pics are up :)

So now some of the pics are up. Hurray! I put them all on facebook so click here and enjoy :) I wish you all could have been here, now you know I don't live in a shack so come play soon!


My multiple chin picture gross. But Hermie looks great :)

Brownie bites, I made a ton of these covered in raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Delicious!

Our bar set up. Tons of sangria in a antique punch bowl and then of course the bar with all the mixers.

Gathering around to enjoy all of the yummy food!

Tons of food everywhere, on every surface :)

My high class dessert set up. Lovely.

Living room view.

Party Time. Excellent.

Well my dears turns out that all that time spent at Williamsburg Occasions and under the tutelage of MEG has totally paid off because not to boast or anything but Gus and I rocked our housewarming party.

I mean we really rocked it :) Massive success.
We had a goal in mind which we formulated on the two day drive home that at its essence boiled down to "go big or go home". Since we were already home we wanted to go really big. We wanted to throw a party like no one in Murphysboro had ever seen. It was going to be classy, great food, great drinks, sparkly conversations in a warm atmosphere.

Stacey and Clinton on "What Not to Wear" say don't dress for the job you have but dress for the job you want. Hermie and I took that to heart and we threw a party that was in contradiction to the life we live but was right along the lines of the life we want and it wowed. I think my biggest compliment of the night was "I don't feel like I am in Southern Illinois at all".

That got a big hug let me tell you :)

Our theme was a cocktail/dessert reception. I was originally planning heavy appetizers and then I realized that would be really expensive and I would be spending the whole night in the kitchen so we opted for desserts instead. Since I am not really much for 'baking' I am not going to lie I bought most of the stuff from Sam's. To me though how things are presented are so much more important than whether or not you spent three days making 200 cookies (like I did at Christmas, ugh). So everything was delicious in true Greene woman form I bought way more than I needed (food and booze) and we had TONS of leftovers which is not helpful for weight loss 2010.

Our desserts included mini assorted cheesecakes, brownie bites (garnished with v. out of season/expensive fruit), mini creme puff, mini eclairs, a massive Oreo cake, and a donut bar. For cocktails we had a huge, ornate antique bowl with Sangria, a keg of a local micro-brew "Fat Tire" in the basement and since it was a "stock our bar" party our guests went all out and we had a fully stocked bar.

Guests were required to wear anything but denim and as always you are going to have the rude behavioral psychology kids who in their too cool for a theme lame ass rebellion came wearing jeans. Bitches. But for the most part everyone played along.

Gus and I have made friends with a couple who owns a vintage store in town our "Atomic Homeboys" and Dale who used to be a flight attendant had a tuxedo that fit Gus perfectly, which he then gave to him :) I wore a dress that I found at Target for a song and we looked flawless. I know I am sounding very full of myself but I am really proud because as I said we rocked it.

There was dancing, people met and mingled, professors came, neighbors came, everyone ate and told me I had a lovely home. It was magical.

Once the grown ups left it got a little crazier but that was only to be expected. There were (female) professors doing keg stands, dancing on my front porch, girls making out in my shower, a cha cha slide dance off, and shots taken off my washing machine. Bananas.

Then of course the chaos in the morning had to all be cleaned up... Gus and I have just about gotten all the Sangria off of too many various surfaces to count (shower curtains, really how does that happen???) next time I am totally serving white wine. Our floor is no longer sticky and we have gone around town and distributed most of our leftovers to friends who could not make it.

You might wonder why I am not posting any pictures at this moment but I have a perfectly good explanation. Last week in a moment of unqualified brilliance I placed an add on Craigslist under "artist" asking for a photographer who would be willing to come to my party and take pictures for $20, and someone responded! His name is Spencer and he was a photographer in Seattle and he and his wife just moved to the area and wanted to get out and meet people. It was such a fortunate meeting. He got to meet people and his wife Gillian felt much more hopeful after talking to us and our guest about the joys and pitfalls of living out here. Anyways Spencer is bringing my pictures out on Thursday so stay tuned.

I really wish more of you guys could have come (or you know any of you) but I think that I definitely did you all proud. Now I just have to wait and hope that Gus and I upped the ante enough... cheers to refusing to settle for average and instead striving for the spectacular. Or at the very lease a night spent in heels :)

An Ode to the Christmas Vests

Despite the fact that I refuse to take my Christmas tree down until St. Patricks day the vests have been packed with the other assorted holiday tokens. But I love them so much that I have decided to write them a poem. Enjoy.

Dearest darling Christmas vests...

You started out lost and alone

but then we decided to take you home

the shop was rude they would not share

about our joy they did not care

but they came around and began to see

just how much you meant to me

so you came home for festive fun

we always knew you were the ones

to sparkle and shine and give us joy

you even perfectly fit the boy

some laughed and called you tacky

but we just knew you made us happy

Thank you vests for all the glitter

you have made our lives a little better

now I must put you guys away until next year

when I will wear you once again with seasonal cheer

so for now I will not pout or sigh

until next December Christmas vests, Goodbye!

Welcome to 2K10 WOOWOO

And I'm spent.

Clearly I have not written anything in a hot minute but I mean really who can blame me? I was too busy living my incredibly blessed and charmingly chaotic life. I had the most magical Christmas ever. I just thought I would throw that out there because the last time I blogged was um Christmas Eve and inquiring minds want to know. Gus and I made it home and spent the holidays driving, eating, shopping and smiling. Alot of smiling :)

My favorite part of the holidays was getting to spend so much time with mom, dad and Jonny, and as an added bonus getting to see all of my super fun aunts, uncles and one precocious cousin at my Grandparents compound in North Carolina. Unfortunately I did not get to hook up with all the friends that I wanted to see but sometimes you just need your mommy and I am not lost forever there was just way to much to fit into way too little time. But we made it work and had an incredible trip and you know what the best part is? I did not drive back to Illinois in tears. (*high five*)

That would not really qualify as an accomplishment for most people but you all know of my fall struggles and as we pulled off Elm St. on our way back to the old commonwealth I looked over my shoulder thinking good riddance. Being home though actually put lots of things in perspective. Things change but the people that you love the most are still going to understand and support you. There are others out there who get it. You are not alone. Well sometimes you are alone but thats okay because there are people in the universe thinking of you and putting great thoughts into the cosmos.

I am kind of rambling I know but I am a little rusty at this blog thing and I have a whole new lease on life for the New Year. Things are looking way up, I have discovered a radio station that I love, we got tons of snow and it is beautiful here (albeit v.v. cold), the house while not sterilized clean has developed a certain lived in coziness which makes it a place you look forward to going back to and not a place you anticipate escaping.

It is this new found sense of house love that has inspired Gus and I to throw our long awaited housewarming party. I am never happier then when I am planning a party and this is no exception. We have spent the last week fixing up the house and doing all of the little things that you do when you are trying to impress people with you sense of style and impeccable housekeeping skills. Herman and I are now proud card carrying member of our local Sam's Club which has opened up a whole new world for us, both times we have gone we find ourselves putting things in the cart and justifying them only to put them back two aisles later when we discover the next over sized treasure. It is a really fun game. Did anyone else know that Sam's carried Prada handbags? Eh? Don't worry I did not get one but the fact that you can get a Prada handbag and a 32 packs of toilet paper (which we did get) in the same place is amazing.

Slowly but surely Elm. St. is becoming a home and we have actually had alot of fun putting together and picking out new elements for our little bungalow. The best is yet to come for us here in So. Ill. and I for one and ready and willing for what my new year is going to bring!

Holy crap was that a positive outlook?

Don't worry you are still reading the same blog I promise :)