Congratulations to Snipnopsis Despachio Sheets!

I'm not sure if all of you know I am privy to be the sister of a celebrity on the rise. This week, my little brother Spencer Jeffrey Snipsy Despachio Ochocinco Sheets was an all star.

Exhibit A: Spencer was nominated for homecoming king. Um....awesome. Especially when you consider that both his sisters were losers in high school. Okay, I guess it was just me. But still!! I was extremely pleased and proud.

exhibit A

Exhibit B: Spencer not only qualified, but DOMINATED the Colorado State Boys Golf Tournament. The tourney was held in psuedo Colorado Springs at a beautiful--and extremely long, treacherous, and ridiculous hilly--course called Flying Horse. Not only did Valor High School take the overall victory; but Spencer came roaring in at 4th place (IN THE WHOLE STATE!), with another teammate taking 2nd. So awesome guys!! :)

Exhibit B: Go Valor

Exhibit B: Spence putting yet another putt in. He was en fuego!

Exhibit B: Yeah, I'm pretty sure this was inches from the pin.

Exhibit B: Some last minute advice from Coach Jason Preeo.

I'm pretty darn proud of Spencer. Not only can he keep his composure, stay classy on the course, hit some awesome shots, sink unsinkable putts be a gracious winner and competitor....BUT CAN WE ALSO JUST MENTION THAT GOLF IS PROBABLY THE HARDEST SPORT EVER! If any of you have even TRIED to hit a golf ball...you know what I'm talking about. Boo yah Spence.

Oh, and the course wasn't all treachery. It had some pretty parts scattered here and there, as noted in exhibit C.

Exhibit C

Exhibit C

P.S. If it was up to me, I would have nominated Valor for being BEST DRESSED in this tournament as well. And according to me, they would have won.

Vail!

Abbey, Josh, Tim and myself took a wee trip to Vail, Colorado yesterday. We had the chance to spend the day sauntering through Vail Village; stopping for lunch and some Denver Bronco domination viewing. It was beautiful, and the company couldn't have been better!

Sarah/Jane Project

Some time ago I stumbled on an estate sale where everything was extremely overpriced. Estate sales are such an enigma to me. They are either amazingly cheap or ridiculously expensive. This particular sale was definitely the latter. However, my thriftiness and thorough searching skills lent me to a fabulous find!! In the kitchen, under piles of old pots and pans, I discovered "The Jane Christopher Recipe File - A Collection of Tested Favorites from Families, Friends, and Neighbors, and Famous Chefs."

A quick glance through the contents told me that is was definitely worth the price-tag. Fifty cents cheaper, I walked out of that estate sale feeling pretty saucy (and that's NOT on account of about 50 sauce recipes included in the box).

I knew this was quite the find, but I wasn't quite sure how I should go about harnessing the power that I now possessed in the Jane Christopher Recipe File. As Tim and I were perusing the contents over our first meal in our new apartment, I was struck with an idea I can only attribute to my creative genius (And probably a smidgeon of credit goes to my predecessor Julie Powell, creator of the Julie/Julia Project. I can only hope they make a movie about meeeee!!)

Tim and I are embarking on the Sarah/Jane Project. The project is as follows. Each week, we will blindly and randomly choose a recipe from the file box, with a promise to make whatever treasure the card holds for us. When that specific meal is served, we will then choose another meal for the next week.

The Julie/Julia style was to cook through the entire Julia Child Cookbook in a year. I make no such promise to get through this file in a year, or even ten years. First of all, consider the finances necessary to make a new recipe daily; especially considering some of the meats Jane and I will be dealing with. Example: Braunschweiger. Yes, I had to look it up too. (Did I mention this file box was copywritten in 1955? Because that's pretty vital information for you to understand what the heck kind of meals we'll be cooking. ) Also, the leftover situation would be pure insanity! And finally, Tim and I want to freedom to take off at a moments notice to do something spontaneous, without having Jane Christopher hold us back!

Our first recipe was picked by Tim. Hamburger Bean Ring! Are you excited yet? Because WE WERE!! In my opinion, there's nothing more appetizing than a ring of meat!! Actually, I was really just excited to put my new casserole pan to use.

My recipe card: note 1955 copyright in lower left corner.

Alas. I failed to take a picture of the initial meat ring, but you can just see it peaking out at the top right corner of the picture.

The Bean Ring...Complete!

Happy and brave diners.

All in all, I would consider the initial installment of the Sarah/Jane project to be a roaring success. The food was genuinely enjoyed...and without cutting too many of Jane's corners, I tried to make the meal as healthy as a 50's dinner can be.

Next week..... "Hot Dogs and Beans...But Different!" (complements of one, Josh Davis).

So much for my promises...

I know I said I wanted to be much more consistent in my postings on this bloggy blog; and I succeeded for about three days. I count this as a small success...and I think I have a slightly good excuse for my lack of commitment. Maybe.

On September 18th, my Timmy and I got married!!!!! More to come on this later. There are so many details I want to include; the wedding post is going to be a doozy. In the meantime, some celebration and recognition are in order for the best of all seasons, that has snuck up on me!!

FALL!!

Colorado has beautiful fall colors. However, we Coloradan's are still waiting for them to pop out this season. (At least in the City) The weather has been so sneaksy lately, and we've been topping out in the high 70's, low 80's, with nothing cooler to speak of in the upcoming 10 day weather forecast. (Curses to the weather.com for not allowing me to see further than 10 days! I thought meteorologists were supposed to be magicians who could tell the future... It seems like their skills fail after ten days. Lame.) I am, however, exceedingly excited for an upcoming trip to Vail, CO this Sunday with Abbey, Josh, Tim and myself. By golly, we WILL see some fall colors!!

Day trips...that's one of the great things about Colorado. I can wake up in the morning in my little apartment in Denver, and in only a couple of hours, be surrounded by incredible mountains, fall colors, and local mountain folk (always fun!). And how fun is it that I get to take this little trip with my sister, her husband, and MY HUSBAND!?!? :) :)

Speaking of my husband, I've been pretty excited to spend my favorite season with him by my side, faithfully conceding to my ever present desires to explore. One of these explorations MUST INVOLVE a pumpkin patch! It's just such a wonderful fall experience to head out to the patch, and spend hours overanalyzing the different pumpkins before finally deciding on one that most likely looks like all the others. (Except for mine. They always look different. It's all about the stems!) The last time I got to go to a pumpkin patch I was in Massachusetts with my good friend Nikki. Talk about quintessential aweseomeness! We got to go for a hayride, pick out pumpkins, visit a petting zoo, and end it all in apple cider and apple cider doughnuts (which are AMAZING!)

And shall we just devote a little praise to the pumpkin itself? Seriously, I can't think of any other flavor that reminds me so much of fall. They're fun shapes, pretty colors, you can carve them into scary faces, smash them, play catch with the little ones, put candles in them, cook them, bake them, make them into soups, bread, and other foodstuffs. And besides all that, pumpkins are JUST DELICIOUS!!

One of my favorite pumpkin variations would have to be pumpkin muffin. I could probably die from eating too many of these little babies, because I just have no self control when it comes these. I cannot combat their deliciousness. One of my all time favorite pumpkin muffins came from Great Harvest. Again, my fall season partner in crime Nikki and I discovered these in the fall of 2006. We used to go early in the morning before classes started, to start off our day right with a muffin and some ridiculously strong, yet equally delicious Peets Coffee. Thankfully, there are two Great Harvest's I know of in a relatively close proximity to where I live. However, I am saddened for Nikki, and the fact that our favorite Massachusetts bakery closed soon after I left. (Probably because Nikki and I most likely covered all their operating expenses with the amount of time and money we spent there.)

Lastly, homage must be paid to the....

Abbey and I patiently wait for the day, every year, that Starbucks once again brings back the PSL to the everyday menu. This year we had an insider in the company, and consequently, insider information. All that to say, we were ecstatic for August 28th to come. Regrettably, the weather was in the high 80s, but NO MATTER!! Nothing can undermine the liquid taste of fall, or our excitement to consume said beverage.

Cell Hell

Cell phones. A mixed blessing in my eyes. I never really want to feel like I'm tied down to one, but I will be the first to admit that I always feel like something's missing if I forget my phone at home for the day. I just feel safer with one, IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

However, my track record with cell phones is somewhat checkered. While I've never actually LOST my phone (for longer than 48 hours at a time), I have had issues maintaining them. I have a slight problem of dropping my cell phones. No matter where I am I average about two drops a day. Often one occurs first thing in the morning when I reach over to turn off the alarm. And can I get some empathy here? I think we've all had the moment where we get out of our cars and send our cell phones FLYING because we've forgotten we put them in our laps. This exact scenario happens 2-3 times a week for me...

Some of my phones, like the most recent blackberry (affectionately called blackbaby) was SUPER RESILIENT to my every drop. That is, until, it reverted back to the date of December 29, 2009, and refused to live in the present. It would delete all my voicemails, texts, and numbers that were entered after said date. I'm sure there's some underlying significance to why my little red phone decided to permanently make residence in the week after Christmas, but I've resolved to be happy with the fact that December 29 is my parents' wedding anniversary, and that's reason enough.

I thought it might be nice to provide a small pictorial representation of my various cellular devices. We'll start with my humble beginnings, and move to the phone I JUST purchased yesterday because I can't stand to live in the past anymore!

Ok. I never really had "the brick" phone. But my dad did!! So that counts for something. And still, it's amazing that people actually carried these things around.

My beloved first Nokia. Best. Phone. Ever. In fact, if only I still had this baby I'd put my SIM card in and i'd be off to the races!

This little flipper signifies round 1 of many cell phones purchase in a matching set with my mom and sister's. Yes. We all three had the same cell in the same color. It was awesome.

The Pantech. First of many of my "go-phones." This one had the most AMAZING ring tones. Unfortunately, it had horrible service and connection, and the buttons were nearly impossible to push. But don't worry, I still battled using it for a good year and a half.

If I had one word of wisdom to impart in this post, it would be to NEVER BUY THIS NOKIA PHONE!! Worst phone in the world. I'm serious. It's almost like the creators sat down, discussed how they could make this the LEAST user friendly, and then went for it. Not to toot my own horn here, but I'm pretty technologically savvy, and this phone was a loser.

The red phone. This little guy has been with me through thick and thin. And it's been a good in-betweener from all the times I've needed to order new phones and had to have one to use in the meantime. In fact, it the phone in current use as I type this post. Round 2 of matching family phones. Mine - Red. Mom's - Gold. Abbey's - Black. This one has some great features which have allowed friends to record some truly amazing ringtones. I have blackmail whenever I need it for the following people.

- Madeline Jacks

- Anna Lewis

- Abigail Davis

- Spencer Sheets

The 9.99 in-btetweener phone.

The blackbaby who loves to live in the past...

And FINALLY, the NEW phone, which I will receive TOMORROW!! Don't be fooled. I still want an iphone.

Don't be fooled. I still want an iphone.

*Hair Update*

Thoughtsies? Whimsical perhaps? Romantic? Good or bad?

NOW IS THE TIME FOR INPUT PEOPLE!!

Thank you Aunt Beeuh for wisely pointing out that I have not labeled that fact that these latest pictures are actually MY head. :)

how to wear my hair...

T minus 38 days until my wedding. Things are starting to get serious around here. I knew the procrastination period would eventually have to end. We're getting close to the home-stretch, the final lap, I can almost hear the fans cheering as approach the proverbial destination!! What am I saying...we still have 38 days. Soooooooo much time.

BUT...there is a pressing issue that has come to pass. My hair, and how it should present itself on the wedding day. The DIY hairstyle was not even an option. If you know me at all you would know that any creativity and skill that I might possess in any area of my life, does most certainly NOT translate to being stylish and nifty with my hair. I basically go for three looks.

1) The "straight blow-dry look."

2) The "pony-tail."

and

3) The "I went to bed with my hair wet and it looks like this" look.

Hence, I will be going to an actual stylist to have my hairs done for the wedding. Someone who has actually gone to school for this sort of thing. Someone who has skillzzz.

I have my trial run TODAY in 3 hours, and I'm not sure what I want. I DO know that I want something relatively simple and loose. Because of my affinity for a complete lack of hair-style, I wouldn't want to have some lavish up-do on my wedding that doesn't even look like me. No-sir. I have concerns, however, based off of two, less than ideal prom up-do's. Whatever. I have a sense that Nicole [the lucky stylist who gets to style my locks] will have just the sort of eye and creativity that I need to make my hair AWESOME for my wedding.

P.S. I need to think of something GREAT to do tonight because I'm going to have super pretty hair to show off (assuming all goes well!)