it's my party and i'll cry if i want to

seeing as it's my birthday, and i'm 24, i'm going to give you a birthday present and tell you 24 things you may or may not know about me.

1. sixteen candles is on tv today. dear john hughes, thank you for the wonderful birthday present.
2. i can almost always correctly predict the time, to the closest minute.
3. i'm worried i have an addiction to striped shirts. when i do my laundry, that's all i'm ever folding.
4. i love dill pickles. i once got a 5 lb. jar of pickles for my birthday. i don't love them that much.
5. my secret dream job is to travel around and interview actors and musicians over delicious brunches. hey, it's my dream job. don't make fun.
6. you've heard of cat ladies? well, i'm going to be a dog lady. i watch dog shows and take notes. at last count, i was at 15 possible dogs.
7. i've been a vegetarian for two weeks. maybe a little too early to be labeling myself?
8. when i can't sleep, i plan out my dream greece vacation. yes, it's basically sisterhood of the mamma mia traveling pants.
9. i can't drive stick. and i'm going to predict that i never will.
10. i do my crosswords in pen. sometimes i even finish them.
11. gps' stress me out, so i have a stack of written out directions in my side door pocket from everywhere i go.
12. i love big band music. natalie cole's unforgettable with love cd is my absolute favorite.
13. i have freckles in the shape of the big dipper and an equilateral triangle on my arm.
14. i can recite the lindsay lohan parent trap beginning to end.
15. i don't understand the twilight phenomenon.
16. i did, however, sit on a bookstore floor for hours waiting for a harry potter book, so i shouldn't judge.
17. i've idolized audrey hepburn for as long as i can remember. i have a huge, framed poster of breakfast at tiffany's over my bed that is my version of a dreamcatcher.
18. since i was a kid, i've had a fascination with the 1940s and World War II. can't wait until they invent time travel, because that's the first place i'll go. jane austen england shortly thereafter.
19. i have crazy, vivid, out-of-left-field dreams almost every night. inception owes me royalties.
20. my mom diagnosed me with lyricosis, the strange disease that causes me to sing the words to songs horribly wrong.
21. i'm quite picky about how the dishwasher is stacked. there's always a more efficient way to get everything in there.
22. when i was a kid, i pretty much thought maryann from the babysitter's club was the coolest ever. after all, she was the only one who had a boyfriend.
23. i love watching procedural crime dramas. i sort of feel like i could be a decent criminal profiler with the amount of stuff i watch. can't be that hard, right?
24. this took me way too long to think of stuff about myself. i think i'm going to take myself out on a date and get to know myself a little bit better.

p.s. dear jake ryans of the world: i'm still waiting for my birthday wish to come true.

and the emmy goes to . . .

can't believe it's that time again, but here we go!

emmys 2010 were great and i think a huge part of that was due to jimmy fallon's great hosting. if you know me at all, you know i'm jimmy's biggest fan. i absolutely loved the opener, which you can watch over and over here. i loved the seemingly random people that kept popping up, except kate gosselin who really should break-up with television.

loved george clooney and his wise words. we need more people like him keeping the spotlight on those in need.

loved the modern family skit. loved that they won. can't wait for it to come back.


and now, the good stuff. or not-so-good, since i'm doing my least favorites first:


anna paquin.
ill-fitting, not the best fabric, and the gold part just doesn't work.


keri russell.
it pains me to say anything bad about keri because i just love her so much, but she could have done so much better. it's not fancy enough for the emmys, and the top does not fit. that being said, everyone watch her new show, running wilde on fox this fall!


tina fey.
when i first saw this, i really disliked it, but now that i've been looking at it, it's not so bad. her hair and makeup is gorgeous, and the dress fits her beautifully. it's just a little weird.


heidi klum.
all right, heidi, we know you have a killer body AND you've had 4 kids. you don't need to prove it to us. a few inches more wouldn't hurt.


lea michele.
she looks amazing. my only comment is that i wish she had done something a little younger, or more fun. but i think the dress is beautiful and the jewelry is great.


kyra sedgwick.
aside from the too-messy hair, she looks stunning. this dress is so beautiful. the color and the pleating? love.


kristen wiig.
yes, it's weird, but so is she. it works for her. and i kind of secretly wish i could wear it too.


kim kardashian.
so proud of her! she looks stunning. classy and so flattering.


julie bowen.
i'm a sucker for ruffles and folds and all things feminine like that. not to mention that it's navy blue and it might just be my favorite.


emily blunt and john krasinski.
i know i've said it before, but i wish these newlyweds were my friends. can you imagine the game nights? seriously though, he looks dashing and she looks so lovely. the color is great, and her vintage-y hair and makeup looked beautiful.


january jones.
a lot of people were hating on this, but she was nominated, so she went big and i think it's amazing. i think her hair is different but it works and the only thing i would change is the shoes.


jayma mays.
wow! since we really only see her all buttoned up on glee, this is quite a change! stunning!


mariska hargitay.
simple, but gorgeous.


nina dobrev.
this girl is on one of my fave new shows, vampire diaries. and she did great in the opener, i didn't know she could sing! i think this look is a little old for her, but she looks beautiful.


dianna agron.
love this, minus one tier of the dress. she's gorgeous though, so she could pretty much wear anything.


claire danes.
when she walked on stage to present, i was blown away. her hair and makeup are flawless, the dress fit amazingly and she just glowed. she won the emmy and she won my best dressed.


what did you think?

dinner tonight

i love love love california pizza kitchen but i don't have the money or need for extra calories to eat there as often as i'd like. tonight i made a pretty good copy of my favorite dish there, the waldorf salad. it was delicious and i couldn't even taste the difference.




i found the recipe from a copycat restaurant website but i can't remember the name, sorry. here's the recipe:

Mixed baby greens
chicken
red grapes
diced apple
celery
candied walnuts
gorgonzola

Dressing:
1/2 C balsamic vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T minced garlic
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t salt
3/4 C olive oil

I didn't put in celery this time because some people in my family don't like it, and i didn't miss it. I didn't use measurements for the salad part because I like to do the proportions myself, but the recipe for the dressing was right on. I poured everything but the oil in a blender, mixed it, and then slowly added olive oil until it was a good consistency. It made a ton, though, so you could probably halve it.

I wish Pj's boys were my boys

One of my favorite shows is coming back tonight after a year-long hiatus. As you can see, I'm a little bit excited.


[yes, i know it's backwards.]

here's a quick recap of season 3.



seriously, you guys, watch it. best decision you'll make today.

just because i love you

I had an email coupon from Gap for 30% off that ended yesterday, so last night I picked a couple things and by the time I was checking out, it was past midnight and my coupon had expired! I was so bummed that I missed out on that deal, but this morning, I got another coupon for 30% off. Sweet! So, I'm sharing with you just because I'm nice like that. Enter GAPSAVENOW at checkout for 30% off today, 25% off tuesday and wednesday, and 20% off on thursday.

Here's what I bought:


navy striped tee, of course


grey dolman tee.



always skinny black jeans. this is my favorite cut from gap's new jeans line. so flattering and chic.

Can't decide

I have a coupon* for 20% off at Shabby Apple and I'm having a hard time deciding how to use it. I've never bought anything there before but I know a lot of girls really love their dresses. I've narrowed it down to these three, all from the Paris collection:


La Tour Eiffel


L'Artiste


L'Opera

What do you think? Have you bought anything from Shabby Apple before? Did you like it?


*anyone can use it, just enter "summer20" at checkout

Family Reunion

We just got back from our biannual family reunion (is that right? every other year? every two years? same thing, i think). We were at a big camp near Mt. Hood and it was just beautiful. The weather was great up until the last day and it was so relaxing to be out in the trees. and mosquitoes. and spiders. and mice. yikes. Seriously though, I had a great time, even with being in charge of a few activities and singing a solo in the talent show. Turns out it's a little tricky to sing up high when you're nervous. Who knew?

Here's the highlights of the week:

-while watching a PIG match, the little girls were getting their nails painted and i totally squeezed in and got mine done also.

nothing like a little glitter to brighten up the woods, right?

-my uncle hosted a crossword competition and even though my grandma killed us all, i still managed to finish my first crossword puzzle ever without resorting to cheating online. move over, sudoku. crosswords kind of became one of the themes of the week. our family t-shirts had everyone's name in a crossword on the back and for an activity, two of my cousins made a crossword with clues for every single person in our family. translation: 141 clues. we're pretty intense. we also watched the 2006 documentary, Wordplay, about The New York Times Crossword Editor Will Shortz and the annual crossword competition.


i am being 100% serious when i tell you it was suspenseful, funny, moving, and gripping.

-i did not have any accidents on my bike while riding around camp. unlike that one vacation where i got scared going down a hill too fast and put on the brakes so hard i flipped over the handlebars. whoops.

-i went on my very first official run that wasn't around a track or in a p.e. class. my uncle's an ironman and all-around awesome athlete and he and my aunt (also an amazing athlete) hosted early morning runs this year. i signed up and was ready to go at the unholy hour of 7:45. i chose the slightly easier run with my aunt and only thought my lungs were going to explode twice. i was feeling great all day with my tiny runner's high but my legs were hating life the rest of the week. since it's been insanely hot since then, i haven't ventured back out, but my tennis shoes are waiting patiently for me.

-i was one of the last two people standing at the end of an extremely fast-paced game of simon says. that means i'm good at . . . following directions? awesome.

-one of our activities was learning to play games that my grandparents played as kids. i love hearing them tell stories and trying to imagine my grandparents as little kids. i didn't take very many pictures, so i'm borrowing these from my aunt.


grandpa showing the great grandkids a thing or two about marbles.


grandma playing jacks.

-my favorite thing to do every reunion is just to stay up playing games and catching up with everyone. we missed all the cousins that couldn't come, and hope to see you next time!

reunion photos courtesy of Holly Severson