Monday, May 28, 2018

Weekend Wrap-Up: Memorial Day

(sorry for the length.  but then again not sorry because I'm detailed for future Courtney's sake.  This blog is my Allie Hamilton's notebook.)

This was a really good weekend.  Really good.  Like why do I go to work 8-5 every day of the week?  Why don't I weekend all the time?  Oh, because we need the money from said 8-5 in order to party live.

It should be noted that my weekend was nicely bookend-ed by a little thing I like to call Memorial Day on Monday, as well as a little thing I like to call annual leave on Friday.  Annual leave is synonymous with I don't have to wear a bra all day vacation day or much needed paid. time. off.

Friday:
I'm drawing a blank.  It's like when someone asks you what you had for dinner last night and you're like..."I know I ate..."  I'm pretty sure Friday encompassed a few episodes of What Not to Wear because the only season available on Amazon Prime is what consumes my life these days.  I know I didn't really sleep in (maybe 20 minutes past my normal wake-up time) because my body and mind and CAT are crazy like that, but the good thing about lackadaisical days is that you're like "Whatevs...I'll catch a nap whenever I want, betches!"  Speaking of which, this is an actual picture of the calendar on our fridge

Clearly, Sunday was not spent putting a slash through Saturday on the calendar.
I'm pretty sure we also went on two walks around City Park because we live a block away, it's huge and shady (in a good way), and we like to walk and talk.  Sexy, I know.

I'm pretty sure Friday was also filled with me fielding a lot of NOLA Alerts trying to work me up regarding sudden flash flood watches and warnings and thunderstorms and flooding from our good friend Tropical Storm Alberto, but it thundered and lightning-ed and rained for about 1 hour and that was that.  Dodged another home-wrecking whore flood living in Louisiana's Fish Bowl!  A to the men.
I won't reveal which area we're in, for privacy's sake, but let's just say it starts with a mid and ends
with a city. Comforting, right? Source
Saturday:
Nate and I ran that morning, and we came back looking like we'd been swimming in a fish bowl, so we cleaned ourselves up, proceeded to watch another episode of WNTW, and went about our normal Saturday duties (aka grocery list making, grocery shopping, grocery list eating, etc.), but with a nice "I still have two more days off, betches!" attitude.  Are you noticing a theme for this weekend?

Sunday:
Bright and early off to church (this is the one we're currently experimenting with.)  Y'all, we have been to like 5 or 6 churches so far - some warranting a second or third visit - since we moved here, and things can get a little cray in The Big Easy.  We'll go into that another time.  Or maybe me won't.  Anyway, we went to the early service and were out by 10:22, which was sa-weeeeet.  So we came home and ate lunch and napped and read.  I'm currently re-reading this because it was a fun read when I took Library Science at ole Luscious, but I had to get through 45 books in 10 weeks, so I wanted to revisit this Newberry Award Winner (<--- that's my library science-ness coming through).  Also, Nathan is reading it with me because he remembered it from his childhood, and we've never read through the same book at the same time together.  Except for the Bible, of course.  Of course.  And a Dave Barry book we took turns reading out loud, so I guess I should take back everything I just said.

The librarian was just a tad confused when he checked out two copies of the same book...hah!  Source
One of us finished the book today (no names, but it was me), and one of us is a fifth of the way in (no names...  ;).  He's been reading more programming books and computer science textbooks, but let's get real for a minute - - what's going to benefit us longer in the end?  Understanding material for a college class or a 5th-grade reading level mystery novel?

A little backstory for my next point - the BEST point - of Sunday.  Blue Bell released two ice cream flavors around the time we moved here in August/September called Bride's Cake and Groom's Cake.  Apparently everyone in the Greater New Orleans area went batshitcrazy over Bride's Cake and you couldn't find it anywhere, and when stores would get it, people would by beaucoups of gallons and it was MADNESS!  We got around to trying it at one point, and we're like "Yeah, that's alright."  But the Groom's Cake - HOLY MOLY!


This is the description:  Chocolate ice cream with chocolate cake pieces, chocolate-coated strawberry hearts, swirls of strawberry sauce, and chocolate icing.

Basically my dream come true.  Double whammy:  Nate loves it, too!

So we had quite a few scoops gallons back in September/October, and then it disappeared!  But guess what - the supermarket ninjas kept Bride's Cake around! Are you freaking kidding me????  Every time we would go to the grocery store, or any grocery store for that matter, we'd anxiously and hopefully check, but no dice.  We figured we'd have to wait forever (since stupid Bride's Cake appeared again a month ago with no Groom's Cake) or until September/October again.

Until....

We flippantly checked on Sunday, and lo and behold, there was our creamy, strawberry, chocolately goodness!  The grocery store came very close to having to clean up some adult poo on the ice cream aisle.

So Sunday night was spent in pure, utter bliss.  We also whipped up some other yummy treats in honor of our fallen heroes, and then we played a lot of Roller Coaster Tycoon and laughed a lot.  Oh and we watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom because we have a movie list going that we're trying to chisel away at.  We also watched Breach on Friday or Saturday.

And now to today...Monday, Memorial Day 2018:

No grills or frills, but a whole kitandkaboodle of fun nonetheless.  We went down to the French Quarter and walked around and took some ridiculous pictures.  We figured it was time to sight-see a bit, since we've only been living here...oh you know, NINE months!  That's not a baby hint, btw.  Unless it's a Groom's Cake baby, and then it's definitely a baby hint.

The aforementioned ridiculousness
So yeah...who knew I could type 5,000 words on an essay entitled "My Memorial Day Weekend: 2018" that included reading, WNTW, park walks and talks, and ice cream.  I aim to please, folks.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

The beat goes on

I used to avoid playing Taylor Swift in front of Nate, but since turning the dirty thirty 303 days ago, I've got this new-found attitude where I'm like "Man, fudge that snickerdoodle!  He needs to love me for me! (And my horrible taste in music!!)"

You can also insert the Spice Girls, 98 Degrees, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, BBMak, LFO, (any 90's boy band), Britney, Christina (pre-Diiiirty era), etc. into the Don't-Play-In-Front-of-Nate-or-Quickly-Make-Up-An-Excuse-About-How-You-Need-To-Clean-Up-Your-Music-Library-When-It-Comes-On-Shuffle-On-a-Road-Trip list.

I know it's dumb, but it is what it is.  Anyway, I recently realized that I've been living under a rock and Tay's newest album isn't as hardcore as her heavy-eyeliner and snakes get-up, so I've given it a whirl via her official YouTube channel cause 1) music ain't cheap and we ain't exactly big-ballin' right now, and 2) I want to give credit where credit is due by listening on her station so her bank account grows by the pennies from Mr.Youtube as opposed to just a fan who ripped the song.  *end needless copyright/trademark/all rights reserved rant.*

I've realized this far in that this post is really pointless, but I guess I'm just documenting songs I've come across lately and loved and music I'm listening to right now so that I can look back in 5 years never and go "oh yeah!  So that's when I played that song into the ground."

For fun, I'm also including a very small note with each so that you know what's appropriate to play around your kids, your wife, and your husband, and everybody out here.

Or to not play around your husband because you're like 25-year old Courtney.

I Miss Those Days - by Bleachers - - - I stumbled across this because it randomly came on after I was playing some song on Youtube, and the video made me laugh, and then I fell in love.

Don't Take the Money - by Bleachers - - - (start it at 1:04 to start the song) Because when you find a good cardigan, you buy it in another color.

Anna Sun - Walk the Moon - - - They played that song "Shut Up and Dance" (I guess they probably wrote it, too...haha) and this came up on Pandora one morning and I freaking LOVE it right now!  Especially on the elliptical at the gym. Sorry for that visual.

IDGAF - by Dua Lipa - - - No idea how you say her name, also contains explicit language, as hinted by the title (but if you don't really use this language, you may not have picked up on that...but now you know).  This came on via Spotify shuffle while I was cleaning the bathroom, and I liked the flippant attitude it gave me towards the soapscum I was conquering.

Spirits - by Strumbellas - - accidental Youtube find via their recommendation (are you noticing a trend?), but I love it!  And Nathan plays it acoustically and I howl and try to mimic the lead vocalist.

Lumineers - too many to link, but I really like a lot of the titles with female names (Ophelia, Angela, Cleopatra) and Stubborn Love.  And Sleep on the Floor.  And Flapper Girl.  Okay, you get the picture.

Everything's Okay - by Lenka - - - Thanks to pandora being on at work....very quietly...and apparently needing a positive note that day.

Last but not least - Reputation (THE WHOLE ALBUM!!!!) by my bestie Tay.  I really like "Getaway Car," "So It Goes," and "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" right now.  But that's because I've played a few of the others into the ground and haven't made my way through these yet. 

Okay, listen. love. angel. music. baby  Dumb. haha

Saturday, May 26, 2018

A love that lasts

The other night....

Courtney:  Man, I'm hungry.

Nathan:  Let's eat something.

C:  I already brushed my teeth.

N:  So, let's get something anyway.

C:  ...no, cause I'm fat.  *pokes thigh to make it shake*

N:  That's okay, we're about to get thin. (implied in tone:  whether we like it or not because college is expensive and we're dwindling down our savings.)

C:  You're supposed to say "You're not fat."

Laughter ensued, but you'd better believe I'm storing this in my back pocket to bust out in a future argument.

Not really.    maybe. 

Happy Memorial Day weekend, folks!

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Fashion Friday on your Taco Tuesday

A Pinterest oldie, but a goodie.  Source
Tonight one of the fashion bloggers I follow on Instagram posted that she will take her "investment shoes" to a cobbler to get a sole protector added in order to make them last longer.  She mentioned that it typically only costs around $40, and she has a pair of Chanel shoes from 2010 that she still wears!

Oh. em. gee.

1.  I don't know that I've ever paid FORTY dollars for a pair of shoes*! This past winter, I really wanted some riding boots to ride my horse to work look all semi-cute on casual Fridays, and I hunted department store websites like a fiend.  Finally, JCP of all places listed them from $79 to $19.  This is probably why JCP is going bankrupt.  Also, can we just hone in on the fact that this amazing feat (or should I say feet 😛) is unheard of when you have a real life flipper for a foot like yours truly.  Size 12, you guys.  And a friend of mine's mom once told me that your feet go up a size when you have a baby.  100% birth control right there.

2.  I don't know a cobbler.  I've never met a cobbler.  I eat cobbler.

3.  Chanel will never be a part of my wardrobe.  Because:  college tuition.  And also because:  cobbler.

I also follow another fashion blogger who boasts as being a spendthrift, and in her defense, she really is compared to the majority.  My favorite thing in the world is to click on a top that one of the fashionistas I follow is wearing and see a $60 SALE price on it.  C'MON!

So for now I'll just stick to watching What Not to Wear on Amazon Prime (sadly only season 12, but get you some, girl) and taking notes.  And also praying to God that Stacey and Clinton don't revive the show, jump out of the bushes, and scare the shit out of me on my way into work.

Love these two.  Can we please cancel The Chew (I mean, what is that?) and bring this dynamic duo back??  Source
*Edit to add:  I started thinking and remembered that I've definitely paid more than $40 for running shoes.  But you're supposed to regularly replace them after 200-400 miles (so I guess 300 miles), and I probably put a good 800 on them before I budge.  And I wonder why my knees ache.  Do as I say read about, not as I do.

If you've made it this far, you deserve this.  I've included the source so you can see it in it's normal size because it's unbelievable and Blogger won't let me make it any larger.


Sunday, May 20, 2018

The Final Countdown

Nathan's taking his last final tonight for the spring semester.  His final was scheduled to begin at 8pm and last until 10pm.  You'd better believe that if I were taking that class, I'd be marching my hiney into that professor's office and asking if I could take it earlier because...um...I'll be in BED, ASLEEP at 10pm.

Not really though. (about asking the professor for a different time)  I don't like confrontation, and I aim to please.  aka all-star student right here.

The only night class I took at ole LSUS (pronounced "luscious" by the weirdos finer folks in life) was Special Education, and it was basically because it was the...

(and then Nathan walked in from taking his final, and I closed my laptop and then never went back to finish this post.  That was 5/8.  It's 5/20. )

Let me go ahead and spoil the surprise ending for ya - he finished it without falling asleep and passed the class with a B.

Thank the high heavens above this semester is over - - for my sanity and his.  :)