Why is my life getting in the way...

Ummm...Christmas was so awesome this year! I got tons of cool stuff and got to spend a lot of time with friends and family.
I'm back at work today and dreaming of my present from Geoff:I can't even tell you how long I've been lusting after this. I wish my Lawrence friends loved this as much as my Chicago friends. But I don't mind watching it alone.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Lifesaver.

I've been having a few bad days mixed with really good days and its really starting to drive me crazy. This upcoming long weekend will be good to clear my head.
Thanks to my lovely Martha for making today a good day.
I can't wait until she visits for Chirstmas!

Due to the craziness in and out of my head, I haven't posted anything in awhile. I have a lot of things to share that have recently happened.
*Loads of cooking
*Holidays
*Family-timez
*I got a tripod its gonna blow your mind. Haha, maybe just mine.

So thank you Martha, you prevented my coworkers from seeing me cry today. Sometimes I just can't help it.

Ugh, Urban.

So I love Urban Outfitters as much as the next gal, but seriously.
In the spring Fashionista posted a DIY headband that took me like 20 minutes to make. And I am awful at sewing, this meaning ANYONE can do this!
Needle, thread, old t-shirt. No sewing machine required.
Urban is now selling the same headbands for $20! Insane! Maybe I should take advantage of people more often.Just thought I'd let you know. RIP OFF!

A Post-Halloween Post.

I made my own Halloween costume this year. I am awful at sewing, mostly because I am impatient and don't really know how to use a sewing machine. Guessing doesn't really work out that well.
I can do really simple things, like hemming pants and sewing things wonky. Wonky skirt? Uneven curtains? I am your girl. Unfortunately, sewing is not like cooking. It might be if you know your way around a machine, but not me. A plan usually helps with the sewing.
My costume was Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice (the cartoon). She wears a lot of black (as do I, that was not a problem) and a red cape with lavender lining and a spiderweb design.
I thought it would be easy, and um, it probably was. I made it alot harder by not planning it out. There was a lot of seam ripping. With my teeth, I couldn't find my seam ripper.
I had planned on hand sewing the spiderweb design and then remembered that I don't have time to do laundry, let alone spend hours hand sewing something that would be worn to bars for one night only.
Solution? Black sparkle puff paint. Not my idea, but I happen to have the greatest coworkers ever. No one knew who I was dressed as. Amateurs. I love my costume all the same. I thought it was awesome.

Of course everyone knew who Geoff was. I would say a job well done, but it was his costume last year too. I was going to make him an awesome costume but he said he's already been everything awesome. Obi Won Kanobe (forgive my spelling, I'm not that nerdy), Indiana Jones, Leon from the Professional, Garth, and the Tin Man.

It was a great night, even though every bar had a line to get in. Lame! I need to start using a camera for pictures. My iphone makes me lazy.

Proud to be an American?

Today was an important day. Really important, life changing.

Today might have been the first day that I have truly felt proud to be an American. I know it sounds cheesy, but coloring in the Obama/Biden circle filled my heart.

I've been feeling really anxious all day, its like the first day of kindergarten. I feel great now, even though I live in a state that will probably always vote Republican.

Here is a photo of my voting sticker, for my sticker-less friends in their blue state.
Now I have to go stare at my TV until I get some good news.

Pumpkin Patch Part. 1

Geoff and I went to the pumpkin patch east of town yesterday. It is the same one I have gone to every year. There were tons of little kids there, and most of the fields were picked over. After some careful searching, we found out perfect pumpkin! We only got one out of the field this year, but I did get some pie pumpkins to make some pumpkin puree. Something new for me to try this year. My brother is on leave in a few weeks and will be home for his birthday, so I will be making him a homemade pumpkin pie instead of the usual cake/cupcakes.

Thanks to Joe and Fally for bring Geoff's hoodie back from Chicago. He left it on Ben and Martha's couch during our visit, and has been lost without it.
F21 Jacket, American Apparel t-shirt, Old Navy Jeans, Blowfish boots, scarf traded for one pink cupcake at my work garage sale.

I wish the weather would stay the way it is, with perfectly cool days. We are taking advantage of it again today and making a shopping trip to Kansas City. On the list: a birthday gift for Geoff's mom, a few Christmas presents (I like to start really early) and an American Apparel trip for me.

Huzzah, for real this time.

We finally made it to the Renaissance Festival this past Sunday! It was my first trip to the festival, so I had really high hopes. We didn't dress up or anything, but it was still awesome!
I never realized how kid-oriented it all is. Games, and carnival type rides, unfortunately for kids only.
Since most of the festival was for children, I figured the food was for us. There was so much to choose from, but I eventually settled on an apple dumpling. It was served warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. Delicious. Until I dropped in on the ground halfway through the joust. DAMNIT! This actually happens to me a lot. I am perpetually the girl with the toppled ice cream cone.Geoff and Joel had to get the manliest food there: THE TURKEY LEG! They loved them.
I made Geoff take my picture as a princess with a UNICORN! Other than the food, the unicorns were the best part. They were everywhere. The joust was okay, I think the good guy won.
I cheered for the bad guys, naturally.
It was really fun to go, but I don't know if it is an every year thing. Well, I will pretty much go to anything if the tickets are free.

Snake hater.

I got a haircut. Finally.

I think this will grow out a lot better than my other 'do.

Sorry about the shades, I had a slight hangover this morning.

On a scary note, some a-hole at the pet store was walking around with a giant snake. I freaked out, like almost cried. I was shaking, it was awful. An employee at the store asked why I was freaking out and then told me that they breed snakes at that store and that there are several hundred snakes in the back room. Bitch please. I wanted to punch her but I was shaking. She asked me why I am scared of snakes.
"Because it is a FEAR, everyone has one!" Mine just happens to hang out at Pet World. I will have to start ordering dog food on the internet.

I ran outside and sat in the car while Geoff got in line to pay, right behind snake-lady. AHHH!

Huzzah!

Can't stop saying "huzzah" like Renfest/D&D-style. It is the new "hoorah" okay?

Been busy lately, you know, driving for hours to Chicago to surprise my best friend for her 25th Bday; eating delicious food; shopping; making Full House jokes (I'm Stephanie); buying sweetass bookcase and therefore being totally squashed in the car on the way back to KS from Chicago.

Last weekend was so awesome my body could only thank me by getting sick. After 4 days of being grossly sicky, I found my cure. One Bloody Mallory (Mary). I like to call them Bloody Mallory's because I am selfish like that. Uh, its a B.Mal when it has one zesty pickle and 2-5 martini olives. Right.

AH HA! So Friday I was back to fabulous! Har har, just normal. But I did up my coffee intake for the weekend 2x and managed to do some work on the house. We left for Chicago with the house a complete disgusting mess and I was feeling motivated by my IKEA purchases. So up with the new bookshelf, out with the sofa table (wtf? I know, sofa tables are for fancy ladies and not 24-year-olds), hemmed some pretty (cheap) curtains, 2x Target trips on Friday. 1000 loads of laundry, vacuuming, yada yada. My house is still messy, so no pictures yet. But I am feeling good about being so productive on the weekends. Also went to Worlds of Fun with my work. Fairly awesome, although I hate rollar coasters and am not much fun at amusement parks.

So back to Chicago, I love my friends that live up there and wish I could visit every week. This time was bonus fun time, because a friend that lives in Wyoming also came to visit. I happen to know the greatest people ever. It must have something to do with being from Kansas.

I also love the food in Chicago. My friends happen to live about a one mile walk from the greatest food ever. EVER.
M. Henry...behold...The Stacked Veggie Dagwood a.ka. The Greatest Sandwich Of My Life
Um, so good, I tell everyone I know about how much I love this sandwich. I might name my first born after this sandwich. Minus the stacked part, after all my kid will have my genes. Har har.
Ignore the salad, I didn't eat it. The sandwich is massive, its like 7 inches tall. Insane. So good.

My 2nd favorite thing there:

The Black Bean Cakes. These were my favorite thing ever until I had the sandwich.

Huzzah, someday I will post photos of things other than food.
Martha also wrote about the birthday suprise, with pictures!

Swell. Time to go watch Gossip Girl.

Hair!

I only get my hair cut twice a year.

Haircuts are expensive, and I am lazy. Sometimes my salon gives free haircuts when trying to improve a technique. For example: in late 2006 my salon offered free graduated bob hairstyles for volunteers. I like to keep my hair short, TADA! FREE HAIRCUT! Angled fringe? FREE BANG TRIMS! And so it went, something like 5 haircuts in 3 months, and they were awesome!
I have been toying with the idea of growing out my ever-present medium-to-long blunt bangs.
Seems a little to annoying. Luckily I'm pretty good at trimming them myself.

Growing my hair long now is almost like a dare to myself. "I bet you can't get it past your chin! I know you won't let it touch your shoulders! HA! Try not to pull it back!"
And now due to my laziness/cheapness, my hair is slightly past my shoulders. And is nastily thick at the bottom. And curly in all the wrong ways.
So now there is a goal:


Perhaps I will sport a giant bow as well.

Also, I am in love with this dress, but stupidly forgot where it is from.
Yikes, imma dumdum.

For my feetz...

So I rarely buy shoes...but have bought 3 pair in the past month.
Shocker! I didn't spend a lot to make it happen. The brightest of the bunch has to be sold off, as they are 1/2 size too big and about 2 inches too tall.
I drooled over these babies all summer...
I love them, but they are 4". Way too high for a girl that wears heels twice a year. I'm trying to change that though.
For my birthday I bought myself some awesome T-straps, but they were too small, so I returned them. Went to reorder, they were sold out. TURDS! So I ended up saving a ton of cash and getting some pretty cute ones at Target (aka: my FAVORITE PLACE ON EARTH).
$11...AWESOME! They look crappy like this, I don't know how to photograph my feet.
Last, but not least, the loafers that I will be wearing the crap out of this fall:
Today is rainy so I will be digging out sweaters and boots. And SOCKS! I have worn socks only once a week, all summer. KICKBALL!
I got some yummy tights too.

PS: Will be trying to put together some decent photos of outfits, per the request of J. Gordy.

What a (Labor) Day!

So it has been a really awesome 3 1/2 day weekend for me. It started out Friday with a tasty dinner at Free State with Geoff's family, which was immediately followed by the end of the season kickball party at Liberty Hall. Many yummy Ad Astra's were had. The party was a good time for me to reconnect with the world outside of my home and my work. I got to catch up with an old friend and talk about some silly girl stuff. Which, this friend of mine got engaged last night! She and her awesome fella have been friends for awhile, and I'm thrilled to see them headed in wedding direction. So Congrats to L & P!

On Saturday Geoff and I took a little mini-vacation to Kansas City where we had an awesome room on the plaza! A little bit of shopping and a lot of eating!
We tried to cheap it fairly affordable and had a tasty dinner at the Kona Grill. I also got to drink $9 cocktails! Yikes, but they were yumyum!










Sorry about the photos, they were taken from my (NEW!) iphone, but that is another story all together.
Nice getaway, even if for only 24 hours. Its nice to be able to relax with no agenda. I'm normally not to good at that.

Today is an awesome Mallory day! Finished a book, watched part of the BFFs of BH marathon on Soap Net, and am now anxiously awaiting the season premiere of GOSSIP GIRL! Also, One Tree Hill, but seriously, GOSSIP GIRL! Man, I love TV! I wouldn't feel so awful about the amount of television I watch around this time of year if I hadn't read so much this summer.
It balances, right? RIGHT!

Less than 2 1/2 HOURS! Sweet jeebus, I don't know if I can handle the wait!

Offically An Obsession

Hi, my name is Mallory and I am an American Apparel addict.
I don't know what it is, maybe because everything is just so effortless? And soft, and cute!
It all seems to look good together, like Graanimals for adults!

I have a much anticipated shipment coming in the mail tomorrow, and then another coming at work in a few weeks.

Sometimes the website is a little to slutty and the shopgirls are a little to hip/bitchy, but when you get down to it, isn't it all about the clothes?

I'll post pictures when my package arrives!

Yeah, it is delicious

Oh boy, I freaking love to cook. I like to take recipes and shake them up a bit.
Sometimes I try to recreate dishes that I've had at restaurants and put a little twist on them.
I don't eat red meat, so most of the things I cook are veggie/tofu or chicken/turkey.

These are a few things I made this week:

Super-ginger Honey Glazed Chicken over rice! Tangy Cucumber & Onion Salad!
This was Geoff's Back-to-School Dinner on Wednesday night...super easy to make and megadelicious. I will post a recipe when I remember what all I put in it...

This morning I went to the lovely Downtown Farmers Market! Although we arrived 20 minutes to close, I manage to get a fairly good haul:We have tiny adorable oriental eggplants, heirloom tomatoes, farm fresh eggs (I like the green ones!) and Reese's PB Banana Bread. I usually get pistachio bread but they were out this week. OOOh, I also got some goat cheese spread with olives and artichokes! It is usually too pricey for me but they mark the price down at the end of the day. So yay!
I used the tomatoes and eggs to make the Mallory version of a traditional English Breakfast or Fry-Up if you will...
Toast, baked beans, fried egg, turkey sausage links, fried tomatoes. It was pretty good, although the only bread I had on hand was Sourdough Rye from Wheatfields, not very traditional.

Sorry about the photo quality, I'm working on it.

It's me, Mallory!

Intro:
My name is Mallory, I'm 24 and I live in Lawrence, KS.
I live in a lovely little 1950's ranch-style home with my boyfriend and our dog, Pippen, and cat, Elvis.
I have lived in Kansas most of my life and I really do love it here. Occasionally I have ideas of moving away, but I don't know if I could ever leave Lawrence.
I LOVE THIS TOWN.
My three favorite cities in the world are : Florence, Chicago, and Lawrence. Okay, Lawrence may eventually get bumped off the list, once I am more well-traveled.

My current interests include but are not limited to the following:
-Learning to knit
-The Twilight Saga
-The Farmers Market (esp. tamales and tomatoes)
-Gossip Girl
-The Olympics (duh)
-Being a world champion kickball player
-buying at least one dress per week (terrible weakness)
-Mamma Mia

Things I am always interested in:
-Cooking
-Baking
-Cats
-ABBA
-My awesome friends

More to come!!!
-Mallory