Walking With Nora

Current Book(s):
Lover Eternal, JR Ward
Club Dumas

Current Music:
The Fray; Coldplay; Elvis Presley; anything jazz

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure:
Pita Chips with pub cheese

Current Colors:
blue, my go-to color

Current Obsessions:
Weeds (on Season 4)
Finishing Felicity (also on Season 4)
Training for the 5k’s that are coming up this fall, which is really my transition into half marathon training

Current Drink:
Water, Rich Chocolate Royale Slim Fast and if I need a soda, Diet Cherry Coke

Current Songs:
Green Eyes, by Coldplay

Current Movie:
This it totally pathetic but I just bought Son-in-Law. The movie always makes me laugh.

Current TV Show:
Rescue Me and anxiously awaiting Sons of AnarchY

Current Wish-List:
Not feeling so exhausted after I get home from work

Current Needs:
Vacation. Irish and I are in the process of planning one. Remote lake vacation, here we come!

Current Triumph(s):
Loving living at home. It’s really pretty awesome, my parents are great, and I’m saving money. Couldn’t be better.

Current Bane(s) of my Existence:
Living out of a suitcase half of the month
My brother is leaving for college next week (great for him, but lonely for me)

Current Goal(s):
Get together a half-marathon training plan
Learn to be more patient at work with certain co-workers

Current Indulgence:
$5 movies on sale at Target.
Shoes on sale at Target
Pretty much anything on sale at Target…

Current Blessing:
I have a personal day next week to help my younger brother move into his new apartment at school. It will certainly be an emotional day but I’m glad I can be there for him

Current Slang or Saying:
Splendid!

Current (Fav) Outfit:
Strapless navy dress I bought at Target. It’s comfortable, fashionable and I pretty much love it

Current Excitement:
My brother is turning 21 in a few weeks so Irish and I will be visiting him to help him celebrate
October trip planned with Irish
Jack received a clean bill of health at the vet last week (taking him to the vet always makes me nervous)

Current Mood:
Relaxed

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Ashley tagged me in the 5 Sexy Things meme.
The rules are plain & simple:

* Write 5 things that make you feel sexy.
* Post a pic if you dare!
* Pass it on to 5 lovely bloggers.

Things that make me feel sexy…

1. My little Black Dress
2. How relaxed my body feels after a good run (at least 2.5 miles)
3. Doing my eyeliner and eyeshadow like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
4. When I channel my Domestic Diva
5. Rain (big surprise there!)

As for the tagging aspect, if you are up to it, have at it:

Fab Brunette

Habbala

Lisa Yarns

Somewhat Voluble

The Melodramatic

Friday night Irish and I enjoyed some good ole’ fried chicken, corn on the cob, spinach artichoke dip with delicious pita chips (seriously, pita chips are my new favorite addiction) and entertaining talk at his parents’ place.

Irish grew up on a farm, just 30 miles south of St. Louis, which was once populated with chickens, goats, peacocks, cows and more hay than I would know what to do with. After the Great Flood of 1993, with few cows remaining save a baby one that they purposely rescued, Irish’s dad started a golf course on half the farmland. The rest of the land is sitll inhabited by grass (for hay), barns, sheds, wildlife, wildbrush (I think I made that word up) and a large pasture.

Irish’s mom used to have two horses. Earlier this year, they lost a horse and so JoJo (or Donkey Ote instead of Don Quixote or just Donkey) was adopted from a Donkey Rescue Farm.

I took these photos on Friday eve to send to Darling, as she’s quite curious about Donkey. He’s a miniature donkey and when you open the barn door, you’ll find him relaxing in the hay.

If you call his name and walk away from the barn, he’ll follow you. He’ll gently nose your behind. He’ll clip-clop behind you, sniffing, munching on grass, never straying far from you or the large quarterhorse (Cody).

If you leave Donkey outside without supervision, he’ll just return to the pasture to hang with Cody, perhaps to stand on top of a mulch pile and bray. (I have yet to witness this but it sounds pretty adorable.)

He also poses for pictures:

Should you happen to find yourself wandering around the farm late at night  just to make sure Donkey is indeed back in the pasture, a bag of carrots in hand, you may see a shooting star.

A shooting star bright enough to light up the entire area in which you stand, something I, Miss City Girl, find mesmerizing. The shooting star, like they so often do, came out of nowhere, lasting at least four seconds ending with a final huge flash of white/blue/orange light before disintegrating into the atmosphere. Donkey was oblivious as he was busy eating baby carrots out of his “mom’s” hand.

And so with Donkey well-fed, Cody at peace since he was not alone in the pasture, and the bag of baby carrots empty, we conclude our night.

The whole way home we discuss the shooting star, what kind of voice Donkey would have if he could speak (I am convinced he’d sound like Donkey from Shrek; Irish thinks it would be slightly twangy), and the whole while, I gaze at the starlight until they are no longer visible due to the StL lights and haze.

(Don’t forget to enter the $25 Famous Footwear Giftcard Giveaway! Entries must be received by Thursday, August 12th at midnight!)

While Tabitha is on her honeymoon, I blogged about Bridesmaid Do’s & Don’ts. I promise, it’s worth the read.

And while Miss Lys is busy adjusting to her new life in Wisconsin, I shared some of my own thoughts on what home is to me.

Guess what ladies?

I’m doing my first ever giveaway ($25 gift card, just in time for fall shoe fashions!), courtesy of Famous Footwear beause they want to you to “Make Today Famous.” How, you  may ask, can you “Make Today Famous” with Famous Footwear?

* They are now  featuring new celebrity styles (Fergalicious, Carlos Santana, Libby Edelman of Sam & Libby fame, Jessica Simpson, etc.)  Think of how great a new pair of shoes can make you feel – famous in your own right.

* Offering fun health, style and footwear tips on their Make Today Famous website to help you look and feel your best.

* They have created a fun, interactive website (just for women) called Make Today Unexpected where you can watch videos of other women “Making Today Famous,” take a personality quiz (I was Mella Caramella), and receive special discounts & updates from Famous Footwear.

* The Giveaway, a $25 gift card from Famous Footwear to help you end the summer on a good note and start the fall off on the right foot (pun intended).

The Rules:

* Leave a comment on this blog with a response to one of the following prompts: why you need a new pair of shoes (and what kind they would be), you favorite pair of shoes ever and why, or how wearing a new pair of shoes makes you feel. 

* Earn a second entry if you mention/link the giveaway in your blog.

* Earn a third entry if you take the quiz on Make Today Unexpected and share the results in a separate comment.

* Comments and blog links must be received by Thursday, August 13th at midnight.

* Giveaway is open to U.S residents.  **

* I will announce the winner on Friday, August 14th.

Comment away…

** (To my international blog readers, if you leave a comment and the random generator chooses you, I’ll send you a little something as a thank you for playing.)

Alright, so it’s been almost a month since I returned from NOLA, but better late than never.

Highlights of the trip:

* A 12 hour road trip with Darling & Irish. Thank goodness for recently won Nintendo DSi’s (thanks, Rebekah!), crossword puzzles, Junior Mints & XM Radio.

* Surviving a night in Batesville, MS. I mean survive in the sense that we were creeped out by the huge caskset factory and the constant reminder of Bates Motel, as in Alfred Hitchock.

* A lovely three bedroom house that we rented in the Magazine District for the week in NOLA. With really kick-ass air conditioning, which is a must in the humid, hot, stickyness that is the NOLA air.

* Cats! No, not the musical. The animal. I fell in love with the outdoor cats that lived under our house. There was a huge bowl of food and water that was magically filled each morning, by the neighbor I assume, and apart from a literal cat fight at one point, they were incredibly sweet.

* Cooter Brown’s. Irish had a hankering for oysters and since he was kind enough to use a week’s worth of his vacation to join me and the fam in NOLA, I had to make sure we got him what he wanted. Double bonus: this restaurant boasted over 400 kinds of beer from around the world. He and my dad tried a few different kinds. Triple bonus: Big, flat screen TVs on which to watch the first pitch of the MLB All-Star Game.

* A Haunted History Tour. Terrifying. Exhilarting. Intriguing. Goosebump-causing. Check out Darling’s post she wrote about the tour, complete with pictures of yours truly hiding behind the fans they gave us.

* Hurricane’s at Pat O’Brien’s. I’ve had ‘em before, but it’s a must when you’re planning on a) spooking the shit out of yourself and b) when it’s 100 degrees with the sun down. This is what happens you down one HUGE hurricane in less than 20 minutes:

* Really great conferences. I know, why would I want to do work when I was in NOLA? Well, I had no choice since that was the whole point of the trip and trust me, my dad and I worked our tails off. We had networking breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings. Afternoon planning sessions. Sidebar conversations during keynotes. As always, I learned a lot about the business (IT), myself and where my job will be headed. One of the boutique stores picked up on who was in town:

* The French Quarter. If you can ignore or tolerate the stench of pee and sweat, you’ll find some lovely things like the French Market, antique stores of all kinds, tiny little bookshops, bars on every corner, absinthe and more.

* Sharks. We did take a little bit o’ time off while we were there to head to the Aquarium. My favorites: Sharks. Jelly Fish. The huge turtle that was much bigger than the shark. Considering Irish loves sharks this was a must-do on the list.

* Inside Jokes. It’s been awhile since I’ve traveled with most of the family (my brother chose to stay in StL so he could go to the All-Star Game, I don’t blame him) and it’s amazing how many new jokes arise from the trip. We still giggle over some of the sayings and things we came up with while there, including the time I fell in the French Quarter. Uneven old bricks + flip-flops do not a steady Nora make.

My only wish is that we had a tad more time to explore the city via a plantation tour or swamp tour. If I ever go back, those will be high on my list since I’ve traipsed all around the French Quarter & Bourbon street already.

While it was had doing triple-duty while I was there (work/girlfriend/daughter duties), it was one of the better work trips I’ve been on, most likely because I had most of my loved ones around me.

The only thing I don’t like Grace in Small Things Posts is I feel like they are kind of a cop out in a way. Not much of substance here, other than sharing with you the things that I have done/seen/said that made me feel good. Contemplating taking these offline and writing them in a daily journal instead.

1. Allowing my slightly addictive nature to indulge in Weeds, Season One and Two, within the last week. Irish = hooked as well. It’s a 30 minute show written so cleverly that you can’t help but want more.

2. Outdoor patios, strong margaritas, a handsome man (Irish), a new dress, and the best Mexican rice in town on a breezy Saturday evening.

3. Wandering around an old record store, packed floor-to-ceiling with records, 8-tracks, CDs, casettes, DVDs, record players, equipment and more for about an hour Saturday evening with Irish.

4. Finding my favorite Kanye West CD on vinyl… and Irish buying it so we could rock out to it.

5. Ted Drewe’s ice cream made even better when a local firehouse brought their truck and half their crew to get a sweet treat. They were kind enough to let kids climb in the rig (I learned that word from Rescue Me, which Irish and I are pretty sure real fireman either love or hate), get their pictures taken, and put their feet in the boots. A community at it’s best.

6. Nintendo DSi. I’m addicted.

7. Tylenol PM. It was the medicine that finally knocked out my migraine…. and let me sleep in until NOON on Sunday.

8. The gym. I feel at peace when I’m there, working out. Irish is going with me too, which is double the fun since he’ll send me kisses from across the cardio & weight room.

9. Clean clothes. My favorite household chore ever is laundry. I know, I’m a dork. While it stinks we have to go to a laundromat, we can get all of our loads done at the same time + the people watching is pretty fantastic. I will admit I can’t wait until the day when Irish and I have a house and our own laundry room.

10. The realization that I don’t have to go to class tonight.

11. Chatting with Liz. We’ve both been too busy lately to even email so it’s great to have my e/blog/real life buddy back.

12. Deciding to run a few 5ks this fall. And of course buying new running shoes for the endeavor + a pair of cute black Nine West heels because…well, just because.

13. Jack, for being especially cuddly lately.