Purely Lauren

Sunset from last night, I snapped it after I noticed the reflection in my front door window. I almost missed it! Yeah, this picture has nothing to do with the post...

On Saturday my sister Jess and I went to a big craft expo out by the airport. And it was awesome. We walked in and felt like we had just been transported to the Eugene Holiday Market (ie the Winter version of Saturday Market) because it was filled with various booths of awesome homemade goods. The only difference was that there was a serious lack of dreadlocks and hippies. We loved admiring jewelry, pottery, stain glass (the booth was gorgeous), beautiful rustic wood mirrors, but the best part was the food samples. Basically Jess and I devoured all the different food samples (jams, pickles, mixes, salsas, etc) and we were in food sample heaven. Wait, that's Costco... In the end, we ended up buying a few different specialty hot chocolates, dip mixes and a pineapple salsa.

Ok so there's the background. Last night my room smelled bad. Totally embarrassing right? It smells bad so bad, I'm worried that an animal died in the walls or something, but I don't want to search too hard in fear of what I might find.

So I did the next logical thing, I borrowed my roommate's delicious smelling candle to try and cover the smell. It helped last night, but the smell was still there this morning. I kind of looked around for it again but couldn't find it, again scared to look too hard. What if I find an old lunch tupperware deep under my bed that was now covered in mold? Ew. Gross.

Then it hit me while blow-drying my hair. One of the mixes I bough had asiago cheese in it and the guy I purchased from told me to put it in a tupperware because the smell is strong*.

Sure enough, it was the asiago cheese and herb mix. Problem solved (hopefully, if my room still smells when I get home from work I'll know it is a dead animal).

Note to self: remember to follow directions.



*They kept that particular mix under the display table, offering samples of it only because the lady next to them complained about the smell. I loved the craft expo drama. I wonder what else we could have found out...

I wish I had a really awesome funny story to tell. I don't.

I frequently catch the bus now because I have an iPhone that helps track when the next bus will be coming. So there aren't any funny running to the bus stories.

I'm not in love with my job (that's sugar coating the fact that I don't like my job at all) so 40 hours a week is spent doing something I practically despise. Good thing I get paid.

I've been sick for the last two days so my brain is extra cloudy. I forgot my lunch, cell phone and badge this morning. But I'm feeling a lot better despite sounding like Ursula the Sea Witch.

So here's the real update:

I've seen two 3D movies in the past week, which is funny because I think 3D is over rated. First, we took Lisa's niece to her first movie: Beauty and the Beast. It was her birthday, she had a princess party, and she loved it. (Note how the popcorn bucket is bigger than she is.)


Then, last Saturday after dropping Lisa off at the airport for her flight to Africa, Debbie and I met up with my sister Jess and her husband Michael to see an IMAX movie at the Natural History Museum. We didn't know it was in 3D until we got there, and we got to sport these sweet frames, definitely an improvement from the AMC 3D glasses I think:



Sunday was a low key day but the real excitement is us watching Downton Abbey. Are you watching? We're so hooked on it. I know you can buy Season 2 online and watch it ahead of time, but I kind of really like having people over every week to watch together.

And to continue on the same vein of TV shows I like, I spent my sick day on Monday getting all caught up on Revenge. Do you watch that one? Because I'm totally hooked on that one too. And How I Met Your Mother (that's all on Netflix). I'm finally caught up to the current season.

Yesterday after taking a mid day shower I noticed some serious improvement in the state of my sore throat and stuffy sinuses (TMI?) so I went to the store and bought a mini cake pan to make a birthday cake for Roommate Lindi. Look how cute that cake is!


I tried a new cake recipe and the frosting has marshmallow cream in it. I'm totally hooked. It's awesome frosting. And I'm hooked on the mini cake pan. It's so cute!

I'll have to try and do something stupid so you can have something to laugh at. In the mean time, you'll have to content yourself to this boring post.

Last night my roommate Lindi was going to the ballet. Her group had an extra ticket. When I heard it was Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo I knew I wanted that extra ticket.

This is why:

More pictures for good measure:

Since both my sister Jess and I flew home for Christmas on Christmas Eve, we went to the Messiah Singalong at the Kennedy Center. It's free but we had to wait in the cold until they opened up for tickets. Luckily we had something to do:




And then when we finally got our tickets, ate dinner and got into the concert hall, we loved everything about it, except one little minor very important detail, we didn't have music.

NOTHING on the Kennedy Center website informed us that we needed to bring our own music. I was so angry I wanted to cry.

Luckily we both knew some of it already, but having the music would have been nice. The highlight though was singing the Hallelujah chorus with 2,000 Washingtonians. Everyone singing about God and Jesus a couple days before Christmas was really cool.

I was snapped a couple pictures before the picture Nazi (a.k.a. the really anal usher) yelled at me for having my phone out. And for that, I'm definitely posting the pictures I took, especially the one of the concert hall.



I'm a little late, but I'm still wishing it was Christmas and not the second week of January.

instagram from yesterday post red-eye. but i still sort of feel the way i look here.

I'm procrastinating.

I'm procrastinating double checking the office staff list to make sure everyone is included.

I'm procrastinating the grad school research I really need to do so I can figure out my life.

I'm procrastinating going to lunch (weird) because that means when lunch is over it's time for my meeting and I don't want to go to that.

I'm procrastinating going to lunch because I don't particularly like what I have for lunch and would much rather eat out of the jar of candy left on my desk by my boss or out of the box of Lindt chocolates (also sitting on my desk) brought back from Switzerland by my other boss.

I'm procrastinating loads of other things too, each of which are really just stupid to procrastinate: ie. reading my scriptures; writing in my daily journal (which I didn't write in once while in Oregon); figuring out more New Year's resolutions besides eat less sugar; and a handful of work related things.

Things I'd much rather be doing:

1. Blogging. Obviously this one won out.
2. Laying in bed watching stupid and awesome movies like THIS. (I did that last night after I finished unpacking, would do it again. It's a Sense and Sensibility rewrite! Awesome.)
3. Making a cake for no reason.
4. Making cookies for no reason but to eat.
5. Cleaning my room. (That's how much I don't want to do my to-do list.)
6. Learning how to draw from the book I bought last year but have not yet had a chance to read.
7. Shop. Always on the list actually.

I think 2012 is going to be a good year.

I will not be sharing most of my resolutions this year because then I don't feel guilty when I don't keep them up 5 months later. No, I did not learn how to do the splits, and some of my resolutions were completely forgotten as I headed completely in the other direction (ie. less baking/improve waistline. I actually did MORE baking and gained 10 lbs). But yes, I did read four books a month, except I failed on the non fiction side. I might have read three nonfiction for the entire year, maybe, and those were comedian memoirs... yeah, a little shy of that goal.

So anyway, I thought I'd give you my favorite 10 books read in 2011 (I actually ended up with 67 total on my list) since that was really the only goal I succeeded at. Ok, so here are my books I chose to recommend to you. Written in order of completion, not in order of preference.

• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan-- if you like Greek/Roman mythology, these books are so fun. I recommend all the Percy Jackson books too and incidentally bought them for my sister Cami for Christmas since she just finished a Greek/Roman mythology class at BYU. Rick Riordan won Author of the Year at the Children's Book Choice Awards.
• The Chosen by Chaim Potok-- classic story about two Jewish boys in New York in the 1940s who become best friends despite their differences of religious practice. I reread this this year and liked it just as much as the first time.
• These Is My Words by Nancy Turner-- maybe my favorite book of the year. Told in diary format, it follows the life of Sarah Prine and her relationship with her family and husband in the 1800s.
• The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner-- I loved this book, I loved the characters, the storyline and the intrigue. I debated whether or not to buy this for my sister instead of the Percy Jackson books.
• Bossypants by Tina Fey-- I actually listened to this one since it was read by Tina Fey and found it so hard to not laugh out loud while listening on the metro. It was that funny. Seriously.
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt-- a nice feel good story about a middle school kid and growing up during the Vietnam War. It won a Newberry Honor.
• Room by Emma Donohouge-- I expected to be really disturbed by this book since it is told from the perspective of a little boy who was born in a high security one room prison that keeps him and his kidnapped mother. I avoided reading it for a while but am so glad I finally read it. 
  
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston-- recommended to me by my mom, the author had such a good way of writing accents I some times found myself reading out loud to get the full effect.
• Entwined by Heather Dixon-- I like fairytale retellings and this one of the twelve dancing princesses was unique and original and I really liked the characters. Though the description of all their gorgeous hair was unrealistic. Or is it just that I'm jealous my hair isn't super lush and waist length?
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling-- I always felt like I'd love Mindy Kaling, but really, I want to be her best friend. She is real and funny and enjoys the same stupid things I do.

Happy Reading, Happy New Year!


P.S. I think you can tell a lot about a person by what they read. I don't know what my list says though. I like kids books and laughing with a smattering of seriousness? Half of my books on this short list were written for adolescents. I feel only slightly embarrassed. But I like stories, and I like fiction. I only know of one person who enjoys reading books on the history of cancer during their work commute. I prefer something light.