Meet and Greet Monday: Girls' Nights!

"Oowah oowah!" (I really have no idea how to spell the sound that is inevitably made [especially by Randel and Chance] after hearing the words "girls' night," but this was my attempt.)


Yes, August's "meet and greet" spot goes to none other than the super-fun-but-don't-happen-often-enough girls' nights. Every girl needs some friends to hang out and have fun with every now and then, and I just so happen to have a few groups of friends who are so kind as to indulge me in weekly, monthly, and whenever-we-can-get-together girls' nights. So let me break it down for you:

The bestie and I: Jennifer and I have known each other since kindergarten, became closer than sisters in college, and now have girly dates whenever we get the chance. These can be dinner at one of our houses, movie night, and/or getting pedicures then going shopping. We bond over cookies, silly stories, and our love of shoes, and sometimes our girls' nights include all three! Whatever we do, though, you can bet there are always many laughs and, in college, sloppy Tecates involved.

Ready for Tecate Tuesday at A&E

Before Jennifer's bachelorette party

ASL (Ashley, Shawna, and Laura, not American Sign Language): While our weekly girls' night has changed days several times for a number of reasons, we get together at least once a week without fail, except on those occasions that one of the group (ahem, Laura) can't make it. But since Shawna and I threatened to unfriend her in real life and on Facebook, that has been happening a lot less lately. We actually have two weekly nights now, Sunday and Thursday. Sunday night is devoted to one of our favorite shows, Drop Dead Diva. And on Thursday nights we do whatever strikes our fancy, most often beginning with a trip to Walmart or Target and ending with us doing ridiculous things at Laura's apartment. Allow me to present to you Exhibit A:

Planking, perhaps?

Yes, this is me planking...er, what we called "planking." I will never do this in public (because, quite honestly, I really don't understand the point of it), but in a moment of randomness, we decided to plank on Laura's bar stools.
And now for Exhibit B:

The skeptical expression on my face tells you that I know this isn't the hairstyle for me.

This is me in Zulu knots, which we thought would become very fashionable in Mustang after we got back from Mardi Gras. Luckily, it didn't catch on.
We also have Zumba dance parties, which consists of Shawna and me showing Laura the new Zumba dances we learned and/or making up our own choreography to go along with songs we think should be Zumba songs.
Once again, always many laughs.

Jennifer, Hannah, Lindsey, and me: When the four of us get together (which doesn't happen nearly as often as we'd like and which needs to happen ASAP), we inevitably wind up at Zio's. I don't know why, but it's just our place. We laugh and catch up over delicious pasta and even more delicious bellinis. Can't you see why I love hanging out with these fabulous beauties?

Notice the empty bellini glasses...

Mom and me: Last but certainly not least is the girls' night with my mama. I don't get to see my mom as often as I'd like, but when I do, we spend our girls' nights with junk food (chips and dip for Mom, ice cream for me), board games, and Doris Day movies--Calamity Jane, That Touch of Mink, Pillow Talk, With Six You Get Eggroll... I could go on and on. Once again, unfortunately, there are no pictures of my mama and me. She hates pictures and would ground me if I put any up without her permission. (Yes, I realize I'm a grown woman, but nobody messes with Mama.)

Girls' nights are important enough for a coveted "meet and greet" spot because they are time spent with my girls, who are all so important to me. Without my girls and our girls' nights, I would be getting a pedicure, planking, trying out weird hairstyles, drinking bellinis, and watching Doris Day movies all by my lonesome. And believe me, that's no fun...

Fabulous Friday #4: Pepsi Icy Drinks

There's really no explanation necessary here, but if you were uncertain, take my word for it that Pepsi Icy Drinks are fabulous. Especially on a ridiculously hot day/after a workout/on a Thursday, etc. And they're only a dollar at 7-11, so they're easy on the checkbook as well.
In fact, I'm enjoying one now, as I sit here typing this post about how fabulous they are.
See?

The Most Amazing Chicken Tacos You Will Ever Eat

Last night I made Pioneer Woman's chicken tacos for dinner. I fully expected them to be a bit of a disaster, because I have made them before with friends and they always turned out quite messy...but absolutely delicious. The absolutely delicious part is why I was willing to risk the disaster anyway. The frying-the-tacos-and-using-only-your-hands-and-a-pair-of-tongs part was why I was terrified to risk the disaster.
I'm so glad I didn't let my fear get the best of me, though, because the process was much easier to do by myself than I had anticipated, and I can say with confidence that I have mastered the art of the chicken taco.
I don't have photos to document every step of the process like Pioneer Woman herself does, but in my defense, I didn't have time for all that. And Pioneer Woman's pictures are so much better than any of mine would have turned out anyway. But here's a rundown of the process, in a nutshell:
First, you cube some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Season them with salt and pepper and taco seasoning, and cook them in a bit of oil. While the chicken is cooking, you can go ahead and heat up a couple inches of oil for frying.
*Important: Use a skillet, not a stock pot. My friends and I used a stock pot because of our fear of popping oil, I guess, but a skillet works so much better.
When the chicken is done, you can begin assembling the tacos. Through trial and error, we found that heating the corn tortillas in the microwave for about eight seconds beforehand makes them more pliable and less likely to crack. So once you have filled your heated-up tortilla with about six cubes of chicken (yes, that sounds oddly specific, but it works), just fold it up like a taco and set it into the oil, using a pair of tongs to hold the top half down. After a couple seconds the taco will keep its shape, so you can work on filling another taco. Flip the taco when it is golden brown on one side, and cook the other side until you have equal halves of golden-brown, crispy deliciousness.
Then use the tongs to transfer the taco to a paper towel. Wrap the taco in the paper towel and give it a good shake to get out the excess oil. At this point I went ahead and put cheese on the tacos so it would melt and get all gooey with cheesy goodness. I will warn you, though, that it can be difficult to pry open the tacos without breaking the shell. But do it anyway. You won't be sorry.
My four chicken breasts made eleven tacos (random odd number, I know). But that was plenty for three people and gave me leftovers for lunch today.

You know you want some...

While the chicken taco-making process does take a bit longer than I usually like to spend on making dinner, I will be making these yummy tacos again. They got Randel's stamp of approval, and he can be a picky eater. Although, he's so sweet and says everything I make is equally delicious. I know that's a lie because these tacos were far superior to the lasagna I made a few weeks ago.

But back to the tacos. Since my directions may not be quite clear (and since I didn't include an ingredients list), and because this isn't my recipe, here is Pioneer Woman's recipe for these amazing tacos, complete with the photos that were missing from my post: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/03/my-brothers-chicken-tacos/.

On Running

Runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin...

This is what I did three days last week--Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
I read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall a few weeks ago, and ever since then, I've wanted to try my hand at running. I've mentioned before, though, that I'm not meant to be a runner. I'm not built for it, and I certainly don't have correct running form or breathing techniques. (During those agonizing couple seconds while the mp3 player is changing songs, I hear my breathing and realize I sound like I'm dying.) Except for a brief track and field stint when I was in high school (which was a joke), I've never really run before. However, when Shawna suggested running as a way to whip ourselves into shape, I agreed and was determined to become a runner.
So on Wednesday afternoon at 4:45, Shawna and I set off, music blaring in our ears, setting the pace for our slow and steady jog. Since sixteen laps around the track is equivalent to one mile, we decided to ease ourselves into the torture of running by running four laps, walking four, running four more, and walking the last four.
Amazingly enough, the first four laps weren't as painful as I thought they'd be, but I was more than happy to stop when we finished. Shawna and I wordlessly removed our headphones from our ears and began our quarter-mile walk. Our wheezing eventually subsided, and we were able to talk a bit before beginning our second quarter-mile jog.
Altogether, our running/walking took about thirty minutes. Then we headed downstairs to the gym and biked ten miles, which took us forty-five minutes. When I climbed off the bike, clinging to the side for fear that my wobbly legs would give out on me, I was covered in sweat, exhausted, and couldn't wait to do it again on Friday.
Unfortunately, Shawna couldn't make it Friday, so I was runnin' solo. (Did that make anyone else think of Jason Derulo's "Ridin' Solo"?) Because I was by myself and really just wanted to get it over with, I decided to see if I could maybe, just maybe get in eight laps before taking a walk break. With J-Lo and Drake urging me on, I actually made it! I know running half a mile is no big accomplishment for some people, but this was a big deal for me because, I'll say it again, I'm not a runner. Except now I am.
After my half-mile victory, I walked four laps and then set out to run eight more. And I made it again. I finished up by walking four more laps to stretch then logged in another ten-mile bike ride. Again, when I walked on leaden legs back to my car, I realized I liked this feeling of pushing my body to its limits and then defying them. I decided I would be back at the gym Sunday after church.
I guess I was feeling crazy (or maybe it was the fact that there were lots of guys playing basketball on the court below and I just knew were judging how many times I could run around the track without stopping), but I told myself I was going to run the full mile. I cranked the music up as loud as it could go, mentally prepared myself for the pain I was sure would follow, and set off.
Up to lap eight was pretty easy by this time (I can't believe I can say that!), but then it got a bit more difficult. My calves were tired and sore, I had a stitch in my side, and I had been breathing quite heavily for several laps already. But I told myself to suck it up and focused on conquering one lap at a time.
I'd repeat the lap number in my head the whole lap, both to remind myself how far I had gone and as a form of motivation. By lap fifteen, I couldn't believe I had only one lap left. About a minute later, I had run a mile without stopping! I wanted to do a little dance and jump for joy. But I refrained, seeing as how the basketball court was still pretty full.
The feeling I felt ranked up there with walking across the stage and receiving my bachelor's degree, closing on my house, and getting a promotion at work. I felt so accomplished. Because I can now run a mile without passing out, I know I can do anything with hard work, determination, and the musical stylings of Usher to keep me focused.

Fabulous Friday #3: Grocery Shopping with Friends

I've mentioned before that I love grocery shopping (and any other form of spending money), but even more than that, I love grocery shopping with friends. Taking a little trip to Walmart or Target with friends brings back memories of college, when my best friend, Jennifer, and I would venture out late at night to pick up the ingredients to make cookies or to grab toilet paper or just to browse because we were bored. On one such trip, our friendly cashier gave us his recipe for blackberry wine cake that is now one of our favorites. (I honestly don't remember what we were buying that caused him to ask us if we liked blackberries or made him think of this cake, but I'm just glad he did.) Then there were the times we'd end up in the bra section and be ridiculously immature with the really large brassieres. Talk about cheap entertainment. Walmart runs with Jennifer make up some of my favorite college memories.
My girls' nights with Shawna and Laura include Walmart or Target runs more often than not. Last night was no exception, so the first thing we did was hit up Walmart. We walked around, Shawna and I randomly busting out into zumba dances and Laura doing her cart dance. We used our funny accents, which sent us into random fits of laughter. We ran into my brother Chance, who is now a Walmart employee. He treated us to more laughs. Love that guy. We browsed the school-supplies section and wished, just for a few seconds, that we were going back to school.
No matter where we go or what we're doing after, when friends and I get together to get a few groceries, we have a fabulous time and there are always many laughs.

Staycationing It Up

"Staycation, all I ever wanted. Staycation, had to get away." Uh...get away from the real world, at least.

Last week and part of this week I was on a staycation. My mom was supposed to come visit me for a week, so I took off work. Unfortunately, our plans didn't pan out and Mom didn't get to come. But since I had already taken the time off work, I decided to still live it up.
As you can see from this post, I really didn't have the funds to travel, hire someone to wait on me hand and foot, or even go to the zoo. (Okay, it really wasn't that bad; I could have gone to the zoo if I wanted to. I'm just using exaggeration for effect.)
So my form of living it up, then, meant I lounged around in my pajamas all day, watching Will & Grace and lulling Deuce into the false belief that Mommy would be home with him all day from now on. Spending time with my canine companion and the hilarious Will and Grace (and, of course, Jack and Karen, because let's face it, the show wouldn't be Will & Grace without them) was the perfect getaway from reality--staring at a computer screen all day, attending meetings, and answering endless e-mails.
I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. and slept until 11:00 a.m. more than once. The only downside to this was that my body didn't want to go to sleep at 10:30 on Tuesday night, the night before I had to return to the real world.
I didn't get as much reading done as I wanted to (I'm currently reading Dragonfly in Amber, Profiles in Murder, and re-reading Catching Fire), but I didn't feel so bad about that since I pretty much read all day every day anyway.
While it was nice to get to sleep in, be lazy, and basically forget I was an adult for a few days, it was also nice to get back to work. I like the structure of daily routines and to-do lists just waiting for their tasks to be checked off. And I had quite the to-do list waiting for me when I got back to work Wednesday. But I wiped out my to-do list yesterday and today and have a three-day weekend coming up because I'm working from home tomorrow.
Let the staycation continue...

The Shopping Trip of a Lifetime

I have never been more excited about going grocery shopping than I was yesterday. And that's saying something, because I actually love going grocery shopping. But I was especially pumped for my Wally World shopping trip yesterday because I had pretty much been out of food for a week.
Case in point:

Before

Chance and I were living off the cereal, Cheetos, and Bisquick you see in the above photo of my pitiful pantry pre-shopping trip.
I usually don't let my foodstuffs run this low, but I got overly ambitious on pay day, the last day of the month, and paid all my bills for the next two weeks on that day, leaving me with a small amount of money for gas and groceries. I had forgotten to budget in the next two weeks' worth of food, so I had to get creative in my meal planning and finally ended up eating the four packages of Ramen noodles that had been stashed in my pantry for weeks, just waiting for a food emergency such as this.
Pay day couldn't come soon enough. I literally counted down the days til I would have money again.
On August 15 I couldn't get ready fast enough. I woke early, which is noteworthy since I was still on my staycation. I brushed my teeth, quickly dressed, threw my hair in a ponytail, and was off.
I power-walked inside, grabbed the cart closest to me (which happened to be a dud, of course), and joined the crowd of Walmart shoppers. I took my time in the non-grocery section, lingering in the toothpaste and makeup aisles. But when I got to the grocery side, it was a different story.
I was grabbing things left and right, like a four-year-old shopping with her mom. Cookies, Kool-Aid, pasta, hot dogs, ice cream. Basically, if it was in that store, I bought it.
So imagine my surprise when I checked out and ended up going only one dollar over budget. Could this day get any better? I thought.
But it did---when I got home and unloaded my twenty bags of groceries and began filling my fridge and pantry once again.

After

Isn't that a beautiful sight?

Fabulous Friday #2: Getting the Deposit Back on Utility Bills

In May, June, and July I didn't have en electric, water, or gas bill because I got my deposits back from a year ago. It was like getting free money! Fabulous, right?
Over these ridiculously hot months we've had this summer, not having to pay an outrageous electric bill was a relief. Unfortunately, I have to pay my electric bill this month, and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the triple-digit amount I owe OG&E.
This makes me wish I could get a deposit back every summer. But that would mean I'd have to pay a deposit every year, so no thanks. I'll just adjust my budget to account for the insane heat and pine away for fall.

An Update on Change

In this post, I mentioned several things that are changing in my life. Here's an update on how these changes are affecting me:
Work: I got a promotion that came with a new title (Associate Conceptual Director [pretty sweet, huh?]), new responsibilities, and new challenges. I'm excited about all three. In case you're not sure what I do, I'm a conceptual editor. Many people think this means I read all day. I do. But the job also comes with many other responsibilities, including but not limited to writing backmatter (the material on the back cover of a book), communicating with authors, reviewing proofs (hard copies of books that authors use to mark grammatical errors), and typing up my notes for authors. Now, in addition to these tasks, I get to review my team's backmatter and QCs (quality control checks), as well as edit children's books again. I think this new position will be a lot of fun!
Home: my brother Chance has been living with me two weeks now, and a fun two weeks it has been. Honestly, not much has changed, except now I cook for two people (or three, if Randel is over) instead of one, I try not to sing in the shower, and now I have someone to watch King of Queens with, other than Deuce, who doesn't seem to appreciate its hilarity as much as Chance and I do. With Chance as a roommate I now also have a built-in dog sitter, lawn mower, and dish washer. Yep, I've got a pretty sweet setup.
Gym: I've been talking about getting in shape without actually doing anything about it for far too long now. I do Zumba four times a week, but seeing as how I love food so much, I really need to do more. So my gym buddy Shawna and I decided to add running into our weekly exercise regimen, if you can call what we do a regimen. We're going to do Zumba Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays and run on Wednesdays and Fridays. And after taking Deuce for a walk last night, I decided to add a walk into my nightly routine. And I do mean nightly because as long as this insane heat continues, I will not step outside until after 9:00 p.m. However, the rain this morning has considerably lowered the temperature, so I may make an exception tonight.

We'll see how these changes affect me in the long run (it has only been a couple weeks, after all), but I have no doubt they will all have positive effects on my future. Here's hoping I'm right!

Fabulous Friday #1: Going to Bed without Setting the Alarm

Many bloggers have weekly segments, such as Wordless Wednesday and Flashback Friday. I have only Meet and Greet Monday, which is actually a monthly spot, so I figured it was high time I challenged myself to a weekly post. And so, Fabulous Friday was born.
The inspiration for this idea actually struck me when I happened upon The Book of Awesome at Target one afternoon. This book is a compilation of blog posts by Neil Pasricha about awesome things, such as finding money in your pocket. Immediately, I began thinking of things that would go on my list of awesome. I came up with several and decided to share them with the world...or my handful of followers at least. I did realize, though, that I couldn't call it my list of awesome, so I racked my brain for synonyms of awesome that started with the same letter as a day of the week (always looking for alliteration) and came up with Fabulous Friday.
So without further ado, I give you Fabulous Friday #1: going to bed without setting the alarm clock.
The reason that this is indeed fabulous goes without saying, but I'll elaborate a bit for the sake of making this a legitimate post.
Pretty much the only night I can go to bed without setting an alarm is Friday. Because I get one day out of every seven to enjoy this fabulous luxury, it is all the more special when it finally rolls back around. And I don't feel even a tiny bit guilty when I sleep until 11:33 Saturday morning. After a full week of getting up at the ungodly hour of 6:00 a.m., I deserve those extra five and a half hours. And I enjoy every extra minute to the fullest.
The only time going to bed without setting the alarm is un-fabulous is when you actually should have set the alarm, say on Saturday night, which may or may not have happened to me last weekend, causing me to miss church. Oops. It won't happen again, Lord.