GYPSY LOVE AND GIVEAWAY!

what is this SATURDAY NIGHT?
not only CINCO DE MAYO, wait there's more...

coming to tv land this saturday night the JUNK GYPSIES TV SHOW begins.
DON'T MISS IT! mark your calendar, set it to record, and get ready.

these TALENTED (and sweet) SISTERS set up at zapp hall antique show every year.
each april and october i look forward to SEEING THEIR FACES
and checking out their FABULOUS GOODS.

now i'm excited to see an extra dose of amie and jolie EVERY week.
i can't wait to see what CREATIVE things they do to the rooms they redo.


make a standing date with HGTV for the next 13 weeks.
every SATURDAY NIGHT at 6pm central time. you won't regret it.


you know what else i'm super EXCITED about,
in celebration of this saturday night they are giving away $50 JUNK BUCKAROOS
to one of my readers to spend on the items of your choice from their online shop!


CLICK HERE to enter...
(no comments on this blog will be entered, you must click over to annaleepergiveaways.blogspot.com)

FOOTBALL FASHION 101...

there is something wonderful about this time of year:

it's called college football.

for the past few seasons,

i've discovered i like waking up to the the buzz of game day on saturday mornings.

i don't even mind the television being on most of the day when it's tuned into game after game.

i love how the sights and sounds of football seem to usher fall in.

but let's get to the specific topic at hand- football fashion.

i like my favorite teams for various nostalgic/loyal/slightly noble reasons.

then the rest of them are ranked according to

a completely superficial reason- what they are wearing.

it could be based on their fabulous color combination

or because i simply can't stop admiring the font of their logo.

if you also notice the fine detail of college football costumes uniforms,

i suggest reading this article.

it is a great comprehensive look

at what you can expect to see this season's college football.

i consider it a must read for all fashion-conscioused football fans.

may the best outfit team win!

A CINDERELLA STORY STARRING YOURS TRULY (NOT HILARY DUFF)...

CINDERELLA STORY: 
a tale of one that unexpectedly achieves success after a period of obscurity. 

this march i made my picks just like i do every year.

but this year things went quite differently than years past.

i strategically filled out two different brackets

(in approximately three and a half minutes)

and had evan pick which one to enter in his office pool.

it's a good thing he submitted the bracket he did for me.

i made decent picks in the first round,

but in the rounds that followed my teams were dropping like flies.

however uconn remained.

conveniently enough i had picked them to win it all.

.

and then a week ago a little detail was brought to our attention.

if uconn won the next two games i would be the outright winner of the office pool.

before i could blink we were all sporting uconn shirts

and really hoping i got first out of more than two hundred entries.

 

the night of the championship game there was lots of cheering.
evan had an awesome last minute chance to be at the game,
so he went and cheered in person for uconn to win.
i cheered nervously from our couch for uconn to win,
and his family gathered around me and cheered for uconn/me too.  

in the end, all i can say is good work boys.

thanks for making my own personal cinderella story come true.

i will always remember this march madness.
it is the year the girl whose picks are usually ridiculed actually worked out.

 i couldn't be more excited if i tried! 

EVIDENTLY YOU DON'T ALWAYS WIN SOME...

last night i went to bunco, something i look forward to every month.

you can't beat a night of mindlessly rolling dice,

where all it takes to feel successful is to slam your hand over any six rolled.

however, several weeks ago i became concerned about going to the april bunco.

it was scheduled at the same time as the final game of the ncaa tournament.

i knew my friend kristy wouldn't mind if the tv was on in the background while she was hosting, so i figured i could still attend and check the score.

i envisioned a delightful evening enjoying yummy snacks, enjoying the company,

and watching my perfect bracket be made complete.

when the night arrived, the yummy snacks and wonderful company were there as expected.

unfortunately, wake forest and tennessee were not.

i am an eternal optimist when it comes to these brackets.

i am genuinely surprised each time the team i chose doesn't win it all.

i hear the warnings time and time again that i shouldn't pick someone ranked so low,

but i'd rather lose rooting for a team i actually like, than win.

at least that's what i had to tell myself this year.

because i did a really good job being a loser.

i've heard it said, "you win some, you lose some."

if that's the case, next year i must be due for a lot of wins.

you should have seen graham's face when he heard about the teams i chose.

in the three brackets i participated in, i placed as follows:

281 out of 292 in the bracket through evan's work.

31 out of 33 the bracket with friends and family.

and 25 out of 25 in a second chance bracket.

evidently g thought my choices were as hilarious as his dad did.

my basketball picks might not have turned out too hot, but i am not a total loser.

i won the "roll off" at bunco.

i like to think of the competition for that prize like a bunco tournament.

at the end of the night each person only gets one roll to get the most points they can.

whoever has the most, wins.

i might not have been seeded very high,

but when it came time to perform i did my best and this time it worked out.

i took home the title of bunco roll-off champion for the month.

as well as a pair of super cute new earrings.

so while i might not be wearing a 2010 ncaa championship t-shirt,

you can bet i will be wearing my earrings proudly instead.

WHO NEEDS A HULA HOOP...

adelaide has been attending a weekly music class for awhile now.

sometimes graham comes along with us and hangs out in his stroller.

other times grandmom chic stays home with him.

last week we had the best setup yet.

adelaide and i enjoyed the music class together,

while chic and graham hung out in the back of the classroom.

they had fun watching us in action and got some great video footage along the way.

evan titled this one, "HIPS DON'T LIE."

and here is "HAPPY BABY."

hope your monday is filled with giggles and dancing!

LOST IN TRANSLATION...

in honor of tuesday (which of course is my favorite tv day)

i present to you my current thoughts on LOST.

i'm just here to give my inconsequential musings.

they are lacking any intellectual theories,

but may contain spoilers SO STOP READING IF YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT UP

(fulghums, luttrells, and karen, i'm talking directly to you).

ILANA-

there's something about you i can't quite figure out.

probably because whenever i look at you i spend all my time

thinking how you remind me of an european ana lucia.

CLAIRE-

i miss your beautiful, worthy of a shampoo commercial hair.

and the way "peanut butter" sounds with your accent.

i'd give anything to watch you and charlie sit on the beach again with little bambino aaron.

SAWYER-

you had me at lafleur.

oh how i miss your hippie days with juliet.

oh how i miss juliet for that matter.

can i please have a nickname?

LIBBY-

where for art thou libby?

are we ever going to get more info. about you?

am i the only person in the world that still wonders about you every episode?

LOCKE-

i wish i could have had you as a sub in high school.

you would have been my favorite.

yes, even above ms. trotter, the legendary sub at my alma mater.

and if i was back in high school, my locker combination would most definitely be 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.

LOCKE (AKA LOCKE-NESS MONSTER)-

who are you and why are you so frustrating to me?

more importantly, why is richard alpert scared of you?

i've never seen him shaking in his boots perfectly coiffed hair until you.

BENJAMIN LINUS-

i'm thankful to say the older my son gets,

the less he looks like you in the middle of the night.

i do still call him "benjy" from time-to-time.

CHILDREN OF MINE-

it's been brought to my attention that both your middle names are lost characters.

please know they are also both family names.

and we started watching the show after both of you were already born.

however, should we ever have a third (or fourth) child i will feel obligated to chose his or her middle name accordingly.

no, hurley is not in the running.

if you need me this evening,

i can be found on the couch with a dharma beverage in one hand

and an apollo bar in the other.

ACL FESTIVAL...

last year during austin city limits we were austinites.
i was baking in the sun while miss priss was baking in my stomach.
we were listening to regina spektor, the killers, willy mason, and others.
while listening to the indigo girls i felt some of the baby's first strong kicks.
obviously, that babe already loved i.g. as much as i do.
i wanted to get a shirt but didn't want to buy the size i needed to fit the ever-growing belly.
so instead, i bought a souvenir for that baby in the belly. after all it attended the festival too.


this year as acl goes on, we are houstonians.
the baby and i are still baking in the sun together,
but now adelaide is taking everything in for herself.
we are still listening to the same music (just on guitar hero and the ipod instead of live).
i am wearing my old favorite t's again,
while adelaide is wearing her souvenir shirt for the first time.

some things have stayed the same, but so much has changed.
i'm thankful for the constants.
i'm even more thankful to get to witness all the newness.

IF I WAS AN AMERICAN IDOL...

i am currently snuggling with adelaide and berkeley while watching highlights of last night's american idol. this has to be one of my favorite episodes for song choices. i love hearing about each of the contestants' birth, life, and the year they were born.
and then i saw kelly's great idea.
if i was on american idol here are the top songs i would choose from 1980 ...



ALL OUT OF LOVE- air supply







DON'T DO ME LIKE THAT- tom petty and the heartbreakers






HEARTACHE TONIGHT- eagles







ESCAPE (the pina colada song)- rupert holmes







or LONGER- dan fogelberg




now it's your turn- google the top songs in your birth year, what would you sing?!?

THE YOUNGEST GUITAR HERO...

it's never to early to start being a rockstar...
too much practice can be exhausting though.

THERE'S A FESTIVAL TODAY..." -Livingston Taylor

why do i love a good festival?

good MUSIC, good FRIENDS, good FOOD, good TIMES!

WELCOME TO ACL 2007
(AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FESTIVAL)


THE GOOD
MUSIC

the killers

willy mason
the sippy cups
augustana
indigo girls
muse
regina spektor
wilco
ghostland observatory
bob dylan

THE GOOD

FRIENDS

from austin

from abilene

from cali

from dallas
from kansas
from miami
from new
mexico

THE GOOD
FOOD

kerby lane cafe,
hudson's chicken
avocado wraps,
snowie's,
ice cold slices
of melon,
kettle corn
fresh off the kettle

THE GOOD
TIMES

waiting for concerts,
being in the hot, hot sun,
listening to
concerts,
lounging in
zilker park,
being with friends,
dancing to the music,

having fun!

DID SOMEBODY SAY DANIEL LARUSSO?

we are currently working our way through the karate kid movies and i of course am loving every minute of it. there's just something great about the predictable fight scenes, mr. miyagi's fathering role in daniel's life, the romantic interaction with the given love interest in each film, and the 80's soundtrack. i'll go ahead and say it, if you can't quote at least 5 lines from karate kid it has been too long since you last saw it.

ONLY ONE MORE DAY UNTIL...

usually i don't even think to turn the tv on,
but this week i have been counting down the days until
wednesday, don't forget the lyrics day!

it's like who wants to be a millionaire
for a lot less intellectual people.
instead of knowing the answers to obscure questions,
you have to know the words to a wide variety of songs.

think of it as the entertainment of karaoke,
only in the comfort of your own home.

and for an added bonus,
it is hosted by wayne brady

"SOMEBODY'S GOT TO BE UNAFRAID TO LEAD THE FREAK PARADE..." -Big and Rich

this weekend was one "freak show" after another.

friday night we went to barnes and noble at midnight to buy our copy of happy potter book 7.i am so proud to now own the whole collection in hardback. evan is reading it first since i just ordered a ridiculous number of prego books to occupy myself. he has already read about 300 pages so i'm sure i won't have to wait too long for my turn. if you have never been to buy a harry potter book at the moment it is released congratulate yourself, you must not be as dorky as us. they pass out plastic glasses just like hp's and giftbags filled with hogwarts goodies. and i haven't even mentioned the people dressed up in costumes to look like the characters. i think i have said enough to prove my point about the friday night "freak show."


saturday night we went to see a local performance of sideshow the musical. it is a musical about siamese twins who go from being a circus "freak show" act to famous stage performers. it is based on the lives of daisy and violet hilton, siamese twins living in the 1930's. the show opened on broadway but only ran for a few months even though it was nominated for 4 tony awards. i used to listen to the soundtrack over and over again in high school but never dreamed i would get to see it. i guess evan has heard about it long enough, because when he heard it was being performed here in houston he got us tickets right away.

THIS MUSICAL NUMBER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY ALM...

earlier this summer we went to see spamalot at the hobby center. i didn't think i was going to like it because as hard as i try, i can't get into monty python. but i found myself thoroughly enjoying the musical. which reminded me how much i just LOVE musicals in general.
i go through periods where i am stuck on one musical and listen to it all the time and constantly have the songs stuck in my head. then other times i love listening to my random musical selections and singing along at the top of my lungs like i am the star of each show. i am especially good at this in the car. i think my car has excellent acoustics. and now on with the show...

9 musicals i could watch daily...
evita
aida
wicked
mamma mia
rent
once on this island
the sound of music
west side story
godspell

9 musicals i am so glad i saw at least once...
les miserables
the phantom of the opera
the lion king
chitty chitty bang bang
contact
blood brothers
seussical
spamalot
chicago

6 musicals i still hope to see someday...
hairspray
the 25th annual putnam county spelling bee
thoroughly modern millie
sideshow
miss saigon
mary poppins