lucy turns two.

waiting patiently to eat her birthday ice cream with sprinkles..

(more pix to come)

pony.

i don't know it it happens to every dog, but somehow the hound in my life acquires countless nicknames. the most recent name (and quite possibly my favorite one that also makes me laugh all the time)...

pony.

it happened the other day when cory told her she felt like a horse. i quickly realized she does. totally does. and so i continued to talk to her in the voice i always talk to her with (if you could only hear it), calling her my little horsey, and saying "your a horse, of course" (over and over) which soon lead to "you are just a pony" and "my little pony" (my little pony!! this brought back memories). pretty soon it just became "pony". when i was talking to cory on the phone yesterday he all of a sudden said "Oh my God!!", so naturally i asked "WHAT!?" and he responded, "a pony just jumped into my bed!!". 

yesterday pony poo-ed in the basement so now we have to leave her in a gated community (aka: blocked off in just the kitchen) when we leave the house so she learns her lesson even though she already knows it's not right. i felt really bad this morning when she looked up at me with her cute little puppy dog eyes as i closed the gate, so i gave her about seven treats. hopefully she appreciated that.

luckily she isn't really as human as i treat her sometimes because today is her 2nd birthday and i forgot. didn't even tell her happy birthday this morning. (her birthday could be tomorrow, i really can't remember exactly what day it is) we are going to celebrate it tonight by treating her to some ice cream with sprinkles equipped with two candles and maybe even a party hat. a photo shoot will take place so stand by for images coming soon!

happy 2nd birthday, pony!!!

all you can eat.

a year ago sushi was foreign to me. i walked by Tiger Sushi in mall of america countless times and would always just wonder in my head what the hell it was. and what the hell sushi was. apparently i didn't expand my horizons much in those days. a friend was astonished that i had never tried the delicious japanese specialty. she said we had to go to Tiger Sushi before she moved back to st. louis, but sadly enough, we never made it there. so when i took a trip down to good ole missouri she brought me to The Drunken Fish for my first experience with sushi. loved it (minus the pukey wasabi!). it wasn't until months later that i tried sushi again. this time with cory. it was one of our first dates (not sure sushi is a good first date dish..?). since then, it has become our "thing"... something we have, on average, once a week (if not more). we found this great new place in woodbury called Giapponese (just learned how to pronounce that two weeks ago) where they now know us by name (practically). the cool thing is that they have a happy hour menu lasting until 6 pm. rolls are only $2.00, $2.50, or $5.00 for a spider. we typically order a california roll, salmon roll, tuna roll, and a spider roll, along with one seaweed salad to share. it's about $20 tops usually. can't be that! every time we go, that first bite is oh-so *perfect*... sooooo good. and every time we walk out the door, we both wish we just had one more roll. just one more.. 

so we found this other new place in woodbury called Akita which also has hibachi. we decided to check it out to expand our sushi horizons a little and soon discovered they had an unheard of "all you can eat" sushi menu. $21 each. we have got to try this one day when we are super hungry, so we thought. that day came a week ago today (to be exact). 

we tried everything we wanted to try. hand rolls. fried dumplings. edemame. seaweed salad. spider rolls. california rolls. spicy tuna rolls. rainbow rolls. and the list goes on. we had to get our moneys worth.. come on now! when we left we added up the typical prices of everything we had and came up with $97. ninety-seven dollars worth of sushi. two people. needless to say, neither of us felt too well. those lasts bites weren't even enjoyable. my god. soon i came to the realization that..

it is better to leave sushi wanting more than to eat it until you can eat no more.

we decided doing the all-you-can-eat one time is enough. so yesterday we ventured back to our favorite place where they know us by name to have our usual spread of sushi. it was... good. we finished and were on our way to do a little shopping. we were both quiet for a few minutes until cory said "sweetie. i'm not sure i enjoyed that like i normally do." oh boy, i felt the same way!! crap. did we ruin our love of sushi with that stupid all-you-can-eat feast!? we made the wise decision that maybe we need to give it a little more time to settle (at least a few weeks!) before we choose sushi for dinner again. hopefully when the time comes to indulge, we find that we still love it like we always did before..

i, the introvert.

i love my friends.

my sis & cory. the two people i talk to every day and hang out with the most.

the two people i talk to about anything and everything.

my newest best friend, the one who is always there for me 

and the one i spend all of my time with... cory!

my one-and-only sibling, my big sis, erin.

we look alike, sound alike, and like all the same things.

the perfect sisterly relationship — best friends!

the greatest friend and best companion a girl could ask for.

my hound, lucy! no matter what i do, she'll love me. ;)

rachy, beth, and i went to high school together, played sports together, and lived together for a year.

beth and i will be bridesmaids in rachel's wedding in november!

beth, my roomie for two years and friend since elementary school.

my wonderful cousin margaret.

don't get to see her as much as i'd like, but when

we do see each other there are plenty of laughs.

kim & i in jamaica.

my best friend since 6th grade and still my best friend 

even though we live thousands of miles apart.

i don't know when it began (maybe middle school when every single teenager is cruel? and so it just stuck with me?); the awareness of knowing somebody is probably watching. or listening. judging. this single thing (along with the genes) creating the shyness i possess; my introvertness. (as stated by the fabulous wikipedia... introverts are more reserved, less outgoing, and less sociable. they are not necessarily asocial, but they tend to have smaller circles of friends, and are less likely to thrive on making new social contacts.) i don't think i'm necessarily the definition of an introvert (okay, guess i am after reading the definition again!), but i definitely know i'm not an extravert. (wiki states extraverts are gregarious, assertive, and generally seek out excitement.) 

the annoying thing about being more of an introvert is that once in awhile, some people automatically decide you must be a "bitch" or the best assumption, "stuck-up", when they first meet you. but I suppose extraverts sometimes get labeled as being obnoxious, annoying, and rude so maybe it's fair. ha!

the truest part about my introvertness is that i have a small circle of friends and i don't thrive on making new social contacts. but, i love having a small circle of friends and am happy to know that the best friends in my life are those i've known since i was in 5th grade or before. and to know that they will forever be my best friends no matter how far away they may be. having my five best friends in the world and a bunch of aquaintances is perfect. i've learned that a few so-called friends you meet at first seem like the absolute nicest and most friendly people in the world, then end up being the cruelest underneath the mask they put on every day for other people. paaalease!! (for you, core) i'd rather not waste my time.

so, with that, i'll continue to live the way i have been, and if i feel like spending my free time away from crowds of people, i will do it and love it.