Wednesday, February 18, 2015

46 Reasons...

Happy Birthday to our Brooker!!! I love mom so much...and here are a few reasons why



1.  She's the genius behind ideas like "Tabersnackle" and "McDo-over"

2. Her dental floss was made in Ireland

3. She's a dog whisperer



4. She is the queen of the countdown. I have an absolute fear of long-term commitment to time and she'll give me a countdown that makes it seem like it's going to fly by.



5. Every month without fail, she texts me Happy Birthday on the 11th of that month



6. She can literally watch the weather channel and not fall asleep.



7. She understands the importance of fresh beginnings and enjoying new things!

8. When I was little she would draw me in the outfit I was wearing that day on the brown bag she packed my lunch in :)

9. She loves pink.



10. Once when I was in elementary school I woke up on a cold December Monday morning and declared that I "HATED Mondays." I came home to a little Christmas tree in my room and a note from mom that said "I love Mondays because you were born on a Monday!"



11. She can watch the movie Big Fat Liar all day and laugh every time.

12. She loves candles that smell like pumpkins and Christmas

13. When we were little she used to only ask me organize the fridge every now and then. I love that we didn't live in fear of our next chore chart and she let us play! (and I'm a freak who likes to organize the fridge)

14. She is fluent in American Girls. Which was key to her success as mom of young Pizza & Raisin

15. When she doesn't have some grand wisdom to give, she just says something ridiculous or makes a crazy face which is usually better than advice anyways :)

16. She never changes the radio when Duran Duran is playing

17. She appreciates a wide variety of sports like cheerleading and gymnastics.

18. If I ever need to cheer her up, I just do the dinosaur

19. Her "Santa going down a chimney" in charades is an ultimate game changer.

20. In 2005, she let us get a dog



21. If we ever were shopping at Old Navy, she never could let a good outfit pass

22. She has a great taste in movies. (most of the time...looking at you Somewhere in Time.)

23. She was as supportive of me being a brother in college as she was of my short-lived pageant career.




24. She was equally as cool when Parrish became a boy scout.



25. She is our ride to Greenville each September for the Indie Craft Parade every year since its opening in 2010 and she is so much fun!



26. She understands that wrapping presents beautifully for our birthdays was and is as important as what's in the presents.

27. Many think her cheerleading days are behind her, but every now and then, she just can't resist and breaks into a really great high school cheer. She also has some killer signature dance moves.




28. She is a chocolate connoisseur

 

29. Even though our pool growing up was about 30 minutes away, she always drove us out to swim any day we wanted :)

30. She and dad have never said no to buying a new book

31. With mom at Christmas, the more Christmas, the merrier. more lights, more candles, more Christmas Cocktails, more movies!



32. She was arguably more excited than us when we came home from school without homework.

33. Growing up, I was very aware of how grown ups perceived their kids. I could tell a lot of parents were tired and even would hear things on the radio about parents who couldn't wait for their kids to go back to school. Mom never made me feel like I was annoying her. I never doubted that she wanted to hang out with me.

34. She is the reason I am hyper-organized

35. I can truly say I am friends with mom. We exchange ideas and have conversations like friends which is usually exactly what I need.



36. Mom isn't some big career woman who wears pant suits or anything (thank goodness), but she takes the jobs she has very seriously and does them to the best of her ability (band boosters, CBS, cleaning the Saye building, dog sitting the neighbor's dogs)



37. She taught me that if a gift or surprise can be wrapped in a silk ribbon, it should be.


38. She loves her entire family - sisters, nieces, nephews, GiGi & JR, all of us so very much!

39. She taught me how to very kindly say no sometimes

40. She loves fresh flowers



41. When she gives to charity, she gives anonymously (except I just told everyone who read this post, oops)

42. She takes her down comforter to church when she's cold.

43. The first time I visited Auburn in 5th grade, I fell in love with Toomer's Lemonade. She bought me three Toomer's lemonades that day. Best day ever.



44. She loves to surprise me with new American Girl magazines or a Chicken Express coke when I needed inspiration!

45. She understood that P & I weren't really crazy little kids. She let us do our thing without trying to make us do "kid things." Some summers we wanted to go to the pool, some summers we wanted to sit on the couch and make tiny paper outfits out of scrapbook paper. She totally supported all of that.



46. Mom has never sat me down and told me how to be kind. She shows me every day by example how to love people and be gentle in how you treat others. If you have ever discussed her with anyone, there is simply no way the word "sweet" wasn't used in describing her. She's the most kind person and I love her!



H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y ! 

Friday, February 13, 2015

The long awaited film...

A long time ago I was imdb-stalking John Krasinski (duh.) and saw that he was working on an untitled Cameron Crowe project. Cameron Crowe is one of my favorite directors (thanks to Mr. Tucker in 12th grade!) and I couldn't wait to hear more about it!

Well it's even better than what I was hoping for because it's full of some of my other favorites. Like Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Alec Baldwin, and I guess I'll throw in Bradley Cooper who has really proven himself to not just be some lunk-head magazine cover with his films these past few years.

The film is called Aloha and here is the first trailer!


what do you think?
I'm pretty excited!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Rarely asked questions...



Sometimes when I feel like someone is making an exit from my life, I start to think about how little they actually know about me. I often keep to myself things about me simply because no one asked. Which of course begs the question, what is it that I wish people would ask me so I felt they better understood me or knew me better? I found a good start of some rarely asked questions on tumblr
  1. 50 Questions You've Never Been Asked
    • 1. What's your favorite candle scent?
    • 2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister?
    • 3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother?
    • 4. How old do you think you'll be when you get married?
    • 5. Do you know a hoarder?
    • 6. Can you do a split?
    • 7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?
    • 8. How many oceans have you swam in?
    • 9. How many countries have you been to?
    • 10. Is anyone in your family in the army?
    • 11. What would you name your daughter if you had one?
    • 12. What would you name your son if you had one?
    • 13. What's the worst grade you got on a test?
    • 14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child?
    • 15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight?
    • 16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series?
    • 17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent?
    • 18. Did your grandparents go to college?
    • 19. Are your grandparents still married?
    • 20. Have you ever taken karate lessons?
    • 21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is?
    • 22. What's the first amusement park you've been to?
    • 23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in?
    • 24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray?
    • 25. Is your father bald?
    • 26. Do you know triplets?
    • 27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook?
    • 28. Have you ever had Indian food?
    • 29. What's the name of your favorite restaurant?
    • 30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden?
    • 31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ's, etc.)?
    • 32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender?
    • 33. If you have a nickname, what is it?
    • 34. Who's your favorite person in the world?
    • 35. Would you rather live in a rural area or in the suburbs?
    • 36. Can you whistle?
    • 37. Do you sleep with a nightlight?
    • 38. Do you eat breakfast every morning?
    • 39. Do you take any pills or medication daily?
    • 40. What medical conditions do you have?
    • 41. How many times have you been to the hospital?
    • 42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo?
    • 43. Where do you buy your jeans?
    • 44. What's the last compliment you got?
    • 45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning?
    • 46. What flavor tea do you enjoy?
    • 47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own?
    • 48. What religion will you raise your children to practice?
    • 49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn't real?
    • 50. Why do you have a tumblr?

    I would also add - what book always makes you cry? Who is your celebrity crush, and do you have a favorite play or playwright? Or - what is one thing you wish people knew about you?
  2. Better than the silly what's your favorite color stuff, right? 

Monday, February 9, 2015

MY favorite little misunderstood holiday.

Earlier this year you wrote about your favorite little misunderstood holiday, and now I have to speak on behalf of a very controversial one that I have come to love. (pun so very intended)



As anyone who knows me knows, my actual favorite holiday is St. Patrick's Day followed by Christmas, New Year's, and fourth of July in no particular order. But it hit me last year just how important Valentine's Day is.



Valentine's Day gets a bad rap because it comes with a lot of expectations and awkwardness, but I really don't think it needs to be like that! The other day I was watching a show and a girl said "I love Valentine's Day." It was so refreshing to just hear someone say it and not care how that made them seem. So much better than a single girl insisting that she hates Valentine's Day and that even if there was someone in her life, she wouldn't be celebrating it even though secretly she is wishing that it was the norm to just celebrate it no matter what because pink and cupcakes and decorations are always a good idea. yep. easier to just say you like it.



First of all, February 14 is the dead middle of February. If you're a summer girl like me, you aren't that great of a mood for most of the winter months due to lack of fuel (aka sunshine). No wonder we have a holiday that's all about love in the middle of winter!

Second, it doesn't have to be about romantic love - it's just a day to say that you love the people in your life! One of my favorite little traditions when we were little was mom would have a little surprise for us on Valentine's Day. Some years it was a little pink outfit for our American Girl dolls, some years it was a card from Charlie, some years it was a little balloon from Publix. I think we should do more little stuff like that for Valentine's Day! Just celebrate that there are people in our lives that we love and appreciate!

Third, it's very colorful!

Fourth, if you do have a sweetheart, it's nice to have a date night set aside. I never have celebrated Valentine's Day in a relationship, but this post convinced me to consider it in the future. Of course it's a little cliche to go out to dinner (and REALLY cliche to go to a movie), but isn't cliche just a cynical word for tradition?



Furthermore, it makes me very sad to hear people say they hate Valentine's Day. Because this is the day of love, it makes me feel like they don't know they are loved and thus have no one to celebrate with. I used to be this person because I thought it would save me a lot of time and awkward situations, but the fact is, I think it's a great idea to have a day where we are all consciously nice to one another during a month where it's easy to be really snappy. I think a big reason that certain women feel the need to hate Valentine's Day is that it helps play into the "guy's girl" persona. They use hating Valentine's Day as a way to differentiate from the flakey girls who love Valentine's Day for totally selfish reasons. But I say forget that - if you like something then who cares! Just like it and be proud of that!



So here's my proposal to stop being afraid to like Valentine's Day and to just spend the day showing the people in your life that they are worth being loved and celebrated :)