WAHOOOOOO!

Last night, Paige and Robert came over for dinner and (the game) wahoo! I was very satisfied with the way dinner turned out, especially the appetizer, so I'm including the recipes. We started off with hummus and olive oil crackers all homemade. For the main course, I made a vegetable tortellini soup with salad. Very light, but filling. If you get a chance, try the olive oil crackers, they're really easy and so delicious, it's also really nice to know that you can make these at home vs. spending $5 on the alternative at the store for half the quantity.

In case anyone was wondering, Derek won the game of Wahoo! He had a slow start, but finished strong. Throughout the game he plays the innocent role but secretly thinks of himself as a sniper. Talk about your game face. It was fun!

I'm also including a few of Paige and Robert's engagement portraits taken last week, because that's what I do!

Osamu Yokonami

I love how whimsical and beautifully composed all his Osamu Yokonami's images are. See all these and more here.

Images via Osamu Yokonami's Website.

Yesterday,

Derek, friends and I twiddled our thumbs all day as we patiently, or not so patiently, awaited our second annual Kathleen Edwards show at the Continental Club. Let me relay, "Her clear, pristine vocals convey longing, heartbreak and the sexiness of the working class with honesty and grace" and then say, she never ceases to impress. Edwards told backing stories to selected songs at both shows. And that's something I always enjoy, gaining a polished version of insight into an artist's creative mind.
Another quality we find endearing is how F is [her} favorite letter, as [we} know. I'm not sure that anyone else in the world can make f*** sound like poetry from a sweet song bird. Derek and I actually took a bet on how many times she'd say it throughout the show. 

I invite you to take a guess. I said 8. Derek-10. Richard took the "thereafter". (Which isn't really guessing, but that's just my opinion because I lost. Thought of your number, yet?) She kept it at a consistent rate up to 5 and I felt victory start to set in, then she ever so passionately spoke of her life-changing trip to visit and play for our troops and the numbers went a sailing through the roof! Wait for it...wait for it...16 times.
Enough about that.
If you ever felt passion, love, hurt, anger, or despair in a relationship, I strongly suggest Kathleen Edwards' music... perhaps as a coping mechanism. I cannot stress enough how talented this singer-songwriter is. Angelic. Glorious even.

Needless to say, I have a girl crush.

On a side note, we went to see The Lusitania tonight and they are excellent as well! Especially if you like Lucero and/or good music. Sorry, that was me being a music snob.
Image found here.
Quote from Now Magazine's, Emma McKenna.

Bottom's Up!

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all had pleasant holidays.
I got to see most all the people I love so dearly, including my sister and her family, in from Indiana. (However, I didn't not see many friends, which was sad. )

New Year's Resolutions:
-take care of myself...eat right, exercise, yada yada. boring.
-write more letters
-draw, paint, make artistic photographs
-encourage and celebrate all my friendships and loved ones.


On a completely separate note,
I also wanted to urge you to visit my new website! Not completely set in stone as of yet, but will be soon!
Thanks!

Calligraphy Love

I've recently been attempting calligraphy, sometimes I'll so okay...mostly not. Today I found some inspiration. Betsy Dunlap.

Words never looked so good.

Image via Betsy's Website.

Austin 360's review!

"Looking for a great resource for all things hiking and biking in Austin? Check out www.austinhikeandbike.com, a website developed by local web developer Jonathan Butterworth."

That local web developer happens to be our friend! He and his wife are two of the nicest people we've ever met! Not to mention he's extreme talents and ambition. Pretty impressive.

Quote from Austin 360. Read the full article here!
Here is a link to Jib's website. ps. Remember how I took their pictures not too long ago? One of them is featured on his website. ie. more incentive! ....right? ......right guys?

How Peculiar.

Yesterday, forty seven years of Texas Tech's college radio station, ktxt 88.1 FM, was abruptly put to rest (as in, 6 feet under) due to a "finacial situation".

5 days before on Friday...I kid you not, Texas Tech made a formal offer to head football coach, Mike Leach for a five year contract worth $12.1 million. That's $2.1 million more than his current $10 million, 5 year contract. 

My my, that is an interesting sequence of events. Where would they get an extra 2 million dollars from?

As to be expected, there is an uproar. Hopefully it won't stop there. Anything you can do to help. Send a letter telling Tech how they won't see a dime of your alumni money unless..., make art to create awareness, write/blog about how this absurd decision was carried out in an untackful way...do it, it'll be fun! 

Poster by Dirk Fowler.

Quote by Director of Student Media, Susan Peterson.

ps. I am extremely proud of Tech football team and their coach. It's the administration, I'm targeting here.