proof I was in fact a blonde once...

Braddy, Dizzy, Most Happy Girl, and the rest of you non-believers, here you go:

It's not very big (couldn't enlarge it without distorting it), or very flattering, but it's undeniably me. I am a natural blonde. Here's my Mads pic too-well part of it...can you find me? (Hint: I'm the blonde on the bridge.)

Man, I'm not photogenic. AT ALL.

Liebster Award

My sweet friend over at One Crazy Girl's Kitchen nominated my blog for a Liebster Award*! I don't know that there is an actual award; it kinda sounds like a gimmick to get our friends to branch out and try new blogs... and I'm totally on board with that ;D (Totally cut and pasted Dizzy Dandelion's response here--thanks!)

The Fun Rules:

• The nominee must link back to the blogger who nominated them.
• The nominee must state 11 facts about themselves, and then answer the 11 questions provided for them by the person who nominated them.
• The nominee must then nominate bloggers with less than 200 followers, who they think deserve the recognition, and pose 11 new questions for them to answer.

Random facts about me:

1. I am a natural blonde and carry my Senior picture in my wallet to prove it to the people who don't believe me.
2. I know how to navigate Disneyland better than I do my local amusement park, Lagoon.
3. The Iphone has a function where if you tap the space bar twice it enters a period in texts. I regularly fat finger a space and the letter 'b'. So if you get one of those I'm not calling you a name, I just didn't pay attention before pressing 'Send'. Same thing holds true for Facebook posts I make from my phone (which is pretty much all of them.)
4. I LOVE the company I work for, but HATE the job I do for them right now.
5. I regularly sing at random and don't realize I'm doing it. (At least that's what I'm told.)
6. I am a trivia nut. I can't learn much about a specific subject to save my life, but I LOVE learning random "did you know" factoids. 
7. I am now a Mary Kay consultant. (No seriously. I signed up like 20 minutes ago.)
8. I am a child of the 80's but I've never seen 'Karate Kid' or 'Crocodile Dundee'-much to Mr Wonderful's shock and chagrin.
9. I HATE getting manicures. If I'm not worrying about the cleanliness of the tools or about how it's not going to look the way I want it's the fact I'll probably just end up going home and re-doing it myself after spending $30 (true story). Then I'm just ticked that I wasted money for something I could have done better myself. So now I just do them myself. 
10. When I was 18 I was *this close* to mustering up the courage to move to Nashville to become a singer, but my fear of failure got in the way.
11. Mr. Wonderful and I met in High School, had crushes on each other, but never went out on a date until we decided to start dating after we kept running into each other everywhere almost ten years later.

Answers to One Crazy Girl's Kitchen's questions:

1. What is your favorite color and why?  Green. It's just so happy and pretty, and it is the first thing I remember re-learning about myself after my engagement to Fiancee' #1  ended.
2. Who is your greatest inspiration?  Total cop-out answer, but my mom. She is so kind, patient, loving, positive, and TALENTED! When I was 20 she made me a Sleeping Beauty gown using the patterns from the toddler costume and a WEDDING DRESS. There's seriously nothing she can't sew. If I'm half the woman/mother she is I will consider my life a success.
3. What is the strangest thing you've ever eaten?  Sea Beans. They look like little green twigs, but are tender like green beans and since they grow in the ocean they taste like the ocean. Surprisingly delicious.
4. What is one talent you wish you had?  I have always wanted to be able to play the piano and the guitar. I want so badly to be a songwriter. 
5. What is your favorite movie?  I love Mr. Holland's Opus. I hope that one day I will touch lives the way Mr. Holland did. 
6. What is your favorite vacation memory? Anything that involves Disneyland. Probably my most favorite is when I went with my family (extended included) in 2007.
7. What is one food you refuse to eat?  Magic shell. It's the most disgusting concoction known to man. If I wanted to chew on wax I would eat a candle.
   
8. How long have you lived in your current home?  One year, one month. :)
9. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?  Seattle or Del Mar, California.   
10. What is your biggest pet peeve?  I have a few, but I HATE having to repeat myself when people just aren't listening.
11. What is one thing you couldn't live without for a day?  My phone. I feel naked without it.  

Nominees (in no particular order):

Sassy Jose
The Life and Times of SR Braddy
An Idosyncratic Life
Life as an Overly-Anxious Introvert
The Innerworking's of Justina's Mind
Michael and Karalee

Questions for nominees:

1. If money/success were no hindrance to you what would you be doing for a living? Why?
2. Is there a character from a movie/book you most relate to? Who is it?
3. If you turned your Ipod (or other music playing device) on right now what would be playing?
4. What is your guiltiest pleasure?
5. What would you today tell the you of ten years ago?
6. Do you sing along to the radio? What's your favorite song to sing to?
7. If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would be your first non-bill/debt paying purchase?
8. Favorite vacation spot?
9. Describe your perfect day.
10. What is one thing on your bucket list?
11. If you could be anyone else for a day who would you choose and why?
 

back-handed compliments

I usually have to laugh when I'm the recipient of a back-handled compliment, because in my experience nine times out of ten an insult is the LAST thing on the complimenter's mind.

Today I got a doozy and can't help but share. I just got my hair done last week and one of my sales people came in and said to me:

"I just love your hair. It looks just like a wig I have at home."

The name of this wig-which is VERY similar to my own style and color:
DARK BROWN FANCY PARTY WIG
No joke.

She went on to explain she wears a wig similar to my color and style when she wants to feel prettier, but the damage had already been done. Our Corporate Chef was red with laughter-and I was second-guessing my style choice.

attention whore

You wanna know the best way to get people's attention on Facebook? 

Put a well-known line from one of your favorite movies as your status update. Sit back and watch the hilarity ensue as your friends add THEIR favorite lines from said movie into the comments.

Today's movie I quoted to get said attention?

Ok, ok, I didn't post it to get attention. I DID post it because "Are you crazy? A man in a really nice trailer is gonna put our song on the radio. Gimme a pen. I'm signin', you're signin', we're all sighnin'." randomly popped into my head at lunch and I had to share.

It's quite possibly one of the best movies. With some of the best one-liners. Evar. What? You've never seen it? Do yourself a favor and rent it-or else I'll have to sic Captain Geech and the Shrimp-Shack Shooters on you...

You can thank me later.

top ten

Tuesday night I got suckered into a late-night, post rehearsal Village Inn run. This morning I got to thinking, and I realized have certain "tells" for when I'm doing a show. So now for your reading enjoyment here's my Musical Theatre Top Ten (in no particular order):

10. The term, "I can't that night, I have rehearsal" becomes a conversation staple.
9. You start to forget what your friends look like.
8. Anxiety sets in at the mere mention of "Tech Week".
7. You don't have time to wash your unders so instead you buy new ones.
6. The only thing that gets done around the house is feeding the pets-and that's only because you don't want to be responsible for the death of a living thing.
5. You begin to contemplate how you will maneuver the sweaty, speed of light costume changes. You also have no problem asking people to help you get undressed.
4. Your diet consists of anything you can get from a drive-up window.
3. You begin to shamelessly plug your show every opportunity you get. All Shook Up! Get the details here. (fun side note-I was told last night I'm so fun to watch---come see for yourself!)
2. You have mic tape residue on odd places on your body days after you thought you got it all off.
1. Walking into public places in full stage makeup and hair, and wearing clothes you wouldn't NORMALLY go out in-ie shorts, cami, button up shirt and fishnets--true story--and just laugh at the funny looks you get instead of being self-conscious.

Honorary Mention: You begin to dream the show and wake up with the music (particularly the trouble spots) stuck in your head.

happiness is

Happiness for me is FINALLY being excited about a show after merely going through the motions with no passion for so long. I didn't get the part I had originally hoped for, but for the first time in a LONG time I'm excited to get this party started. At last night's read through my mind was racing on how I could make this part mine and make it shine (sorry Riss, I'm gonna do my damnedest to out shine you--but in a good way. ;) I'm a barfly/statue/Angel Devilette in Midvale's All Shook Up. A small part, but I am SO looking forward to it. I get to not only do another show with her, but my new friend as well. I honestly couldn't be happier--or more excited (well until a leading role comes my way anyway).

Thank you-you know who you are-for being patient and understanding, and telling me it's ok to test the waters and if getting out of the water was what was best for me it was ok. You are a bomb-ass friend and I love you for it.

So, I best be seeing you all at the show in July bitches--especially you B-there's lots of Elvis to be had in this one...

wordle thursday

As I was blogstalking friends of friends I came across this little beauty. My mom has one with the Vander Linden family names. It's pretty cool so I decided to do one with words from my blog-here's the link:

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3610942/misskristen


The web site isn't very user sharing friendly, but it's still fun.
http://www.wordle.net/create

(semi) wordless wednesday

shoes! shoes! shoes! the secret of my shoes

If Avril Lavigne went to OZ she'd wear these...

I love shoes. I have way too many pairs of shoes for my own good. Expensive,  bargain, old, new, traditional, eclectic, strappy, flat, heels, tennies, sandals, flip flops...well you get the idea.

Mr. Wonderful doesn't 'get' the love I have for shoes. He thinks you only need four pairs of shoes: black, brown, dress, and athletic. He breaks his own rule because he has five-the previous plus a pair of work boots. I on the other hand have so many I have literally lost count. I have no room in my closet for them all so I have to store them under my bed and rotate for the seasons. (I was gonna take a picture so you'd believe me but the thought of pulling them all out and putting them all away again plum wore me out so you get what I already had on my phone.)

We were talking this week (post shoe purchase) and he just doesn't get it. The best way I could explain it to him was like this-when your weight fluxuates or if you are like me and are more...curvaceous than the average woman it can be down right discouraging to shop for, try on, and wear clothes. It's even MORE discouraging when the same clothes look so much cuter on women with smaller, less curvy frames. Shoes on the other hand are a completely different story. Shoes fit no matter what size you are. Shoes don't make you feel like a freak show and stop fitting right because you've got water weight or extra holiday pounds. Shoes don't shrink in the wash. You can buy the same pair of shoes as that skinny bitch in the magazine and still make them look as good as she did, if not better.



Upon finishing my explanation I was hoping the light would turn on, and his look would tell me he FINALLY understood what a pick me up shoes are. Instead he just looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears. 

Oh well. The ladies understand me. That being said...



the newest addition to my family. aren't they ADORABLE!?



Time to play catch up...

As I'm sitting on Scott's bed watching him play Ghostbusters (at my insistence; I try not to be the bratty girlfriend who doesn't let her man do anything fun...) I decided I would be productive and update everyone on the happenings (or lack thereof) since my last post. Let's see...all the way back to June. That was a long time ago. Here is where Hollywood would insert the flashback complete with narration-just to warn you it's kinda long and there are a lot of pictures-most of which are in chronological but not chronological order... if that makes sense...

June: I branched out and did Beauty and the Beast in Murray. After a rocky start on my end, I ended up having a great time and made some fabulous friends in the process. Aside from the wettest June in like the history of Utah-thus leading to us being rained out not once, but twice AND a rain delay on closing night I had a great time and hope to call Murray my home again soon...plus it wasn't NEARLY as hot as the Sugar Factory-although I'm sure the rain had something to do with that...*sigh* The joys of doing outdoor theater.







July: Sparky, Kimmy, Scott, and I all bought season passes to Lagoon. I've never had one, and I didn't get to use it until after B&B, but it actually turned out to be pretty fun. It's no Disneyland, but let's be honest...there's only one Disneyland. Well one day Kimmy and I met up with some of my friends from B&B- Madman, Myranda, and Chris. I'm fairly sure it was the hottest day of the year, and NATURALLY we had to have the Old West Pictures taken. For some reason I looked ridiculous in all of them--everyone else looked great:

August: Amber and I took the girls to my parent's house for a girl's weekend to see Annie at Tuachan. This was my first show there and if you haven't been--GO. It's really worth the drive. I'm not sure who had more fun, my family or Ashton and Makayla. They both absolutely fell in love with my brother and sister in law Casey and Darla, and his menagerie, got henna tattoos from my mom, and helped my dad with the pond. The trip also served a triple function so Amber could take family pictures--for those of you who remember the last time we took them my dad had long hair--and for me to meet my newest neice, Allison Mae. It was love at first sight for me. I can already tell I'm her favorite aunt...










September: MY BIRTHDAY!!! My awesome friend The Chris-not to be confused with the previously mentioned Chris-- took me to lunch and made me the cupcake tower of goodness complete with a candle and my FAVORITE kind of cake--Red Velvet...oh, and did I mention both my parents FORGOT my birthday? Yeah. They totally did. Kinda put a damper on the rest of the day, but I can laugh about it now...good thing I had Scott that night to lift my spirits--I really am a lucky girl. :)


October: The long-awaited trip to Disneyland was FINALLY here!! I was so excited to get away from everything and spend some much needed (and well-deserved) time with my family. I was especially happy because Scott faced his fear of flying and came with me.
We got tickets to the trick-or-treat party in California Adventure and decided to dress as Mousketeers--except dad because he wanted to be Captain Jack and Scott because he's a party pooper. Joan and I bought iron-on letters before we left and my mom made the shirts once we got to the condo. Well, after making three shirts she ran out of letters and had to fashion an 'N' for her name...leading her to misspell her own name-'Melaine' instead of 'Melanie'. Apparently she STILL can't talk about it without laughing to the point of tears. They still turned out great though:












We had a good time the first two days, but on day three Scott woke up and said he wasn't feeling too hot. By 8 pm that night he was in bed with a fever. The rest of the trip was pretty much a bust, but Scott was great and humored me by not only attempting to go to the park every day for a little bit but going to a character breakfast AND taking pictures with the characters and photo-ops-although he HATES having his picture taken. Looking back I'm 99.9% sure it was the Swine Flu...especially because Joan was diagnosed with it three days after we got home...

And that brings us to now. Looking back I've had a busy couple of months. Nothing of note is happening this month...unless you count me paying off my car, Thanksgiving, and Christmas music starting on the radio...you gotta love this time of year. Hopefully I will be better at keeping everyone posted.

Thanks for reading. :)

Hooray for Disneyland!!

This summer I started having "girls night" on Thursdays with two of my dear friends, Aaron "Sparky" Sparks, and Kimmy. It has been so nice, and I'm sure Scott appreciates the weekly break. :)
Anyway, in July Sparky mentioned taking a trip to Disneyland. He told me later he didn't ever think that it would come to fruition, but apparently he didn't know me as well as he thought. Aside from the fact I'm a Disneyland addict, I love a project. So I did the research, made the presentation, and before you knew it, we were in Disneyland! Kimmy ended up having some things come up and was unable to go, so it was just me and Sparky. We had a ball!! We spent six days in the park--which some people would say is excessive, but in spite of all the time I've spent there I still did things I've never done before! We took TONS of pictures, and walked onto almost everything. Pirates was by far our favorite.
Here's some photos for your enjoyment: