The Great Valentine's Fire of 2013

...well, it wasn't that great, but entirely laughable and now I can be mocked for all eternity.

And so the story goes:

I like to light a candle on my bathroom counter while I get ready in the morning to "set the mood" for the day -- you know, good juju and stuff.  SO, there's a candle lit... I remember suddenly to go get Nick's Valentine's card to take with me so I can fill it out during the day because after work we're doing our Valentine's Day gift trade.  Upon grabbing the plastic grocery bag storing the card and a classy pack of new underwear, I set it on the bathroom counter so I would remember to take it with me.  Then I head back to the bedroom to battle the great debate of my everyday - what to wear to work.  I'm already running late [shocker!] so the pressure to pick out my outfit is on... and that's when the smell hits me, burning plastic.  At first, I think nothing of it and then slowly the realization sets in and I think to myself, "Self?  You should probably go see what that smell is."  So I head urgently back to the bathroom, only to see that I set a small, so-small-it's-almost-not-even-worth-telling-you-about, fire.

The plastic bag, or what remains of it, is melted and still on fire all over the bathroom counter.  It's melted on and in the candle.  It's melted all the way to the enveloped Valentine's card inside.  It's melted down and still burning... and now the underwear is on fire.  [Besides a camp fire, it's the first fire I've ever set that was not on purpose, so, I'm not entirely reacting yet.]  I decide to blow on it.  That did nothing.  Though it's small, all the fire safety tips you learned in Girl Scouts in 1993 run through your mind, but they don't register.  I contemplate 'stop, drop & roll', but I'm not on fire my bathroom counter is.  Finally [duh!] water and bye-bye fire.

Burned pack of undies?  Trash.  Burned bag particles?  Trash.  Burned card and envelope?  Trash... BUT then I get to thinking, you know, this is almost too good to pass up - SO I trash the envelope, it's burned beyond recognition anyways, but the actual card is salvageable and full of memories! ...and depicted below.

The card is blank inside and I've filled it with awesome cliche love sayings that have to do with fire.

-My heart burns only for you.
-You light up my life.
-Our love is too hot for words.
-You melt me.
-My loins are on fire.  [This one, slightly inapropro, BUT it applies because I literally set my underwear (pack) on fire. HA!]

Nick, my boyfriend, since you don't know, loves a good, sarcastic, cheesy joke.  SO I can't wait to give him this card.  I already told him about what happened to which he replied by singing: 'Caitlyn started the fire!' sung to the tune of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire".  He'll definitely get a kick out of this!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, 2013!

What happened to July?

It's almost August already?   Poop.  August means school... and it's closer to the end of summer... and I don't like it.  ;)

Today at work, I've just been doing, well, nothing.  Browsing the web... here are some piecings of today's internet adventure.

Instead of staying in the break-room for our lunch, a couple of us decided to pack up and eat in the courtyard.  It was breezy and cool in the shade, and it was great to get out of the office, even if it was for only a half hour.

Nothing really to update on, been a little boring lately!

Lastly, scattered-thunderstorms... please don't decide to visit on my days off from work anymore!  k thanks!

Oh, man... Eclipse...

I don't know what it is about Twilight... and all things Twilight related, but I am again obsessed with it!  lol It's totally nerdy, but dang, I LOVE it and I'm not ashamed to admit it... obviously.

What did you guys think about the movie?  What was your favorite part?  (And if you haven't seen it - call me... right now... WE'RE GOING!)  Seriously... lol already seen it twice and many more times to come! :)

*sighhh*

My favorite part?  The REAL proposal scene (depicted above, you're welcome).  I cried both times I went to see it... such a sap, I know... I thought it was just perfect.  Gosh, Robert Pattinson sure can act... well, I'm sure a lot of crazy people disagree with that, so let me rephrase... Robert Pattinson sure can "woo" an audience, especially me.  Second favorite part?  That'd be when the Cullen clan & the wolves are "training" to fight the newborn army... Alice & Jasper, TOO cute!  And who thought Jasper got a little bit cuter when his Texan side came out?  Ow-ow! lol

I was impressed with the actors and the movie as a whole!  The music grew on me as did the first two soundtracks... it was strange at first, but now each song fits perfectly with the scenes they're in - so you already know my current favorite CD!

Anyways, I'm always - I mean ALWAYS up for a Twilight discussion. So let me know what you thought about it!!

Rifle Paper Co. = love

Didn't even make it a full week before I had to make a post again!

I stumbled upon this company who makes the cutest (slightly overpriced) stationary, wedding announcments, business cards, etc. etc.

I'm a little obsessed; had to share.

Meet: Rifle Paper Co. (<---click it... no, seriously!)

I hope I'm not alone... my mom didn't see what I saw... but she crazzayyyy.

Anyways, check them out! (And mom, add this to your hard list of "potential gifts to get for my favorite daughter Caiti".)

C

Self Portrait Sunday?

Why yes, yes it is.

A self-pictured abstract made from boredom --

while listening to the new MGMT cd.

What a beautiful, gloomy Sunday.

I love this day.

eclectic

Sorry, I've been out of touch for a while.

Mini-updates & some of my ramblings:

+ Still self promoting? Always. Sorry if it's a bother, but I gotta get jumpin' on the bandwagon! Click me.

+ Defeated: stomach flu

+ Undefeated & unrelated to the stomach flu I had a month ago: the worst hacking cough I've ever had... ever :/

+ Countdowns/looking-forward-to's: South Padre 2010 - 30 days and Eclipse the movie - 74 days, anyone catching a midnight showing? You know I am!! (:

+ Class? About 3-ish weeks left of my class... ready to be done with this class (but loving it still!)

+ Final book project: after 30ish hours working on this book project and I'm DONE! See front cover pictured below. If you want to see the actual pages, lemme know, the book will be delivered in the next 3 weeks or so! I'm excited.

+ Currently reading: The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks... haven't seen the movie yet though. lol I didn't want to at first, but I changed my mind.

+ Currently doing: bloggin', petting lap cat Puddy, watching Two Weeks Notice

+ Sadness: American Idol spoiler alert if you have missed some episodes / don't read on... I CAN'T BELIEVE ANDREW GARCIA GOT VOTED OFF. Devastation... seriously America? TIM URBAN... aka zero talent, however, what Ryan Seacrest called him: Tirban = Tim Urban combined... that was FUNNY! :)

Here's the cover of my book as promised.

It's a collection of my pictures I've taken throughout this semester. We had the option of creating a book with at least 15 chosen images OR 15 images mounted on matte board. I chose a book. The creative process was completely up to us. I renamed it about 5 times... but finally decided on "eclectic:" because of the how random the pictures were and how "eclectic" my style of music is. It's pages of pictures and music lyrics from some of my favorite songs & artists, all photos by me!

Not much else. Sorry it's been so long, don't wanna disappoint! :) Hope everyone is well and dandy!

Adventure: Cupcake

Wellllll, for my Valentine's gift to my true loves, my family, I decided to go get them a dozen Sprinkles cupcakes. Drove to Preston & Northwest Highway to get there, got a little turned around, but so far so good. Having never had them myself I decided this would be the perfect treat for all of us... I got to Sprinkles, uhhhh, the line was out the door and WRAPPED AROUND THE BUILDING. I love my family, but I don't love them enough to stand in that line (ok, I do, but I'm lazy -- shocker).

My surprise was ruined.

I headed back north on Preston and was stumped as to what I could now get them, but as I'm sitting at the light at Preston and Royal, I glance to my right and find my solution, the cutest little bakery named 'Nothing Bundt Cakes'. (Punny, right? Ha!) At this point, anything cake-y would have sufficed. So I walk in, greeted by the cutest girl in the cutest little apron. She showed me what they had to offer and immediately I was sold.

In honor of V-Day, I got the red velvet.

LET ME TELL YOU -- best bundt cake ever.

Love me some good cake & I really love me some good cake packaging. Definitely worth a visit, I got a big one, but they sell little tiny ones about two inches big, I think they were called "Bundtzies".

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL!

Documents o' Christmas

I'm taking inspiration from NieNie and showing some of my favorite moments from Christmas in picture form, except, my pictures aren't AS good as hers... but this is more fun, isn't it?

Puddy looked mad, as usual, and licked himself instead of clawing me for taking incessant photographs of him.

Commending Dad & Claire for baking the cookies for us to annually decorate.

Chili's on Christmas eve? Best idea ever.

G-ma and G-pa = most amazing people ever!

Sweet po-Tater passed out Christmas morn after opening her gifts (one being the bone she's so sweetly napping on).

and I crossed my fingers SO hard that my one Christmas wish came true:SNOOOOOOWWWWW! I loved it. Absolutely loved it!

Not much else to say. Had a very merry Christmas and am looking forward to the weeks to come. Ready for my class to start next month! And still awaiting my camera to come in the stupid slow mail... the wait is almost unbearable.

If you're bored and interested in entertaining yourself grab these two things:

1. A dog (alive, preferably)

2. The inside tubing of your holiday wrapping paper

Next, speak thru the tube and enjoy! Pretty basic, pretty awesome... I've so far tested it on three dogs, and they each freak-out enjoy it as well. And to further attest that this is awesome you can view the video below when I tested it on Taterkins:

To clarify:

1. It's blurry, because Tater was moving at the speed of light... or it could be that I recorded it on my phone.

2. I apologize for: the "pet-voice" I do when speaking to animals and for the really loud text noise it makes mid-way thru the video. The noise frightens me every time I watch this.

Anyways, I wish you all a Happy New Year, I hope all of your Christmases were just as delightful as mine was.

One month 'til my birthday... SUIT!

Just kidding... I will not be wearing my birthday suit out on my birthday (or anywhere else for that matter)! Hoping this puts all of your minds and stomachs at ease, however, it really is a month until my birthday! Woot!

Mini-update sesh: As opposed to my last blog, I have ordered my SLR digital camera! I'm excited to get it, I know my mom is also excited for it to be here, so I'll stop asking her if they've shipped it yet (she's the one who will get the confirmation email stating it has been shipped). I also crossed my fingers hard enough that Muse (my favorite band) is coming to Dallas on St. Patty's Day next year... AND my friend Alex and I have bought FLOOR seats to the show. I'm beyond excited, there is no word to describe how excited I am for the concert. And that's about it as of right now.

Quick vent: I don't use the word hate often, but I absolutely hate people that suck-up to get ahead. It's infuriating! I could go on for days, but I'll just leave it at that.

Entertainment weekly came out with their "100 Greatest Movies, TV Shows, Songs, Moments & More"... a kind of best of the decade thing. Some of them were comedic and I had to share:

1. "iPod: Yes, children, there really was a time when we roamed the earth without thousands of our favorite jams tucked comfortably into our hip pockets. Weird."

2. "Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' Video: Sorry Taylor, Kanye was right... [the] fierce female anthem really is 'one of the best videos of all time'." Caiti's 2-cents: GREAT video, one day I aspire to learn the dance from this video, however, Kanye is still stupid!

3. "Facebook: How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, [and] bug our friends...?" Hi, my name is Caiti, and I'm a Facebook addict.

4. "Team Edward vs. Team Jacob: Torn between a buff BFF and a broody bad boy with incredible hair? Bella, we fell your pain... [the] love triangle had all of America choosing sides." Let it be known, I am fully TEAM EDWARD and fully TEAM JACOB'S BODY!

5. "Tina Fey as Sarah Palin" I don't even need to share the caption for this one. It's great just remembering and if you never saw it, or can't remember, it is worth looking it up!

6. "Wicked" Voted: Best Stage Musical. I can attest that it was amazing! I got to see it when I was in NYC. It was awesome, it's coming to Dallas next year, I'm hoping to get tickets!

7. "Friends [episode] 'The One That Could Have Been': Joey as a famous soap star? Phoebe as a chain-smoking Wall Street exec? The alternate reality in this season 6 show left us no alternative but to laugh out loud. Plus: Fat Monica gets a spot on all our best-of lists." One of my favorite shows! I'm still sad it's over, but yes, this episode was great.

8. "SexyBack, Justin Timberlake: We didn't even know sexy was missing until 2006. We're just happy Justin brought it back safe and sound." And that he did! Love me some JT!

Anyways, these were just a few of my favorite's from EW's Top 100. It has been a decent 10 years; junior high, high school, college... for me, it has been the "Decade of Learning & Growing Up". What would you title this last decade for you? Something to ponder.

Well, if I don't update before the new year, I wish everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year! *Crosses fingers for a snowy/white Christmas / not holding breath*

Round two (today):

Don't let this detract from my post earlier... I'm just a bloggin' machine today! :) Some pictures I edited, of my good friend Melanie's little girl... and Melanie, too. I just think they're adorable. Avery, Melanie's daughter, is soooo cute.

My favorite:

This is what addiction looks like:

New love: digital scrap-booking. MESS FREE and loving it!!!

I get in this really big digi-scrap-booking mode... and then I take a break for a while, I'm still on a kick though. More to come!

Pictures from Muse/U2 concert:

Pictures from the concert:

MUSE!!! They were amazing... seriously, best ever!

A sorry attempt at putting 3 pictures together to show how big the new Cowboys stadium is... I've read that it fits 111,000 people. It was packed!

Erin & I right after Muse... you can see the giddy in my eyes.

The stage... and BONO!!!

"With or Without You"... Bono told us to get our cell phones out and create the Milky Way, you don't disobey Bono! ;)

Anyways, it was an unforgettable experience. Muse totally lived up to my expectations and more, and I cannot wait until *crosses fingers* they come on an U.S. tour! My life would be basically complete.

Ok, until next time!

Yeawr of the Wabbit

I was born in the year of Rabbit, 1987.  My sister was also born in the year of the rabbit... just 12 years later, 1999.  The rabbit is the 4th animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac system.  I just googled "1987 year of the rabbit", and clicked on one site that gave me my 'life' synopsis, I thought it suited me.

"People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog."

I thought that description suited me well, but I'll let you guys know when I become "financially lucky".  Hopefully soon!  I like the part that says I'm "fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind".  It made me laugh a little... I do tend to be fond of gossip, I just can't help myself.

If you want to know what Chinese Zodiac animal-year you are, click here.  Look towards the center under the Zodiac (circle) chart with the small list of animals and start clicking until you find your birth year OR you can just google it.  It's very common. ;)  Wikipedia has proven to have a lot of information on it, too, if you're curious.  I'm not really sure why I care so much about this.... I just liked how it described me.

Happy Lazy Sunday!  Siesta time!

A note to follow, so?

If you have 5 minutes to take a break from what you're doing, this is definitely a worthy click.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k

TTFN folks.