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April 30, 2007

Spring Weekend - Pirates of the Caribbean Luau

On Friday night, after getting back to school from Greenwich for my dad's (early) birthday, Brent and I went to Trinity's Spring Weekend Pirates of the Caribbean Luau. The only pictures I have of Brent and me came out really really badly... but I'm going to put a couple up anyway.

Brent and Me:

It was raining a little bit, so the party and the live band were under a giant tent:

The food tent:

A wall of rain inside the tent (this was pretty cool, I wish I had a better picture):

Just in case you can't tell, that's a man-made wall of rain, not just a giant rip in the tent.

In the food tent, there was lots of chocolate fondue, fruit, shrimp, meat, etc. Here's an ice sculpture of a sailboat covered in shrimp:

Disgusting:

That's it for the luau, check back for the Spring Formal next!

Oh, and one more thing, if you want to see last year's Spring Weekend pictures, check out the April 2006 archive!

Posted by lauren at 11:30 AM | Comments (3)

April 29, 2007

Happy Birthday Dad!

Friday night, Brent and I drove to Greenwich for the evening to celebrate my dad's birthday. I didn't get to go to his party last night, so we all went to The Melting Pot for dinner on Friday instead.

The Melting Pot is one of my favorite restaurants. It has been featured on The Blonde Excuse a number of times. If you're in the Fairfield County area and want some great fondue, make sure to check it out:

Out in the courtyard:

As the fondue pot gets ready, it steams a lot. Of course, this is when we chose to take pictures.

Dad and Mom:

Brent and Me (Brent liked that he looked like a ghost):

Cheese with bread, veggies, and apples to dip:

Chocolate with strawberries, bananas, pineapple, pound cake, brownies, cheesecake, chocolate covered marshmallows, and graham cracker crusted marshmallows for dipping:

Delicious:

When we got home, my dad watched the Red Sox game and decided that Brent's presence was getting them runs, so when my dad ran to the TV room to get in his special Red Sox watching position (thank God they have him!) he yells out "Come on Brent!" and Brent had to go running in to sit in the position too. They must have done something right because the Red Sox won!

My dad was nice enough to let me interrupt the game with his present. I had forgotten to wrap it, so I just tied a strip of wrapping paper around it:

I got him an Ambience Orb from Brookstone that measures whatever you set it to on your personal MyAmbience website. You can set it to tell the weather, stocks, how likely your sports team is to win the next game, golfing conditions, etc. Right now, my dad's is set to the stocks:

I think that color means they went up a little bit on Friday.

Before heading back to school, Brent and I fed Frisky some catnip. Brent was nice enough to take a few pictures for me:

She's so happy:

On the way Back, I read Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company out loud and finished it right as we got back to school. Brent and I both really enjoyed the book, it's really funny but also very cute and sweet. It's a quick read and highly recommended.

Lastly, here are the bunnies eating the apple my mom sent us home with:

This weekend is Trinity's Spring Weekend and I have a lot of great pictures so make sure you come back soon!

Posted by lauren at 05:35 PM | Comments (3)

April 27, 2007

Frisky's Update

It means a lot to me that so many people care about Frisky's condition and I want to keep everyone updated semi-regularly because lymphoma in cats is so common that some of you must have a sick cat or know someone with a sick cat, and might benefit from reading about Frisky's treatment.

When Brent and I were in Greenwich on Wednesday (before and after the PEN World Voices event in NYC) we were both very impressed with how well she is doing. As I said a couple days ago, her fur looks better and she seems to have gained a bit of weight. Also, her nose had turned completely black (we're not sure what from) and it is going back to its usual pink color. I'm not entirely sure what this means, probably just that the prednisone is making her feel much better so she is more able to take care of herself.

Frisky with her little pink nose:

Feeling much better, for sure:

Before leaving for home, Brent and I stopped at Petco so that we wouldn't arrive empty-handed when visiting my sick litte kitty. Brent got her a little sock filled with catnip which she absolutely loves. She rolls around with it and even fell asleep resting her head on it, she was so happy. I got her a package of catnip mice, another favorite, and a catnip bouquet. I figure that when you visit a sick person you bring flowers, but for cats you bring catnip.

Frisky's catnip bouquet:

The catnip bouquet was a big hit and comes highly recommended by Frisky, a catnip connoisseur.

Frisky's C-Caps arrived on Wednesday and my mom got her started on them on Thursday morning. Frisky's vet thought they sounded great and recommended that we start her on them right away and hold off on the reishi mushrooms until we see how she reacts to the C-Caps. The C-Caps and reishi mushrooms were my discovery from doing a little online research. If you have a sick pet, you'd be surprised at how many herbal remedies there are that your vet might not even know about. Pet Alive (which produces the C-Caps) makes a lot of herbal products for pets with all sorts of ailments:

Frisky's C-Caps:

I put one in my hand for scale:

They're pretty big so for the safety of your cat, as well as yourself, I would not recommend trying to get your kitty to swallow it whole. Instead, open it up and mix it with a little pad of butter, half to be mixed in with your cat's food in the morning and half at night.

On the subject of cat food, make sure that if your cat has cancer that you are giving him/her home-cooked "people food" like organic chicken or filet, one of Frisky's favorites (she's horribly spoiled). Also, for dry food, make sure there are no additives or chemicals. Try an all natural brand like Purina Naturals. Even if your cat is not sick, switch to a food that has no chemicals for artificial coloring or flavoring because there are actually studies linking these foods to cat cancer.

Not on the subject of cancer, the vet tested Frisky's feet and confirmed that she does, in fact, have a non-cancer-related foot infection. We knew this before, but her old vet did nothing but tell us to soak her toes in betadine which she hated and proved utterly unsucessful... for over a year. I am so happy that her new vet knows what she is doing and Frisky is now, finally, on antibiotics.

Posted by lauren at 11:22 AM | Comments (4)

April 26, 2007

PEN World Voices

Last night, Brent and I went to New York City to the PEN festival of world writers called "Writing Home." The event took place at Town Hall and lasted for about two hours, I'd say, followed by book signings by the authors. The way we found out about the event was that I was playing around on Neil Gaiman's Blog trying to find a reading somewhere to take Brent to because he's his absolute favorite author. It just so happened that Neil Gaiman was doing a reading along with Salman Rushdie, who wrote The Satanic Verses which we just finished reading in our English class, and a number of other amazing authors. The complete lineup was: Don DeLillo, Kiran Desai, Neil Gaiman, Nadine Gordimer, Alain Mabanckou, Steve Martin, Salman Rushdie, Pia Tafdrup, Tatyana Tolstaya, and Saadi Youssef (but not in that order):

First, Salman Rushdie came on to do the introduction. For those of you who do not know, Rushdie received numerous death threats and Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against him for The Satanic Verses, forcing him to go into hiding... and thus making his appearance even more amazing.

First up, though, was Steve Martin who is absolutely hilarious. Brent and I are in the middle of reading his book, The Pleasure Of My Company right now about a completely neurotic, OCD 30-ish guy living in Santa Monica. It's so funny and I recommend rushing out and buying it right away.

Steve Martin read from his memoir that he's working on that focuses on getting started in stand-up comedy. He definitely had us all laughing:

Especially when, in front of 1500 literary types, he did a napkin trick:

Next was Pia Tafdrup, from Denmark, who read some poetry:

Following Tafdrup was Don Delillo who read us part of his new book, Falling Man, which is being published in May:

Next was Tatyana Tolstaya, from Russia, who read a selection from a book she wrote on Moscow, if it had become a city lost in the woods 200 years ago:

Next was Saadi Youssef, from Iraq, who read from one of his books:

Following Youssef was Kiran Desai, from India, who read a very funny section from one of her new books:

Next was Alain Mabanckou, from Congo, who read a beautiful poem about his mother in French:

Someone else then read the English version to us. I really liked this picture:

Next up was Neil Gaiman. I thought Brent was going to leap out of his seat, he was so excited. He read the epilogue from American Gods and a poem called "Instructions" about what to do if you find yourself in a fairytale:

Brent owns pretty much everything he has ever written. I've read Good Omens (which he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett) and Stardust which is going to be a movie!

Following Neil Gaiman was Nadine Gordimer, from South Africa, who read from one of her books:

Last was Salman Rushdie, who read from The Ground Beneath Her Feet:

And a couple black & whites:

Brent getting his book signed by Rushdie:

I got mine signed too and we mentioned that we had read it in Francisco Goldman's class. Our professor (Goldman) happens to be a friend of his, and fellow writer, and Rushdie told us to thank him because he's doing him a big favor getting us to read his book. Like he needs any extra publicity....

Brent getting his book signed by Neil Gaiman:

On the way back to Grand Central, I took a couple super-touristey pictures:

If it weren't 10:30pm on a Wednesday night, I would have been way too embarrassed to take these, too:

Salman Rushdie's signature:

Brent holding Fragile Things, which he got signed by Neil Gaiman with the line "dream dangerous" and a picture of a heart with veins...or cracks, I'm not sure which one:

Brent gave me his copy of Stardust (which he had previously let me borrow to read) so that I could get something signed for myself:

I got a moon and a star:

It was pouring rain in the city that night, and Brent hadn't brought an umbrella home so he had to borrow a really dorky one from my mom:

Anyway, it was a really fun night and I definitely recommend buying books by all these great authors!

Posted by lauren at 03:16 PM | Comments (5)

April 25, 2007

Playground Love

On Saturday night, after my grandmother's award ceremony, I spent some time with Cathy, Pat, Molly, and Jenn. Cathy had never had sushi and wanted to try it, so the five of us went to Whole Foods where you can get fresh, delicious, inexpensive sushi (a tray of it is $6-$7!). We ate at my house and then walked to Cathy, Molly, and my old elementary school to play on the playground. We went on the "big kid" playground which was built sometime in the second half of our elementary school careers when the original playground was deemed too dangerous and a safer set of playgrounds (big kid and little kid) were created. We 20-22 year olds are definitely big kids, so we played on the appropriate playground.

I took some cool pictures lying on the ground below everyone swinging that I really like because of the bright blue evening sky above them.

Molly and Pat:

Pat, Cathy, and Jenn:

Cathy and Pat (they're married!):

Remember the days of swingsets when getting married required nothing more than swinging in sync with a friend and it was so gross when it was a boy because he might give you his cooties? Better yet, the ever present possibility of swinging over the top of the swingset and, perhaps, entering an entirely new world where right-side-up was up-side-down and right-side-in was inside out. I don't think any of us ever got there.

Me swinging (Poor Jenn had a broken foot, but kindly offered to be photographer for a while so that I could get in a couple pictures):

The swingset was one of the only parts of the old (and much better) playground that the school kept when they re-did everything. I have so many memories on that swingset, like the Swing Jumping Club which was a very serious social organization during recess where we would all swing really high and jump off, trying not to break our necks. I was too scared to jump (my mom taught me not to cheat death during recess) but my dependable friend Cathy told everyone that they had to let me in the club too because the Swing Jumping Club was for swinging and/or jumping and not always both.

Molly hanging off the parallel bars:

None of us ever quite knew what to do with these bars which made them all the more intriguing.

Pat and Molly on the... bouncing thing:

We used to all get on this thing and bounce as hard as we could and see who could stay on the longest without flying off (what a safe new playground!)

Pat terrorizing Molly:

Molly, Me, Pat, and Cathy (thanks again Jenn!):

Molly lost:

Molly and Cathy on the climbing dome (the other remaining part of the old playground):

Our 5th grade class picture was taken on that dome. 5th grade was a great year.

Pat:

Jenn and Molly by the tilting ladder that would throw us all off it with one misplaced step (another safety feature of the new playground):

Molly:

The back of our elementary school:

Crossing jet trails in the sky:

After the playground, Molly, Jenn and I went back to my house to watch Black Christmas which was scary, disgusting, and took place at a college that sounded very much like my own based on the location... hmm.... On the way in from the car, though, Molly somehow managed to slam her leg in the car door and collapsed on the lawn. I laughed at her and took her picture:

I have a some more pictures to put up and I'll hopefully get to that later today, so come back!

Posted by lauren at 11:04 AM | Comments (3)

Sick Kitty

Sorry for not posting recently, but I've been very upset about my poor little kitty, Frisky. It turns out she has cancer. The first vet my parents took her to, who has an excellent reputation around town, told us th at she shouldn't even be alive today and said we should just put her down. He said that she had a lump the size of a large man's fist inside her and that there was cancer on her spleen, liver, and stomach. Luckily, I have a general distrust of doctors and asked my parents to get a second opinion from a cat specialist, which they did. This next vet who actually performed legitimate tests rather than just poking around with his fingers and declaring her nearly dead, said that she does have cancer, probably the most common form for cats, lymphoma, and that she does have a lump the size of a ping-pong ball in her stomach but nowhere else. She said that they might be able to operate to remove the lump and that even though they can never "cure" Frisky, she might be able to live a completely normal life for years (she's already 13 so she didn't have forever anyway). This is obviously an optimistic estimate, but I like feeling that someone is on Frisky's side rather than just trying to kill her. I'm not going to say who this vet is online, but if you're actually looking for a vet in Greenwich, you can contact me personally and I'll be glad to let you know who the cat murderer is.

Since Frisky has the most common form of cat cancer and we're going to help her fight it off, I thought I'd post about her progress so that if any of you have cats with cancer, you can see what works and what doesn't (and hopefully comment with your own helpful tips!). We ordered C-Caps for Frisky which have all sorts of herbs that have anti-tumor qualities and immune system boosters. She gets 1/2 of a capsule sprinkled in her food two times a day. These pills haven't arrived yet, but once they do I'll let you all know how it goes. From reading the feedback from other pet owners who have used the C-Caps, the results seem very promising. We also got her Reishi Mushroom Capsules which are supposedly one of the best natural cancer remedies for pets as well as people. My parents showed the vet the information for Frisky's pills we ordered and she very much approved.

The vet also has Frisky on Prednisone to help reduce the size of her tumor and keep it from spreading.

If you have a sick kitty too, I wish you the best of luck and remember... ALWAYS get a second opinion.

In the meantime, my mom found Frisky on Stuff On My Cat in a picture we sent in a long time ago, so check out the link. Isn't she cute?

Posted by lauren at 10:08 AM | Comments (10)

April 21, 2007

Grandma's Award

Today was a really special day because my grandmother got honored by the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) for her service to the town of Greenwich and to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The ceremony was held at the Riverside Yacht Club which has been featured on The Blonde Excuse a number of times because that's one of the clubs my family goes to. I had salmon for lunch and we all had a delicious cake for dessert.

Grandma receiving her award:

There was a speaker after the ceremony, James L. Nelson, who gave a presentation on Benedict Arnold, America's most famous traitor. He actually wrote a book called Benedict Arnold's Navy. My grandma bought a copy and had it signed:

We, of course, had to have an outdoor photo shoot because it was such a beautiful day.

Grandma with her medal and certificate:

Grandma and Poppy:

Grandma and Me:

SAR Program:

The best pickup truck I've ever seen, in the parking lot:

Cute little BMW on the way home:

We're all very proud of Grandma for everything she does and she absolutely deserves this award. She has worked for the Red Cross, served as DAR regent, and represented the Greenwich chapter of the DAR many times in Washington DC. She has obviously done a lot more, too, which I couldn't possibly try to fit into one little blog post. I learned something about my grandparents today that I didn't know, though, that Poppy proposed to Grandma on a subway car after five days. In it's own way, I think that's really cute and romantic. Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon and now I think I'm going to walk the bunnies (yes, they have leashes) because I wouldn't want them to miss this gorgeous day!

Go outside!!

Posted by lauren at 04:36 PM | Comments (5)

April 20, 2007

Pollution

I'm naming this entry "Pollution" because that is what we have to thank for our beautiful sunsets in Hartford. I took a bunch of pictures around campus last night, and here they are.

Sunset:

Jarvis, the dorm where Brent and I lived our first year at Trinity:

Gateway pillars at one of the entries to Trinity:

Through the arch:

And finally, the dragon Brent drew for me on my whiteboard:

I'm home this weekend because I'm going to an award ceremony for my grandmother tomorrow so check back for pictures!

Posted by lauren at 10:34 PM | Comments (2)

April 19, 2007

Stuck In Customs

So, I was on Flickr the other day searching for pictures of Rome (since Brent and I are going in June) and stumbled across this site: Stuck In Customs. Stuck In Customs is a photography blog by Trey Ratcliff. You absolutely have to check it out, it is the most beautiful photography I think I have ever seen. I'll be linking him in my Links section so definitely take a look!

Posted by lauren at 07:11 PM | Comments (3)

Pizza Pizza

Does anyone remember the Little Caesar's Pizza commercials from the early 90s with the Little Caesar guy saying "Pizza Pizza!"? Probably not, but I do. If anyone else is going to remember, it's going to be Cathy and Mike. We were all about the Nickelodeon marathons which inevitably had at least 85 showings of the Little Caesar's Pizza commercials:

It's funny the kinds of commercials kids get that adults don't on their own stations. When Brent and I were watching Nick Jr. yesterday (it's not our fault, it was on in The Bistro where we get food on campus) we noticed that there was a new kind of Fruit Loops out! Our immediate reactions were, "How did we not know about this?" and then it occurred to me that fun cereals are never advertised on regular channels, they're only on kid channels so that all the children can whine to their parents about how Count Chocula now has three different kinds of marshmallows and if they don't have it immediately they might DIE.

This actually has nothing at all to do with this entry, but I thought I'd share.

Jocelyn has been bloggysitting for Smitten Kitchen for a little while now, and a few days ago she posted some pictures of delicious NY pizza. Brent and I, living in Hartford, can't get NY pizza but we were so jealous that we went out and got some delicious Hartford pizza instead. Pizza is Hartford's claim to fame, it was actually invented here!

Brent and I went to Luna Pizza in West Hartford a couple nights ago where we ordered a chicken pizza which was so delicious it's making my mouth water just thinking about it:

Brent's picture:

Pizza makes us happy:

If you're wondering why Brent's forehead is see-through, it's because he can't hold still long enough for me to use a long exposure on my camera.

Brent:

Inside Luna:

Cool ceiling:

Leaving no survivors:

Thanks Jocelyn and Smitten Kitchen for the inspiration!

Posted by lauren at 12:20 PM | Comments (4)

April 17, 2007

Relay For Life

First of all, I want to thank everyone again for the donations to Brent's and my Relay For Life team! My school raised a total of $63,400! Brent, Cathy, Mike, Pat, and I were on the Super Heroes team which was obviously the best team ever.

The night started with Brent and me (the team captains) setting up our tent at our campsite by the track:

Setting up:

Not only was our tent the smallest one there, but it was the only one without a rain cover. Those of you who live in the Northeast (or who watch the news) know why this was a problem. We had a Nor'easter this past weekend which dumped 8" of rain on NYC and probably about that much in Hartford too.

Brent and I decided that we had no choice but to get a brand new tent, which we did.

Before getting the new tent, we went to the opening ceremony on the track:

Followed by the Survivors Lap (survivors are in the pink boas and/or purple or white sashes, the rest of us walked behind them):

View of campus with some of the team posters hanging on the bleachers:

The Super Heroes poster Brent and I made:

The food and drinks tent with donations from all different restaurants:

After the first lap, Brent and I ran off to Wal-Mart to pick up the new tent. Camping must not be a big thing in Hartford because they were all way cheaper than I've ever seen them... but also they were all lodged behind an 8' wall of boxes. Luckily, I burrowed my way through and was able to get us the best one.

New tent:

It's a lot bigger, has rain protection, and even has a special zipper for electrical outlets and another for a fan! That's my kind of camping:

It even came with a doormat which I had Brent hammer into the ground with the cute little yellow hammer that was included:

First changing my tire and now hammering in our tent? He's definitely a keeper for his willingness to perform manual labor in the name of love:

As I've told him many-a-time, I think Brent would have made an amazing hobo. While we were switching tents, he packed all our "gear" into a fantastic hobo sack. I got in the tent first and he threw it to me... a little too hard, it turns out, because I went flying backwards and landed on my back:

Yes, by "gear" I meant my pretty pink pillows and blankets.

Pat and Mike in the tent:

Brent, Pat, and Mike (doesn't Brent look like a happy little kindergartener?):

Brent and Me:

Cathy and Pat:

Cathy and Me:

Some of my pictures for the rest of the night came out a little strange because I had my camera on "Night Scenery" mode. I could have changed it, but I actually thought it was pretty cool. Here's a picture of Pat, Cathy, and Mike being Super Heroes as we walked around the track:

These next two pictures are of "luminarias." Luminarias are lit in memory of friends and family who have passed away from cancer. Unfortunately, they lit the entire track and filled up a lot of the bleachers:

"HOPE" spelled out on the bleachers in luminarias:

Brent and Me:

Mike, Cathy, and Me:

Brent having a midnight snack:

One of the bands that played:

Brent walking barefoot, despite my advice to wear shoes:

Blurred, but cool picture of the fire pit at one of the nearby frats:

Cathy, Brent, Mike, and Pat reminding you to get tested for colon cancer:

There were a number of activities like "Make Your Own Trucker Hat" which Pat, Brent and I did. Brent and I forgot to pick ours up, but it's all right because we got a super-cool keychain that Brent has on his keys right now:

Aww:

It started drizzling at some point and we were told that the "walking" portion of Relay For Life doesn't really matter, especially in bad weather, so we all took a nap in the tent:

Mike:

It was probably the worst nap of my life because, despite being burried under blankets and Brent, who sprawled himself out on top of both Pat and myself, it was freezing cold. We were some of the last people to leave at about 4:30am when I woke up to the sound of some girls freaking out outside as they gathered their stuff and started running to beat the worst of the storm, yelling about "flash floods" and something about "the worst storm in years in New Haven, we have twenty minutes until it hits!" We all groggily opened the tent door to discover that almost everyone was gone. They had ended Relay for Life early due to the imminent storm that was about to wash us all away. As Brent put it, we weren't quite sure when the exodus occurred because we were too busy sleeping for cancer. We packed up right as the torrential rain started (great timing!) and got soaked on our way to my dorm where we all crammed into my room to sleep the rest of the night.

I don't have any great pictures of the storm because I was too busy running to get out of it, but it's actually still going on now. It's not supposed to stop raining until Friday! Ugh, what is this? I hate rain.

Here are the couple pictures I took on Sunday of the small quad by my dorm getting flooded:

Also, as I discovered the next morning, Brent had decided to wear flannel pajama pants under his jeans to keep extra warm. Unfortunately, he zipped the drawstring into his fly and was apparently walking around all night like this:

Despite the terrible weather, I think we all did a great job of raising money for a very important cause. Thank you again to everyone who donated to our team!

Posted by lauren at 10:49 PM | Comments (3)

April 15, 2007

The Blonde Girls' Guide To Changing A Tire

A girl's worst nightmare... a flat tire:

I think it's important for us girls to know how to change a tire because let's face it, we'll probably have to at some point. Don't worry, though, this is The Blonde Girls' Guide To Changing A Tire, and blonde girls don't get their hands dirty.

Step 1 - Call someone for immediate assistance. Strong young men will jump at any opportunity to help if you can perfect the "damsel in distress" voice:

Step 2 - Survey the damage. It's always good to have someone or something to blame for all of life's problems. In this case, I'm blaming the city of Hartford for leaving screws in their roads:

Step 3 - Locate the proper tools in your vehicle. When your gentleman helper arrives, have him search the car for the "jack" and a bunch of dangerous looking poles that blonde girls have no business touching. Also, look for a spare tire which is most likely hidden in a secret compartment that could be better used for miscellaneous accessories like emergency road trip makeup supplies:

Step 4 - Feign incompetence. I learned this skill from my boyfriend, Brent, who would have me believe he has no idea how to use a microwave. Ask your strapping young gentleman if you can help, and insist on trying the most difficult part yourself. This will most likely be loosening the "lug nuts" on the tire. Pull will minimum effort, but maximum "Do I hold it like this? Should I push or pull? What? Turn it? How?":

You will be immediately relieved of any responsibility to offer further help.

Warning - Tire changing is a spectator sport, but getting too close to the "players" can be dangerous:

Here are some pictures demonstrating how to watch someone loosen lug nuts:

A good job for us girls is to guard these lug nuts, they might come in handy at some point later:

Step 5 - Gather clean rocks to keep the car from rolling away. This small, but essential job can be done by us girls. I like to think that finding semi-pretty rocks is part of my skillset:

These should go in front of and behind the tire diagonal to the flat one:

Step 6 - Place the jack behind the wheel you are working on. Have your personal mechanic place the jack under something metal so that he doesn't crack the plastic parts of your car while lifting it up:

Your helper will discover that putting all the scary tools together makes a super-tool that he can then use to lift the car up:

Step 7 - Connect your super-tool to the jack and twist it around in circles. Your male helper will find that the super-tool somehow connects to the jack, and by spinning it in circles, he can lift that side of the car up off the ground! Amazing!

Step 8 - Remove the ugly tire. With that flat, ugly tire up off the ground, you can yank it right off and put on a new, prettier tire:

Note - You may find that the new, "spare" tire is much more beautiful than the original! Quite often, they're painted in pretty colors like blue and purple:

Tip - A well-praised helper is a happy helper:

Note - Do not be alarmed by the unsightly appearance of your car between-tires:

Step 9 - Put on the new tire. Tires are heavy, so do not attempt to help, especially with newly-manicured hands. Have your gentleman helper put on the new tire and screw in the lug nuts again (good thing we saved them!):

Step 10 - Lower the wheel to the ground and put away your tools. That's right, we're done! Have your helper bring the car back down to the ground, remove the jack, and replace the tools in their secret compartments:

Tip - Make sure to compliment your helper on his fantastic looking mechanic hands:

You may also want to save the offending screw (or nail, piece of glass, etc.) as a gift for your helper to thank him for his hard work. He may want to keep it forever as a memento:

And there you have it. The Blonde Girls' Guide To Changing A Tire in 10 easy steps!

Posted by lauren at 10:02 PM | Comments (5)

Fondue Frenzy

Not to give away our brilliant idea or anything, but "Fondue Frenzy" is the name of the awesome restaurant Cathy, Mike, and I decided to open when we were in middle school. It was going to include wonder of all wonders, a cheese waterfall in the center of the room. Yes, we're going to be the next big thing.

Anyway, Brent and I went to my house for dinner Friday night because we had to pick up my tent for camping out for Relay For Life (which was last night-- pictures soon). We had been craving fondue for a while but couldn't get reservations at The Melting Pot, our favorite fondue spot in Darien, CT, so my mom surprised us with homemade fondue!

My mom making the cheese fondue with apples and bread to dip in it:

She poured a Corona in it which made it especially delicious:

After fondue with my mom, Brent and I went to The Pet Pantry, my favorite pet store in Greenwich, where cute little snuggle-bunnies like Winston and George sell for $134! We got them for a small $10 adoption fee. I like to think we rescued them from what could have been a horrible life on a big farm with too much scary mud and grass. They're much happier cuddling in bed with down pillows, lots of toys, and blankets of their own. Yes, they're spoiled.

At the pet store, Brent and I saw the most adorable baby gerbils ever:

Yes, they were a little creepy, but I still wanted to take them all home. Brent and I also found a parakeet on the loose:

We got Winston and George a new water bottle for their cage, an edible straw mat, and a fun bunny toy. Their mom and dad always come home with souvenirs!

When we got back to my house, my dad was home so the four of us went to Athens Pizza in Stamford for a quick dinner. When we got home, as if we hadn't eaten enough already (impossible!), we had more fondue. I think that whoever invented chocolate fondue enjoyed life a little better than the rest of us. We made it from scratch which was especially fun. Watch out Smitten Kitchen!

Adding cream to the chocolate chips:

We also added orange juice and then microwaved it for a while. It was determined that Brent is a better stirrer than I, so he took over:

Stirring so fast, you can't even see the spoon:

We added brandy (apparently alcohol is an integral fondue ingredient) and put it in the fondue pot with rice krispie treats, banana slices, and glazed doughnut holes for dipping:

Delicious, but still, something was missing:

We added some Trader Joe's organic peanut butter which made it all better:

Brent trying to steal my fondue:

And finally, how could a day go by without new pictures of Winston and George? Notice their new toy hanging from the top of their cage. It's a skewer for veggies:

Pretty soon I'm going to be posting The Blonde Girls' Guide To Changing A Tire, so be sure to come back soon!

Posted by lauren at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)

The Landlord

If you haven't seen this already, watch now:

Posted by lauren at 07:56 PM | Comments (1)

Mr. JT

So, the following is my friend Molly's account of her experience at the Justin Timberlake concert a couple weeks ago. Molly has been an enormous fan of Justin and 'N Sync for a long long time, so when she finally got to meet him in person, I told her she had to guest blog for The Blonde Excuse. Here's her story:

Thursday, March 29th 2007 can forever now be known as the day I died and went to heaven!!! An experience that took almost 10 years in the making, I had the pleasure of meeting Justin Timberlake! I have been a huge fan of ‘N Sync ever since they made their U.S. debut in the late ‘90’s, and even more so I was infatuated with Justin Timberlake (I’m talking posters plastered on every inch of wall and ceiling space, camping out for concert tickets, spending thousands on collectibles, attending almost every promotional event in the Northeast… I was absolutely CRAZY!). Throughout the years I had many close run-ins with meeting the members of ‘N Sync and I actually ended up meeting Joey Fatone when he was staring in Rent on Broadway, but no matter how hard I tried it didn’t seem like I would ever meet Justin Timberlake, or as I like to call him, Mr. JT.
I’m happy to report that that all changed for me last month when my sister and I attended his Future Sex/Love Show at the Continental Airlines Arena in northern New Jersey. After getting amazing seats for the show (on the floor, right next to the stage!!!) my cousin, Melissa, informed me that her roommate, Alison, was the assistant tour manager of Mr. JT’s Future Sex/Love Show (AMAZING and yes, I really, really want her job!!) and she was in charge of the sound check and meet and greet. With this amazing hook-up, and may I add new best friend, I had the most exciting experience ever. We were able to sit in on his sound check (he sounded amazing, by the way!) and we had the chance to get our picture taken with him!! I was only disappointed by one thing; we weren’t allowed to ask him for an autograph, but it’s ok because standing next to him was good enough for me.

Mr. JT practicing at the piano:

Being the loser who knows every bit of useless trivia pertaining to Justin Timberlake, I was very excited at the sound check because I got to sit next to Johnny Wright, his manager. Johnny Wright was also the one time manager of New Kid’s On the Block, ‘N Sync and many other music acts.

Molly, Mr. JT and Sara at the meet and greet:

My knees were so wobbly and my hands were shaking uncontrollably. I have absolutely no clue how I managed not to pass out, but I’m sure that if I were not in such a daze I probably would have. The fact that he put his hand on my shoulder makes me absolutely crazy, I cannot believe it, and just so you all know, I plan on never washing that sweater that he touched!
After fulfilling my ultimate dream, Sara and I were in for one more treat (as if there could have been anything more!). Alison brought us backstage to meet the show’s opening act, Pink! Once again, my useless knowledge kicked in and as I was standing in line to meet Pink and I looked to my right and realized I was standing next to Joey Fatone’s brother, Steve. I almost said something to him, but I held back because I realized nobody but myself noticed who he was.

Pink was so sweet and she was so cute, and pretty! For some reason I was expecting her to look different; she was definitely much shorter and petite than I had originally thought. After meeting her I definitely had a better opinion of her and her music. She was phenomenal on stage, too! Her performance was awesome. I highly recommend checking her out if you have a chance.

There was a lot of waiting time in between the events

Our friend Kristina was at the same concert and I have to give her thanks for the pictures below of Mr. JT during the concert because I didn’t bring my camera in for it. She was in the same section as we were, but on the opposite side of the stage, so our views were pretty much the same.

There was a lot of waiting time in between the different events, so to fill in the gaps we had one of the show producers, Rene, who was in fact one of Justin’s teachers in middle school back in Tennessee, tell us all sorts of stories about the happenings of the tour. Rene was so cute with her Southern accent as she told us how the 40 something trucks carrying the stage and lighting spent 18 hours at the Canadian/ U.S. border customs control. She also informed us that the stage used on the tour was/is the largest stage to ever be used in a touring production (it really was… it took up almost 3/4th of the arena floor).

The concert was outstanding!! He sang every song off his latest album, FutureSex / LoveSounds and all the songs he had as singles off of his 2002 album, Justified, and to top that, he sang ‘N Sync’s "Gone." He sounded better than ever and put on an amazing show. Timbaland came on stage and performed with Mr. JT, and in between sets he went solo on stage, highlighting a lot of his hits (pretty much every song on the radio). During the whole concert I was nestled between the stage and a barricade and, lucky me, got the chance to see Timbaland exiting the stage and I managed to make direct eye contact with him as he was standing less than a foot away from me. The show was worth every penny spent on the ticket and I highly recommend checking him out in August when he returns for the second leg of the tour. I can only hope that next time he performs "Dick In A Box."

Posted by lauren at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2007

The Dating Game

As promised, I have the video that I took at Brent's Moveable Joints improv performance Thursday night. If you haven't already read the entry on The Moveable Joints, click here.

The premise of this game is that someone is a bachelorette (Brent, or "Maria") and the three bachelors each have a random "quirk" that the bachelorette doesn't know about. Jordan was a samurai businessman, Chris was Richard Simmons, and Ryan was a T-Rex:

My friend Molly is going to be guest blogging soon with her pictures from the Justin Timberlake concert she went to recently, and I have a few pictures from my evening at home with Brent and my parents, so check back!

Goodnight!

Posted by lauren at 02:40 AM | Comments (1)

April 13, 2007

Moveable Joints

Brent is a member of Trinity's comedy improv group, The Moveable Joints. I know that's not how you spell "movable" but that's how they spell it so whatever. Anyway, they basically do exactly what "Who's Line Is It Anyway" did with a bunch of funny improv games. I, of course, took a bunch of pictures but I didn't want to be flashing the camera all the time, so I left the flash off and just rested my camera on the table in front of me to steady it. This would have worked fantastically if they had been "The Immobile Joints" instead. Anyway, that's why it's sorta blurry, but it's actually pretty cool sometimes.

The first game they played was the "party game" where everyone is invited to a party but has a special quirk that the party host doesn't know about (but has to try to figure out). The partygoers' quirks are given by audience members shouting out, so they're always pretty ridiculous. This is a picture of Brent and Ryan. Brent had extra phantom limbs and Ryan was the party host, trying to figure out what was going on:

This picture sort of creeped me out because Brent's face is the only part that blurred:

For anyone who saw The Ring, doesn't that mean a little girl is going to crawl out of a TV and kill him in a week?

Dave helping Brent out with the phantom limbs and Jordan staying away from the giant cougar he supposedly saw in the room the whole time:

Another game they played was "stunt double" where two people are acting out a scene, and then stunt doubles are called in for the "dangerous" scenes. The scene that someone in the audience shouted out was an Amish Museum, which obviously has all sorts of activities that could go awry.

Jordan was Allie's dad, taking her around the Amish Museum. She was whining about wanting to go to the quilting exhibit:

Chris and Dave stepped in as the stunt doubles (Chris was the dad and Dave was the daughter). Dave stuck his hands in a box of needles at the quilting exhibit, and when it was decided that a bonnet would make "her" all better, Chris tied it so tight that it strangled Dave and killed him:

Next was a sports replay game, where Ryan was the "Chubby Bunny" world champion (with a perfected Minnesota accent), John was an ESPN Sports Center person interviewing him, and Brent and Laurence were his sports replay scene, acting out the highlights of the Chubby Bunny world championships. I had never heard of Chubby Bunny (the audience suggestion) but it's a game where you put as many marshmallows in your mouth as you can and see how many you can get in and still say "chubby bunny."

Laurence was playing Ryan (the Chubby Bunny champion) and Brent was his Swedish model counterpart, using her devilish good looks to distract "Ryan" in the competition:

Basically, what makes the game funny is that Ryan, in the interview, can say anything he wants that will then become a replay scene. He explained to John that he likes to warm up with a traditional crossover Christian - Pop - Funk dance. Brent was "Ryan's" coach, an Evangelical, and Laurence played Ryan, dancing and shaking as Brent did whatever it is the Evangelicals do to make Jesus possess people or whatever:

John then asked Ryan to describe how he likes to practice at home. Ryan said he likes to microwave Peeps to gigantic sizes for practice. John asked him to tell him about the Peep incident of August. Brent played the Peep exploding in the microwave, and Laurence played Ryan. This picture was taken mid-explosion:

Another game they played was a press conference game where Laurence had accomplished some outstanding feat (that he didn't know about) and he had to figure it out from everyone else at the press conference and the questions they asked. While Laurence was out of the room, the audience decided that his amazing feat was swimming across the Sahara.

Everyone at the press conference:

Ryan (from American Girl Magazine) asking a question:

Brent and Ryan:

Dave getting annoyed that his question wasn't getting answered fast enough:

Laurence trying to answer all the ridiculous questions being asked:

Jordan (from Deaf People Impersonators Magazine) asking a question in sign language, of course:

Chris (from Male Modeling Monthly) asking a question, very clearly as Derek Zoolander:

Brent (from Al Jazeera -- I explained to him later that the Sahara isn't in the Middle East) asking how it felt on a scale of applause:

Laurence said it started with a slow clap and turned into an all-out applaud by the end:

One of my favorite games they played was "The Dating Game" where Brent was Maria, the lucky bachellorette, and Ryan, Chris, and Jordan were his potential dates. I got a video of that whole game which I'm going to edit and put up sometime soon.

Until then, here are a couple more pictures of Winston and George to keep you entertained:

Brent and I are so good to them. They didn't like their bedding (all 4 different types we've tried) so we bought them a set of grass-colored towels at Target for them to use. These are probably the most pampered bunnies you'll ever meet.

Anyway, theoretically I'm taking notes in class right now, which I'm usually pretty good about but I already know about the EU so I don't feel any need to hear about it again.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by lauren at 10:15 AM | Comments (1)

April 11, 2007

Easter Sunday

As usual, I'm a little behind. I've been bogged down with a lot of reading and exams for school, but you don't care about that. Anyway, I went home this past Sunday to spend Easter with my parents, my grandparents, Jocelyn, Andy, and Renwick.

We started Easter with Jocelyn and me going for our traditional jelly bean hunt around the living room. I'm not putting those pictures up, though, because it was way too early. My dad... I mean, the Easter Bunny... really likes to hide jelly beans in impossible places because his favorite thing to do in the whole world is to outsmart the "kids." I actually found a jelly bean from last year (or maybe earlier?) that looked pretty disgusting.

Anyway, the Easter Bunny was very good to us. How many Easter Bunnies do you know that bring American Express cards?

Basket of Easter eggs we made:

The amazing souvenirs Jocelyn brought me -- a beautiful necklace and Playboy Bunny "In The Mood" lipgloss that turns hot pink when you're "in the mood":

Jocelyn and Me wearing the lipgloss:

We all went to my grandparents' house that afternoon for Easter dinner which was absolutely delicious.

Renwick and Andy at Grandma and Poppy's:

Davey:

A real Easter egg:

Mom and Me:

Andy and Renwick:

Champagne, shrimp, cheese, and crackers before dinner:

The beautiful Easter dinner table Grandma put together (with a beautiful plant for all the girls!):

Beautiful flowers:

Turkey:

Ham:

Yum!

Dad being weird, and Me:

Andy (behind the flowers) and Poppy:

Grandma:

Jocelyn and Renwick:

Easter cakes!

Jocelyn taking pictures:

Make sure you check out Jocelyn's Rock Star Diary for her version of Easter Sunday!

And finally, here's Frisky after she passed out on her face... she's so cute:

I hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Posted by lauren at 07:51 PM | Comments (5)

April 08, 2007

Baby You Can Drive My Car

I'd like to start this entry by saying that on the drive home to Greenwich today, I saw a Ferrari police car painted with the American flag pull some guy over. I'm being completely serious, this cop pulled some guy over in a Ferrari police car! I can only imagine what was going through the head of the guy getting pulled over.

Anyway, here's a picture from yesterday of a semi-cute little house in Hartford. It's not all that cute by any other standards, but I have extremely low expectations for the city of Hartford:

Brent and I had been on our way to Starbucks to read The Satanic Verses for our English class. It's a really long book that we've been working on for a while now and that I have to finish this weekend...ugh:

Alley:

Brent with an R2D2 Mailbox:

The following are all pictures of weird cars in West Hartford near Starbucks.

One God:

Rims:

Fish:

Little Rock and "The Pill":

Peace:

Moon Landing:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (picture taken by Brent):

Who doesn't want to go for a ride in the Hooker car?

Later, we went to Barnes & Noble Book-sore, for people who have had to do way too much reading, but still have more to go:

Brent took these pictures of The Birds gathering in the trees:

I took this one:

It was a little creepy, especially for those of us who have had traumatic experiences with birds.

Here are two versions of the same picture of Brent reading:

Some very serious cankles a table away:

My C.K. Bradley bag:

The adorable ladybug cookie Brent got us:

At some point recently, I had been telling Brent that my favorite poem is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot and my wonderful boyfriend bought me a copy at the bookstore:

T.S. Eliot painting on the wall:

Back at school, here's where some drunk guy drove through the fence that protects us from Hartford:

Anyway, tonight my grandparents and Jocelyn were at our house for dinner, and then I went to my friend Sarah's house to hang out with Sarah, Nicole, Cathy, Vanessa, Molly, and Lou. We watched Mean Girls and ate the delicious chocolate lollipops that Nicole made for all of us. The best part, was that each one was made to look like us.

My hair broke off a little bit, but here's mine:

Sarah, Nicole, Vanessa, Me, Molly, and Cathy with our personalized lollipops:

It's nice to get to see everyone when we all come back home for holidays and vacations. When I came home from Sarah's house, Jocelyn, Andy, Renwick, and I decorated Easter eggs.

Renwick, Jocelyn, Andy, and Me:

Chloe watching:

We tend to make slightly inappropriate Easter eggs, often with religious messages. Actually, they're not "inappropriate," they're just a little sarcastic.

Hallelujah Jesus:

Rise Up And Save Our Souls:

Jocelyn's "Jesus Died and then He Rose":

Renwick and Andy:

Later, we took Winston out to play (George is home with Brent for Easter):

Andy, Jocelyn, and Winston:

Winston and Jocelyn:

Ok, well I have a ton of reading to do and have to get some sleep too. Goodnight everyone and have a Happy Easter!

Posted by lauren at 01:12 AM | Comments (2)

April 06, 2007

Ice Cream Remedy

How do you remedy snow in April? With ice cream. Baskin-Robins has created a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup sundae which was one of the most delicious experiences of my year.

Yum:

Peanut Buttery Goodness:

When ice cream isn't enough...

So, Easter is this coming Sunday and I'm going home tomorrow for the night, so I'm sure I'll have some holiday pictures soon!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by lauren at 12:40 PM | Comments (3)

Everybody Loves French Fries

Wow:

Why did I go to college when I could stay home all day doing this?

Posted by lauren at 02:36 AM | Comments (0)

The Bitter Cold

Who isn't at least a little bitter when it snows in April? I woke up this morning to what seemed to be a bright, sunshine day in a "I think I'll go for a walk outside now" kind of way (yes, that was a song lyric from The Brady Bunch). They would also be one of the major musical influences in My Band. Anyway, it was no sunshine day today