Underbite

I got my camera back yesterday, and with it, the pictures from last weekend.  I want to share them with you.  Enjoy!

September is always bustling with birthdays it seems like, so this is going to be a birthday shout out post for all of those birthday's!

On Sept. 2nd, 1920, my grandmother, Irene Farris Travis a.k.a. Mimi, was born.  She turned 90 a couple of weeks ago and did it with grace.  She is smart, funny, and movin' and groovin' every day.  Way to show old age how it's done, Mimi!!!


My two cousins Madison and Mabree and their grandfather, my Uncle Scottie, all shared birthdays this month as well.  They're a beautiful bunch who have way too much talent for their own good.  Seriously, they're talented in everything from singing/songwriting, to dancing and cheerleading.  Ladies and Uncle Scottie,  I hope your birthdays were utterly delightful!


Three of my dearest friends, Audrey, Lauren, and Katie B. also shared birthday's this month (except Audrey, whose birthday was the 24th of August, but close enough).  Audrey's finishing up vet school down in Auburn and has done it with a style and finesse that no one else has yet to achieve, Lauren's getting down and dirty on the farm while attending vet school in Dublin, and Katie, whose birthday is actually today, is going the homo sapien route and attending Med school over in East TN (ETSU). Yes, if you must ask, all of my friends are brilliant.  Ladies, you are beautiful, talented, and so intelligent, I am so lucky to have friends like you and I can't imagine not having you in my life.  I hope your birthdays rocked!

Tomorrow is my birthday.  So, since it's on a tuesday, we treated this weekend as my birthday weekend, and I have to say, it was wonderful and much needed.  I got to spend Saturday with my buddies Angela and Dani exploring the COOLEST thrift store in the city of Memphis, the Elvis Presley Blvd. thrift store.  Still don't know why I hadn't ever been, so thanks Angela and Dani for taking me!  Then, we dominated India Palace's buffet (Joey joined us for this amazing feast).  Joey and I went home to relax, and then we went and checked out the Horn Island exhibit at MCA, went to dinner at Bennihana's (delicious!), and then went bowling with our friends Garre, Greg, Katherine, and Paul.  Cosmic bowling and beer... great combo.  I even scored the highest game (153) but have no memory of doing so if that tells you anything.  On Sunday, we relaxed and then hung out with my parents who grilled a delicious birthday kabob dinner complete with birthday cake!

So, I don't deserve the AMAZING gifts that I got for my birthday, however, they were AWESOME, so I'm going to share them with you.

The EELS, one of my favorite bands since High School are playing up in Chicago, so Joey got me tickets to the concert and everyone pitched in and got me train tickets (Joey covered his own ticket so I won't be going solo) to ride up their for the weekend!!!  I am so stoked, you don't even know.  My mom also got me two tickets to Wicked, so we have a date to go see that in October as well!  I've heard it's great, so I can't wait to experience it.  I'll definitely put a post up about our Chicago trip after we go up there, as well as a post on Wicked, and for your listening pleasure, The Eels.  Thank you to everyone who made my weekend wonderful!!!

Life unfolds in the most predictable and unpredictable of ways; always presenting to us the inevitable obstacles that challenge us and take us forward, sometimes throw us back, and sometimes just hold us to a stop until we're able to "pick up the reins" again.  Throughout our individual journeys through life we're faced with overwhelming experiences that, for just one person, can sometimes be close to impossible to face alone.  Our greatest gift and support throughout life are our friends and family... and the two are often interchangeable.

This week has been completely wonderful so far.  On Tuesday night I was able to meet up with my friends Lauren and JB (Jeebs) and share good stories, good drinks, and a few new cocktail recipes as well (courtesy of JB).  On Thanksgiving, I was able to meet some new family members of Joey's family and enjoy the festivities at his place which is always a truly great time.  Although I missed spending time with my family and their traditions on Thanksgiving (getting stuffed and then napping with a football or NASCAR race on the TV), I feel right at home with Joey's family which is a great feeling.  They are wonderful people and I love them.  This weekend, my sister and my brother-in-law are coming in town, so I'll get some family time in then, and we will all find out the name of their new little baby boy on the way.  I can't wait to meet my nephew (due in February)  :)



My mom and I went and tried on some dresses today at a Vintage shop in midtown for the wedding.  Their were some extremely pretty dresses, though my bust size has become a serious issue in this search.  I do have to say though... I think I might be coming to a decision :)

I've also been asked to shoot out some ideas for Christmas, so here are some things that I've come up with:

• Micron archival ink pens... you can find these at most art stores and they're always handy when I'm illustrating.  They come in varying widths, which is always fun to play with.
  
• My "favorites list" on Etsy (it's a long list that's been building for a couple of years now, so don't feel overwhelmed): http://www.etsy.com/favorite_listings_public.php?user_id=5772828&ref=favorites
• a new hair-dryer
• Art books
• A gift certificate to frame some artwork that I've been meaning to frame and hang for a while now
•  A healthy crock-pot cookbook
• oh, and check this out :)
  

and that's that!  If anybody needs any ideas for anyone else, I might have some, so just let me know if I can help.  Love you!

Phew, so the weekend flew by and, as usual, it seems like a blur we were so busy.  On Friday, Joey and I went and saw an art exhibit and then had a beer at "The Cove" and then beer and sandwich's at "The Bayou" .  Afterwards, we went home and I finished addressing baby shower envelopes while Joey played on the PS2.
Saturday morning, I did my best to sleep in and then headed over to MCA to put the information and the finishing touches on the baby shower invitation.  There, I struggled with the printers for quite some time and then headed over to Kinko's (now FedEx Office) to print the batch of them.  I was very pleased with the results.  By the time I made it home, it was around 3:00, I had terrible cramps and no Pamprin or Aleve to repel them, and I was tired and hungry, however, Joey was there with a Lenny's sandwich, jalapeno chips, and a cherry coke to greet me and fix me up for a better afternoon.  He got me a heating pad going for my cramps while I ate my lunch and indulged in some nostalgic movie watching with the made-for-TV series of Merlin (I'm a total geek for Arthurian Legend and fantastical storytelling)... Joey, you are a wonderful man and I love you forever!
After watching Merlin for a while, I settled in for a nap and soon after, Joey and I were getting ready to head over to his parents house to partake in Star Trek night.  It was a total blast complete with some laser shooting guns as well as other transporting beamers provided by Joey's Uncle Mike, and the night was served with delicious snacks and Romulan Ale .  It was all pretty fantastic, not to mention that the most recent Star Trek movie directed by J.J. Abrams , the feature presentation for the night, is completely enjoyable to watch.
We ended the night by heading over to our friends Jason and Greg's house where we hung out with them, and our friends Anna (Jason's girlfriend), her friend Christy, and Will.  As always, that too was a good time made merry with good friends, beer, and a nice little fire pit.  After 3 shots of leg spreaders and more beer, we played the drinking game "21".  The game never found its end due to the fact that most of us became too drunk, but it was definitely fun while it lasted.
Sunday, Joey and I met up with Garre, Greg, Jason, and Anna at India Palace for some Indian buffet  *love*  and then we headed to Target to start our first registry .  We kind of walked around for a little bit like lost puppies, but we chose some things for the registry even though the process was kind of overwhelming.  Yeay!  We are checking off more things on the "To-do" list.
I met up with Mama, Daddy, and Bowe at Garibaldi's and finished off the invitations and then handed them over to Mama to stamp and send and then headed home, finishing off the night with this last Thursday's Office episode and The Up series on netflix.

Phew... told you.
P.S. - for some reason I had the urge to give a plug-in for every restaurant, movie, and mentioned event in this post.  Yes, I like creating links.

Here's a fun new blog I found:  http://noteatingoutinny.com/

Paul at age 7 from the UP series (his idea of marriage):