home again home again...

my last post didnt include any pictures of the hanson guys, so i thought i would post some so you can see them all grown up :)
isaac ( "ike", the oldest) is on the left then zac (the youngest), and taylor (the middle)...i really cant tell you how much fun and easy-going they are. we had a blast hangin.
this is rebecca ("bex") who is pretty much the mind behind hanson. she does everything and i still dont know how she does it. we got to be good friends while i was out on the road...shes great.

so, get ready for this...i have to tell you about one of the most random nights of my life. dave had a show on friday night in dallas after an ex-professional tennis tournament. it was a pretty big deal. lots of tennis pros who arent competing anymore come together once a year and play- people from all over the place. dave and justin played literally overlooking the tennis court after the last game ended. the main tennis star, jim courier, is a huge music fan and loves dave's music. we hung out with him for a while at the tennis thing, then he insisted on taking us to the bar at the ritz because he had some people for us to meet...hmm...

turns out, we go with him. once we got there, we talked with him for a while, met owen wilson (who has surprisingly clear skin) and dave met dion sanders. then he took us back to the "vip wine cellar" to hang out with the guys from r.e.m. who had played a show in dallas that night. ok, so we walk into this private room with a huge banquet table that seats about 20. i must admit, at this point, i wanted to leave because i knew we were getting in over our heads...i mean, who knows how expensive this was!?! (not me, thank goodness.) we all file in, take a seat, get introduced to everyone, then the chef comes in. he thanks us for coming and then proceeds to serve us this gourmet mexican food and really, really expensive wine. (note: its about 1:30 am at this point.) dave and i keep looking at eachother like "what is going on?" meanwhile making conversation with people whose lives i cannot begin to comprehend. occasionally one of the managers would come in and ask the guys to go meet someone standing outside. it was crazy. we stuck out like a sore thumb...apparently we missed the memo to wear big funky plastic rim glasses and bright colored western wear...but everyone was SUPER nice and easy to talk to...i even met someone who grew up in mississippi- instant connection.

this is a picture of us with Jim trying to be...im not sure...serious? seductive? we were being stupid, clearly. i wish i could have gotten pics of the wine cellar and the rem guys, but it definitely would have been inappropriate for me to whip out my camera...i had to play it cool.

after the crazy night out, i spent the rest of the weekend with longtime best friends, caroline "ridg" and reed hogan, and their two precious little girls dendy and millie.
we had a BLAST hanging out. it was so encouraging to see what a great mom and wife ridg is- she is amazing. i am so inspired and impressed by her.

of course we watched the saints and the rebs win (YAY!) over the weekend. reed and caroline were dressed in their saints paraphenalia-
reed even had on gold and black saints shoes. o yes. we cheered them on to victory...

then reed stayed with the girls and let me and ridg go on a date last night...SO fun. thanks for that reed. you rock.

and look how adorable those little babies are...dendy says "a-yay" for annie. its really cute. i think we are best friends.

i wish i had gotten more pictures of the girls- these are when dendy was all dressed up in her fairy halloween costume...dress rehearsal.

on the road...

im traveling it up right now...started in providence last thursday. not much there. then we went to boston. i love boston. we got to walk a bit of the freedom trail, which is SO fun. then we went to this adorable little italian restaurant in littly italy. very quaint. great pasta. good times.
the guys stayed in boston for the weekend, but i headed to new york city. and i took the greyhound to get there. yes. officially my 2nd trip on the greyhound. not quite as eventful as the first, but interesting nonetheless.
i was in nyc until this afternoon. the first couple of days i spent with amber and caroline mitchell-
they do it right. ive realized that one thing i value a lot in a friend is a shared love for good FOOD. and thats what we had. it was fabulous. and of course when you hang out with 2 LSU fans, you have to go watch the tigers play and make friends with all the people in the bar. this one guy tried to convince us that amber looks just like reba mcEntire. what?? he was either really drunk or he has really really bad eyes...maybe both. but he did provide some entertainment (at least for me.)
sunday i got to hang out with sb all day- SO fun! went to redeemer, then dinner at moustache (pronounced moo-stahsh). very good and very fitting because we got hummus and for some reason i sortof equate sb with hummus.
then the guys played the show in ny on monday night at the nokia theatre in times square. the show was really great. then we got a couple of extra days to hang out in the city- shopped, ate, walked alot, and hung out.
sara beth was sweet enough to move out of her bedroom for a few nights and let us stay there...her place is awesome. everyone should go visit. but i might suggest waiting until april or may. its already really cold up here and i dont particularly love being cold. otherwise, its great.
last night dave and i went to dinner with our friend andy young. we ate at my FAVORITE place in manhatten, westville. its SO good. highlights were definitely the mac n'cheese and the blueberry pie a la mode. mmmm...
we took off this afternoon to hartford where i am right now. im sitting in a crappy green room with a space heater blowing on my legs while im typing this update. o, and i have 4 layers
of clothing on right now including my down booties. im still cold.
there is one more thing id like to mention. i have become quite the hanson fan while ive been out with these guys. not only are they the greatest guys- we've gotten to spend a good bit of time with them and i have been really impressed. they are so down-to-earth and they love jesus. that makes for a really great atmosphere and sense of community. its awesome.
not only do i really love them as people, but im becoming very fond of their music. they are REALLY good. so i am officially calling myself a fan. but i feel compelled to differentiate myself from the majority of hanson's fans. this picture to the right, for instance, was taken as we were drving up to the venue this afternoon. im certain that, although now a fan, i will never go to these lengths. these guys have some very committed, slightly crazy fans.

here's some songs i love...you should download them:

Been there Before
Penny and Me
This time Around

stay tuned for more pics soon.

10 things i cant (or dont want to) live without...

10. hazelnut coffeemate- my morning best friend...

9. a good ball point pen- a necessity for life in the pharmacy. i especially like the ones made by pharmaceutical companies...they figured it out.

8. danskos- speaking of life in the pharmacy, my legs would not survive without my trusty danskos...and compression socks (but they dont get their own number)...did i just say compression socks? no, im not 85 and post-stroke.

7. peanut butter- ever since i went on a "peanut butter diet" for a college project, i pretty much still eat a teaspoon a day :)

6. surf spray- bumble and bumble deserves some major props for this stuff. i love it. and so does my hair.

5. puffy down slipper boots- just think heaven on your feet. need i say more?

4. tinted chapstick from aveda- its perfect. i dont go anywhere without it.

3. my journal- it keeps me sane and helps me love jesus better.

2. a really wonderful candle- this will instantly lift my spirits. my favorites right now? archipelago soy candle in eucalyptus, carreras plum, votivo red currant, and anything lavender for my bedroom...

1. drumroll please...green extra. some things never change. well, actually, speaking of change, extra did try to change the flavor of their green gum. it was awful. i hated it and switched to orbitz wintermint. after buying 40 or so packs of that from sam's, andy brashier came up to me after an ultimate game and delivered some couldnt-have-been-more-wonderful news...extra realized their grave mistake and went back to the original flavor! now extra and i are back on good terms. in fact, i think my mom is in the running for the person who has spent the most on extra gum. thanks, mom. thanks for enabling my habit. couldnt have done it without you.


honorable mentions:

-jack black chapstick when i dont want the tint
-my black toms- i love africa, what can i say?
-lancome self-tanner for the face...that time of year is quickly approaching...
-my long gray cardigan- its my favorite article of clothing

fern gully

this is my escape.

our small 20'x25'ish patio has been quite the haven for me. i have spent lots of time out here and these plants are my little ongoing project. i love it. sometimes i wish i could go back to school and be a landscape architect. (dont worry, dave, i wont say it out loud.) but wouldnt that be fun?? i think i could be good at it.

i sit out here usually at least some point every day. how could you not? all the flowers and birds and butterflies...it will instantly cure a bad mood. and i love flowers. dave nicknamed the patio "fern gully" which, i must admit, seems very appropriate.

it didnt make the picture, but we hung a hummingbird feeder out here and we had little hummingbirds visit us for several weeks. they are gone now, but it was so fun to sit out there in the morning and watch them swarm.

so, its getting that time of year when im about to cut back most of these flowers and replant fall stuff. so stay tuned for some pics of our "winterized" garden...

cinderella

so, saturday night was emily chapman's wedding...it was SO beautiful. definitely one of the nicest weddings we've been to. they had the ceremony in her front yard as the sun was setting. and then the reception was in their barn...they completely transformed it from a barn/gym to an amazing reception hall...it was so fancy. and, fyi, the food was INCREDIBLE.

2 major things that stood out about the crowd:
1. it was a who's who of the christian music industry...SO funny to see all the faces
2. there was a plethora of cute little chinese girls...and by plethora, i mean a LOT.

the (steven curtis) chapman's have started an organization called Shohannah's Hope that helps christian families adopt orphans, primarily girls from china (who have to be the cutest things in the world!) obviously their friends have all jumped on the bandwagon and adopted their own chinese kids because they were everywhere! we had a blast just watching them run around and laugh :)

as some of you might know, the chapman's tragically lost their youngest daughter, maria, a few months ago...needless to say, the wedding was bittersweet and definitely emotional. these pictures are of emily and her dad dancing. caleb, emily's brother, sang a song that their dad wrote about maria and stevey joy (the 2nd youngest daughter) called "cinderella"....this is the chorus:

"So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone..."

as you can imagine, it was a powerful moment. there were a lot of teary eyes in that barn by the time the song ended. the whole night was so special and i feel privileged that we got to share it with emily and tanner.

josh hoge

last night was our friend, josh hoge's cd release show at 12th and porter. the show was great- josh is amazing. his voice is pretty much unbeatable. dave co-wrote a few songs on his record and josh had him come up on stage to sing one of them. it was one of the first times ive seen dave squirmy and nervous on stage...it was because he didnt have a guitar around his neck and he didnt know what to do with his hands. ha.

check out his stuff (think justin timberlake-ish) here. he freakin rocks.
fyi- dave wrote "addicted", "keeps getting better" and my personal fave "space"

hotty toddy

dave had some guy friends over this past saturday to watch football. this was a picture of them watching the ole miss game....look how excited they are that the rebs won!! its amazing that we have so many friends who are such big ole miss fans (espcially matt lehman, who is married to a former LSU bat girl...)