Hug A Tree

Last week I made my first ever trip to Ikea. I needed bedroom furniture for my new apartment and did a "scouting" trip in Atlanta, so I could be better prepared and just get in and out once in Utah. I know what Ikea is. I am familiar with the store layout and system. I have heard numerous friends talk about their experiences. I've even done case studies in school on the company. But, wow, it really is an overwhelming first visit. I knew what I needed, was in a time crunch and even brought Caisa along to keep me focused, but lets just say I was easily distracted.

Fast Forward to Provo. Caisa and I have a wedding reception in Salt Lake. Ikea is half way between Provo and Salt Lake. It makes sense to go on the way. So Caisa and I are in dresses running around picking out the things we need. Six large boxes. Six smaller boxes. About 300 lbs. We are rock stars loading up the cart. Then we get to the car. We are rock stars again loading the car. Slightly sweaty in our dresses, but success.

Right as we are lifting the last large box into the car:
Man Walking By in the Loading Area: Oh do you girls need help with that?
The only person who even talked to us during the whole shopping and loading process does it within thirty seconds of us being done. Thanks.

Shopped. Load. Unload. Caisa and Me.
Unpack. Assemble. All by myself.

"Hug A Tree" is a pilates move the sisters and I joked about all summer when we were talking about/joking about being so strong and awesome. So sisters, Hug A Tree!!! I'm pretty darn proud of our rock star abilities.

Welcome Back

I have been moving, furniture shopping and unpacking over the past two days, and it is exhausting.

Nothing says "Welcome to Provo" quite like hysterical encounters with salespeople.

1. Mattress shopping
Salesperson Store 1: So this bed is really bouncy, but since I'm assuming you are sleeping alone that really doesn't need to be a concern for you.
Me: Right. Thanks.

Salesperson Store 2: So what name do want this purchase under.
Me: Um . . . like what is my name?
I'm still confused. Did he think Daddy was buying this? Could I have given the purchase a title like: Kristan's First Mattress? I mean really. Maybe this sounds normal to you, but the delivery was not.

2: Bed Bath & Beyond
I knock something over while trying to get to something else. A salesperson comes over.
Me: Sorry.
Salesperson: Oh no big deal. I just wanted make sure you were okay.
Me: I was just trying to get that mirror, but the bar is in the way.
Salesperson: Oh! Are you shopping for someone moving off to college!?
Me: Yeah . . . me.
Salesperson: Oh! Are you moving into the dorms?
First you think I'm a Mom buying stuff for my child going to school and then you try to backtrack and ask if I'm a Freshman. Really.

Band Practice

Our band, NapTab, is pretty much awesome. Here is a backstage look:

"It's kind of embarrassing how good we have gotten."
"I wonder if we can print out our album cover. It would look really good on the wall over there."
"I dare them to give us something we can't get five stars on."
"Look how cute I am in my new outfit. Let's go shopping again after this song."
"Check out that stage! We have hit the big time; it's so cool."
"A Plane! A Plane! We won a plane."
"We are the coolest girl band ever."

I am so musically challenged that the first time I ever played Guitar Hero was probably the funniest thing in the world for some of my friends. Well, believe it or not, I've come a long way. The sisters and I have put in a few hours of "Band Practice" this summer, and last week we hit the big time. After unlocking all the new cities, venues and gig we unlocked . . . The Endless Set List. 84 songs. 84.

Since Sam is couch bound, we brought band practice to her. We carried the extra TV and Wii upstairs; we couldn't play without her. It took us five days, but we did it. We rocked it. We got 419 out of 420 stars (yeah, we all gave Caisa a piece of our minds for that one stinking star). We are now Immortal, Legendary Rock Band members. Pretty impressive huh :)

Namangit, Deedee, Quesa and Sasha are coming to a city near you. Buy your tickets now.

A Winning Resume

I'm adding the following skills to my resume after this summer:

1. Professional Sod Layer
2. Expert Mover
3. Experienced Wallpaper Remover

We lovingly referred to ourselves as Dad's indentured servants for the summer. Whenever he had a "project" we were there . . . lucky us.

First up, laying sod in the backyard. Now let me tell you this is not the first time we have had to do this. When we first moved into the house Dad got the crazy idea that we were cheaper and perfectly capable. He should have had sons. You should never lay sod in July. We should have had a smaller yard. So seven years later he'd forgotten about the first experience and decides to do it again. Joy.



Then Grandma moved. She hired movers to take the big furniture but decided she could do everything else herself. Read: Make her grandchildren do it for her. Between college, New York and back to school again I have moved practically once a year for nine years. I've got moving down to a science. Thankfully Caisa and Shannan do too.





After Grandma moved into her new house we now get to fix up her old house to sell it. Grandma loved wallpaper back in the day. I have a new found hatred for it. Mom, Caisa, Shannan and I were the luckily ones selected to remove all the wallpaper.




Sod, boxes, wallpaper . . . makes me a much more desirable employee, doesn't it.

What I Watched This Summer

Just because I read a lot this summer doesn't mean that I didn't also watch a lot of TV. Besides SYTYCD there is nothing on in the summer, so I did what any TV junkie would do - DVDs of the TV shows I've been wanting to watch but haven't had time for. I used the hours of 10pm to 2am very wisely this summer.


My So Called Life
I have friends who have been talking about this great 90s show and how I need to watch it. I finally did. But I'm sorry. I now know why it was cancelled. Sure, it was before it's time. Sure, it pushed the envelope and did things TV shows in the 90s didn't do. But come on. It was boring. It was slow. The only reason I watched past the first few episodes was because I had the time. Sure Jared Leto is cute, but I'm sorry that was not enough for me. I'm sure I've just made some enemies, but that's the truth folks.


Friday Night Lights
We introduced Sam and Shannan to the wonderful world of Dillon by watching all three seasons. It just makes me love the show even more and gets me really excited about football season and October!


Burn Notice
The home phone rings one night while I'm home alone. I don't answer it.
My cell phone rings. I try to answer it, but don't have reception in the basement.
The home phone rings again. I run to get it and see that it is my parents.
Dad: Kristan. I need you to do something for me.
Kristan: Okay. What?
Dad: We will be home in about five minutes, but I need you to go upstairs and do something for me right now.
Kristan: Okay.
Dad: Go hit record on USA for a show called Burn Notice. The season premier starts tonight, and I forgot to record it. It's starting right now. Will you go hit record?
This very important phone call is how I was introduced to the beautiful Michael Weston and Fi. And I'm hooked. I watched Season 3 with my parents as it aired, and backtracked and watched Season 1. Hopefully I'll have some more Michael time in Season 2 before I leave.


Mad Men
New York City. Advertising. 1960s. I've been wanting to watch this show for ever. And wow am I glad I finally did. It is so great. Season 3 just started on AMC, and I'm all caught up and completely hooked.

Seven DVD seasons, plus two live summer seasons. Wow. That is a lot of TV. It didn't seem like it. I know, you don't have to say it, I am very talented, awesome, smart . . . and not lame at all. :)

Friday Night Fireworks at Turner Field

I love going to baseball games in the summer. Sitting in the sun, drinking diet coke, chatting and watching the game. This summer I've been able to go to more Braves games than I probably have been to in the last ten years. :) Too bad they aren't very good at winning this year.

Forever Away FroYo

Finally. Finally I found a frozen yogurt place in Atlanta. Two actually. One has tons of flavors where you pile them on and pay by the ounce. The other is basically a Pinkberry knock-off. Tragically they are 25 and 35 minutes away, but the summer froyo search was a success.

Yogli Mogli: A tip for anyone interested in starting a frozen yogurt place - or really any retail business. The name is important. I mean, Yogli Mogli is just fun to say. Yogli Mogli. Mogli Yogli. It just tastes better after you say that a few times :)



Yogurberry: They have yogurt chips and valet parking. It makes me happy.


Don't worry. We plan our "errands" around these locations.

It's Tough Being the Youngest

Poor little Sam takes a lot of abuse from us; it's her fault she's the baby. So in keeping with tradition, we wanted to make her first day of school memorable.

The Plan: Find Sam's car in the high school parking lot and move it. When school gets out, watch her look for her car and panic a little. Leave a note in her spot so she knows it's us and then watch her try to find us. Harmless, good fun.


What Actually Happened: Apparently this year the high school decided to stop giving assigned spots, so you can park anywhere. We found Sam's car, moved it as planned, and left this Veronica Mars themed note.


Sam gets out of school and starts to walk to where she thought she parked her car. Here comes the problem. No assigned spot. So she doesn't exactly know where she parked her car. She realizes her car is not where she thought she left it, but never found the note. Naturally she gets really upset. She calls Mom and starts asking what we did. Here comes the next problem. She spots her car in the back of the lot where we moved it. We're on the other side of the parking lot. She is now already at her car . . . and really, really mad at us. Oops. After finally calming her down, we drove her around to the note. Of course now she laughs . . . and maybe just maybe loves us again.


It's tough being the baby. We keep telling her she'll miss us when we're gone next week, but she just keeps asking for her peace and quiet back. Maybe it's just us who will miss her.

The Lake, +1

We couldn't let summer end without another family vacation, so last weekend we packed up and went to the lake.

We took our inaugural trip in Sam's new Pathfinder - where we all fit in one car. A first in probably five or six years . . . since the Burb. Oh family togetherness.


But wait! One of these is not like the other. Kelli - being the adult, upstanding citizen that she is - is the only family member working these days. She has a real job in DC, so she hasn't been bumming around Atlanta all summer with us, sadly. Remember last summer (where we all bummed around except Kelli too)? We had to out do ourselves this year. So Kelli came with us to the lake.

She had some DQ. (The Thin Mint Blizzards are back . . . and well Sam is thuper duper excited about it!)



She went on the boat.



She went tubing. (Although she didn't get the battle wounds that the rest of us did. Seriously, I think I'm going to have scars from our "extreme tubing.")






She went to the huge town of Clayton for dinner at the classiest establishment.




She got some sun.


Kelli, thanks for joining us at the lake . . . even if you are a little creepy to carry around :)


Who knows where you'll pop up next!

So You Think Wrong America

I'm sorry, but I have to say it. HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU VOTE FOR EVAN!!! I have been hoping he would get voted off every single week since the Top 10. Sure he's good at his solo, but he does that same stinkin' solo every single time. He is not good enough. He never stands out against the other dancers. I JUST DON'T GET IT. How can "america" vote for him? How can he be one of the most popular dancers in SYTYCD history? You have got to stop this. He does not deserve to be in the Top 4, and he most certainly does not deserve to be in the Final 2.

Rant over. :)

Jeanine I have always loved you. Yeah for SYTYCD.

I Heart Visitors

Rachel came to visit for a Gone with the Wind Atlanta weekend. I love Rachel and was so glad she came to visit - and put up with my "hilariously loud family." Her words. Mine would have probably been obnoxiously loud. We all know we're a little much when we're all together :)

You can read in more detail exactly what we did on her blog. But here are a few of my favorite moments:

My family doesn't really eat Southern food, but I wanted to give Rach the Southern experience so I took her to a place in Atlanta known for its good ole' Southern home cookin': Mary Mac's Tea Room. I may have made the choice for her but there were a lot of "firsts" for me too. Tomato Pie . . . aka, tomatoes, graham crackers and cheese . . . and Pot Likker . . . aka, green soup from turnip greens. Surprisingly okay when you soak it up in cornbread. It was an interesting lunch.




Our trip to the High - and the previously mentioned fabulous exhibit.



The Varsity. You can smell the grease from the moment you pull in the parking lot. You can hear people screaming "What'll ya have?" as soon as you walk in the door. It is huge and always packed. I think Rachel put is best by saying it was the most bizarre thing she'd ever seen.


And speaking of the bizarre. We also went to Stone Mountain. I don't think you can really do a good job describing a place like Stone Mountain to visitors so they know what they are getting themselves into. (I blogged about Stone Mountain last summer.) And Rachel agreed. At the end of the night when we were leaving she agreed that I couldn't have told her anything more to help her understand. It really is one of those things you have to experience.


I grew up in Georgia and have never really been to a plantation - even some that I have driven past a hundred times. So we went. And the nerd in me loved it. And the Southern belle in me loved it. And the Gone with the Wind fan in me loved it. I can't believe I had never been before.



So Rachel, thanks for coming! You're fabulous, and I had a blast. And well this post really sounds like I selfishly planned your trip for me, but I promise I didn't.