Sarahenity NOW!

The Office

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:36:00 +0000

The tour of my office continues! Remember, I used the camera on my computer to take these photos so the quality is poor.

Here is the tippity top of my bookshelf. I stuck beautiful gemstones on it to add some pizzaz.

I have loads of books and materials. Not enough room on the bookshelf for all of it.

See how it spills out onto the floor?

Why yes, that is a red boa. I forgot where I got that. I am pretty sure somebody gave it to me. All I know is, you don't turn down a free red boa. You just don't.

My buddy Josh gave me both of those dachshund prints. Above the dachshund prints is a Día de los Muertos napkin depicting La Calevera (The Skull). The colors please me. You can also see my Hacienda poster, trimmed with gold thingymagigs, and my glitter bird picture. On the other wall, you see the door to my office and two pictures.

This is the top of the little file cabinet that is next to my bookshelf.

There is a beautiful, purple, sparkly, beaded box on top of the cabinet. On top of the box you see two rubber bats. There is also a fushia paperweight, a small PECS book, more jewel thingies, and some paper fastener deal-ie-bobs.

Look! Another bat!

This one is my favorite.

My magic wand:

you need one of these if you work with kids.

Happy Saturday to you. That is all.

Photo Booth

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:42:00 +0000

Guess who discovered the camera on her new work computer?
(looking a little cross eye)

I DID!! And now, you get a tour of my office. How fun for you!

Here is my desk top. I rarely use that paper calendar for it's intended purpose. It eventually just becomes a giant scratch pad. Odd...this image is flipped. What's left is right and what's right is left. No matter. You don't see a computer on my desk because I was using it to take this picture. (No shit).

I'm going to now show you a few of my favorite things on my desk.

Glitter Ball

I told myself, when I bought this at Toy Joy last year, that I would use this during therapy with my students. Umm...it totally became my toy instead. It's pretty.

Bead Spider

I got this sucker at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's gift shop.

Glass Spider

This one came from Tuesday morning.

Bell Spider

Zingers. I got it at Zingers. Why do I have three spiders in my office? My last name is Webb, that's why.

Nest o' Chickens- With Egg.

All pieces are removable. Purchased at 10,000 Villages on South Congress.

Double Insulated Hard Plastic Cup-With Straw

Love this.

Flower Power

These are directly above my desk on the wall that I face. It's nice

I'm done for now. We still have more to explore so come back. You know you want to see more of my office. I would want to see pictures of your office. Seriously, I would. I find this kind of thing fun.

I think MoFo Colin is the only reader-of-the-blog that has actually seen my office in person. MoFo Colin, do you still read my blog? Just curious.

Ok, now I am really done.

For now.

The Wedding: Part Three- The Finale

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:54:00 +0000

Hello. I am not feeling so good. I had to have some things done at the dentist which have resulted in me staying in bed while surviving on a diet of ice cream and soft scrambled eggs.
I wanted to put the rest of the wedding photos up, for your viewing pleasure. I can't promise that I have anything witty to say. Hopefully, the pictures are funny/interesting enough. Now where did I put my vicodin? Oh, that's right....I already took it. Hmmm..things could get interesting.

Puppy love.

Check out the tie that sweet man standing behind Rachel is wearing. He is not only wearing a puppy tie, but a straight face as well. How does he do it?

Colin at the bar

All he ever wanted was a wedding with an open bar. Score!

Dale about to punch somebody!

Not sure what Laurie's relative (aunt?) said to piss Dale off but she is about to get a knuckle sammich, Duke style.

Rachel's eye

For some reason, Rachel wanted me to take a close up picture of her eye. My camera would not allow me to get very close. I think I must have had it on auto focus. This is as close as I could get from where I was standing.

I cropped the eye. I should have framed this and given it to her for Christmas. Hahaha! That would have been funny!

Feel the curls

This red head walked by and her crazy curls caught my attention. I have curly hair but this chick has CURLY hair. Tight little ringlet curls. I asked her if I could touch her hair and she granted me permission. It felt just like it looked. Here is Rachel taking part in the experience.

Dance

Here I am dancing with my scarf like I am Stevie Nicks.

Moments later, Colin said "Who do you think you are, Stevie Nicks?" I said, "THAT IS WHO I WAS PRETENDING TO BE!" and gave him a double high five. A high ten, if you will.

And now things just get out of hand.

I never fail to become "that girl" while dancing at a wedding.

The girl that is not really dancing "with" anybody but always "next to" somebody.

The one that enters into her own world and pulls out moves that feel good even if they don't look good.

I have no regrets.

Bonus picture:

Rachel and I take a moment to smell the flowers.

So as you can see, Colin and Laurie's wedding was fun. I wish them the best in their marriage and life together.
Cheers!

The Wedding: Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:28:00 +0000

Here be the cake! Rachel and I thought it would be a good idea to pose with the cake. From the looks of a few women in the surrounding area, we were the only ones that thought it was a good idea.

Though they had a dance going on inside, Dale and I only danced with each other outside.

And by "dance" I mean "he dipped me and brought me back up really quickly." It was fun.

Colin's brothers threw down some Elton John-

Which moved Rachel to tears

Or maybe she was just pretending to cry. You be the judge.

The newlyweds give thanks

I made friends with a bunch of kids:

(Colin's relatives)

The happy couple listened as people gave their toasts:

Look! It's a bridesmaid and her Lady! These two are great!

Rachel is dangerously close to having "Little Head" in this picture.

And the dancing begins!

The Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:06:00 +0000

Colin and Laurie got married! Of course, Dale and I took some photos which I will soon share with you. Colin and Laurie got married at Vintage Villas, a wedding spot that boasts a great view of the lake. The weather was perfect as was the sunset.

I'll most likely split this up into a few posts as I tend to do when I have lots of pictures. You don't care. You just want to see Dale.

On with the picture show!

Here I am pretending that I was the only person to show up. The glass of wine in my hand is a dead give away to the fact that, at this point, the vows had already been exchanged and the bar was open.

I caught Colin right after he finished taking the formal wedding photos and posed with him for yet another photo.

Dale got this purty shot of Mrs. Laruie Bean.

Rachel and I made our way to the bar for a glass o' wine. The bartender was nice. He gave me two Reese's Peanut butter cups.

Rachel sneaks in the shot.

Dale and I share a sunset kiss

Rachel and Larry pose for a shot.

We find a way to take one of the four of us.

More to come (including some goofy dancing photos).

Charles in Charge

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Charlie's photo shoot.
Location: LaQuinta Inn on Ave Q in Lubbock, Tx
Photographer: Dale Webb (except for the shot I took)

All snout and a little pout.

Little pink tongue.

The Hat Series.

Speaking of Hats.........

and

Danny.
Work it.

Those Darlins Part III: Rachel Takes a Pumpkin to the Head

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:39:00 +0000

This Jack-o-lantern survived for most of the set,

but not all of it.

Without warning, Nikki Darlin kicked away some of the empty beer bottles and cocktail glasses that surrounded the jack-o-lantern. She then lifted her boot and with ferocious force brought it down straight through the pumpkin's crown..

The pumpkin fell from the platform onto the stage and Nikki continued to stomp on the remains.

Take a good look at the crowd and you will see Kelly Darlin's green leggings and gold boots. Do you see her? Yup, she is using some guy as a chair. I did not catch this the first couple of times I viewed these pictures.

Here are some better shots of Kelly in the crowd:

Ok, back to the Pumpkin. So after she smashed the pumpkin to smithereens, Nikki picked up a huge chunk and threw it into the crowd. From what I understand it hit a stage light and broke into several pieces, one of which smacked Rachel in the head. I did not see the pumpkin hit Rachel but I know that it happened because, after the show, she made me feel the dried pumpkin in her hair.

Before the pumpkin stomping, there was the beer spitting.

Nikki took a big swig from her bottle-o-sudds and let it pour from her mouth into the mouth of an audience member.

She then jumped into the crowd an allowed that same guy to spray/spit beer all over her. I did not get a good picture of this as I did not have my flash on and ready to go. DAMN! Here is what she looked like right after the beer spray:

Nikki pulled the beer spitter's shirt over his head and pushed him over.

Gotta love the audience participation.

And now, I give you the dancing chicken:

Those Darlins have a song called The Whole Damn Thing which includes the following lyrics:
I got drunk and I ate a chicken
I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen
not just a leg and not just a wing
I'd like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing
The song is a fan favorite and, as you can see, Those Darlins know how to deliver the fun to the fans. The dancing chicken came out for the song and danced it's feathered ass off!

It was a great show. You should try to catch them next time they come through Austin.

Those Darlins: part II

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:09:00 +0000

And now, back to the show!
More pictures from the show and some background on how I became a fan.

I first heard of Those Darlins back in March during SXSW. I found out that they were touring with Dan Auerbach and Hacienda. Seeing that I like Dan Auerbach and Hacienda's music so much, I figured I would visit their myspace page and give their music a listen.

If you like that rock/country/rockabilly/psychadelic surfer music, well then I suggest you do the same.

(This might be my favorite picture)

I was instantly a fan of this band from the first listen of Wild One. I played The Whole Damn Thing for friends and found myself singing Hung Up on Me while driving around in the car.

I pre-ordered their album and laughed when it arrived with an autographed picture of the band, just like they did in the good ol' days.

Come back for the final installment....beer spitting, chicken dancing, pumpkin smashing, crowd

Those Darlins

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Those Darlins played the Continental Club last Friday, the day before Halloween. I must say, theirs was one of the best shows I have seen in a while.

From Left-to-right: Nikki, Jessi, and Kelly.

They started off with an instrumental that slapped you in the ass to wake you up. As they played the first tune, the crowd pushed in closer to the stage. I had a great spot right up front. Dale and Rachel were standing behind me.

This is the type of band that trades instruments (except for the drums). They take turns carrying lead vocals and harmony. You know how much I love this.

And talk about stage presence. These gals have it times three. At times, you don't know where to look because they can all be quite captivating.

Check out the audience member on the left. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!"

We have not even scratched the surface of the craziness. I'll post the rest of the photos soon. They feature beer spitting, pumpkin destroying, and a dancing chicken.

Ghoul

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:29:00 +0000

At 6:00 on Halloween morning I woke up with a bad hangover and good memories from the previous night. The story of the previous night will be told in my next post. Right now, I have Halloween pictures for you.

A few hours before dark, on Halloween night, I decided I was going to dress up as a ghoul. Considering that I threw this costume together at the last minute, I must say that I think it turned out pretty good.
Dale and I took the dogs over to Rachel and Larry's. The guys watched the game while Rachel and I (and some baby) passed out candy to the endless stream of trick-or-treaters. Actually, we only had three groups of trick-or-treaters visit us and they all arrived by car. Nobody was walking around the neighborhood. It was strange. I still had fun chatting with Rachel and drinking blood...um, I mean wine.

Before the game started and before the trick-or-treating, I thought it would be cool to pose for some pictures out back on the golf course. Dale was the photographer and I edited the shots.

On with the picture show.

I'm just a ghoul taking her dogs on a walk. Don't mind me.

Blossom was a UT cheerleader:

Larry was a "Stay at Home Dad":

Waiting for the trick-or-treating:

Rachel was a witch.

Hope you all had a happy Halloween. Up next, I will post about the Those Darlins show. You should have been there...it was awesome!

On a Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:42:00 +0000

I once saw this cool photo meme on someones blog (Dan Renzi's). You are to take one picture, every hour, for an entire day and then post those pics on your blog.

Yup, I did it.

Here it is:

Wake up- Dale makes a pancake breakfast. Life is good.

Morning Sun- I took a picture of the view from my front door right before I nearly killed myself on my run. The pancakes were worth it. (yes, I run now. I know...that shit is crazy!)

Salt bath- I had to treat my sore muscles with a hot-salt bath and a good book.

RSVP I mailed my response card (or whatever you call it) to Colin and Laurie right before I ran some errands. I can't remember where I went that day. Probably TJ Maxx.

Soups On- Dale made lentil soup for lunch. Yes, I do know how lucky I am.

Off- We decided to go see Zombie Land. Here you see Dale turning off the tv right before we departed Casa del Webb. Unfortunately, I could not take any pictures during the movie. Dang! I ruined the entire meme!

Eat Your Brains!- Would you get a load of that? I totally saved this meme with a zombie pic.

Dog Talk- I took the dogs out back when I got home. They like to stand by the fence and talk to (bark at)the neighbor dogs.

Horatio- I went with the dogs to the back yard...again. It was such a nice day. This is our rooster, Horatio.

No Fun I figured I could do the dishes since Dale did all the cooking.

Pink-We all settle down and start watching Desperation on the ol' boob tube. Desperation is a great novel by Stephen King. It did not translate well in the movie version. Blah.

Night Vision-We ended up watching the rest of the movie in bed.

Charlie Shake Face- Charlie shakes it out before he snoozes.

The end.

Sweater Weather

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:40:00 +0000

What do you do when you are stuck at a La Quinta in Lubbock on a cold and dreary day?
(don't let your mind slip into the gutter so quickly)

You should know this by now.

That's right! Photo shoot!

*Yawn*

Yes, Cooper is wearing a sweater. Did I not just tell you that it was cold?

Charlie's post will happen in the near future. I did not want to throw too many cute dog pictures at you all at once. That would probably make you puke either from an overdose on adorable or because you are a jerk-face who doesn't like dog pictures.
Either way, you're welcome.

In other news:
Our recent road trip to Lubbock inspired me. If Dale and I have kids I am going to name our girl "Slaton" and our boy "Floydada" (pronounced Floy-day-duh). Heck, if we only have a boy I may name him Slaton as this name is not gender specific.
People name their kids Austin and Dallas all the time. I'm gonna get "small town" with it.

Or not.

The Godfather

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:59:00 +0000

Dale is a godfather! Woot Woot! Actually, we are both godparents to lil' Cayden.

The baptism was held during Saturday Mass at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Lubbock. This is the church I attended with my family. This is church where Dale and I got married. It was nice to visit again. Dale enjoyed the Mass. He liked the choir and the priest...the whole sha-bang. I loved it. It made me miss the old days.

Cayden (whose was almost named "Shamus" if only he had been born on St. Patrick's Day...how awesome would that have been?) really took to Dale. Dale didn't mind carrying around his brand new godson...even though the baby had been spitting up all night. He didn't agree with something he ate. Not sure what it was, but it was yellow.

Back to the Baptism part of the story- I screwed up. I only had two jobs and I screwed up one of them. Naturally.

1.)before God, the priest, the family, and the congregation we answered questions about our faith and declared our intentions to guide our godson through his faith in the Catholic church. I nailed that part.

2.) I was to give the priest the candle that represents (in short) the gift of faith and the light of Christ. Well, I forgot to bring the candle up to the alter. When the priest asked for it (in the middle of the ceremony) I realized that I left it on the pew. Crap! I whispered to the priest, "Oops, hold on" and quickly walked to the pew to retrieve it. My stupid high heeled boots made the loudest "Clop, Clop" sound that echoed throughout the church. Ugh.

It all worked out.

Bonus Pictures:

Cayden's parents had this proudly displayed on their mantle. You know you want it.

What's going on?

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Hello, good to see ya again! Let's jump right in to what has been going on, shall we?

Dale, Juan, Josh, Tirzah and I went to Antone's last Saturday to see Dan Auerbach and the Fast Five perform.

Juan really was happy to be there, though he may not look it in this particular photo.

The first band was White Dress. The lead singer had a great voice. Tirzah noted that she sounded like Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star and I had to agree.

Next up was Rodriguez.

This cat has been around writing and performing since the late 60's. He has been referred to as "The Hispanic Bob Dylan" and, again, I have to agree. I really enjoyed his performance.

Strange picture. Love the tambourine.

Speaking of strange pictures, here are a few more:

Lights

Can you see the face in this picture?

Really, it's a flipped image of the beer tub seen here:

I came close to getting cut by a cougar because I tried to give her boyfriend a high five. She had to be around 43 while he was probably 28. Odd. Can you blame me for trying to make friends with those around me? I usually do this at the concerts I attend. It typically makes for a better experience. I'll remember to keep my eye out for cougars the next time I try this technique.

Dan and the boys played a great set. I swear, Rene Villanueva and Patrick Hallahan could bottle their energy and sell it. They would make a fortune. It's great when the musicians seem to be having as much fun as the audience. Dante Schwebel was doing justice to that beautiful black Gibson of his. Abraham Villanueva sheared his beard down but, unlike Sampson, cutting his hair did not diminish his masterful power over those keys. Jaime Villanueva brought the beats and made sure you stomped your feet.

Dan's voice is just wonderful. Totally unique and truly talented, that man. He mentioned the Bill's Place show right before the band tore into Street Walkin'. I yelled out, "Bill's Place" and this fella next to me was like, "WERE YOU AT THAT SHOW? SO WAS I!!!" Awesome.

When the set was over, I went to the bar to close my tab. Would you believe that Patrick Carney of The Black Keys was standing a foot away from me doing exactly the same thing? Believe it, sista. I did not say hi because I am a puss. A big-ol'-puss. Speaking of The Black Keys, how excited am I about their new project, BLAKROC?
Very.

After the show, we walked a mile in the rain (sans umbrella) to the car. Soaked, but not muddy, we were in good spirits. It was a good night.

Like-minded

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:45:00 +0000

This is Cody.

He and Dale have been friends since God was a boy. They went to high school together, played guitar together, mowed lawns together, went to Tech together, majored in Mechanical Engineering together, lived together in Lubbock, and lived together in Austin.

Did I miss anything? Probably.

Dale took that picture of Cody.

I took this picture of their keys:

They both have a specs key card, a gold's gym key card, a bottle opener, and the same tool thingy. Their vehicle keys are black and I think they have the same amount of keys on the ring. Maybe one has one more....it's hard to tell from this picture.

Any-hoo, that shizz is weird.

Game Day: A Pictures Only Post

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:35:00 +0000

This and That

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:39:00 +0000

I have a few things to tell you.

Charlie's Loot
Charlie loves hanging out under the bed. He goes under there every night before he gets in bed with us. We can hear him growling and moving around. It's odd. A month or so ago, I looked under the bed and there was a bunch of shredded paper towels and torn up subscription cards (that you find in magazines). I threw everything away. A few days ago, I heard Charlie under the bed. He was making a strange noise and I could tell he was chewing something plastic. I called Dale to investigate and this is what Dale found:
1. my bath robe
2. a pair of my jeans
3. a daily pill container thingy

like this
4. a pack of dayquil

like this

I don't know how he is acquiring all this stuff. It amazes me that he was able to drag my heavy robe from the bathroom to under the bed. He is such a little guy. I am sure Cooper is in on it. He has been spending more time under the bed himself lately.

There is probably more crap under there. We have to move the bed to find out.
*************************************************************************************

Advice From a Business Man
I went and got my nails done a few weeks ago. While I was waiting for them to dry, the owner of the nail salon came over to ask how I was doing. We ended up having a long conversation about customer service, children, and marriage. I wrote down some of what he said because I liked it so much.

Here is what this lovely Vietnamese man had to say:
On customer service: "Customer always right. Even when they stupid, you act like they right. It take a lot of patience."

On Children: "They like little monkeys. They do what you do. You drink, they drink. You smoke, they smoke. You put blinders on them like a horse so they can focus straight ahead and to the future."

On Marriage: "I been married for 30 years and I never fight. You know how? When you mad or don't get your way you have to give in and give up. Just give in and give up. Fighting, it not worth it. Give in and Give up and you be happy."

On Marriage, again: "If you feel like you gonna get mad and you have hard time to give in and give up, I tell you what you do. You squeeze the hand, don't yell in the ear. Squeeze the hand and remember you love."

Not only did he give me free advice, he also gave me a free pen. Awesome.

*************************************************************************************
Rachel

She will flip you the bird.
That is all.

ROCKTOBER

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:12:00 +0000

****EDIT****Before I go on with this post, I want to wish my dear friend Rachel a very happy birthday. It is a great privilege to call you my friend. You are a golden soul and I love you.

Now, on with the blog!
I am so excited!
October is full of oppertunities to see great music.

Things kick off on October 3rd with Dan Auerbach and the Fast Five at Antone's.

Bill's Place- SXSW 2009

This is the show to be at, kids. Dan and the fellas will not disappoint. I am going to buy a Dan Auerbach t-shirt and wear it to your house warming party...your rehearsal dinner....your Mitzvah (both Bar and Bat)....and your funeral.

Next up, we have Lions playing on the 16th at Mohawk.

I really like these guys. I miss the original bass player (and his handlebar mustache) but it's all good. Lions will melt your face off with their music and energy.

White Denim also plays Mohawk on Oct 24th.

I've never been to Mohawk. It must be the new thing. Any-hoo, I strongly suggest that you join me in seeing this band. I can't even explain them. Seeing them will make you a better person. Their show will make your bones stronger. Their music has been shown to promote hair growth.

Lastly, Those Darlins are playing the Continental Club on Oct 30th.

If you want to have the best time of your life, then you need to join me at this show. Seriously....these gals are talented, funny, crazy, and sexy. You don't want to miss this show.

In other news:
My neck is frozen again. I can barely turn it to either side. What a crock!

Inglorious Basterds was excellent. I suggest you see it (if you like Quentin's style).

I just finished reading this:

Well, I finished a week or two ago. Any-hoo, it was really good. Here is a snippet of a review:
"A gruesome and darkly fantastical twist on a classic tale (Peter Pan). Brom injects pure horror into fantasy." (Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of Ironside and The Spiderwick Chronicles )
You can borrow it from me once I get it back. I have already lent it out.

Good day.

Stuffing

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Imagine that you spent all morning running errands. You arrive home with relief. All you can think about is sitting down with a good book and a tall glass of ice water.

Instead, you enter your house and find yourself in the middle of a crime scene.

They did it again! Instead of ripping up a pee pad, they tore into a couch cushion.

The stuffing was everywhere and it took forever to pick it all up.

Cooper must have felt guilty because he started to help me with the clean up.

In other news:
Ukuleles are fun.

Look at my hair! I put it on the top of my head when I am hot. It looks ridiculous, I know. Let's all point and laugh at the weird girl.

Dale and I are going to go see Inglorious Basterds at 3:00 today. I'm sure it will be good if not awesome.

That is all.

Urban Geisha Amy

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:15:00 +0000

Meet Amy-

And her husband Mike.
I stole this picture from your Facebook, Amy. Hope you don't mind.

Now, meet Geisha Amy-

Tirzah and I took turns photographing Amy and I can't really credit the photos specifically. I don't remember which ones I took and which ones she took.

These were taken in my bath tub.

We had a white sheet covering the window behind Amy.

Sorry, I like the odd editing from time-to-time.

Amy sat on a stool (in the tub) and did whatever we asked of her. "Move your head this way, look that way, stick out your neck, arch your back...."

She was very easy to work with.

And an absolute pleasure to shoot.

I decided to not put a wig on her as her hair is already very interesting and beautiful.

Tirzah asked her to put her hair up for some shots. Look at that bone structure!

We took a few outside....

It was so hot but Amy did not complain,

Love those.

Thanks to Amy and Tirzah. Ya'll are too much fun!

Makeup

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:24:00 +0000

Last Saturday, Amy and Tirzah came over for a little Urban Geisha fun. If you don't know what an Urban Geisha is, you have not been reading my blog for very long.

Let me give you a little info. My love for makeup began when I was about 13. I was at a slumber party and we were watching Labyrinth. I fell in love with David Bowie's charachter (Jareth the Goblin King). I loved his voice (both speaking and singing), his dance moves, his skinny little English body, his costumes, and his hair. Most importantly, I loved his makeup.

After the movie, the other gals popped in Tremors (a far less superior movie to Labyrinth), and I locked myself in the bathroom where I used all of the makeup I could find to transform myself into Jareth the Goblin King. Yes, the other girls probably thought I was a tad weird. They liked it.

My fascination with Bowie and makeup did not end with that experience. In my late teens/early twenties, I was exposed to David Bowie's adopted persona - Ziggy Stardust.

I was truly in love with this idea. The theatrics....the makeup....the pictures!

In my late twenties, I started The Urban Geisha Project. I was the first model.I did the makeup and took the pictures. Laurie was next, and I realized I really liked being able to take pictures of someone other than myself. I still love self-photography (especially when I am wearing crazy makep) but being able to pose someone was fun. Rachel followed Laurie and Kristi was my most recent Geisha. I have resurrected the project and had Amy model for me. This time, there were two photographers. Tirzah, a professional, helped me learn more about lighting. I asked her to take some shots with my digital to help me learn how to use it to the best of my ability. She also took some pics with her film camera. Can't wait to see those!

Any-hoo, Here are a few teaser shots. I bring you, the makeup process:

That's a lot-o-makeup!

We start

I promise I was gentle

Tirzah took all of the above pics.

You will see the rest once I am done editing. There are many excellent ones to choose from! Amy was a great model!

Not a Bad Way to Spend a Thursday.

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Miss Bee and I were recently invited to a long lost friend's house for an afternoon of food, fun, and sun. The gathering was officially "brought to you by the letter P." We had paninis, pasta, petit fours, punch (sangria), the pool, pineapple poundcake dessert, and pickles. M was our lovely host and she did a fabulous job. She even gave us a tumbler/shaker as an arrival gift which was soon filled with sangria.

See the tumbler/shaker next to Miss Bee's lovely legs?

M's dog, Bo, and I spent time racing each other in the pool:

That dog is fast.

M has a beautiful home that sits on the greenbelt in Round Rock.

Here she is, making our yum-yum dessert:

And here is the finished product:

Miss Bee took that photo. Not too shabby, eh?

We had such a lovely time. There is nothing like lounging by the pool as you catch up with an old friend. Thanks, M!

Aye yai yai!

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:55:00 +0000

I now present you with the Mariachi night pictures.

We have Dale:

Josh, Tirzah, and Amy:

And Juan, Reyna, and myself:

Did you know that if you drink enough margaritas you will be able to sing along to the Mariachi songs even if you only had two years of Spanish waaaaay back in high school?
It's true.

The Band, Mariachi Estrella

This amazing band started performing at the front of the restaurant. Let me tell you something, those dudes can project! They don't need no microphones, sucka!

After a short set, they began playing to different tables. We were way in the back so it took some time before they got to us....but, they did.

Have you ever been at a restaurant and had a little 3-piece Mariachi band come play at your table? I have, on more than one occasion. Every time this has happened I politely deny their request to play a song. Not this time. These guys were so good! We held them at our table for as long as possible. They finally had to tell us that they had to play other tables but that they would come back to us.

Juan and I had an arm-wrestling match while we waited. I won (because he let me).

They finally came back and we danced and sang along. By we, I mean Juan, Reyna, and I.

I think everybody enjoyed it, though.

Even though Josh said Juan and I were constantly yelling. Poor guy had to sit by us.

Juan sang to Reyna:

The gang:

After the show, Juan went up and made friends with the Mariachi band.

They let him borrow a guitar:

Which Dale played, for a split second:

before Josh took it away:

and gave it back to the band:

(psssssssssst...., I think he was afraid we might break it.)

I highly recommend that you go see Mariachi Estrella.
Take some friends with you that are already Mariachi fans so that they can request all of the good songs. There is not much out there that is better than good tequila, good company, and a private concert.

In Other News: I found my next model for the Urban Geisha Project. Behold!

Amy will do quite nicely, don't you think?

The Shot Series

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:50:00 +0000

Here we have my good friends, Juan and Reyna.

They've been working out.

Last weekend, they invited us to check out a Mariachi band. Juan had seen the band perform on some television program and was hooked. Juan and Reyna are good sports and will typically go with us to various shows. It was their turn to turn us on to some music. More on that later.

For now, I present to you a series of photographs that capture the beautiful Reyna taking a tequila shot:

Shot in hand. It's all fun and games.

The lime is ready to go

somebody makes her laugh.....could it be nervous laughter?

Down the hatch!

Tequila face....this happens to the best of us...

including Juan.

In other news:
Today, I traveled to the Gold's Gym located in Cedar Park. I have been working out for 3 weeks and have always gone to what I lovingly refer to as "Ghetto Gold's". Ghetto Gold's is closer to my house. It is pretty sparse and does not have the latest equipment. What they have is personality, and lot's of it. "Personality" is the nice way of saying that a place is a little worn around the edges. Sure, it pisses me off that 90% of the gym members at this location do not find it necessary to wipe down the machines after they use them. I've adapted by doing so before and after I use the machines. It's also not crowded....at all. I like that.

Cedar Park Gold's is fan-fricken-cy! They have the cardio theatre, a pool, an area dedicated to perfecting your abs, and the largest collection of what some would call MILF's/Cougars that I have ever seen. Also, this Gold's is located in a shopping center that shares space with: Jenny Craig, Jamba Juice (and about 3 other smoothie places), Academy, and GMC. It's like health central over there. They also have Starbucks, Half-Priced Books, Target, Hobby Lobby, Ross, and Charming Charlie's. I will probably stick to Ghetto Gold's, for the most part, because I fear that I will shop after every gym trip if I convert to the fancy Gold's.
Really, I just don't feel like I belong amongst the ladies at the Fancy Gold's. I mean, they wear those crazy cleavage boosting, midriff bearing, color coordinated, bedazzled-spandex work out gear. I wear athletic shorts and a t-shirt. I think it's a strong possibility that these women might be looking for men up in that joint. Maybe this location should be called "Gold's Diggers?" Ok, that was lame.

Ya'll have a good day. I will bring you more of Mariachi night with the next post.

The Letter "f"

noreply@blogger.com (sarahsmile3) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 21:36:00 +0000

I have a little tube of eye cream on my bedside table. I try to apply it every night in the hopes that it might keep those wrinkles at bay for just a while longer. Usually, I squirt a little dollop on the back of my hand and then I usethe pad of my middle finger to apply it to the skin around my eyes. A few days ago, I applied pressure to the tube expecting to get the small dollop of lotion. This is what came out instead:

The letter "f"

I found it amusing.

In other news:
Juan and Reyna invited us to enjoy a Mariachi band at a South Austin restaurant. I had waaaaay too many margaritas. Fun was had but I broke my shoe, my dress strap, and my dignity.
Pictures to come.