daily distractions

local eats

2012-01-27T09:31:00.000-08:00

I love working downtown in that it has opened my world up to some new places to lunch and happy hour that I wouldn't be able to conveniently visit so frequently otherwise. Here are some places I've been for the first time recently and fell in love with.

Blue Bird Bistro - (17th and Summit) Sustainable, local and so cute. They have a fabulous happy hour with great deals on local wine (the Ruby Red from Somerset Ridge Winery is delicious) and appetizers. We got some great hummus and "the monster tomato", which was an awesome heirloom tomato, homemade feta cheese, and homemade HUGE white bread. I die. Menu changes often though, so you might not be able to catch it if the tomatoes aren't in season.

Hickok's - (River Market) I'M OBSESSED. Happy Hour from 3-7 and on Saturday from 11-7! Free chips and salsa and $2 wells and drafts - including Boulevard. The atmosphere was wonderful, it reminded me of So Long in Manhattan. The menu looked awesome...also similar to So Long in a way, so of course I was into it. Can't wait to go back.

Kansas City Cafe - (15th and Grand) Only open Monday through Friday for lunch, and I've been twice in two weeks. It's gourmet cuisine for cheap-o prices and it's AWESOME. I've tried the fish tacos, parisian chicken sandwich (Chicken, dijon aioli, sliced apple, melted white cheddar), goat cheese salad, and lobster bisque. Everything was superb.

Le Fou Frog - (River Market) such an adorable spot. I went for restaurant week with a big group of girls and we had a blast. The salmon and risotto were amazing, and the wine list was frenchy fancy yummy. Their happy hour looks great too.

The Brick - (17th and McGee) hole in the wall goodness. GREAT tacos (vegetarian and beef) for 75 cents on Tuesdays and a really varied menu beyond the typical bar food.

next on my list - Happy Gillis, Gennessee Royale Bistro, Westport Cafe, Nica's 320, Grinder's. (yes, I know, I've never been to Grinders...sinning.)

pinterest cooking

2012-01-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

This post on Brittany's blog inspired me to offer my own pinterest cooking experiences to the blog world...because who are we kidding, I really don't cook anything anymore unless I've seen someone's perfectly photographed recipe on good ol pinterest.

So here goes....(there are a lot)

1. Green bean casserole, Pioneer Woman. Really good. Brought it to Christmas Eve. Normally don't like green been casserole but this was killer.

2. Green Chile Chicken - from "For the Love of Cooking". DELICIOUS! Taylor and I both loved it.

3. Parmesan Baked Artichokes. Really easy side dish that we loved.

4. "Healthy" Chicken Parmesan...from Skinnytaste. This has become one of my go-to weeknight meals. Easy and DELICIOUS! I use Trader Joe's marinara...which is awesome.

5. Chicken Marsala...this was really good. Next time I probably won't use both marsala wine and white wine...it was a little too booze-y tasting. Not that I don't love booze...I just didn't feel like getting drunk off my chicken. It didn't taste like it was cooked off. Also, I cooked this when I was on the hard core South Beach Diet Phase One, and then my lovely husband pointed out it was dredged in flour before it was cooked...I forgot flour counts as a carb. Bummer.

6. The Best Baked Oven Fries...from Annie's Eats. They were great. A little labor intensive if I remember? But definitely the best baked oven fries I've done.

7. Mongolian Beef. One of our favorites...I've made it four or so times. Tastes just like P.F. Changs and is surprisingly easy!

8. Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta al Forno - I've been really lucky with my pinterest cooking...except for this guy. Dry and pretty tasteless.

9. Tomato Basil Soup from Jenny Steffens Hobick. Delicious, but it was one of those things where you get sick of the leftovers really fast. So make it for a crowd.

10. Oreo Cheesecake Cookies - good, but the cooking time was off in the recipe, so the first batch I burnt. Actually it may have been my ghetto oven. Just watch them closely if you ever try them!

11. Bruschetta - this was absolutely perfect. Excellent proportions of olive oil, basil, tomatoes, etc. YUM!

12. Lasagna Roll Ups - EVERYONE has these pinned, so I was pretty excited, but unfortunately they were pretty bad. Maybe better with chicken or just cheese. The beef variation was no bueno.

13. "Healthier" General Tso's Chicken (b/c it's not fried)....I remember this being pretty good. I could live on Asian food.

14. Chunky Vegetable Soup - This was so-so. Too many carrots in Taylor and I's opinions.

15. Christmas M&M Pretzel Things- Fantastic! The recipe says 5-6 minutes at 350...but they only need 2-3 minutes. The white chocolate ones melt faster than the milk chocolate, so you could separate them if you wanted true perfection. :)

Christmas post (on January 22)

2012-01-22T16:51:00.000-08:00

I will start this post with a picture of my parents (huge) Christmas tree. There's nothing better than Christmas at home. This picture is taken on Christmas eve, which is my second favorite day of the year, second to Christmas day...which follows. Every year, Christmas day is exactly the same, so here are our traditions:

Good Morning!

Amy passes out presents...

and we take turns opening. This year, Dad gets superman boxer briefs from my brother.

So of course he models them over his jeans, with his Dwight Schrute shirt and ever-present mock turtleneck.

After we finish opening, dad was surprised in the garage with a snowblower. He was VERY excited.

And my dogs are adorable. Of course. They remain outside with brand new bones so they don't eat our gifts.

So let's drink to that!

Mimosas.

And here it comes...the meal that deserves an entire blog post to itself, our Christmas morning tradition, the ONE day of the year we get to eat....my dad's egg's benedict. He has made it for over 25 years, and each year he perfects his recipe until it gets so perfect we all close our eyes after every bite and moan and groan and then ask for more. It's mind-blowing. It's my favorite thing to eat it the whole wide world.

After this, I fall into a coma for at least 2 hours. Everyone else somehow finds the strength to play games and talk on the phone. But I sleep.

And when I wake up, there's more food! Here is my favorite appetizer...fried artichoke hearts.

Salad, prime rib...

homemade shoestring fries...

Birthday presents..

Baskin Robbins ice cream cake.

And a perfect ending...Shamus convincing my dad that dogs on the furniture is a good idea :)

What a very, merry Christmas!

JOB JOB JOB!!

2011-11-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

Last Monday I got a call from a friend about a judicial clerkship at the Jackson County Circuit Court that was opening up...and to apply fast.

Tuesday morning I came up to the courthouse, delivered my resume to the judge.

Wednesday afternoon I got a call for an interview. SO excited. (didn't even think I'd make it that far)

Thursday I interviewed.

Friday the judge called me. And I got it!!!

Monday I started.

Today I have completed my first week! And I love it! The only kicker is the dress code. Every judge is different, so not all law clerks have to do this, but I have to wear a full suit every day. And I only have one that is wearable, because the other one needs hemming. So I gotta get a new wardrobe. I've gotten a bunch of great deals on shirts to wear under my suits, ($12 shirts at the Limited, $16 shirts at Costco, yes, Costco, $15 shirts at Nordstrom after our discount) so that makes me a little less angry about this mandatory shopping that I can't afford.

I am so so so grateful and thankful to finally have my first job as a lawyer. It took awhile, but it all works out in the end, and no matter how much I didn't believe that a month ago...it's all good now. :)

HBMDC Pick a Pumpkin

2011-10-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago Taylor, Amy and I went to the Heartland Bernese Mountain Dog Club's "Pick a Pumpkin" in Louisburg. (They are the Club with the Rescue organization we got Maeby from).

I was so excited to see all the dogs and take Shay and Mae to the pumpkin patch!
It was really fun, except when I had a minor freak out because Maeby wiggled out of her collar and was just sitting in a patch of burs and thorns and I couldn't get to her!!!

Here are some pics:

Bad shot of everyone walking - there were probably about 20 or so berners and then a couple scragglers like Shamus, a couple Shelties, and one tiny Maltese or something.

Okay, so there were two puppies there. And I was beyond obsessed. These pictures will never do them justice.

There's Kelly and Cooper walking two of their dogs, Lemon and Jackson.

Another puppy shot. Yes, I was stalking the puppies.

Together! And I think it's their dad they are standing by.

This is either Isaac or Spencer....can't remember. But he was tired, and gorgeous.

I'm sorry, you get the fact I loved the puppies and wanted to steal them.

Our fam!

I find this picture to be very humorous. Shamus won't move for Amy.

I was the photog, not the walker. :) And as you can see, this photographer has no idea how to edit bad pics.

My two babies!!

We got three big regular pumpkins and three cute little white ones. We have yet to do something with them. But we had the experience, so hey! Fun. Fun. Activities.

Meet Miss Maeby Hartley!!

2011-10-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

I've been missing from the blog world due to computer problems, but all is well and fixed....so I've returned!

SOOO.....we got another dog! Three weeks ago today. From the Heartland Bernese Mountain Dog Rescue Organization. She is the sweetest rescue dog in the world with the best personality. She is a purebred bernese mountain dog, however, she's the smallest one you've ever seen. 50 lbs full grown, where normal females are around 80. Her small size is probably due to bad breeding, since she's probably from a puppy mill where they don't care who has what puppies, so they don't keep up breed standards and all that. In her old life, she was left out on a chain in a yard all day, wasn't spayed, pretty skinny, tons of fleas and all that stuff, but now she's looking gorgeous and in excellent health. She loooooves anyone and everyone. I'm so glad we saved her!!!!!

Shamus and her have a love/~~hate~~ play-bite each other all day relationship. At first I thought he was pretty pissed off at us, but now they're madly in love. :) They don't like being without each other, which is good, but their playing leaves me with two slobber covered dogs all the time, so ...that's gross. Oh yeah, and she's not potty trained. Only down-side. She hasn't had an accident in a while though, so that's great!

So without further ado, meet Maeby!!! (Her name is a character from Arrested Development...if you haven't seen that show get the dvds, asap).

This is from the day we got her, on our way to Des Moines to get spayed and all that good stuff. Such a pretty smile! (side note : I volunteered to drive her to Des Moines instead of the rescue group because I got to eat lunch with Kate and see her house for the first time! So fun.)

Photoshoot!

Fighting for dad's attention....(Taylor did not know I was taking a pic)

She's so CUTE!

This is where they stand and bark at joggers. Ok, Shamus barks, she stands there like a perfect angel :) Hahah..

Anyways, we couldn't be happier, she is such a great addition to our family. She's playful enough to keep up with Shamus but super chill at the same time. Two dogs with an energy level like Shamus would be madness. This is only sorta madness. :)

the -ings of sunday

2011-08-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

I am currently:
Listening - to Bon Iver. On Spotify, which is amazing if you haven't downloaded it yet. It's basically itunes for free!

Eating - leftover Little Caesar's $5 hot and ready. we have no food. jealous?
Drinking - lots of water and OJ. I've been sick for a week!!
Reading - the second Game of Thrones book. It's gettin good. Really good.

Feeling - besides intense sinus pressure, pretty anxious, confused, and depressed about the job market for lawyers and where I'll end up
Wanting - to get healthy so I can get stuff done! and to finally see harry potter. :)
Needing - a VACUUM!!!!!!!! We have 3 vacuums in our garage - all broken. And Shamus has become a shedding machine this summer. Deee-sgusting. I'm breathing black dog hair. Anybody got an extra? I guess I could craigslist a temporary cheapo before we take the plunge into Dyson-land.
Enjoying - time off. It's bittersweet, since I want a job so badly, but I can't forget it's still time off to relax and try to do some things for me. (like get back into exercising :)
Laughing - at these adorable, hysterical pictures of Taylor dog-whispering! My sister Lisa and her dog Gertie are in town, so Shamus got to go over to my parents yesterday to sexually harass play with her. Gus of course didn't join in on the fun but Taylor did manage to get them all to sit in perfect formation in front of him! <this is me dying of delight>

my two favorite aussies!

breaking news in gummy vitamins

2011-08-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan of the adult gummy multi-vitamin. Unlike their large, difficult to swallow, pill-form predecessor, they are delicious and easy to remember. (I never forget my daily free candy).

Now, of course, there are a wide variety of options to choose from. You can go for the brand names which are great, and even have sour patch kid-like varieties, or you can save some $$ with some generics.

Target's Up & Up? Wonderful. A+.

Costco's Vitafusion? Same. A+.

But consider yourself warned, CVS's are just disgusting. They taste like robitussin, very medicine-ish rather than delightful candy snack. I'm clearly upset. D-.

So the moral of this pointless post is take your vitamins, and even though CVS is selling these things buy one get one free right now, don't get suckered in. Not all off-brands are alike!

hi there!

2011-08-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

I really don't have much to blog about, I'm just hanging out at home job searching. I find out if I passed the bar on September 13th, yikes!! I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a job before then, but here's hoping.

Oh...I must mention Pinterest. I am addicted. I am an addict. I can't stop!!! Join pinterest.com and experience the magic! Haha. Seriously. My dad the other night goes: "so is it like the beanie babies of 2011?" At first I really thought he was asking if it was some sort of website that sells cute stuffed animals, but I guess he meant: is it the new thing you and your friends are going to be psychotically obsessed with? So I answered affirmatively.

but pinterest is for grown ups and doesn't require my 12 year old self to have every hallmark retail store within a 20 mile radius' phone number memorized to call each tuesday morning and ask if a new shipment came in.

some updates

2011-06-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

1. i forgot to mention the fact that my sister amy is living with us this summer! she has an accounting internship at kpmg downtown so she's working long hours and our house is a lot closer than mom and dad's. and we're like, totally, like, fun. (noooootttt.....i'm in a terrible mood constantly b/c of the bar, but i do get in a number of study breaks with amy playing our favorite game, rummikub!!)

here she is bonding with our huge lapdog:

2. taylor got the soccer coaching job!! he starts camp this coming saturday, and the season starts in august. he'll be coaching c-team boys at shawnee mission northwest. i am so, so happy for him, i know he'll love it and put everything he has and more into being a great coach for the kids. a big piece of him has been missing ever since his knee injury(ies), so i'm glad soccer is back in his life!

exhibits a,b,c,&d - showing the progression of taylor's soccer studliness:

so cute!

bahahahahaha!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! (please don't kill me babe!)

3. as most of you are probably well aware, i have gained 20+ pounds since my wedding. not good. the stress of the final year of law school and not having 'something' to lose weight for (aka what the wedding used to be) really hurt me and got me to a place i never should have.
but...i'm working really hard to eat right and get back into exercising and i've lost 5, so i'm on my way. it's also really good to work out during bar study for mental health purposes, so even though it's taking time away from studying, it'll ultimately make me do better.

4. i got my diploma! it's huge and awesome. (sorry about the bad pic, i figured i'll whip out the big boy camera once it gets framed)

i miss everyone mucho!! xoxo - molly

unwanted blog break

2011-06-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

thought i'd check in real quick and let you know why i'm not blogging.
here are a few phone pics (this stuff is not even close to worthy of being captured on a real camera) of bar prep.

the bar exam is in jeff city on july 26 and 27th...until then, i go to class every morning from 9-12:30, then most other days i also have class from 1:30-4:30, and then i come home and do practice essays to submit to graders, and practice essays to have conferences with teachers about, and make flashcards, and read for the next day!

see you in august :)

graduation and mother's day

2011-05-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

I'm DONE! Actually done! On graduation day, I still had my R&W to finish....so I didn't exactly have that 100% feeling of accomplishment, even though I was still receiving my degree.

Bill and Cookie (my in laws) came up from Texas to celebrate the big day - on Friday night we we had italian food, cake and ice cream at our house:

then Mom, Cookie and I got pedicures on Saturday morning, followed by a great BBQ lunch from RJ's, then headed down to school to get pics before the ceremony since we had to turn in our *hot* (literally and figuratively) rented gowns immediately afterwards. Yay. Gotta love pictures. I look so awkward...I need to work on my "mom, please hurry" smile. Or I could work on my patience.

this picture is hysterical. no one can figure out the darned hood!!

Amy, I wish we could have found someone to take this pic so you could be in it! Also, I look like a football player.

My three best friends from school : Courtney, Nancy and Maggie. We all got to sit by each other during the ceremony and my family happened to be sitting right behind us!

I did it! And no, that purple thing around my neck is not a last minute scarf I threw on, it's my hood, choking me :). You carry your hood up to the stage and then the dean "hoods" you before you receive your diploma. This is all very surreal looking at these pictures. I can't believe it's actually over!

After gradumacation, we went to BRGR for dinner, and even though I fell out of the car when we got home and skinned my knee like a second grader, it was a great night!

The next day was mother's day, and it was the first time in six or seven years that Cookie was with one of her sons on mother's day, so it was pretty special! Great brunch at First Watch, dog park, and then over to my parents house for dinner. De-lish.

Taylor and the ladies of honor - our moms. :)

The pictures I took of the whole meal are not good, but hey, I got one pretty one of the veggies! Hahaha.....random way to finish this post off, but there you go! Sorry for being blog absent for so long, it's been so busy, but I will be back soon! xoxo - Molly Hartley , J.D.

almost there....

2011-04-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

I graduate in eight days, but before then I have a take home final to write, two other finals next week, an R&W to re-write (only 30 pages), a couple pounds to lose to fit into a graduation dress, and a bar exam application to get notarized, order a duplicate of my lost birth certificate to include, order a cashiers check for, and mail in.

I'm trying to stay on top of it all, but I might combust.

However, I have a really exciting post regarding Taylor, I just have to get my scanner to work because it won't be the same without some fun pictures! (Ok I have to spill it now though - he's interviewing as we speak to coach soccer at Shawnee Mission Northwest! My high school!!)

More to come...

Daddy's Boy

2011-04-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Funny/cute story: Taylor was playing with Shay the other day and they were getting a little rambunctious with some tug of war. Somewhere in the mix, Shamus accidentally got Taylor's finger in his mouth as he was biting down on the toy. Taylor yelled out, got really angry, and banished the pup to the other side of the room.

This dog is so human like it's crazy.

He literally jumped on the couch, HUGGED Taylor, yes, his head was leaning against his chest, one paw behind, one paw in front of Taylor, and started licking his finger and kissing him on the cheek. Yes, he apologized. It was so cute I almost cried. And I'm really not exaggerating!

They're in love.

(below: the cone returned for an evening to keep him from licking a nasty sore on his paw)

I'm sorry, I can't help myself, I just love my boys so much!

awards

2011-04-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was Res Derelicta, the graduation party for 3Ls sponsored by the law school. It was at Terrace on Grand, open bar, great food, good times.

An award ceremony followed cocktail hour, with "most likely to" and "best blah blah" awards that I was always glad Shawnee Mission Northwest didn't do...as they're just another thing for 18 year olds to feel bad about themselves for not getting "most popular" or "most likely to be president".

Listen to this though. I got "best hair." Are you kidding me? Ha. It was hilarious. I purposely sit towards the back of the room in class not to be far away from the professor, but to minimize the amount of people who sit behind me and might catch a glimpse of my nasty bun/half ponytail thing and awkward part in the middle of my head from just getting out of bed.

I think I got it either A) because no one in law school has extraordinarily good hair, and I certainly wasn't going to get some sort of law-ish award, so my friends noticed I was the only one in the group not getting an award and gave me this leftover or .... B) my hair honestly looks SO terribly bad in class that when law school people see me out at parties the gross disparity in how I look is so shocking it's like a 'She's All That' moment....the heavens part, my hair is straightened and down, and I look like a freaking dream.

Should I put this coveted award on my resume?

mission safari

2011-04-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

not really.
but taylor snapped a couple shots with my camera through our kitchen window last week of a deer across the street!
they all looked like this:

so i had to do the best i could editing in iphoto to see the deer.

as you can see, i'm not the best editor yet.

and i also feel like a grandma posting this. but there ya go! excitement in our lives. :)

late publishing post: 2 weekends ago through the dog's eyes

2011-04-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

Shamus had the weekend of his life!

On Friday he got to go to my parent's house for the first time since Christmas....and he was so good with Gus! We are so happy that we can take him over there now whenever we want and not leave him at home.....
Saturday started out with a trip to Shawnee Mission Dog Park. This was only his second time around water, and we can tell he wants to swim, he's just not there yet. He lets the water reach his belly, but that's about as far as he'll go.
After the park we went to Jose Peppers, and he layed on the patio with us while we had chips and margs. It was windy, the chip bowl fell over, so he accidentally got his first taste of Mexican cuisine.
Theeenn...he accompanied Taylor to Juhn's house where he got to hang out with the boys and play bocce ball in the front yard.
This also meant he had FOUR car rides in one day! Needless to say, I didn't feel bad at all leaving him while we went to Laura Ebbert and Taylor Brammer's fun couples shower on Saturday night.
Sunday he got a long walk and another car ride to McDonald's for ice cream (for mom and dad, not him).
Livin the life I tell ya.

Here he is with his sassy bandana Woof's Play n Stay gave him after his bath.

so handsome!

more than pleasantly surprised

2011-04-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

just thought i'd pass along a frozen meal that's actually really yummy!
amy's organic cheese enchiladas. i think they're usually pretty expensive at the normal grocery store, but they were a special purchase at aldi so i snagged a box. and i wish i'd have picked up ten.
they are really good!! has anyone else tried them? wow.

one last list item!

2011-04-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

I ALMOST FORGOT!

11. Amy's Ice Creams. Austin's famous ice cream. Woaaaahhhh mama!! How could I forget this on my list of the best things about Austin? This is waaay up there.

Austin

2011-04-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

Our girls weekend in Austin was absolutely wonderful. Jamie flew in from Denver, Monica flew in from Tulsa, and I was the last to arrive from good ol KC, to visit our Lizzie Lou in her new city.

I loooved Austin, Teh-has!

Reasons:

1. Liz Gretz

2. Carrot Cake French Toast from Soco Cafe. The most scrumptious breakfast item I have ever consumed. (ok, not better than my dad's egg's benedict, but close.)

3. PEDI CABS!!! (not sure if that's how you spell it). Basically a really cute guy bicycles you around town for free, and you go really fast, and the wind's blowin in yer haiir....and it's glorious and exhilarating. Exhibit A:

4. Sushi from Imperia. Avocado crab rangoon? Yes, please. If you are ever in the Austin area, this place is a must. Order the Red Dragon and the Hot Mess. It was honestly the most creative and delicious sushi I've ever had. And we got to hang out with miss Rachel Chastain at this dinner!

5. Random bachelor parties we get invited to and are therefore given free drinks for 90% of the evening. Jackpot! No creepers either! Nice Texas boys who supplied us with Sigma Nu secrets. Bahahaha.

6. Awesome patios at every bar and restaurant.

7. Cheap bellinis at Taverna right before our flights out of town.

8. Tacos from Torchy's Tacos. The "Democrat" was out of this world. Duh. :)

9. Seeing light pink balloons at one of Brad Womack's bars and thinking it was Lil Ricky's birthday party.

10. Getting to spend quality time with three of my very best friends, catching up, laughing, playing, and enjoying each other's great company.

ps..I know a lot of this list was about food, but as Giada says: the best way to explore a new city is through its food! and Austin had a lot of good exploring to do :)

Regardless, cheers to one of the very best weekends, and thanks to Liz for being a lovely host. I can't wait to visit again!

water for elephants

2011-03-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

this picture almost made me faint. 13 year old girl faint. and not just about my boy r-pats, but reese too. i am so excited for water for elephants i've watched the preview about six times and i re-read the book yesterday. yeah, yesterday. (i'm on spring break!)

the casting for this movie just makes me giddy. i really, really, really hope it lives up to my astronomical expectations - but who am i kidding? i know i'll love it, just the same. the first twilight is one of the worst movies ever and i still watch it at least once a semester and swoon just as bad as the first time i saw it. OOHHHH man.

anyways, if you haven't read the book yet, buy it, borrow it, check it out from the library, do anything you can so you can obsess with me. all together now!!!

family weekend

2011-03-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago my sister and brother in law drove down from Minneapolis with their Australian Shepherd Gertie! We were so excited for the dog cousins to meet, and to have our first real guests in the casa. Well....Shamus was, uhh, excited. Understatement of the year. The dog was so obssessed with Gertie he wouldn't eat, he wouldn't go outside to pee, (if gertie was inside), He. was. nutso. He was also more than mildly aroused, and committed a number of incestuous pelvic pumps on poor Gertie. It was a break-up-the-humping fest all weekend!! (TMI?)

Here they are peacefully coexisting for a matter of mere seconds.

I'm sure Shamus attacked within the next five minutes.

pretty gertie!

mom and amy - friday night at our house

To get Gertie a little break from Shay and to get a little of Bob McCue's AMAZING food (he made the best flank steak, homeade onion rings, fried artichoke hearts, baked potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms for dinner), we went over to their house on Saturday night.

this is Gus's first appearance on the blog! He's about 13 years old, doesn't he look like a puppy? (besides his gray beard) He left Gertie the heck alone, as he has a bit o' doggie social anxiety.

I love taking pictures of her! She's so good and still!

the dog wheesperer.

Everyone watching DVR'd SNL with Zach Galifianakis. Hysterical. (p.s. like my dad's airplane pillow he wears 24 hours a day? it's the new hot fashion accessory. super comfort.)

Relaxing in the calm, Shamus - free environment!

To give my pup some credit, he was awesome the last day Gertie stayed with us. They were so cute playing outside, and he was totally chill with her down in the basement. And she really liked playing with him the whole time, and definitely put him in his place when he needed to be put there.

Since Gertie's departure, Shay has honestly been noticeably calmer! I think she rubbed off on him in a huge way, so I'm sooo glad she came, as embarrassed as I may have been!

And now I think I will talk about people. I still like them, I promise. :)

We were so happy to be able to put our guest room and guest bath to good use. Since they're both in the basement, it's a really private area for guests and Todd and Lisa said it felt like they had their own hotel! Besides playing with the dogs at home and the park, we went to our favorite spot, Mi Ranchito, for some good old fake Mexican food you can only find in Kansas. We also enjoyed an awesome brunch made by dad, played tons of Bananagrams, and topped it off on their last night with Minsky's Pizza and Scattergories. Indulgent weekend for sure. I wish I had more pictures of all of us together, they're on my mom's camera, but we had a fabulous time and can't wait to visit Todd and Lisa in Minnesota!

graduation!

2011-03-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

Shamus passed puppy school about a month ago, and he aced his final. Ok, maybe not the loose leash walking around the crowded PetSmart without pulling, but he totally schooled the obstacle course. Boo-yah. Here he is with his distinguished graduation cap.

He obviously loved it.

Bummer! I was hoping for a dog that couldn't live without accessories.

i'm a star, i'm on top! somebody bring me a meximelt!!!!!!!!

2011-03-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

A month later, I'm back! It's been a really busy month...so I'll dive right in with the deets.

This past Saturday featured my acting debut. Yes-siree, I diva'd it out on the $1.98 stage, UMKC Law's annual variety SNL-type show.

On Friday Courtney and I went to our friend George's house to do some writing on a skit which turned out to be the biggest hit of the night. The guys came up with an idea for "Shanghai Shore", a Jersey Shore spoof featuring a couple of our Asian exchange students sitting in front of a green screen speaking Chinese, - and subtitles written by yours truly with some Jersey Shore inspired Asian chit chat. I didn't want to put my name on it because I thought it would be so offensive, but after people were so obsessed with it I wanted my credit!! hahaha....

The show also included my friend Nancy and I in a live skit trying to sell a 2 Disc CD set like they do with the NOW mixes...but the mix was full of stuff one of our professors says all the time. Yeah, hard to explain. I was trying to sound cheesy and outdated, but ended up sounding seductive apparently. Heh? Pic here:

Courtney and I were also in a video skit called Hood Love, which was a music video using Mary J. Blige's Hood Love song, where we're fighting over who loves our real Professor, Professor Hood, more. Our fake fight scene was epic. The sad thing is I really do love Professor Hood, like a lot.

Basically all of it is only funny to the freaks and geeks of law school, so I didn't make Taylor suffer through it, but it was hilarious....and I felt the need to act in true celebrity form at the after party, staying out until 4 and throwing a fit when I couldn't find my meximelt among the 45 tortilla-wrapped items from our late night taco bell run. I mean, do you know how good a meximelt is???!!

my dog, the cat.

2011-02-28T17:02:00.000-08:00

i had never seen him do this before, he curled up into a perfect little ball the other day. ohhhh, shamus...how are you so cute?!

what a weekend

2011-02-28T10:37:00.000-08:00

Friday: We had an awesome time at Garten's surprise birthday party at the Levee! Go Ryan! (Her boyfriend) Funny Story: We went home around 10:30 because I had a review early Saturday morning for the MPRE. Also, one of Taylor's best friends T.R. came in town for the night and was waiting at our front door for us to let him in. Since it was so early, Taylor and T.R. decided to go back to the bar, and when they got there, they were denied entry because of T.R.'s ghetto track pants, apparently in violation of the Levee's classy dress code. Never fear...Kevin Krumholtz was on it.
He told Taylor and T.R. to hang on, walked back in, ordered Andreoli to take off his jeans, slid them through the fence to T.R., took his track pants, you get the idea. A switch was made and all was well. Adam Andreoli just had to sit at the bar in his boxers for a minute or two....ha.. Who are these people??

Saturday: I got in a little car accident on the way to my review. The roads were slippery and my brakes completely failed. I basically had no control over my car, it slid down the hill for a good quarter of a mile and I just had to brace myself to rear end the guy. No one was hurt, my car is fine, it was just terrifying to lose all control like that. Drive careful even if the roads look fine! Needless to say, I didn't feel like doing much that night, but I was lucky enough to get to spend time with Jamie while she was in town!

Sunday: Oscar night! James Franco - ouch. Smug, high, sucky. Anne brought a little energy but overall we were so bummed out by the hosts. My best dressed:

first prize: natalie. i love you. the color of this dress is brilliant, she looked amazing.

gwyneth- this fabric is just incredible. wowza.

michelle williams: beautiful beautiful.

i love penelope no matter what she wears. hot hot hot!

And for the worst dressed:

marisa - you're so cute! but the word 'vintage' doesn't make nasty necklines okay.

sorry nicole, blech.

We had our usual ballot contest and my mom won...but we didn't have a prize for her. Next year!

ho-hum

2011-02-23T10:36:00.000-08:00

Another Pioneer Woman recipe that was ick! Ok, not really ick, but definitely not great. It just didn't taste like much, and dried up a ton so didn't make for the best left overs. It was for this bowtie lasagna thingy...

I keep telling Taylor the first year of marriage is for trying recipes and figuring out which ones are keepers and which ones are thrower outers, so inevitably we'll have some crappy dinners here and there. But it is so frustrating and I feel awful when it happens!

So what started out as fun adventures in cooking with new cooking gadgets has turned into serious fear of cooking. And apparently there is a term for this - Mageirocophobia. I'm supposed to find easy recipes and take baby steps to cure myself. Other cognitive behavioral therapies or perhaps even medication may help as well.

Just kidding, I'll be fine. Just a twinge of horror each time Taylor takes his first bite for the next couple years.....

wedding video highlight!

2011-02-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

Bum-ba-da-bum!!!!
I'm getting our full wedding video today, but here is our highlight 5 minute schpeel....SO fun!
hartley wedding highlight (password is Molly)
I'm so excited to see the rest. :)

paint helpers - it's all i got.

2011-02-17T10:42:00.000-08:00

I have been having some serious blogger's block. I have been trying to post, but feel like I forgot how to write.

Hmmm....Anyways, this week is our "mini-term" aka Spring Break numero uno if you don't choose to take a one credit hour course.

What has it consisted of? Ummm....well, not getting out of my PJ's, about 4 hours of HGTV a day, a bunch of Photoshop tutorials (which don't help at all, I still suck at it), laundry, laundry, dishes, dishes, and lots and lots of cleaning muddy nasty puppy paws.

My mom and I did start out this unproductive week with some productivity though - we painted the downstairs bathroom. I can't show it to you though because it's naked. No shower curtain yet, no towels, no nutthin. The process was great though, because painting extraordinaire Vicki brought over some new tricks for easy painting. And here they are:

1. Frog Tape. So much better than the blue stuff that I normally use!

2. The Handy Paint Pail - When trimming, I usually use those little square buckets to hold the paint, but this guy was awesome with its handle and what not. It's pretty funny how this company revolutionized little paint buckets and made a bunch of $$ by reshaping it a little and adding a handle. duh. It made such a difference though!

So there you have it...go paint easier friends!

photo of the day

2011-02-07T11:19:00.001-08:00

from my new camera!!

sunday sunday

2011-02-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

before this big freezing mess, taylor and i spent 11:30 am to 4:30 pm at cinemark merriam on sunday. yep, that's five hours. we both experienced our first time "staying after one movie to sneak into another". it was so fun!
we saw The Fighter first, which was amazing. everyone go see it now. christian bale was scary good. so was the mom...so was amy adams, so was everyone. whew.

then we went to No Strings Attached to look at two cute people act cute. natalie portman and i are best friends and lovers, so i also felt that it was my duty to support her. luckily, it was pretty funny, and we really enjoyed it.

then we ran home to check on our poor dog who we left for five hours....(i know this is a short amount of time and he's FINE, i'm just a nut job and since taylor works from home and i'm a student he really isn't in his kennel for longer than 3 or 4 during the day), and then my parents picked us up to for a "surprise" dinner to Stroud's, since taylor hasn't ever eaten there and we wanted to introduce him to this kansas city landmark-ish restaurant. no one in my family had been since the original one on troost shut down, and we weren't expecting the shawnee mission parkway location to be as good, which it wasn't, but it was still fun. and a lot, a lot of food. i think i might have fallen asleep at the table.

and that's that!

good things

2011-01-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

no, this post has nothing to do with martha stewart...but it does have to do with some pretty good things!!!

1. at approximately 2:30 pm, on january 22, 2011, lyssa krumholtz tells me i have been selected as the facebook fan sub winner. which means i won one free mr. goodcents sub per week for a year!! i've never felt so lucky in my life! this thursday i had my first free penny club. and it was awesome.

2. i got my camera!! (well, ordered it.) now i'm impatiently awaiting the arrival of my new Canon EOS Rebel XSi. i got an awesome deal by checking www.techbargains.com every 15 minutes. (i HIGHLY recommend this website, but like i said, you gotta check your category of interest often, as the deals sell out quickly.) i'm drinking the photography kool-aid that's everywhere, i know....but i am SO SO excited. for the past week i've been reading the manual online, so, you know, that clearly makes me an expert. ha. but get ready for this blog to start showing itself up, yo!

i could probably make up a 3. but i'm too fixated on the camera and sub sandwiches at the moment to think much further.

finally...

2011-01-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

i finally got through the stieg larsson trilogy. the third one, the girl who kicked the hornet's nest, was a really slow read for me. if i buzzed through it at the same rate i did the first two, you would have received this review about a month ago.

so...the first one gave me nightmares (but they didn't stop me from all the glorious suspense), i loved the second one, and it all kinda needed to come full circle in the third one. i really didn't care for it at all though. it was such a let down since the end of the second one made me wanting more so badly, and so immediately that i spent $25 on book numero tres because i was too impatient to go my normal route and order online for much less. and then it wasn't even exciting! the end is satisfying, but the means toward it was just too long winded and tedious.

but that's just my opinion....and that's where i've been book-wise. i am so ready to be free of swedish last names for awhile.

doppelgangers

2011-01-24T20:27:00.000-08:00

Britt on the Bachelor is the real life Brittany S. Pierce!!!
Anyone? Anyone?
If I'm the 6,000th person to say this I apologize. I just can't believe this girl's name is Britt!

OFF!!

2011-01-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

the soup was so so wonderfully good! you're in luck, pioneer woman! now i'll be making your burritos, all of your cream sauce-y pastas (weight watchers approved i'm sure), your enchiladas, and whatever else looks pretty in your pictures.

moving on....

now that there is no more of this:

(yes, he lost his furniture privileges. i'm sad that i lost my cuddle buddy but it's for the best. those couches weren't free.)
anyways, now that he's not allowed on the couch and doesn't try to get up on it, we have a 24 hour battle with this:

please, anyone out there, please, tell me how to get my dog to stop jumping on the counter every thirty seconds.

chef fights

2011-01-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

#1: the pioneer woman and i are fighting after her recipe for 'pasta alla malboro man'. it was awful. i also tried her queso, revved up, and was pleased, but not floored, like she claimed i would be! so tonight is round 3, where i am attempting this chicken tortilla soup...

and it looks ok so far, but we shall see. if it's bad, i'm only giving her ONE more chance. ok, maybe like seven, the food pictures just kill me with their deliciousness.

also, fight # 2 is with ina garten. (i know, i know, she's wonderful and perfect and jeffrey blah blah) but her asparagus cooking time is not just off like my oven temp is off, it's off like i think foodnetwork.com made a serious, side-dish ruining typo which i committed TWICE now because the recipe looks so good and easy and i forgot the mishap from the first time.

giada and me are still cool. and ina's carrot cake i made for thanksgiving makes up for the asparagus. so does her lemon chicken, sliders and panko crusted salmon. YUM YUM CHOCOLATE CHIP, HONEY DIP.

but speaking of chefs, there is one i would never fight with. wanna know why? because i love, i love, i love, him just like mr. darcy loves elizabeth. and his name just happens to be tom colicchio. and his show just happens to be my favorite show. and tonight, my friends, just happens to be restaurant wars!!!!!

i wrote a 'reaction' post after the first episode of this season's top chef all stars, (which was the best idea ever to bring back old contestants), but never posted it, and you're lucky unless you're just as obsessed as me, because it was ridiculous. to sum up though, i'm loving it so much it's unreal. i get so giddy. i am pissed jenn got eliminated, since she was my pick to win, i still think blaise has a good chance, and i'm SO GLAD jamie's gone. and if i could be padma for one day i would die the happiest person in the world. being gail wouldn't hurt either.
the end!

2011-01-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

man muse.

bigger pics ?

2011-01-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

hahah....the first big image of my blog - one taken by the good ol iphone, when shamus was miserably e-collared. poor guy. loudest week of my life from all the banging of the damn thing into furniture. and now he has allergies, and has been itching so bad the vet had the nerve to suggest putting this thing on him again. are you kidding me? sorry, dr. charlie.

fun with the hipstamatic

2011-01-17T14:35:00.000-08:00

he only lets three feet touch the ground at a time in the snow. wimp.

lookin a little mangy.

loaf love

2011-01-15T09:14:00.000-08:00

i went to costco yesterday to purchase a new, less-apt-to-destruction, dog bed.
why?
let me show you.

our dog has a thing for stuffing.
but anyway, there weren't any sturdy looking beds....so instead, i decided it necessary to buy a LOAF of cheese on my costco trip. this LOAF of cheese, is tillamook medium cheddar, and it is heaven. according to the label, it has 32 servings, which means that it should last taylor and i about two weeks. i give it um, 5 days. we are disgusting.

it is in fact so good...that i found myself thinking about it when i was going to bed last night. which led to a thought process of creating a hierarchy of all the cheeses i love. for me, this tillamook cheddar, winner of the 2010 world champion cheese contest, falls just slightly behind french brie.
that is all i have to report.
instead of counting sheep, my fat behind ranks cheese. what do you do?

random

2011-01-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

i'm going to re-create mill creek elementary's hot ham and cheese sandwich for lunch today because i can't stop thinking about it. i don't think it will be that hard.

growing up, my parents told me if i wanted to pack a lunch, i could do it myself, so i was totally a school lunch kid. and i loved it. i think it's hysterical how excited i would get for rectangle pizza - cheese, sausage, OR pepperoni, all being equally delicious, hot ham and cheese, charbroiled beef patty on bun...(wtf? why couldn't they just call a hamburger a hamburger?), chicken patty on bun (again, making sure everything was completely clarified when it came to the bun), corndogs, chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes with "gravy", and the list goes on of said crap.

i'm pretty sure now elementary kids choices involve like, hummus and rosemary grilled chicken. they're losing their YOUTH!!!

2010

2011-01-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

was full of...
-GETTING Married!

-being a bridesmaid in courtney and davie's awesome wedding

-going to the superbowl and watching mr. garrett hartley help his team win...and set a super bowl record along the way...nbd. (and experiencing the trophy presentation ceremony on the field!!!)

-traveling to spain with my mom and sister

-getting our furry son of a dog shamus, shay, stink, bubba, shayla, whatever you wanna call him

-and watching him grow a TON

-spending eight days in cancun for the most wonderful honeymoon

-moving into taylor's bachelor pad that used to look like this and slowly turning it into a unisex home :)

-attending not three, or even ten, but FOURTEEN weddings! all being stellar and full of marriages that i admire and am so happy for.
-visiting adam and jamie in their new home in COLORADO!! (of course i do not have ONE pic)
-going back to manhattan for a pledge class reunion that was too much fun fun fun.

-a brief affair with bangs

- transitioning to working from home for taylor
- a job at an immigration law firm for me

overall another year of health, happiness, and love!
if i ever said my life was boring i was sorely mistaken....putting it all together like this makes you realize how much happened! woah!
here's to 2011, taylor and i agreed last night we think it's gonna be a great one!
-molly

super uplifting post

2010-12-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

i love the holidays just as much as the next guy, but for some reason, they do not love me back...and are trying to get me to dislike them as well.

i'm pretty sure this is the fourth year in a row where i get really sick around december 20th. fever, sore throat, cold, cough, everything. taylor's birthday is the 22nd, and he claims he gets ill every year around his birthday, ergo, he thinks the only reason i'm sick is to get him sick. apparently the universe is out to get him!

regardless, this sucks. i have not even started shopping yet and going out feeling like this is un-possible.

sooo....back to bed with dexter i go. at least i have dexter!!

p.s. shamus got neutered today. we pick him up at four. i will post pics soon because the poor guy has to wear the CONE!! when we scheduled it the vet told us dogs don't really need it anymore because the stitches are so small, but we got a call from her about an hour ago telling us she knew within 3 minutes of his waking up that he'd need it. he's a licker. i'm so sad for him....

career move

2010-12-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

the other day i decided that shamus is cuter than dogs i have seen in ads...so i decided it's done. he's going to be an actor/model, my little money maker, and i'm his stage mom.
here are his head shots taken on the prestigious nikcanonslrrebel600mycellphone:

this is his really sassy pose.

ok i think this is hysterical that it's funny to joke about being a stage mom for your dog, but can you imagine if i posted something similar with a real human child? i can see it now, my only friend would be my mom.

i promise i won't ever do that!!

I'M DONE!!!

2010-12-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

i handed in my last set of bluebooks yesterday at 4:15. i was too tired to dance, but i should have. this was a TOUGH semester. ready for your recap? (ok, my recap, so 5 years from now i can look at this and remember at least a sentence of what i learned from this super cheap education? heh. heh.)

family law - prenups won't be enforced unless they are voluntary, knowing, with assistance of counsel, blah blah blah...also BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD is the phrase that pays

administrative law - hmmm. difficult to sum up. agencies don't have any inherent power. they are given all their authority from the legislature, but then given a ton of deference usually down the road.

criminal procedure II - evidence cops get while being nasty and breaking all the rules will be deemed "fruit of the poisonous tree" and will be excluded from a criminal trial. except there are a million exceptions so i'm gonna say cops still come out on top

immigration law - way too hard to sum up.

constitutional law II - i took this final yesterday so it's painful to think about so soon. i think it had something to do with the constitution. oh my god i'm hilarious.

OK! well! i'm happy and ready to party! we have our end of finals happy hour at john's upper deck tonight, but i'm gonna be responsible since i have a hair appointment that is about 3 months past due tomorrow at eleven, and it's too important to miss. will report back if anything funny happens tonight, as it usually does, since i tend to be a tad awkward at most law school events. peace.

it's ruining everything!

2010-12-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

not only is law school ruining my social life, figure, and brain (it's so full of a semester's worth of information normal stuff escapes me daily)....it's now ruining OUR SHEETS!

no, nothing gross, i just pulled back the comforter the other day to find an extremely curious looking blue mark on our white sheets, and pulled it back even further to reveal a blue un-capped pen left in bed. yes, i was underlining criminal procedure and must have dozed off...

i feel so defeated.

and geeky.

woops.

nothing better than a real christmas tree

2010-12-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

best little study break last night.
i put on a whole shoe. (explanation: during the school week i am too lazy to do this. instead, i slip on either a) my birkenstocks i got for my 14th birthday or b) moccasin slippers that pass for shoes when under jeans from target. sweet.)

after i put on said shoes, we used our edokko groupon for dinner. it's a really great sushi place up on 87th and quivira-ish. then we got a double bottle of wine (no, we did not even come close to finishing it - i've got five finals to study for) to enjoy while we decorated our christmas tree. (why the double bottle? it's the easiest way to fill up your tree with water! so go out and get yourself a big chugger - even if you already have an empty one laying around to use as your tree pitcher, each holiday season begs for a new one. :)
and here she is!

wide shot:

we love it! the house smells so great, and it feels so wonderful here.

i'm not one for themed christmas trees, i am more of a smorgasbord of random stuff accumulated over the years (ok, my whole three years of christmas trees other than my parents.)
i just have an obsession with christmas ornaments and limiting myself to a certain color or style just don't work! i gotta have them all!!
my favorites are personalized ones, i.e. this adorable guy from my mom:

i am also partial towards angels (because they're angels, who doesn't love angels of the lord? and because of pi phizzle. hehe) and any cute picture frame ones...and any from pottery barn. or anywhere, really.
last year i gave my fellow pi phi sister squared (sister in real life as well as in the bonds of wine and blue) an angel ornament for christmas and she looked at me as if i had aged 20 years in one. i told her she'd appreciate it later. oh, amy.

anyways, after our decorating to the tunes of the season via pandora, we watched an episode of dexter before taylor left to go watch the cats game at brewster's place (juhn's house) and i went back to studying/off to bed.

what an awesome night! sushi, wine, christmas tree, dexter. (we're on season 3, it's amazing....we're a tad obsessed.) and shamus hasn't eaten any ornaments! just unraveled the tree skirt a bit, but i think he got his fix.

happy holidays!

complaining cathy

2010-12-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

oh the dreaded finals.
the only grades you get in law school.
one test, testing the entire semester, usually in the form of a 3 hour essay. five times, for the five classes you take. joy.
oh and did i mention the horrible mandatory curves? so no matter how good you think you did it doesn't really matter....it just depends how good you did compared to everyone else?

what can ya do. this was my decision! :) smile smile.

see everyone on december 15th!!

thankful for: family.

2010-11-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

i am so lucky to have such a sweet family. normally, thanksgiving is the only time of year where we all get together in the same city. my brother sam, sister-in-law jennifer, niece fiona, and nephew liam come in from california, and my sister lisa and brother-in-law todd come in from minneapolis. we do all the normal thanksgiving stuff; eat a ton, laugh, play, concern ourselves over my parent's dog's weight. this year though, a certain hartley wedding in july substituted our family get together for 2010. i am sad that we can't spend this thanksgiving together, but am thankful for all of the thanksgivings we have had and all that are to come!

last year, we had family pictures taken at loose park over thanksgiving, and it was fuh-reezing, unlike this year's eerie warmth.
they're pretty cute.

fiona and liam, picture posers extraordinaire.

all the girls! jennifer, lisa, mom, fiona, amy, moi.

hot tay-lah and chubbs mccue.

another of liam and fiona, they're so cute!!!!

my sisters and i.

my mom in her cute sweater and my dad in his posh turtleneck. (oh wait, it's a mock turtleneck.)

the guys! taylor, sam, liam, dad, todd.

aaand scene. everyone.

my second bui

2010-11-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

i have to apologize for my previous post. it's pretty annoying and bossy. the chiefs game was on when i was writing it, and why wouldn't i partake in a brewsky or two during the game? and then why wouldn't i get bored and decide to blog? this is turning into a dangerous trend. blogging under the influence. sorry....

Cesar's Way

2010-11-21T13:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I got a dog, and I'm obsessed. exhibit a:

(yes, i look disgusting, and yes, he's allowed on the couch now, but he sleeps on me like that!! how could i say no??)

Anyways, for those of you who are like I used to be, and don't have a dog, or like dogs but are just not crazy crazy about them, you can skip this... because I'll admit, I've turned into a crazy dog lady.

So my dad got me this book:

And I read it in 2 days. Oh.my.goodness. Talk about an EDUCATION. If there were ever to be Cesar Millan flavored kool-aid, I would be chugging it. I will admit, I ate every syllable of this book right up. And learned so, so much. I know there are professionals out there that don't agree with him, but after reading this, that seems a bit dificil. The bottom line is we all love our dogs, and want them to be happy. And this book helps you to do that.

"Cesar's Way" isn't what you would call a "dog training" book. It doesn't give you any specific steps, per se, but instead focuses on broad concepts and generally changing American dog-owning thought. To me, it was all completely logical, but pretty much the opposite (sorta) of how I and most dog owners view our dogs and the relationship we have with them. It starts out with Cesar Millan's own personal history, which is an absolutely amazing story. (Did you know that one of biggest reasons he became so well known and successful was due to Jada Pinkett Smith?) It then moves on to describe his day to day life as the owner of the Dog Psychology Center in L.A., with tons of anecdotes about the rescued dogs he has rehabilitated. The last half of the book tackles common dog problems (agression, fear, phobias, fixations - i.e. going nuts over squirrels and people on walks) and how they are pretty much human created. Dogs live in the moment, and aren't obsessing/dreaming/flipping out about negative past experiences like humans do. So these problems we attribute to their "personalities" really aren't so. We encourage them, and we can also change them.

Ok, it's really obvious that this book had a huge effect on me. I can't stop talking or thinking about it. And I can attest to the fact that Shamus is literally a different dog on our "cesar calm-assertive" walks now. He walks right next to me, doesn't chase squirrels, leaves, or people.

READ this book! Anyone who has a dog or wants to get a dog, it's a perspective that I don't think many of us have, but should. Es magnifico. $8.99 at Costco.

Problems?

2010-11-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

I can't get my posts to format normally. Exhibit A : my previous post. (huge space before the post starts, then the font size is all messed up) Blogger just kinda does whatever it wants. Anyone else have this problem?

Zeitoun - ABR #3

2010-11-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

Wow. This was really tough to read. Not in a bad way, just because it was such a horrifying story. Zeitoun is the true story of a New Orleanian family's experience during and post Hurricane Katrina. Their story is powerfully recorded by Dave Eggers, who is the author of one of my all time favorite books, "What is the What".

The real life hero of the story, Syrian-American Abdulrahman Zeitoun, is the owner of a successful painting and contracting firm, who stays behind after the storm hits, paddling around in a canoe, helping whoever he can.

And then the shocking stuff happens. And it really happened, in our country. Not going to say much more!

Bottom Line: this is an incredible story that deserves to be read.

post i really hope no one reads other than good friends

2010-11-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

I suffer from weirdtothepointofdisturbingdream-itis. 95% of them I would never share. However, this one I had the other night was so funny, and one of the least disturbing and share-able dreams I've ever had, so I thought I would entertain you all with it. This is the most ridiculous and poorly written post ever. I just have nothing to do right now before class starts at 12:40.

Soo...we were all back in college, yet at our current ages. It was rush week, and Pi Phi had this new tiny house. It was old, disgusting, and musty, with a bunch of long hallways that no one knew where they led to. We were trying to get ready for house tours, but everyone was just sitting and talking in this gross dusty living room with 70s furniture that looked like it was from my grandma's house.

I was really stressed out that I was supposed to give a house tour in this house I knew absolutely nothing about, and didn't know where anything was. I was really fixated, however, on making sure to tell everyone "if your rushee asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, just politely explain to her that you don't know, it's a new house, and make sure that you do not interrupt other conversations around you and ask other girls if they know the answer!"

Scene changes. I wander off, find that the sleeping dorms are in this little closet that can only fit beds, so you had to crawl in and once you were laying down the ceiling was like 5 inches from your face. But I was just glad I found them.

Then the rushees show up, and they are in the front yard with a bunch of random people just watching. We start giving the house tours, then everything stops, and I watch as everyone takes their rushee by both hands, and starts dancing in a circle around them and singing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. I didn't know this was going to happen, but I have to follow suit. I grab my girl's hand, (not both, just one) and dance around her like everyone else and start lip synching "A Whole New World". I decided lip synching was the better choice since I had obviously missed the practice.
At this point I am in the front yard, so all the random people are watching me. All of a sudden, I fall down, and land in a little bit of well, number 2. (SEE? It always gets weirder than weird)
My rushee tells me it's hers, she had an accident and doesn't want me to tell anyone.
At this point, I start freaking out because I realize I haven't asked her one question, I've just been talking about really random stuff and had forgotten it was rush. So I ask her what her name is, she says it's Amy.

I can't really remember the rest, but it got even weirder.

What I think this dream means:
A. I'm stressed out. All my dreams are really stressful, where I feel a ton of pressure and confusion and have to just throw something together. Themes of "unpreparedness" are always present.
B. I apparently have some issue with the new "number 2" that is everywhere in our yard due to a new canine friend
C. The girl's name was Amy because right before bed I was talking to Taylor about how weird it is that his family named their dog Amy.
D. I can't figure out why I was so adamant about making sure the girls didn't interrupt other people. All I can think of is that I'm wanting to control something.

and etc. etc.

now everyone else post about a weird dream so I feel normal. :)

ABR # 2

2010-11-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

Second book I wanted to talk about:
A Spot of Bother, by Mark Haddon.

I read this earlier this year. It's Mark Haddon's second novel, (his first is "A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" which I read a couple years ago and loved as well).
This one is completely different, but I actually enjoyed it more.
It's written from 3 different perspectives, however, the main voice is that of George, a 61 year old hypochondriac, depressed, British man. His wife is cheating on him, his daughter is getting married to a guy he hates, his son is gay and doesn't think his dad (or mom) approves, and George think his eczema, "the spot of bother", is cancer.
It's dark, it's sad, but it's hilarious at the same time. I laughed out loud, I gagged, I cried. It's very vivid. I just loved it. Loved, loved, loved it. :)

first video

2010-11-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

we've been waiting for shamus to turn 13 weeks so we could enroll him in this puppy class that came highly recommended, especially for his breed. well, that came, and we weren't able to do it. we're hoping to start one soon though. in the meantime, we had our own improvised obedience class in the living room last night. here is our little man on his first try at tricks! he's surely not perfect yet, but he picked all this up in about 10 minutes!! (braggy mom much?)

(i couldn't get the video to upload on blogger - anyone know why? so i posted on youtube instead....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GYPDUYEyY0

and since i wouldn't click the link if i were you(but it is so cute!!), here are some pics to enjoy from taylor's new iphone SINCE I CAN'T FIND MY CAMERA! major bummer.

he's so cute it's sick!

his ears are so perky! haha.

regal profile.

ABR #1

2010-11-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

When I think of the word "hobby", I think of scrapbooking, running, guitar-playing, or photography.While I wish I had all of those hobbies, ehhh, "not yet". But when I have to fill in the "what are your hobbies?" blank, I feel good that I have at least one I'm not lying about: reading. I get through 3-4 books a month, and since I really love getting book recommendations, I thought I'd share a few of my own.

and so begins part one of my personal series :
Molly's Abridged Book Reviews (or ABR) (abridged because i don't think i'm cool enough or proficient enough to give you a full blown review, but a quick blurb is fine from anyone, right?)

I'll start with The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

I'm starting here because a) I just finished it last night and b) I think it's a book that everyone would really like.

I'm sure many of you have read it, it's uber-publicized and a loyal member of most current best-seller lists. Which usually makes me not want to read it. Snobby, I know. However, this truly was a wonderful page-turner, and I really can't see anyone not falling in love with Aibileen, Minny, or even the "white trash" Cecilia.

I coincidentally re-read To Kill A Mockingbird right before this one, which is also set in Mississippi, civil rights era, so I'll admit at the beginning I had my nose-turned at the stereotyped verbiage and lack of all around Harper Lee perfection....but once I got attached I was LATCHED on. I loved the story, I loved the lessons, and I loved the ending. Pick it up next.

hartley halloween

2010-11-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

k-state homecoming fell on halloween weekend, so our actual "holiday" holiday plans were non-existent. therefore, a very last minute holiday plan was formed around noon on sunday. we went to first watch for brunch, i ordered egg's benedict "since it was a holiday". at brunch, we decided to invite my mom and dad over for dinner and to watch the saints game. next came the grocery store, where i asked taylor if i could buy some gourds to decorate. he said no, and that i could go in our backyard and get some leaves instead. what, am i seven? still, i went home, looked outside, all the leaves on our deck were gross and searching beyond that seemed like too much work. so i took a nap. :)

i made a baked goat cheese appetizer that was delicioso, and a new recipe for baked pesto pasta shells that had sort of a funny taste at dinner but was awesome left over for lunch. taylor decided to make spiced rum spiked apple cider. and that was that! oh, and shamus sufficiently embarrassed us by showing off his great jumping on the couch, biting, barking and peeing on the floor skills!! but my dad was really happy to not cook for the four of us for the first time in well, ever, and we promised him for every 100 meals he cooks us, i'll make one.

next year i promise pictures, costumes, and parties. but i'm okay with our low key halloween numero uno.

mid-monday adventures.

2010-11-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

as i was walking shamus before work this afternoon, i approached a man walking his very small dog. he was a small man, probably my height, maybe in his 40s. and here's our story:

...i walk up, shamus is jumping and visibly excited.
little man: (with what i find to be a high pitched sweet little voice) "hi, look at your dog! is he friendly?"
me: "yeah, he's fine, he's just really hyper!"
man: "oh my, he is so cute. what is your name?"
me: "molly"
man: "i'm sonny. this is new orleans." (pointing to his sort of strange looking tiny tiny dog that i can't quite place the breed)
sonny: (to me) "you are beautiful! what is your sign in the zodiac?"
me: "uhh, capricorn."
sonny: "oh my gosh, that is a WONDERFUL sign!!"
me: (trying to end this zodiac talk) "what kind of breed is new orleans?"
sonny: "he's a chihuahua"
me: "oh yeah!" (feeling really stupid, because everyone knows what a chihuahua looks like but this one is just really bushy and i thought he might be a mix or something)
sonny: "so you must have a birthday coming up in january!"
me: (dammit. he's back on the zodiac stuff) "yeah i guess it's coming up, but it's on christmas day"
sonny: "oh my! the 24th?"
me: "the 25th"
sonny: "is your puppy a collie?"
me: "no he's an australian shepherd."
sonny: "oh wow, they are so cute when they are puppies." "what is his name?"
me: "shamus."
sonny: "oh my gosh, i have never heard of that name before. how unique!"
me: "yeah, it's an irish name"
sonny: "well they are so cute when they are puppies"

...at this point shamus is barking at new orleans and i'm glad i have an out. sonny does not want to stop talking to me. i start to lead my psycho puppy away.

sonny: "well it was so nice to meet you both!"
me: "yeah, you too"

at the end of the street when sonny and new orleans are out of sight, i think to myself:
"that was the funniest, weirdest thing that's happened to me in a really long time"
"but why did sonny keep emphasizing that australian shepherds are so cute when they are puppies? while i truly do NOT want to run into sonny and new orleans again and have another one of the strangest, longest conversations of my life, i do want to prove to sonny that they are cute as adults too."
"i guess these are the kinds of people you meet while walking your dog at 11:15 am on a monday....most people should be at work"
"i think i want to quit this law stuff and be a professional dog walker"
"no wonder we had 3 trick or treaters last night, sonny lives in this neighborhood!!"

the end.

the "-ings" of friday

2010-10-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

on this friday, october 22nd, i am....

Wishing: for this mirror above my mantel.

Thanking: taylor for supporting our family all by himself while i'm a jobless student.

Obsessing: over THIS dress sienna miller wore to some charity event the other day. it's a nina ricci. if i had $5,000 i would buy it. [insert jealousy here]

Planning: on waking up early enough to garage sale it up tomorrow. i'm going for that whole: "oh my gosh, yes, look at all these gorgeous unique accents in my home i stumbled upon for 99 cents and just spruced up a bit". yeah. right. i figure i'll try once though.

Listening: as always, to NPR. this week is the member donation drive, so if anyone wants to donate my share for me, please feel free :) i'll make it up to them one day.

Watching: america's most wanted in criminal procedure today since my professor is out of town. come on man, cancel class instead!!! i wonder how far these re-enactment actors are gonna get in their careers....because i think i've picked out some bright stars.

Craving: that wonderful cotes du rhone from costco. you can crave wine right?

Laughing: at the thought of putting Shamus in this kilt and tam for halloween!! (i know this is Scottish and i advertise Shamus's heritage as Irish, but i think their two great cultures can come together to celebrate my American holiday, yeh?)

Missing: my friends who live near and far! seeing so many a couple weeks ago, like always, was a strong reminder of how lucky i am and how much more i wish i saw everyone!

And Also Thanking: emily griffin for commenting on my post last night, the clapping is working!! i love you!

"leave it!"

2010-10-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

well, i have been sick since last saturday, but am finally feeling ok. the highlight of my week, however, has been reading 'to kill a mockingbird' for the first time since it was assigned in 9th grade. it's such an extraordinary book, i can't get enough of it. i will be so sad when i'm done!

in puppy news, shamus has a nipping/biting problem. :) (that smiley face was sarcastic.)
i know he'll grow out of it, but we are in a constant battle, and i think he might be winning. those teeth are sharp.

and don't worry, if he can't be chewing on ME, he sneaks in our room to snatch the next best thing!

30 rock live

2010-10-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

my fall tv line up was missing a BIG one. 30 Rock!

one of my absolute favorites. ever.

anyways, tonight's episode is live, and here's hoping they will pull it off! i'm so excited. it's supposed to have a John Hughes-themed plot line where everyone forgets Liz's birthday.

ready, set, DVR!

extra, extra!

2010-10-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

http://aldifoods.com/us/html/offers/offers_10_20_2010_ENU_HTML.htm?WT.z_src=main

aldi's special buys as of October 20 are the best yet!
theme: "the italian cook"
lasagna noodles, rigatoni, assorted pestos, nicer EVOO, roasted red peppers, risotto, ravioli, angel hair, pizza crust, marinated mozzarella, cookbooks, and more! all things i had to go to hyvee to get...are now at my personal mecca.

aaannndd, nabisco 100 calorie packs! $1.99. yes.

pointless post about shamus

2010-10-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

so, other than going pee in his kennel, refusing to "come", refusing to walk on his leash, jumping, biting, etc. etc. etc., shamus is still getting cuter and sweeter every day!
i know this is all to be expected and more, i just can't wait until he's old enough for real obedience lessons. i'm exhausted!

new collar and new toy!

ok. i promise these boring blog posts about my dog will not become a habit :)

life with shamus

2010-10-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

sooo....this is the first time i've been able to sit down and write about my adorable, sweet, smart, hellion of a puppy!
taylor and i had been looking at miniature australian shepherds for about a year off and on, but after an awesome weekend in denver with adam, jamie, liz, and the smith's dog luna, we both decided we were 100% ready. we got home from denver last monday, immediately got on the net to 'seriously' look for our dog, and just couldn't find the perfect one....but pretty much at the same time we both perked up at the thought of getting a full size aussie instead of a mini. it was sort of a 'duh' moment for both of us. since we were so ready to be pet parents, that extra 15-20 pounds really wasn't an issue anymore, and regular aussies seemed like the better choice for a number of other reasons. so i googled australian shepherd breeders in kansas and missouri, and ran across our man! the perfect color, ready the next day at eight weeks old, male, about $400 less than most of the other breeders we were looking at and only 3 hours away! everything on our list! we called and arranged to meet in macon, missouri the next day. i skipped class for the second day in a row, got in the car, and came home 5 and a half hours later with a dog! it all happened so fast but it was just too good to be true! and when we saw him, it was even better. Shamus O'Toole McCue Hartley rode home on my lap, sweetly endured the longest, most indecisive trip to petsmart ever, met my mom and dad, slept through the night in his kennel, and became the love of our lives!!

over the six days we have had him, he has:
- been taken outside probably 100+ times, and pees EVERY time
- visited three vets to pick out his fave, then made his parents extremely happy by deciding to be painfully tired during his actual vet visit so that he seemed like the best dog ever but really he was just half passed out
- been dragged on about eight walks where his herding instincts run rampant so he runs right into your ankles....and me being the paranoid first time puppy owner seriously thought he was blind....thank god i was just dumb.
- been the pickiest little dude ever with treats, we had to go through four kinds to get it right. snob. :)
- made his mom talk to people in her "dog praise" voice on accident...
- had two play dates with gus, my family's 11 year old moron of a dog who is scared shitless of this 9 pound puppy who herds him around the back yard and steals his kong.
- made an appearance at the UMKC law softball tournament, therefore making taylor and i the most popular people there
- visibly grown. a lot. he won't be small for long at all!
- been liking me and taylor equally!! yes! i was so nervous i'd be second in line to my dog whisperer of a husband :)

he's a TON of work but so worth it!

posing for the camera. really, he does it!

please ignore my strange bang-thang.

p.s. my name is pronounced "shay-miss" or "shay-mus". i'm not a female orca whale named "shamoo". it is an alternate spelling of the irish name seamus, the gaelic equivalent of james. yeah, i'm a bad ass.

my fall tv line-up

2010-09-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

what i'm watching:

last night was the first time i've ever seen modern family. where. have. i. been??? i was almost in tears in the first five minutes, when the gay husband said he didn't think he'd be a very inspiring disabled person.
i can't wait to catch up....add it to the list.

top chef just desserts - everyone knows how fanatical i am about top chef. not quite sold on this one yet....but i'm not giving up, it looks like the contestants are gonna get really bitchy.

mad men - this season keeps getting better. peggy and joan are KILLING me they're so amazing. don's getting it together....and i can't wait to see how he'll screw it up again. if you are not a mad men viewer, become one, but start at season one, don't just pick it up. you're missing too much.

project runway - i will be so sad when this season comes to an end. i could write a whole post on how much i love mondo. mondo mondo mondo!!!! gretchen and ivy = grossyuck.

boardwalk empire - completely satisfied with the series premiere. hbo already picked it up for a second season and i think it's gonna be a gritty, dirty winner. they got me with al capone. i'm so predictable.

keeping up with the kardashians - BRUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'd give you all the space in the garage you'd ever need and more!

real housewives of d.c. - i can't wait for machine guns to erect themselves from michaela's fem-bot boobies. seriously, she's gonna break, people! her passive aggression can't stay like this forever! who names their daughter lolly by the way? i know she liked molly better but wanted to be edgy.

(ahh! nightmares!)

tosh.o - i'm in so deep i might become an actual tweeting fan. or start planning my future viewer video of the week.

the event - ehhhh, lame. but it had vague traces of alias and lost like it was supposed to and might pan out to be a decent wannabe replacement.

glee - will it ever get better than p-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face?? doubtful, but i am SO excited for britney.

jersey shore - promiscuous, talentless losers getting paid a billion dollars an episode and it's still this good?? how is this possible?? pauly d stole my heart this season. he and rocio are waiting to smush and it's so sweet. i can't believe vinny's girl didn't show up for the date! he got a fresh tight fade for you, sweetheart, show some gratitude!!

and COMING SOON....

the office - please please please redeem yourself for the final season. something so good for so long can't go out in the slump it's currently in. i have faith in you, writers!

bored to death - can't wait for season two. schwartzman + galifianakis + danson = brilliant.

eastbound and down - again, ready to get f-ed up with some truth.

real housewives of atlanta - "ooohhhhh, that kim, that dirty, low-down, monkey wid a wig on, mmmh!" - nene.

real housewives of [insert city here]- they could add duluth. i'd still watch it.
GOOOO bravo.

if my kids ever watch this much tv, i'll kill them. or lock them in some nature.
-molly

stuff white people like

2010-09-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com - if you are bored, read the full list. yet another funny, useless way to fill your day.

here is one of my personal favorites:

#72 Study Abroad

February 22, 2008 by clander

In addition to accumulating sexual partners, binge drinking, drug use and learning, white people consider studying abroad to be one of the most important parts of a well rounded college education.

Study Abroad allows people to leave their current educational institution and spend a semester or a year in Europe or Australia. Though study abroad are offered to other places, these two are the overwhelming favorites.

By attending school in another country, white people are technically living in another country. This is important as it gives them the opportunity to insert that fact into any sentence they please. “When I used to live in [insert country], I would always ride the train to school. The people I’d see were inspiring.”

If you need to make up your own study abroad experience, they all pretty much work the same way. You arrived in Australia not knowing anybody, you went out to the bar the first night and made a lot of friends, you had a short relationship with someone from a foreign country, you didn’t learn anything, and you acquired a taste for something (local food, beer, fruit). This latter point is important because you will need to be able to tell everyone how it is unavailable in your current country.

It is also important that you understand the study abroad ranking system. Europe/Australia form the base level, then Asia, then South America, and finally the trump card of studying abroad in Tibet. Then there is the conversation killer of studying abroad in Africa. If you studied in Africa, it is usually a good idea to keep it quiet, it will remind white people that they were too scared to go and they will feel bad. Use this only in emergencies.

and guess what? i'm just as cliche as i thought i was. dammit!! my freaking haircut is on the list.

taylor and another white girl with bangs - artistic, deep, and popular. duh.

#104 Girls with Bangs

June 27, 2008 by clander

If you see a white woman and you are trying to figure out whether she is liked or just merely tolerated by white people, the best thing you can do is get a quick look at her haircut. It is a known fact that white people love women who wear their hair with bangs that hang straight down.

A number of very popular white women have worn this hairstyle including Joni Mitchell, Jane Birkin, Jenny Lewis and every girl ever photographed by Vice Magazine or the Cobrasnake. (Note: it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with these two things as they are both beloved by cool white people. Follow up note: these same things are hated by cooler white people).

Many people associate this type of haircut with children and people looking for the most efficient way to get hair out of their eyes. But for white people, this simple haircut makes a bold declaration by saying that the wearer is artistic, deep, and has probably dated a guy in a band you like. Of course, as with many things loved by white people, simple often means expensive and these haircuts usually cost upwards of $100.

It is essential for you to know this haircut is more than a mere fashion statement– it is an important cultural marking. Throughout the world, many cultures feature ceremonies to announce that a girl has become a woman. For white people, the haircut-with-bangs is an important symbol that a female has completed her transformation from a nerdy girl to a cool woman. In fact, if you went to high school with a nerdy white girl who moved to a big city, there is a good chance she will show up to your high school reunion with this haircut.

When you are introduced to a group of white people, it’s a good idea to befriend the girl with the bangs. She’s probably the most popular.

it's a sign!

2010-09-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

for no reason other than boredom, i decided to make brownies this afternoon, and the second i pop them in the oven taylor comes upstairs with a bunch of my stuff that was left in his office. what was right on top of the pile? a freaking Shape magazine. so i read it, as the brownie smell filled the air, and it was the most depressing situation ever.

i mean really, how many times can one say: "i'll start tomorrow?"

anyways, had a really fun time at the early k-state game at arrowhead on saturday, and proceeded to making an absolute fool of myself that night interpretive dancing to this really emo serious music. (the band is called "the xx" - they are incredible. so incredible they moved me to the art of dance.)

welp, off to go draft a fake pre-nup for family law....HOW FUN!!!!

offended.

2010-09-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

my dad's tacos are T-H-E best ever. they were one of my favorite meals growing up, and if i don't say so myself, i do a pretty darn job of re-creating them. you fry corn tortillas in oil for just a second on each side to soften and warm them, (it also adds a ton of flavor), and the taco meat MUST be made with Lawry's Taco seasoning only! Absoltutely no exceptions.

taylor is not a huge fan. it pisses me right off.

so tonight at dinner i decided the only way to settle our taste differences will be to use our future children. i am positive that our kids will love these tacos, so i will win, and we'll eat them for the rest of our lives. i mean, yes, they could possibly prefer a less flavorful taco seasoning and crappy store bought hard shells, and then taylor wins this battle. but they have to decide!!!

note: taylor and i are not planning on having kids anytime soon. also, i realize that the above way of thinking boils down to me using kids to drive a wedge between my marriage. even if it's just so i can continue to enjoy my favorite food, that's bad. but i still thought about it, which proves even more so that i will not be having kids for some time.

xoxo,
molly who has had three beers and will probably delete this post tomorrow.

killer photography

2010-09-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

i'm sure this is redundant, since most of you that read this bliggity blog are also facebook friends, but i couldn't skip a post featuring our wedding photos.

taylor and i picked becca spears from wirken photography about a month after our engagement, and although it was a tough decision since photography is so expensive, the second we signed the contract we did not experience an ounce of buyer's remorse. once we got the courage to do it, we were just kinda like, well duh!!

and she SURELY did not disappoint. instead of sending her clients their photos whenever they are ready, wirken photography (which just consists of becca and her partner, tyler wirken) hosts a "viewing party" where clients can invite whoever they want to come to the studio, drink champagne, and re-live your whole wedding day through the most amazing slideshow ever, to music that perfectly fits your personalities. my mom, dad, and i were all crying within five minutes. they know what they're doing.

some of my favorites:

my cousin's son simon is SOOOO girl-crazy. the night of the rehearsal was the first time he met fiona, and he was in love. (he was also in love with pretty much every girl there, and has an imaginary girlfriend named sarah). he's the most hysterical kid ever!!!! we talked to him a couple nights ago and he described in detail what he wanted his next girlfriend to look like: "long blond hair, the same color as mine, and NO PONYTAILS!!"

I love this picture so much.

I had no idea these ones would turn out so cool! We snuck out of the reception right after dinner to go up to the roof and take these - such a relaxing break!

This cracks my shit up.

becca posted this one on her blog as one of her favs, and i couldn't agree more!

we're married!

beautiful wedding par-tay!

i over-looked this photo the first night. now it's one of my favorites.

soooo good lookin.

jim thome, ladies and gentlemen.

haha, for some reason i am obsessed with this picture....and that reason would be jake tunnell.

ok i'm stopping here, there are way too many!!!

the point is, I couldn't be happier. when I saw becca's blog post of her favorite 30 or so photos, it took me about 6 hours to figure out what to say in my blog comment. i just couldn't put into words how special, perfect, extraordinary, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome these pictures are!!!

Aldi Love

2010-09-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

There is an Aldi 1.2 miles from our house. And let's just say, Taylor and I are a bit more than fans. Thank you Carly Smith, for showing me the light and allowing me to pass it on to my frugal husband.

So I took him there for the first time about three weeks ago and he was utterly in shock. He could not stop picking things up and exclaiming "OH MY GOD! We are never shopping anywhere else AGAIN!!" And then as we were checking out, who do we see? None other than the business suit -sporting hottie herself, Carly Smith - taking applications from a long line of potential employees. Small world, since the Aldi we go to isn't even one of the stores in her district. Taylor came home and couldn't stop gushing about how awesome Aldi was. He even asked me if he should write on Carly's facebook wall and tell her how much he loved it. Again. Bahahaha....

Anyways, I am absolutely obsessed with how much money you save and have kept every single receipt from every grocer (proof below) to go home and furiously compare and tell my husband how much less everything is at Aldi, as if I personally did something really extraordinary and deserve a reward or something. So far, I have not found one thing that you can get for less money anywhere else, even with a coupon, except for Milk. It's cheaper at Costco. But that's the ONLY thing!! (Ok and I think maybe eggs are cheaper at Costco, and they're also a better grade, but you have to buy like five dozen at a time and even though Taylor could manage to finish off 5 dozen eggs in two weeks, they're just really too heavy for me to handle and freak me out. Ok, I digress)

On that note, I am going to turn into a taquito. A gloriously cheap, yet surprisingly delicious Aldi taquito. I.can't.stop.eating.them. I only microwave one at a time, so I feel like I'm just having a teeny snack, but then I go back to the freezer and the microwave four times in the four minutes that follow. Ok writing this down just made me realize that my snack is turning into fourthmeal.

Hello from Mrs. Hartley

2010-08-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

well, we did it! the wedding was a blast, the honeymoon was spectacular, and now we're back to "normal" life! taylor works from home, so he showers about once every four days and refuses to wear shirts. my last fall semester has begun, and i am enrolled in: immigration law and process (which i'm banking on being my first class ever where i know what the hell is going on from day one to the day of the final - boo yah.), family law, constitutional law II, administrative law, and criminal procedure. yep, boring old school. but being a 3L isn't that bad so far, and little miss chesney allen has joined the ranks at UMKC this year, so i have a fellow K-Stater!! FINALLY!!

other than that, my life as a wife consists of exactly what it did before: an excess of Bravo TV, just as many trips to T.J. Maxx to try and decorate the house for less than a bajillion bucks, dreams of our future miniature australian shepherd, and trying to learn how to be a successful cook. i think about food 24 hours a day. still. overall, life is lovely and we're having so much fun spending all of our time together. we also have a new Keurig coffee maker, so that's pretty much bomb. (among other awesome kitchen appliances and dishes and bakeware, oh my!)

looking forward to this weekend for the first KSU tailgate of the year!

more to come soon.....

one month!

2010-06-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

taylor and i's wedding is one month from today! there is so much to do, i feel like i'm going to be sick at least eight times a day. but all will get done and our day will be wonderful....and i just need to remember that. i'm so so excited!

Whew!

2010-05-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

Sooo.....after months of finding the right paper, 8 etsy orders of buttons, 3 reprints on the craft paper - only to find out we needed a "foil stamp" method from another printing company, 1 reprint on the main invitation due to a wrong pantone color, about 10 address mix ups, tracking down the only post office in kansas city that carried that brand new monarch butterfly 64 cent stamp so I wouldn't have to have a cartoon dolphin stamp, figuring out how to close the envelopes, and finally, tying them all together with twine - a job that took eight hours to complete 150 invitations, etc. etc. etc......THE WEDDING INVITATIONS ARE IN THE MAIL!! :)

I did want to write this post to warn you all, however, that the RSVP cards are terrible. The ink is the wrong color, the font size is wrong, and the size of the RSVP card itself is wrong. It was just too late to fix, after they'd already been stamped. So please, just fill it out and get rid of it so you don't have to look at it!! :) Hahaha...I'm sure that was unnecessary, but you know me, I am a tad particular.

So yay! I can't wait to start getting them back and get this par-tay started!

working woman

2010-05-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

all alone in the office today....
"what?" ..... you ask...."molly has a JOB?"
yes sireee...Molly McCue, law clerk extraordinaire at the Law Offices of Angela L. Williams, an immigration attorney in KC, MO.
se habla espanol. (i can't figure out how to put the tilde above the n)

anyways, Angie, my boss is at court all day today and I'm holding down the fort. trying to remember to take deep breaths and remember that I don't have to talk as fast in Spanish back to them as they are speaking to me. I am struggling a bit, but with my trusty spanish dictionary that I've had since 7th grade, I'm making it through the day.

I just hope the whole Hispanic community isn't discussing the new moron answering phones down at the help me stay in the country office.

On another note : Who's ready to get LOST tonight??!!

almost a 3L!!!

2010-05-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

in four and a half hours i will be done with my second year of law school. hallelujah. my take-away from the semester:

products liability - if you're hurt by a product, sue. you might win.

evidence - if it sounds funny, object. if it's hearsay, there's probably an exception.

gender and justice - feminism should not be a dirty word. this country has an astonishing domestic violence problem.

estates and trusts - make a will. if you die intestate, the state will probably dispose of your property in a way you wouldn't have opted for.

appellate advocacy - good god. uhhhh --- this is probably another blog post.

another invitation....

2010-04-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

speaking of paper products,
here is the proof of the the cute invitations i got for my roommate courtney's bachelorette party!! i'm so excited, we're having a pool party during the day, and one of her best friend's brothers and his friends are flying in from colorado to be our cabana boys :)

it's a die cut invitation, so it will be the shape of the drinks (for some reason in the picture below it looks like it has a white background - nope)
i still have to attach a little piece of cute paper with her lingerie sizes with some ribbon, but i'm pretty excited!! and i'm pretty stoked about my poetry skills.

teaser

2010-04-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

as many of you know, my affinity for all things paper runs deep.
therefore, designing wedding invitations has been quite an ordeal.
however, it is all coming together beautifully, and when you open yours up, (hopefully sometime between May 19 and 25...hopefully) you will find a little something of this sort:

i'm not telling you any where, what, or hows....but a button may be incorporated. and it's gonna be cute.

ok who cares. i'm just really excited.

on another note: wondering where this sudden burst of blog activity is coming from? let's just say it's not a coincidence finals are coming up these next two weeks. woopsies.

YESS!!

2010-04-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

today I registered for these:

so that one day, i am able to make this:

this was the cake at courtney and davie's couples shower this past weekend. it was so freaking cute, i had googly eyes for it all night. the hostess's sister in law just whipped it up. WHAT??!!! who can do that??!

hopefully me. my new goal is to one day create this exact cake. sorry for spoiling the surprise, future friend or family member who i make this in honor of!! xoxo. molly.

two weddings down, twelve to go!!!

2010-04-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, you heard me .... in the year of 2010, Taylor and I have FOURTEEN weddings to go to. The Robbens were number one, on January 2nd, and Brittany and Jimmy followed up on April 10!! So the summer of love has begun! I love weddings.

Brittany and Jimmy's beautiful day was such a blast, and Brittany looked absolutely positively gorgeous! Cheers to the Carters!

look at that bride!!!

we are all so lucky to have so many great friends. :)

overdue

2010-04-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

well, we had a blast in Spain....minus a few hiccups which of course, must occur when traveling internationally! (you know...delayed flights, delayed train rides, lost luggage, 24 hour pukey flus, etc. etc.)
here are a few pics:

by the beach in barcelona

out for drinks and dinner in sevilla!

market in barcelona...mmmmm CHOCOLATE!

the sagrada familia, gaudi's partially finished masterpiece

strategies

2010-02-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

I'm trying EVERYTHING I CAN to be a successful student today and finish my brief (ok - start AND finish).

One of these strategies for success included getting a cupcake to elevate my mood, from "Cupcakes a la Mode" up the street. It was glorious, and yes, I do feel a little less depressed about this paper.

I guess what I'm saying is that you should check this place out if you too are having a bummer day! (My cupcake of choice today: second row, second in from the right)

what's up

2010-02-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

Cello blog world -- haven't updated in awhile! I keep going back and forth of whether or not I want to continue doing this, but I guess I'll just keep it and enter posts sporadically... here goes:

1. My sister is in SPAIN!! Studying abroad for the semester in Sevilla, Kansas City's "sister" city. I am so proud of her, she went all by herself...something I could probably never, ever do. Her blog is www.amymccue.blogspot.com - and she's doing a great job of keeping us uncultured folk, well, cultured. ...AND....drumroll...my mom and I are going to visit her March 26-April 3!! SO so excited. We're definitely hitting up Sevilla and Barcelona, and might make a quick stop in Malaga as well. Can't say enough about how stoked I am.

2. Taylor and I went to the Super Bowl! Our team won! Nuff said.

3. Semester is well under way, taking a class called "Gender and Justice" and am unable to watch a commercial without assessing how it's reinforcing gender stereotypes in our culture. yikes.

4. We sent out our Save the Dates!! It was quite the process to figure out how to get those puppies lookin right, but I'm really pleased. It's all starting!! Invitations are on the docket right now, as well as just generally working on consolidating my overall wedding vision into something more cohesive. While I do not love dealing with the stress of narrowing down 2million vendors to one, nor the stress of THE BUDGET and the robbery the entire industry is able to commit, I do love planning this wedding. I cannot wait for July 23. It still doesn't seem real. But it's been a super positive experience, I have found some wonderful vendors, and it's all just WAY too much up my alley. In almost every meeting I go to I am asked why exactly I am in law school and not a wedding planner. I'm sure a lot of brides get that though. I don't think it's that hard to be super excited about the kick ass party you're planning.

5. Jillian Michaels is currently "shredding" my bod. Ha. Kinda. Been doing this for about 4 weeks (skipping a few days here and there)....and I feel super strong, and see a huge difference. Will let ya know after 30 days whether or not "shredded" is the word that comes to mind.

...until next time.

future blog title

2009-12-30T11:28:00.000-08:00

it came to me last night.
i couldn't sleep - and in between thoughts of bathroom wall colors, my f-ing sore throatyness, and REGISTRIES :), i realized what the name of my blog will be when i am married and therefore have a different last name.

Drumroll Please....

"THE FONTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY"

get it? after Chace Crawford's 2008 flop of a horror film? and then hopefully the word "fonting" catches on like Gretchen Weiners wanted the word "fetch" to catch on. with better luck though. it will be in the dictionary as: "writing in cute, different, fonts."

bahahah.....i so funny.

winter not-so break

2009-12-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

well, I finished some finals, immediately flew to New Orleans to watch the future brother in law kick a football, came back and celebrated a holiday and a couple birthdays, and now am successfully procrastinating TO THE MAX a certain 4,000 word paper due on January 6th. Yes, that is in 8 days. GRRR GRRR GRRR....no fun!

I think I'm just writing this to explain to everyone (hahaha - which sounds like I think a lot of people read this) why I am so M.I.A.

please have faith that one day I will re-enter the social sphere and party like it's 1999. Until that day, I can be found in the law school library, with the seven other losers who waited this long to finish this damn thing.

the requisite engagement picture post :)

2009-12-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

Taylor and I went in to Becca's studio this morning to view our engagement pictures!! Besides myself being a tad hungover from my roomie's bday extravaganza and taylor being a bit peeved about his being pulled over on the way to the studio for his window tinting being too dark (yeah, i'm marrying a thug. ain't nothin but a g-thang), we had so much fun seeing them. I was super nervous that I would look chubby and lame in each one, but Becca is talented. Like woah. I have no idea how she does what she does, I am just so happy and lucky. Beyond beyond pleased. Here are a few she put on her blog. (wirkenblog.com ---- also, to see the rest ---and I can't believe I'm actually doing this, this is quite vain -- go to wirkenphoto.com, click "login", scroll down to "Molly and Taylor engagement" and our password is "molly".) Ha. I did it.

becca and i have some beef about this one - she was supposed to photoshop out my sideburn..

a bit cheese - but awesome leaves :) that rhymed.

this is going to be the cover of our photo-book guestbook thingy. lots of negative space so we can super-impose our wedding date on the left. BALLA!!!

Taylor's fave.

...and these are two taken at Il Centro - our favorite restaurant and rehearsal dinner location. "awww."

difficulties in making mature decisions

2009-12-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

keeping up with this bloggy blog is a bit tough. my life, is seriously, not that interesting!
having said that, i guess it's time for an update.
Taylor convinced me to go "just see" the breeder and their three litters of puppies a few weekends ago. BAD idea, because we decided that we're going to wait until we live together to get a dog and share the responsibilities equally, so falling in love and having to say no made pretty much no sense, we should have just waited until we were ready to buy a dog until we started "just seeing". AHHH!!! I seriously didn't sleep for three nights after this kennel visit thinking of names for this little guy. But the visit definitely solidified our decision on this breed, and we can't wait to buy a dog from them around this time next year.

I am the dog wheeeesperer. (Bob, the black one on the left was our fave. Betty, on the right, was another favorite. oh God. this is so depressing. i love them so much)
Also, the dog in my lap is Matthew, one of four male puppies named oh so piously - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. HA!!

he's so sweet! don't worry - we will have one for your entertainment one day! xoxo - my heart-broken self.

best.saturday.ever.

2009-11-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

woke up today....to a re-creation of my favorite First Watch breakfast item: the avocado, tomato, bacon skillet (complete with eggs, potatoes, and cheese - HELLO heart attack, I hear ya knockin!) from my gloriously sweet, lovely fiance. and a mimosa. and coffee, and a sprig of mint and orange slices as a garnish. Haha. I never give Taylor enough credit for being so wonderful. I am slowly recognizing a serious fear of being too cheesy and love-y. But there's nothing wrong with that, and I need to embrace my inner cheesedick. So here I am, thanking you publicly Taylor! I love you!

"spotted." xoxo.

2009-10-27T12:59:00.000-07:00

Pi Phi pledge class reunion in Manhattan this weekend...very successful tailgate in even more successful t-shirts. (best ever - who knew heathered eggplant could be such a hit??)
Short Synopsis:
Forgot to wear my engagement ring because the night before it looked very nice and shiny so I didn't sleep with it on because I didn't want to un-shine it. And then we had to wake up at 4:45 in the morning to drive to Manhattan - so I forgot it. Insisted on wearing a glove on my left hand regardless of my body temperature to avoid my own personal gossip girl moment in this world : "spotted. molly mccue without her bling. trouble in paradise, taylor and molly??"( -- in Gossip Girl/Kristen Bell's omniscient voice-over voice)
Chesney told me I looked like Michael Jackson, so I took the glove off. I lived.

Moving On:
Ali Moore brought her beautiful, beautiful dog Franklin to the tailgate. He sat on Taylor's lap for 45 minutes. Taylor decides he would like a dog.
I look up breeders for miniature Australian Shepherds...I fall in love. We talk a lot about it and probably are going to wait...but here's some pics - so you, my dear reader, can fully understand the cuteness we're dealing with:

this is a small real-life sample of females available right now...all in Missouri and Kansas. (p.s. - NOT paying that much for a dog - juust wanted to show you those profiles!)
anyways - this is the debate - and the only reason it's even under consideration before we're married is because Harley, Schoon's perfect angelic dog is living under Taylor's roof and would be a great trainer/example for a puppy to grow up around.
Many pros and cons which need to be weighed, but we are so very tempted. :)
Hmmm....we'll see.

2009-10-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hilary Duff is ruining Gossip Girl for me! Somebody get her outta there! Thank God Chuck's haircut looks so good.

guilty

2009-10-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's funny, I often recall a very vivid memory of one particular Sociology class, my junior year in high school. We were talking about pop culture - and the recent development and prevalence of these new found "reality tv shows". We were asked to yell out names of such shows and Mr. Johnson wrote them all on the board. And I remember, honest to God, only having heard of two: The Real World, and Survivor. There were maybe 10-20 written on the board by the end of the discussion, including the Bachelor, Big Brother, and some others...and I felt like such a loser for having never heard of them.

I miss that girl.

I mean, what the F is it about the Kardashians, (other than my main man Bruce, obviously) that intrigues me so? Is it the lightning speed at which Kourtney talks? Is it her super suave boyfriend Scott's haircut? Is it Kim and Reggie's fake relationship and their intimate ichats??
Khloe and Lamar Odom's one month courtship and subsequent TV marriage is fascinating, I must say...but were the 100 mile away paparazzi snapshots of the expected 8 bajillion floral arrangements and lavender-clad bridesmaids really worth the $4.00 I spent on a stupid OK! magazine just to sneak a peak of??? The answer is No. And I am so a part of what is wrong with this world.

Hmmm....I'm going to work on this.

i'll join them next time.

2009-09-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

Courtney, Davie, and Taylor are doing P90X in our living room. All three of them, standing in a staggered formation.

I joined in on the warm-up but decided it best to sit this one out, because it dawned on me that I would have to shower if I went any further. ehhh..Nu-uh.

So yeah...grab your bands, grab your weights, and get ready to get Xed.
Has anyone ever seen this thing?

For those of you who are not familiar with P90X, neither was I until this occasion...and I must tell you, Joe "the tricep boy", Blonde Dawn with her rippling abs, and of course, Mystic-Tanned Tony, our fearless leader who refers to his 6,000 pound dumbbells as "his weapons" are quite the package. Today is the "arms, shoulders, and abs dvd" day for my fit friends, which I assumed would only last like, 45 minutes, and would conveniently end about 3 minutes before Top Chef starts tonight. Well, I underestimated Tony...I mean, you're getting "Xed, people" by the Rip King, stop your whining and work out for 2 hours. Thank God for Tivo. I hear some moaning...I think it's time for me to go cheer-lead or something.

there's just something so inspiring when Tony (pictured above) peers through that tv screen and screams at my fiance: "get it up! get it up! get it up!".

something i need to get over.

2009-09-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

I would rather be cleaning a stranger's bathroom while simultaneously visiting the dentist than talk to a really smart, intimidating, Scottish-raised professor one-on-one in his office.
But I gotta do it! In 15 minutes.
So please, let's all pray that I don't look like Elle Woods with a red face and instead come off as an almost-brunette, incredibly intelligent, second year law student that has researched my paper topic for 2 weeks instead of 2 hours.
bahhhhhh!!!!

pumping iron

2009-09-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

My friend Nancy and I joined a gym "as a couple" for the cheaper rate this morning. And I worked out in the morning for the first time ever! And then I got home and couldn't keep my balance from jello-ey muscles. Now I'm craving Goodcents because the courtroom smells like Goodcents. Good day.

thoughts

2009-09-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Question of the day:
How many facebook albums do you think are named "Party in the USA"/some derivation of that song title/some segment of its lyrics? LOTS.
And this phenom is attributable to Miley Cyrus??
OMG.
But I would be a liar if I denied swinging my hips like yeah... noddin my head like yeah... from time to time.
And it's all your fault Brittany Bruns! If you didn't make your tiny dog's head nod I would be able to successfully hate the song like I want to!!
So please, Brittany, take a video of Milly's Miley dance and put it on your blog so the whole world can understand why I can't get through telling the story of her dancing because I'm laughing so hard...I think it will make many people's days.
And what the hell kind of a name is Miley? Gross.

On another note, wedding dress shopping is frustrating.

And lastly, I am very much looking forward to this weekend!

Friday - Plaza Art Fair - one of my favorite events ever.
This year's GOAL: more art, less pineapple infused vodka.

Saturday - Manhattan - my sister's dad's weekend, whole family in attendance.
GOAL: either stay sober enough to avoid any sort of hangover on Sunday and be productive
-or-
get just tipsy enough to experience unnecessary hunger pangs and enjoy a guiltless trip to Pita Pit.

The fact that there is even an alternative to Goal One is horribly ridiculous....but please, try to stay off the edges of your seats until Monday when I report which goal came to fruition.

because eating something that's not that good unless you can't remember eating it clearly justifies a hangover. duh.

On the brain:

2009-09-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

yum...fatty food. i hate weight watchers.

ehhh...natural law and jus cogens?? whatev.

beer...mmmm...weekend.

the word "menu" is written in a really cute font.

get skinny as this bi-och to fit into one of these.

and lastly, who cares?? i think along with the creation of the blog came the creation of the term: "TMI". sorry.

NOTE: this was an exercise in posting pictures and labels. this took far too long and I still don't get it. someone please tell me why it looks so sloppy.

2009-09-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

Here I am, shamefully blogging right now --- and maybe I was a little hard on myself, if I had taken this picture last year at the same time I'd be wearing a Pi Phi t-shirt, not something civilized, and gray - which clearly shows my maturity :). I don't like the font options on this blogger thing. I will most likely spend the next thirty minutes trying to figure out how to change that....and then I'll read International Law. Promise.

p.s. will a seasoned blogger tell me how to position pictures after you write?? rather than before, to the left or to the right? this is vital!

Terrific.

2009-09-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

I got my swim trunks, and my bloggy bloggy.

I got a blog. I got a blog!

Everybody look at me cuz I'm writing on a blog.

-Molly McCue, credit: The Lonely Island

Oh how did I give in so easily? While most bloggers have new homes to showcase, cities to conquer, or travels to document, I sit on the same couch in the same tiny apartment as I have for the past two years, neglecting the same homework that is due in an hour, creating the same self-induced and easily preventable anxiety as last semester and the semester before that.

However, my lack of a strict schedule and excess of down-time often leads to laziness, and I feel that "journaling" in a sense could act as a release, therefore motivating me to stop pouring over wedding blogs and watching Stephen Colbert and start my damn homework. So yes. I will blog. And it will be theme-less and most likely boring.