Libby in L.A. (and some celeb stalking)

Libby moved to L.A. She is going to USC to expand her mind in grad school and be her genius self!

One time we had a par-tay to say goodbye:

Just getting in some last minute gossip. FYI: This is a picture of a Polaroid! Martha brought a Polaroid camera for some photo fun. 

Then Lib started texting us from her new home. She is taking Hollywood VERY seriously. Celeb sightings will probably take precedence over studying. Actually, I bet she will sit at Kate Summerville (multiple locations) so much (aka missing class) just to see if she can spot Lauren Conrad! Obviously LC will remember her, they already met once before. Although, she probably remembers me better, she DID compliment my outfit after all.

Here is some of the gold we have received thus far:

This is obviously Mario Lopez being his smoking hot AC Slater self. Just taping Extra at The Grove!...so people like Libby can creep on him.

I'm sorry you just wasted your time reading this waste of a post! TGIF.

Elephants and Jessie Spano.

I wish I had pictures of Jessie Spano on an Elephant. But alas, this is not nearly as cool as that!

The good thing about living your life and not posting for 2 weeks, is that you actually have some stuff to post when you decide to start again! Crazy. How do people do this every day? Their lives must be far more exciting than my own. I actually have stuff on file for later! I think this is the first time that has ever happened to me.

The news in the neighborhood is this: Elephants has opened! Think delicious food, grab and go treats, a full bar, Stumptown coffee… etc. And it is a couple blocks from my home. This is going to be amazing for my life and terrible for my budget. When I saw that they were open, my response was similar to Jessie Spano on Caffeine pills. “I’m so excited! I’m so excited!... I’m so…SCARED!” Excited for the food, scared for my wallet.

Friendship Frittata at Elephants on Corbett! It isn't actually called that, but it should be. 

Big thanks to Jessie Spano for perfectly articulating how I feel:

Elephants (not the animal), if you read this and want to give me free stuff, please email me. I would jump at the chance to sell out! Especially if mac and cheese or Mama Leone’s soup is promised.

Elephants (the animal), If you read this, congrats! You can read! That is crazy. I thought you were only good at painting. Please forgive my ignorance. Do you want to come be my pet? Simply buy me a house with a big backyard first. You also need to hire a wrangler and a poop scooper. That is not something I will be doing.

Summer rain and real life.

Long time no post!

I have been busy enjoying the sunshine! But today it rained for the first time in a month. Oh my gosh the rain smelled so good! I know that is weird, but the smell of summer rain is one of my favorite things! Not candles that are scented as summer rain. Those usually smell disgusting. Like how “cotton” scent exists… basically, it is dryer sheet sent as a candle. Ummm…  no thanks. So please fans, do not read this and send me a bunch of “summer rain” scented stuff. Do you like how I just pretended to have fans that want to send me stuff!? HA. Yeah right.

I really have nothing else to say. Which is weird, since I haven’t posted in a million years. But whatevs! I’m enjoying my summer and I hope you are too! I’m headed out of town again, so let’s lower our posting expectations shall we? Do you like how I just pretended people have expectations!? I'm hilarious today.

Anywho, real life trumps internet life. Always! Deal with it.

Boyfriend Blunders

Over dinner and drinks the other day, a few of my friends shared some hilarious “excuse me!?” moments that happened in their relationships. Today I will be sharing three direct quotes from loving boyfriends.

This is what we looked like as we told these stories! You can decide who they were...

“You’re the prettiest girl in the city.” 

I see where this was trying to be a compliment… but JUST the city!? Her response was, “The city of Salem!?” She is not even living in the largest city in the state right now. Doesn't he know that the world was an option? Come on bro!

“That skirt makes you look fatter than you are.” 

I also understand how this was an “almost compliment.” I just urge all humans to refrain from using the word fat when talking about or to a woman. Girls know how to be honest with their friends by saying things like, “It’s not super flattering” or “It isn't my favorite.” Take a cue from us, and just drop the word fat altogether.

A follow up to that “compliment?” was this:

“If you keep eating that, you really will get fat.” 

Okay, this one is just too much! He is saying that she ISN'T fat. So that is a positive. But really, if she wants to indulge, just let her do it! Sometimes ladies just really need to eat entire box of Annie’s mac and cheese! Only me? Damn. At least it’s organic. But again, let’s just leave the word “fat” out of the equation.

So there you have it folks! Some recent flubs from the male species. I hope they have learned their lesson. Maybe read this post to any men in your life, so they can learn from the mistakes of others.

I could be Kathie Lee.

Thankfully, I have read a million posts about how hard it is to blog in the summer. It is so tough! So thank you for the posts. It re-assures me that I am not a crazy lazy person.

On to today’s post, that happens to be about the Today Show.

I love Kathie Lee and Hoda and I am unashamed. I think they are hilarious! I started watching them in college after my early classes. Because really, what are you going to do at that weird time of the morning? Duh, watch 4th hour of Today and then watch Regis and Kelly. I loved that these shows would throw a teensy bit of real news in with their amazingly hilarious host chat. Otherwise, they would mainly discuss news that I find pertinent, celeb gossip and scandals, before moving on to awesome segments about new shows, movies and books. Or seasonal segments about beauty, fashion or food.

Basically, I feel like I could do this job. And I think I could do it well. I am aware that I would be in the Kathie Lee role, the overly honest, semi-inappropriate for network TV, lots of laughter and crazy facial expressions, host role. Don’t worry guys, I already have a Hoda. Marina is subtly ethnic, has knowledge of the real issues, loves music and secretly loves the nonsense!

I MEAN!! HELLOOOOOOO!!!!

Plus, we both love wine. Ahhh wine.

If you don’t watch them now, as I assume you don’t because of work, you wouldn't know that they are doing a “find our college counterparts” search. I am devastated that this search is happening at a time that I am no longer eligible. RUDE! This contest would be in the bag! I still watch their host chat and selected segments online when I can. Yes, that is how much I love them.

Dear KLG and Hoda,

Let me be part of this contest? Or at least agree to grab a drink with me!? I will fly all the way to NYC for it!
                                                                                                   Love, Laura

This is when they lost it doing a story about gas.

See ya later!! 

Antone Shenanigans

I spent an amazing weekend at the Antone Ranch! I don’t know how to describe how crazy wonderful this place is! It is a 40,000 acre ranch in central Oregon. Last year I described it as a cross between Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Hey Dude, Wildhorse Canyon and Disneyland. We barrel around the curvy rocky roads in jeeps, ride horses, shoot guns, boat, eat, play, pray and camp. And by camp, I mean glamp. That is glam camping. There are beds in the tents… so the word camping is quite misleading.

A line-up of our weekend transportation! You know we took those bad boys through creeks! 

Sunrise

So country! 

Everyone likes boats and sunshine! Not to discount the wakeboarding and tubing!!

Sunset from the fire tower

No filter! 

I am majorly sore and tired from such an awesome weekend! I’m sure you all feel super bad for me. I hope your weekends were equally amazing!

Did Harry Potter make me single?

I have had a really busy week. Because of this, spending my only veg time writing posts was not on my list of things to do. Food and TV won this week. Sorry! But I’m really not sorry. Then I was all of a sudden motivated. Why? Because I realized I have never really written about my love for Harry Potter on here before. What’s that you say? “Laura, you reference your love for HP often!” Wrong. Yes, I reference it, but there has never been a post dedicated to my love for the wizarding world.

So here we go. I love Harry Potter. It is my favorite book series of all time. Over the years I have re-read a bunch of the books. Book 3 was my go to during high school. But I mostly devour 5 through 7 at the pool each summer. Note: book 7 came out the summer before my senior year in college. So we have only been blessed with the entire series for about 5 years now. Crazy right!?  

I just started the series again. I can honestly say that I have never read the entire series in consecutive order before. I would re-read later books again, but usually just before the next one came out! I remember making my high school boyfriend take me to the midnight release of book 5. Poor guy. He didn't read them, and I was a crazy 16 year old obsessed with children’s books. He dumped me when he left for college a month later. I wonder if it had anything to do with my ignoring him to read that book? Huh. I guess we’ll never know. When I say ignoring him, I really mean it. After he chauffeured me around and stood in line with me to get that book, I had him drop me off at home and I stayed up all night reading. I am pretty sure he didn't hear from me for the next 5 days. I was such a charming teen…

My fave of all time is Half Blood Prince (book 6). I love it more than the others because there is romance!

Here I am in college dressed up as a quidditch player for a sorority date party. Libby was my date (no comments please).

The movies! Duh, I love them too. Awesome job Warner Bros. Did I go to midnight showings? You bet I did. Did I dress up? You bet I did.

We were 22 when this happened. We are wearing our graduation gowns from college. This would be embarrassing, but it isn't! Harry Potter is awesome. I’m not embarrassed in the slightest. Although, I got dumped that summer too…. Maybe there is a theme here. Crap! I love Harry Potter, but has Harry Potter kept me from love?

Have a great weekend folks! I'll be out at the Antone Ranch with the horses and a HP book!