Best Friends Foreverrrrrr!

I think it is time that I make some introductions via blog post.
Meet Erika.

Erika is my bestest friend and we literally spend all of our time together aside from working and sleeping (except sometimes we sleep in the same twin sized bed. Our guy friends think it is especially weird that we are comfortable with that, but dudes, girls start sharing beds with each other from the time they are like 7. Its just standard procedure.)

We just celebrated our one year anniversary in October and will probably have a fiesta for it every year since our friendship officially began at a Halloween party.  I had just moved to a new part of town and the atmosphere was completely different than any other part of campus that I had lived at previously.  It was much more quiet and you had to already be part of a group to be invited to things (Except for wolf howling lessons. I think that's a different story though.)  Erika and I lived in neighboring apartments and she came over a few Saturday mornings to invite us to her apartment's breakfast parties.  Something in me was shy and intimidated and I only went once, very briefly. Luckily she is a persistent little thing and didn't think that I was anti-social. The day of our ward Halloween party she came over looking for markers and yes, I have every craft supply necessary, so I let her borrow mine as well as the crown from my birthday party. What on Earth could this costume be? None other than the Queen of Hearts! I was some kind of witchy thing. My real costume wasn't ready yet.

I have a slightly obsessive personality so when I meet people and get along with them I just want to spend all of my time in their presence.  We quickly realized that we are both extreme literary and grammar nerds and bonded over facebook flair and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.  We even signed up for two of the same classes winter semester so that we would see each other every day on campus.

I have to add that after typing "grammar" into google images I found this one and I started laughing uncontrollably. 
I think I should probably lay off the candy pumpkins for a little bit. Oh whoops! They're all gone!

Back to the subject. We have now spent 12 months of constant companionship guaranteed to drive each other's roommates nuts and we just get cooler and cooler! There is nothing better in the world than finding people that fit perfectly into your puzzle.  We both have best friends from growing up but as life changes so do our needs in our support group and we're just great for each other.  I was thinking the other day that if I had gone on a mission like I had planned I wouldn't get home until next April at the earliest and we never would have met!  

Here's to my best friend. The one who knows just what I am thinking, enjoys being ridiculous, is not ashamed of who she is, works harder than anyone I know at having balance in her schedule, rocks the most amazing ugly sweatshirts, prefers moccasin slippers to shoes, indulges in eating out when we both know we can't afford it, likes starting new traditions, has an adorable freckle on her nose named Hammy, doesn't get mad when people tell her that the animal she looks most like is a mouse or a hamster, will handle my repetitive boy talk and then dish her own out to me endlessly, comes to see me at work while braving the wrath of my sometimes super grumpy boss, lets me come to her office to brave her usually crazy boss, race reads young adult novels with me, MEETS ME IN THE FOREST (uh, go watch Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs please), adores henna tattoos, quotes crappy movies like House Bunny with me, and harmonizes to Ke$ha and Nelly with me on freezing car rides! 

Now you may enjoy many pictures that show some of these fabulous things :)

Super excited about our Mockingjay pins and desperately wishing we'd win a copy of the book! Alas, Erika did win something, a 75 cent soda at Horkely's.

Please disregard my Draco Malfoyish hair and crappy t shirt. I started this day in California. You'd look like poop too.

Making faces in the crowd of J.Wride's concert

Birthday orange dreamsicles and the funniest henna tattoo of all time

Yay! She helped me throw the best birthday party!

 Showin' off those buff Rosie the Riveter arms she developed in our weight lifting class.

This is our tradition of "attack cake". Didn't I promise a post on that? Remind me of it later please.

Sampling the delish food at Sammy's. We had a little chat with Sammy himself that night and talked him into letting us have the first ever peppermint shakes. That happened like 3 days later :)

I'm trying to convince her into being a blogger because I know she'll be fantastic at it, but its slow business. Give her some encouragement! The Key of E

We have a most musical friendship and this is the best way to share that

Download a playlist of us! 

Erika and Elle

The Sadder But Wiser Boy For Me

Musicals. They get me. Deep. And when I get a craving for one it won't go away until it has been thoroughly satisfied.

For the past two or so months its been The Music Man. My love for Meredith Wilson's spectacular spectacular goes back to childhood. For a long road trip my grandma made a copy of the soundtrack on a tape for me so that I could listen to it on my Walkman (Whoa. Remember cassette tape days?) and that thing was played and replayed until the tape wore out. One year for summer school choir we did a staged version of "The Well's Fargo Wagon" and I reveled in mocking the hilarious voices of the actors. Oh man oh man. I love that this musical is about real people! The character's and actors aren't glossed up doll faces that sing in perfect harmony. Except for the school board barbershop quartet. Mmm!!! Their voices are like melty warm sugar.

So an interesting fact about The Music Man is that it is President Monson's favorite musical! That justifies my fascination right? I adore the fact that his sense of humor is so great. I don't need to go into detail about how great the musical is or why its ok that I love it, I just want to share my obsession. Some people drive down Main blasting their Top 40 hits radio with the windows down to get attention. I prefer Robert Preston telling the absolute truth about my dating life. I'd rather have the boy that's been around the block. One who isn't a pushover. It's the sadder, but wiser, boy for me. Really, "I hope and I pray that Hester will win just one more A" is probably my favorite literary reference in the whole thing, and that's saying something since the names Balzac and Shakespeare are thrown around like rice at a wedding through the whole thing.

Now stop reading and head out to Grecian Urn rehearsal! You're going to be late!

"SIT DOWN EULALIA!"

Backstage

For a few filler credits this semester I signed up for a stage makeup class and I think its the best thing I've ever done! So far I've learned how to do

• male and female corrective makeup
• middle age
• old age
• extreme old age with latex
• beards and moustaches
• wigs
• "grossies and gories" (wounds, burns, bruises, scars)

There is a 10 hour minimum requirement for working backstage during the campus plays so I've spent the past three weeks in the pit of the Snow Building. I had no idea how fun it would be! I've really perfected my old man face on a few of the guys in the production. Oh, we're doing Macbeth, did I mention that? I'd never seen or read the play before and now I really feel like I'm a part of it. Cast pictures are being taken tonight so I'll be heading back to the theater in just a few. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures of faces I've done. All I have so far is work from class. Isn't it interesting how we become so emotionally invested in our passions? I'm attending the show tomorrow night after I get the guys ready and it will be so exhiliarating to see my work on the stage! Closing night is Saturday and I don't want it to come!

Good news: Children of Eden starts in about 2 weeks...

Tall, Dark, and Loathsome

"I gave him my heart, and he took and pinched it to death; and flung it back to me"

Dang that Heathcliff is just getting to me! Last post I was what, 3 chapters in? Well I'm just past halfway now and sucked in more than ever! What an interesting story. The only thing I'd heard from friends was "Why are you wasting your time on that book" "Oh what a downer I couldn't finish it" and "It seemed like things just kept going on and on and it never ended". Well, I don't really pick up on the "Its so slow that I can't keep going" vibe at all. This is the most interesting story I've picked up in a long time. It's unpredictable. All I knew about the book previously was the name Heathcliff. Ok, is this boring. Yes. I should shut up about what I think. I like it. Its unique. Its a slow read so I get to enjoy it for even longer. And Ed Westwick is playing the dark brooding grump in the newest film version. LOOOOOOOOVE him! And he'll be perfect for the part!

Placer Culpable

My guilty pleasures:

An ongoing list of things that are bound to bring a smile to my face and maybe a little blush to my cheeks for admitting to.

Checking my horoscope
(Today's Horoscope from Elle.com)
Your ever-expanding life needs some structure to keep growing and flowing along smoothly. Break it down to days, Libra–that way, you won’t have to waste time thinking and calculating. Pick three days of the week for exercise, one for financial upkeep, another for housecleaning, and so on. Plug those “to do’s” into your calendar with pop-up reminders. Once this skeleton is in place, you can plan your socializing without worrying that your life will implode while you’re out listening to jazz at your favorite lounge.

Taking ridiculous "What blank blank blank are you?" personality quizzes
You'd fit in best with the locals of New Jersey! You are Blair Waldorf! YOuR aUrA is PiNk!

Downloading crazy amounts of new music
I make then Good Girls Go Bad with 4 different remixes!

Shopping online and filling up an entire cart only to remove everything or close the window
Oh hello Forever21 checkout, meet my empty wallet.

Creating witty Facebook status updates in my head whenever I'm doing something fun
Elle just threw a football in the bonfire! Sorry Paul, glow-in-the dark is so 90's.

Getting 99cent Wet 'n Wild nail polishes so I can have a crazy color and not blow my budget
Which will it be? I'm Not Really a Waitress Red for $7 or 99 cent color and the new Real Simple?

Stacy's Pita Chips
Must pull hand out of bag!!!

Long showers
I nag everyone about leaving the water running when brushing teeth, washing dishes, scrubbing hands...but then I take luxuriously long hot showers. I say that I just accommodate in other areas to allow for my splurging. If only my budget patterns were as good as my water saving techniques!

YouTube
I have subcriptions to Barats and Bereta and Smosh so I can be the first to see the new videos!

Feathers and Flowers

Today I finally got around to wearing the feather headband I made. I love big retro-fancy hairpieces, but I'm too lazy in the way I dress most days to be able to pull the look off, but paired with a white tee and jeans it stole the show! Speaking of lazy, I don't feel like downloading pictures onto my comp, so we're going the route of the good old camera phone!

My feather headband

Yeah, so this is just a man's necktie! Easy easy!

A velvet and fabric headband I made

Quite honestly I've gotten hooked on this look from reading too many Gossip Girl novels. Blair is currently my favorite fashionista. Ok, I mean whoever does the costumes for the show is. The clothes described in the books sounds pretty tacky. Come on Serena, tiny t-shirt and red terrycloth sweats? I don't care if they are made by Russell or Juicy Couture, that just sounds like a disaster. Ok, back on track. Here's Bair's fabulous headgear:

You can find a great recreation of this headband at Astrea's Etsy shop, but I dare you to make one yourself. Another Etsy stop you need to make is to visit MissRubySue. Check out some of her great creations!


Shoe Clips (for heels, sandals, or really anywhere you want!)

Fancy bib necklaces

And of course, fabulous rosettes and feathers all over thin headbands!!!

And lastly, I found these pretty over-the-top headbands during another one of my out of control internet browsing sessions. I'm pretty sure brides will soon stop carrying bouquets and just wear them on their heads.

Well it's time for me to conform into the work uniform, but maybe I'll break standard a little tonight and find a nice flower for my ponytail :)

And of course, what post is complete without a song?