Canada, Ay!

Hello from Vancouver. We are loving the cool weather and the gorgeous scenery. Right now I am drinking coffee and watching sea planes take off on the bay. Pretty fabulous. I'm going to try and keep an "online" trip journal on the blog while we are gone...we'll see how that works out?

Yesterday was LONG. Up at 5:30 a.m. Houston time to make a 7:40 a.m. flight to Seattle. Not a bad flight though thanks to paying $6 for direct TV in my seat. It was great. Old school Beverly Hills 90210 on Soap Net definently made the time pass faster.

We drove from Seattle to Vancouver-- very pretty drive with a stop at a precious town (Everett, WA) along the way for lunch at a fun, eclectic Hippies meet French House spot called "Sisters".

Made it into Canada and walked around Vancouver for a few hours and got a good feel of the city. Had an amazing dinner at Bin941...incredible food and wine. Then caught some fireworks and CRASHED. Pooped and a little drunk from the great wine.

Going to explore, more later!

The Phantom of the Opera needs Therapy

When I was in 5th grade, my mom surprised my sister Leanne and I with a "Big Girl Day" in New Orleans. We got to skip school, eat lunch at Houston's and drink Shirley Temples, and we went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Saenger Theatre. Last night, almost 15 years later, we had a "repeat" of this experience (except with better food at Nino's and wine instead of Shirley Temples...)

And we had to laugh, because our Mom (who wouldn't let us see PG-13 movies until last week) took us at a very young age to probably one of the darkest productions Broadway has ever known.

Last night we all decided that the Phantom of the Opera needs serious help. Come on, the dude kills people, lives on a lake below an Opera House, wears a mask everywhere he goes...I've watched All My Children WAY too long to not go ahead and call this guy for what he is...a basket case.

There were many points last night I had to giggle at what a 10 year old version of myself thought of all the dark mystery...and even more so what Leanne had thought at the ripe old age of 8 (lets keep in mind she was a rather spacey child...) Mom commented several times "I don't know WHAT I was thinking when I brought y'all to this before."

But besides the creepy sinister story line that I had somehow forgotten about, it really is some of the most incredible music you will ever experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves musicals as I do.

Suggestions for our Northwest Adventure needed....

Greg and I have booked a vacation to Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria next week. Any great restaurant/sightseeing recommendations??? We would appreciate any ideas!

LSU vs. ULL (Please read in your best attempt at a Cajun accent)

This post was requested by my dear friend Sara after I had a brief "run-in" with a University of Louisiana at Lafayette bartender/DJ at the Red Eye in NOLA. Long story short, I asked him to play the LSU fight song and got a less than pleasant response. I marched outside and gave a 5 minute monologue to Sara and a few others in my best Cajun Accent (I have a strange talent at this accent!)on why this man made me mad. This is my follow up. Happy Birthday Woods!

Mais sha, how stoopid you tink it is dat dose ULL Ragin Cajuns tink dat dey are bettah dan duh LSU Tigahs. I mean PUH LEASE!!! Da best way I can describe how we LSU Tigahs feel about does stupid ULL people is dat if we were a catfish pond, we'd be like dah BIGGEST catfish in da pond and dey would be da smallest minnow. I mean seriously, dats how little we care about dem.

Now dey think they all high and mighty and like on our radar screen. Well news flash, you not. Like not even close. You haven't won a football game since you beat dem Texas A&M Aggies and carried the goal post around Lafayette all night long. And dat was in 1997...time to move on sha. Derefore, we don't care about you. Not to mention, we play you because we know we gonna kick ya ass. Its dat game we're like, oh dis is a joke, we just going to tailgate. Thats how much we know we gonna whip up on you. Basically, its a pity game. Sorry Cajuns, we just don't care.

So to Mistah Red Eye Bartender/DJ in New Awlins who told me "I'm not gonna play da LSU fight song, I went to ULL and I HATE LSU." Let me tell you something, dats stoopid. Thats like if you are Rhode Island saying you hate Texas. Newsflash, Rhode Island ain't even on Texas' mind. Dats because Texas could eat Rhode Island for a midmorning snack. And we can do dah same with you.

And don't even make me compare "Cajun Field" to dat big and beautiful Tiger Stadium. No comparison. Like comparing Paris Hilton to Ronald Reagan. You just can't even go dere. So next time you want to talk smack Mistah Bartender, you bettah think TWICE! GEAUX TIGERS and poo poo on you, you little Ragin Cajuns, get ova youself.

Hell getting old....

In the words of my Dad "Its hell getting old, isn't it Court?" And he is right. It is. My LSU best friend and roommate, Jenna, emailed me last week and said "I might have a topic... As I realized I am getting old. Why when I come back from the lake am a falling apart like a 70 year old? I swear all i did was wakeboard for about 30 min. I was down in my back yesterday and could barely move my neck. All of us that went were complaining about how something hurt. I'm scared that this is only the beginning." But are we really getting old? Or are we just starting to realize that our body can't "handle" things like we used to be able to?

Take drinking for example. Back in our "college glory days" 2 drinks was a warm-up. Now a days, 2 drinks is all I can handle. (Pathetic, I know...does that make me old, or a lightweight?) And truth be told, more than 3 beers makes me feel like hell the next day. A few weeks ago, we spent a weekend in New Orleans, and I swear I didn't feel like myself until Thursday...definite sign of aging.

Now, you know my feelings on "sporty" activities, so I cannot really give my opinion on how it feels after wakeboarding. I felt fine after tubing, but it wasn't too intense. But Jenna is a tough cookie...so I take her word on it.

And come on people, 25 is young! (Well, at 16 I would have told you differently, but now I know otherwise...) I think the reality of your mid-20s is you actually become aware of the aging process. Something that had always seemed so foreign in younger years. For example, in the past 3 years I have quit smoking, started to wear moisturizer, and realized that aging is inevitable.

I'm sure I will look back on this post one day and laugh...or perhaps be thankful that in my 20s I started to take better care of myself. I know for sure that if I kept on living like I was 18 forever, I'd look 80 by the time I turned 40.

And last but not least, let us not forget Botox. A friend to all.

As promised, I am including a few pictures from Galveston. I think the picture of my mom can just goes to show that age is an illusion, I mean she seriously looks younger than me! And lets be real, the Old Navy Flag Tshirt is flattering at ANY age! 10 cool points Mom!

This is my parents PRECIOUS puppy Lola...we are all obsessed with her. Shes so cute and so funny!


And last but not least, Gregory and I braving the Galveston bay. Who would ever thought?

Back from a creative hiatus...

I have been lacking creative mind flow for the past few days, hence my lack of blog entries. I'm going to go ahead and blame it on a combination of being on "island time" down in Galveston and majorly annoying allergies. And today its raining, which makes me feel like I should still be in bed, so I am going to keep this simple.

Hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July. Ours was super relaxing and fun. My mom is the winner of 10 cool points as she proudly sported her 2002 Old Navy Flag T-shirt. Pictures to follow.

Big news: my best friend Lizzie and her husband Charlie are going to have a baby. I have named the baby Billie Jean until it (he OR she) is born. If I were Lizzie and Charlie, I would seriously consider keeping that name permanently. We are SO SO SO excited for Lizzie and Chuck and cannot wait for Baby Billie Jean to be born:)

In other news, I went tubing this weekend. Now some of you might think "whats the big deal with that." Well, I have this weird (and I will confess, completely irrational and unfounded) fear of what might be lurking in the water. Namely jelly fish and sharks. This weekend I overcame (well at least for the moment) my major fear and not only got in the water TWICE, but also went tubing. It was a huge step (or swim) for me and I actually enjoyed it.

I've got a lot of topics to share my pointless opinions with you this week, so be sure to come back.

Topic 7: Old Navy Flag T-shirts (Greg)

For those of you who know me well, you know that I SERIOUSLY love America. So this weekend is quite the celebration for me. Don't think I haven't already been blasting Lee Greenwood's classic "Proud to be an American" or the U.S. Navy Band's version of "Hail to the Chief" in my car this week. Because I have, and thats because I love America.

And my friends, real Americans love Old Navy Flag T-shirts. You heard me. Nothing says I love America like running by your closest Old Navy, picking up a $5 Flag T-shirt (or several, come on people, your friends love America too...) and sporting it for the entire 4th of July weekend. Talk about recession friendly!

I think I seriously wore these when I was a little kid. In fact I am sure I could pull out my Old Navy 1997 Flag T-shirt from some box in my parent's attic. (Okay, I wasn't really a kid then, but it was the 90s, give me a break.)

I've already got my outfit ready for the 4th of july- a blue dress, red sunglasses, and white flip flops. Just call me Miss America. But seriously, 10 cool points to anyone who rocks the Old Navy Flag T-shirt this year.

And thank you my husband for finally giving me an entertaining topic to write on!

Topic 6: Blast from the Past...Miller Mansion Circa 2002 (Meg V.)

Since my husband still hasn't given me a suitable or appropriate topic to blog on, I asked my good friend Meg if there was anything she would be interested in hearing about. She wanted me to talk about our days in our beloved Joan Miller Hall (also known to most who have lived in it as the Miller Mansion) back in 2002 and 2003.

Oh the Miller Mansion. Where can one even begin? Shall we start with RA-Ana? Or that not wearing shower shoes could result in a really dangerous situation (I once heard of a girl contracting STAPH, yes you heard me, STAPH from the Miller Dorm shower.) Since I grew up in what my dad fondly referred to as the "sorority house", living amongst your 900 closet female acquaintances wasn't strange to me...it was a blast! And for my friends who shared this part of my life with me...who can forget the hours spent on the porch talking about what happened at Dublin's the night before, how much we needed to study, and our cheerleading squad..."The Miller Mustangs."

Meg asked...what effect did Miller have on your life? And looking back on it, a profound one. I met some of my lifelong best and dearest friends. It was within those cement walls that we bonded and made memories that no one else will ever be able to understand (so I shouldn't even try to explain.) It was thanks to my roommate, Megan, that I learned how to be clean! She was a neat freak and since we shared a shoebox of a room, I had to learn how to be the same way. And I did! Also, Megan also would always bring back her mom's delicious chicken salad from weekends she spent in Lafayette and it was then that my love for chicken salad started (and while this might not be profound to many, it is to me, as I REALLY love chicken salad...) It also made me appreciate how nice it is to have you own washer and dryer...one that does not require a TIGER card to pay to wash your clothes.


Its a place that my mom, both sisters and I have all had the pleasure of calling home. A place where your bed pulls out of the wall, the vending machines are well stocked with nasty sandwiches that we would eat at late night, that your best friends were just down the hall, and that you always had SOMEONE to go out with.


Its a place that makes me feel VERY fortunate for where I live now...and a place that makes me look back and smile thinking of my first year at LSU. So where did YOU live your first year in college? Did the beds pull of the wall? I think not...

In other news...who is ready for the 4th of July?!? I am!!!!!