Eggcellent

Man oh man, today has been a big day in the Wigley household. After getting up this morning and easing into the day with a little I Found the Gown and a Caribou, I went over to Natalie's house to drop off some photos and the spare key I had during our road trip. Her mama's going out to visit this weekend, so we figured she could just bring the photos out and bring my iPad, which had gotten left behind, back here. We chatted and then I was off to Target. For maybe the third time in my life ever, I went into Target and left without buying anything. Blasphemy! I had gone to look at the new Shops at Target collections, but there was nothing that really caught my eye, so I just left. Then I went to Office Depot to get a trapper keeper and folders for my upcoming stage managing duties. Finally, I drove out to Maple Grove to go to Nordstrom Rack for leggings. After an awkward encounter with a middle-aged man in his car as I was walking into the store, I was pleasantly surprised at the selection at this Nordstrom. Usually I just go to the one at MOA, but this one is really close and has a good jean selection. I got 2 pairs of leggings, and 3 pairs of tights. Hooray!

Some homegrown cherry tomatoes from our backyard

After a quick stop at home, my mom and I were off to run more errands. We had discovered today that my passport expired this month, so to begin we went to Wayzata to get some photos taken for that. After being told to not smile, but have a "neutral" expression, we got those taken care of in about 10 minutes. Then we headed to Ridgedale, and got my new passport forms and my mom's license renewal done in less than an hour, which is unheard of. Usually the line there is so long and so slow, that it takes at least an hour or two to get in and out; but not today! Then we went to Walgreen's and got flu shots (merp), and to reward ourselves got Cherry Berry froyo. After froyo, we made a snap decision to go to Foresome to check for Minnetonka Moccasins, and behold! They had the pair I wanted for cheaper than Macy's! They also carry Frye boots, which is my main thing I'm asking for this year for Christmas, and they can order you any kind you want! We also get about 15-20% off everything there because my dad is somehow a VIP member. Super rad.

The old and the new

Here's where the eggcitement really began. It was then that my mom remembered that she had accidentally left the stove on with some eggs boiling. Ruh roh. We rushed home to be greeted with the smell of burnt eggs and smokiness. Luckily, nothing caught on fire, so then I, at least, was able to see how hilarious this was. We had an eggsplosion! One of the eggs had just exploded out of the pan, while the other three were so burnt that when touched with a spoon, they crumbled to ash. Our house smells pretty bad, but the whole eggsperience was pretty eggxilerating.

Decoupage

I have crossed even more things off of my To Do list in the past two days! Yesterday, Allie and I decoupaged these plastic boxes I had to make them more visually interesting using this chevron paper I got from Michael's. We also got a shoebox to make into a charging station to hide all my various charging items.

Top view

Side view

We had a De La Vega family dinner and my mom made this really awesome crock pot pulled pork. It was fun/delicious, and to top off a super excellent evening: Breaking Amish premiered on TLC! This show is just so fascinating to me for some reason. The Amish and Mennonite cultures and religions have always captured my attention as this little pocket of the past in a modern world. As someone who is very drawn to the contemporary, new, avante garde, and populated, it is everything that my environment is not. I think that once back at school, I will definitely be keeping up with this show to the best of my abilities. Also Abby and Brittany, because they're from Minnesota and are super interesting.

Today my mom and I went to Allie's apartment to meet the Sear's people who were delivering her stove  and dishwasher. Little did we know, they were delivered by two different people because the delivery department covered the stove, while the installation department covered the dishwasher. So we had two windows, 9-11 and 11-3, and were there for basically that entire time with installation. We headed to Costco afterwards for a much needed fix of the Costco experience. So many free samples! So many huge containers! An electric fireplace! It really is a magical place. For lunch, we got the famous $1.50 hot dog and drink combo, then buy 1 get 1 free blizzards from DQ nom. Now I'm in for the night, and deliberating over whether I will be crafting more tonight or will be a lump after getting up at 7:45 this morning. Shmorg borg.

Not the best lighting. I think once I'm at school and will have someone other than self-timer to take pictures for me, we'll be in a better place. Anyway, shirt's from H&M, shorts from Heartbreaker, and a Polo sweatshirt. I've really been into the tying-sweaters-and-things-around-my-waist thing, it feels really 90's in a good way.

Lots of Ish

Phew big day! I am now resting comfortably in bed in a Glenwood Springs hotel waiting for pizza to be delivered, but it has been a doozy.

We started off this morning kissing Nebraska goodbye. On our first go around by the "Welcome to Colorado" sign, we missed it, and so Natalie insisted on driving an extra 10ish miles to loop around and then be on our way. After minimal stops in northeast Colorado, we made it to Denver. The first sign of real human life in over 24 hours! How anyone can live not in/around a big city is beyond me.

Then we went to the most wonderful place in existence: Casa Bonita. This place was full of wonders. It's probably the biggest restaurant I've ever been to, seating 900 people max. They put on shows every 15 minutes and have divers dive through their waterfall. There are grottos, arcades, old time photos, sopapillas, oh my! It was awesome. We spent like half the time eating, and half the time exploring. It ruled.

Next we hit up dinosaur ridge, which was also rad. We took the guided tour and learned about dinosaur life in Colorado and how the rock formations came to be. Also how these fossils were discovered/excavated. After some excellent photos with dinosaur statuettes, we went on our way for mountain driving.

I was driving for the mountains, and it was really exciting, terrifying, and beautiful. Going so fast around and through mountains was really something. We made it to Glenwood Springs in 2, not the proposed 3, hours. This gave us time to go to the lovely hot springs pools and get frustrated looking for a casual restaurant. The only options were upscale or fast food, so after wandering around for 45 minutes we came back to the hotel with the idea of ordering a pizza, when our room key didn't work. Now we're in the room, the pizza was just ordered, I'm not even hungry so I never cared what we got for dinner, and that is all moot. I'm now crabby an stressed out about something that doesn't even matter to me, as I will pay $9, eat one piece of pizza, and fall asleep. Ugh good could've just eaten the food we have in the car but whatever.

Hittin' the Open Road

We're taking off tomorrow for our trip cross country! I'm so so excited, but also keep getting nervous that I'll forget something.

Snacks we brought: goldfish, fruit snacks, applesauce, apples, bagels, mini cinnamon roles, twizzlers, 100 calorie packs of some cookie items, oreos, and this beautiful brownie/cookie/glorious creation I made today that layers chocolate chip cookies, oreos (I used golden), and brownies together to make an awesome chunk of goo.

Clothing preview:

From the Salem finale on Sunday wahh. For show makeup we just did simple lining an highlighting aka my usual daywear (if I put on makeup...)

My newest attempt at nail art

I'm also not bringing my laptop on the trip, so I'll be posting from my phone. Some mups will be had but the majority of pictures will come post-trip once I'm home!

Pintrosity

I joined Pinterest today. I don't know if I'm actually going to keep it up or not, but it's a nice way to waste time. I was very careful not to make a food board because I missed lunch again today :/

Last night I think we had our biggest crowd yet! The theatre was at least half full I would guess (and in a big space like the Rarig, that's pretty good). We've also gotten more reviews so hopefully for Sunday we'll have a big ol' crowd and maybe get the encore? Who knows?

After the show I met up with my friend Josh and his girlfriend Molly. They've been dating for 11 months and I had never met her before. Funny thing is, I was with Josh when his friend messaged him setting them up. We Facebook creeped. I approved. She's my age (Josh is a year younger- cougar status?) and goes to Carleton. She was really sweet, but it was a little jarring to have her there. I had to put on my oh-be-charming-meeting-someone-new face, and not just my with-an-old-friend face. It was good though. I got home around 8:45 and then skyped with Alex for a bit, WHILE I CLEANED MY ROOM. That's right. There are no more clothes on the floor. It's an August miracle!!! We didn't Dead Files though because Allie was being antsy about wanting to watch House, so we'll probs do that Monday.

Once again I'm pulling the casual Friday card and wearing yoga pants, mock-Italian-soccer-jersey-T-shirt, sweatshirt, flip flops. Sorz couldn't get out of bed this morning.

I'm going to Nat's after work to finish planning the road trip!! The past two days I've been planning, planning, planning at work, and got those AAA guidebooks yesterday to use while we're on the road. As of right now, our basic route looks like:

Day 1: MN to Omaha
Day 2: Omaha to almost Denver
Day 3: Spending the day around Denver
Day 4: Outside Denver to Mid Utah
Day 5: Zion National Park
Day 6: Zion to Las Vegas
Day 7: Las Vegas to Los Angeles

with lots of fun activities in between! I can't wait. We're leaving on Tuesday, which means I have a free day on Monday (took work off because I thought we were leaving then) to pack and prep! Gonna buy so many snacks...

Then tonight Als and I are getting Jimmy John's for dinner and probs making s'mores again whilst watching House. Originally, the movers were supposed to be coming today but they rescheduled to next week, and my parents are going out to a dinner tonight, so we have the house to ourselves. Maybe we'll throw a biker party, we'll see.

Popcorn Stain

We had a major faux pas last night. I was at my aunt Meg's house and we always eat popcorn and watch movies etc. So I was going to make popcorn and she said "hit the popcorn button 3 times." I thought she meant, hit popcorn then start 3 consecutive times. Well let me tell you, I was very wrong. After the second time it looked pretty good to me, but she said 3 times so I did it again. about a minute later we got an intense burning smell and grabbed the popcorn out of the microwave. Steam exploded everywhere and stung your eyes and we rushed the popcorn into the trash in the garage. We opened windows and doors and luckily it was a nice temperature last night, but the smell pervaded through the entire house via A/C and refused to go away. We then made a good batch of popcorn, where I learned that you hit the button 3 times in a row, then click start. When I woke up this morning and was getting ready, I noticed a slight hint of the burnt popcorn smell on my hand from where I opened the bag, but I didn't look at it. It was only just now, hours later, that I discovered that my index finger on my left hand is discolored/stained by the popcorn. Embarrassing.

Other than that (even including that), last night was a pretty good night. After putting on my makeup in the office via photo booth and no one noticing, I headed to uptown to get myself a bubble tea, then to the Rarig to finish getting ready/for the show! I had forgotten my tights as I left that morning, but luckily my friend Sam had an extra pair. She's quite a bit shorter than me, though, so they were a little small/awkward fitting. I managed, perseverance! I also got an apron to add to my costume-ensemble. At our show either tomorrow or Sunday I'll get some sassy Salem pics taken. The show itself went pretty well, comparable to last Sunday's performance. Afterwards I went to dinner at Rojo with my mom and family friend Debbie who were at the show. It was awesome after not eating all day to mow on some chips, salsa, and tacos. Plus lemon cake dessert at aunt Meg's. Plus popcorn.

Today I'm rocking my ultimate lazy girl outfit and bun. This is one of my go-to's that I grabbed out of my clean clothes hamper (because obviously I haven't put away my clean clothes from a few weeks ago and they are all still sitting in my hamper while my dirty clothes are on the floor) for today because I didn't have time to pick out real clothes when I was packing yesterday morning. Just gotta get through work, and then this afternoon Nat and I are gonna hit up MOA for pre-trip-end-of-summer-fall-clothes shopping! I need to make a list of things that I need, which ideally would have me going through my closet and cleaning it out, but I think we'll be heading there right after work which eliminates that as a possibility. Things that come to mind right off the top of my head are: nice jeans (Nordstrom Rack is my best friend), nice leggings (I have 2 pairs of Hue leggings that I LOVE- I have like 3 or 4 crappy pairs from Target/H&M/hand-me-downs but they're just not as comfortable/opaque as I like), a camera case. Those are my specifics, but then I also have the more obscure ideas of what I want, like just more clothes that actually fit and fall trends (my favorites are military, leather, burgundy, mixed textures/patterns).

Also, I just got my first call of the day and it had almost been 2 hours since I got here- phwoar!

Update: it's now 12:01 pm and I just got to level 14 in bubble town for the second time ever!!! CELLY

Update 2: NOOOOO it's 2:27 and all of my webpages just reloaded for NO REASON and it sent me back to level 1.

Quiche

What's shakin' bacon? As of Thursday afternoon, I have the whole office area to myself. Gerry was in LA this weekend with the fam to visit his daughter, who is working on the traveling company of War Horse. So Jon's in the warehouse and I'm in the office like a boss. I've had a very productive couple of days here of cleaning/dusting, and now playing Burger Shop 2. Good.

I came across this article in The Atlantic which I think is really worth a read. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-can-8217-t-have-it-all/9020/
It's by Anne-Marie Slaughter and titled, "Why Women Still Can't Have it All." She talks about her experience with having a high-power, high-stress career and how she has balanced, or not balanced, that with her family life. Granted, she is talking about a very specific group of women who are very powerful and talented, and generally wouldn't have to worry about money, however I think she touches on a number of important issues. Mainly, how unbalanced our society still is today when looking at careers of men versus those of women. Women are still expected to be more nurturing, and put family above all else, while men are put in the place of the breadwinner, who is more focused on duty. I have a lot to say on the matter but I think I'll save it for another time/place. Hillary and I were discussing this and thought it would make a really great documentary: looking at women from all walks of life and examine how they are able- or unable- to have it all. Possibly a new project for next year?

I got this BCBG paper bag waist skirt for like $15 at Nordstrom Rack aka one of the greatest stores on the planet. The earrings were a gift, and this Tiffany necklace was my 16th birthday present. Once the "e" charm fell down a sink drain at my friend's house and I spent hours trying to fish it out. Eventually I called my mom crying and she came and we were able to save it. Who knew that jewelry can be so sentimental?

Friday night after work I went to see All Shook Up at Minnetonka High School. My friend Nate is in it as Dennis, which he played when he was in high school (he's now in the MT program at CCM). This was my senior year musical, so it was fun to relive/compare. I went with Natalie and my great aunt Meg, who's friends with Nate's mom. It was a solid show with a lot of strong voices, but I couldn't help thinking that our Breck one had been funnier and better acted for the most part. I stayed over at my aunt's house that night and we were up until like 2 watching this movie "Gia" about the supermodel from the 80s. It had played on Lifetime, but since it had Angelina Jolie in it we guessed it wasn't conceived as a Lifetime movie. This girl basically shot to the top in the modeling world at 17, and was dead by 26. The next day, my aunt and I sat around talking for 4 hours before I had to go to our Salem CD recording. It was a little stressful because they were running late, so I won't be recorded on two ensemble songs since I had to leave right at 6 so I could get home and ready for the Beirut concert. I went with my sisters and Kate's boyfriend Blake. It was at the Cabooze and really lovely and relaxed. They had an accordion player as a part of the band, which ruled.

Yesterday was spent pretty lazily for the most part. I made this quiche for breakfast for my fam (actually, it was more like lunch since it wasn't done until 1:30ish...). Noms. Then Allie, my mom, and I went to Slumberland to look at beds for Allie's new condo. She's closing on it today! Ahh! Anyway we tried a lot of comfy beds, and I fell even more in love with Tempurpedics. Allie ended up picking a nice Beautyrest mattress set and wood bed frame with leather panelling. She ended up with a really good deal since they're having an Anniversary Sale right now. My mom has been thinking of getting rid of the California king sized bed that Allie has been using, and of my bedroom furniture and twin sized bed that I've had since I was 4, and getting me a new big girl bed and mattress. Maybe with a little convincing I'll be able to get that Tempupedic (it has a 25 year warranty!). After that we tried the new frozen yogurt place by our house, CherryBerry, which was real good. Jimmy John's for dinner with House and Nugget. I painted my nails and attempted to do ombre, and I think it worked but I have to get all the debris off of my fingers before I post a picture.

Oreo Pie

Last night I decided to play hooky from rehearsal since 1) we weren't even originally called for Tuesday night, it was an added rehearsal and 2) I hadn't missed any practices yet. So Natalie took me and Sara to Bloomington to go through her old neighborhood and play mini golf. We went to Baker's Square for dinner, waited for foreva for chicken fingers, but then had the most delicious pie ever. The Baker's Square that used to be closer to my house closed a few years ago, so it had been awhile since I'd had their pie, and it is aMAZing. After that we were all a little comatose during our golf session, and the guy who was running the booth where you buy your golf balls/clubs probably thought we were ridiculous humans. Oh well.

Lawl they both hit their balls in the water

Coming to save the day

Champs

Tonight I don't have to go to rehearsal until 7:30, so I'll have a little chance to relax post-workout with Nugget. It's also storming on and off today, so maybe I'll get to leave work early? Dare to dream

Post 4th

Happy 5th of July! Busy week with lots o' American pride and things. The kicker has been this ridiculous heat we've been having all week. The heat index has been 100° or above since Sunday, with humidity at 70%. It's disgusting. I've barely been able to go outside without choking on the sauna air that is the outdoors. They claim the heat is going to break after tomorrow with a storm which would be much appreciated. 
In work this week I've had the job of making lighting fixtures, which was actually pretty exciting. I got to use tools, including solder, and did not injure myself! The steps including cutting lots of cables, splitting the cables at one end and attaching a lead onto each split cable. Then I soldered the leads closed so the wires were covered. Then to put the actual fixtures together, there's a process with screws and clips and washers and voila! Light fixture!

My work station, so legit.

Over this week at work we've also had TWO dogs in the office because the De La Vega clan has gone to San Antonio for a couple weeks, minus Gerry. So he's been bringing in Max, who rules. I've been watching the dogs whenever Gerry or John has to leave the office for a bit, and Luna and Max together are the silliest.

Rehearsal has been going okay. It's a little draggy-on some days, especially last Monday because 10 people were missing and we couldn't stage certain group pieces without everybody there. I still don't know what my part means, only that my name is Martha Carrier, who is best known as the "Rampant Hag" described by Cotton Mather. GITIT. I know, everybody wanted to be the Rampant Hag, but that's my part and nobody else's. She actually sounds like a really interesting person from the colonial era, and was kind of a bamf. 

Now onto 4TH OF JULY aka one of the best day's of the year. I went to an all-girl's camp for 8 years over the 4th, so I don't really remember what we used to do for the holiday when I was little, but it was always really fun at camp. Everyone dressed up in crazy red, white, and blue and we would go to our normal activities for 2 blocks of the day. We had the cabin decorating contest, which was a really big deal and got really heated. In the later years, we weren't allowed to use any store bought items, and so creativity was a big deal. My cabin won the contest once, and got second another year from what I remember. We had the most delicious cookout and our 4th of July dance in the evening (which got moved in the later years to other dates sometimes... weird) and then had campfire. They used to do fireworks on the lake, but new laws were put into play with permits or licenses, so they stopped doing that. Instead, we would have root beer floats and do a candle ceremony. Anyway, what has come out of this is the tradition that every year my friend Natalie and I dress up and play 4th of July tennis. This year, it was just too hot, so we just dressed up in our tennis outfits and made a cake instead.

 You can't see in this picture, but the cake was actually 2 layers with fruit and frosting in the middle. SO good.

We play sports.

I made these red, white, and blue strawberries for an extended family dinner on Tuesday. They didn't quite look like the picture but they were pretty darn delicious.

After making the cake, we went swimming for a long time, which was lovely in the heat, and then Natalie's dad grilled for us. I went home to watch the NYC fireworks with my mom and sister because they were too hot to go watch the Lake Minnetonka ones outside. My only complaint is that they kept filming the people watching the fireworks, instead of the actual fireworks. What?

Update on apartment drams:

    1) Apparently the fee for pulling out of a housing contract began on July 1st, not on the 8th like we thought. And its $500. Nope. Not a fan.

    2) They quoted us incorrectly for the apartment we were looking at so it's about $80 more per person plus utilities. Nope.

    3) There's another apartment available with the same layout on the floor below. It'd be about the same price as we were originally quoted, but the lease starts in August instead of September, and goes through next August instead of next June. Next summer wouldn't be so much of a problem because we could find jobs or internships in Chicago, but I can't get back to Evanston until September this year so I would probably be paying for a month that I wouldn't be living there.

I don't really know what's gonna happen, but we need to decide soon because I either need to talk to my roommate or just live in the dorm. And since talking to my parents about it I would so much rather live in this apartment. Even if the apartment was more expensive than housing (which it's not), we would save a LOT on food costs. I was sick about 50% of the time last year just from living in the dorm. The facilities of the apartment are a lot nicer than the building I would otherwise be in next year. There are just a lot of pro's and fewer (original) cons.

Also I still need to get a camera! Any 4th of July sales still happening? Womp

Phew

Busy, busy weekend, but SO much fun. I am now officially 19 years old... not a super exciting age but that's fine. We spent basically the whole weekend in Chicago, walking, shopping, and eating. I went on my first power shopping spree in months, which was very necessary to blow off some steam right before finals. We hit Michigan Avenue (Nordstrom Rack, H&M, Forever 21) on Saturday and Wicker Park on Sunday, staying overnight at the Westin (SO AMAZING). I ate copious amounts of Italian food for dinner and got a much needed Caribou Coffee, because face it, Starbucks is just not as good. My spoils are as such: red BCBG dress, BCBG paperbag-waisted skit, navy blazer, peplum polka dot shirt, red polka dot dress (wearing this for the Mad Men premiere- March 25th could not come sooner), high-waisted denim shorts, black cross body bag, navy duster sweater, light pink high-low skirt, burgundy crop sweater- all for less than $250. Hopefully pictures to come, my friend Hillary was the photographer of the trip.


Now today has been less exciting, as I have had to start studying for my final on Thursday... yuck. Hit up norbucks and now heading to the slounge (study lounge). Gross. But wearing my new sweater!

Also: from last week, channeling my inner desire to be a ballerina. Got lazy and forgot to post.