Pop Culture

I'm really far behind on a pop culture post and thought it would be a good time to update. Now that the summer movies are almost to DVD and the fall shows are on TV, I feel like I'm behind!

Movies
"The Help"- loved, loved, loved this movie! The book was amazing and the movie didn't disappoint. It really brought the book to life and I don't know that I have hated a movie character as much as I hated Hilly Holbrook. Bryce Dallas Howard did an amazing job! You truly feel like you have stepped back to the 60s in Jackson, MS.
"50/50"- again, fantastic movie! It was the perfect mix of laughter and heartbreak. It is very difficult to describe the emotions it brings up, but the best I can say is that it was the most raw and real depiction of cancer while at the same time having some of the funniest movie lines.

TV Shows
Jeff and I both watch quite a bit of TV, but we are behind on watching some of our shows. There are some that we've loved and kicked to the curb.
Our favorite new show definitely has to be "Up All Night." Maybe it's because we're relatively new parents ourselves and like to think we're cool, knowing we really aren't, but we cackle through each episode every week. Christine Applegate and Will Arnett are hilarious together and we all know someone like Maya Rudolph's character, Ava. Two thumbs up!
"Suburgatory" is a show about a daughter and her father who move to the Midwest from New York City and the adjustments they go through. The jury is still out, but the show is at least funny and relatable.
I've also picked up "Fashion Hunters" on Bravo. The show is about Second Time Around, a high-end consignment store in New York. It is crazy to see how much people will pay for clothes, especially re-sale, and the characters that come into the shop. It's my new guilty pleasure!
We gave "Whitney" a try for a few weeks and it's now off the DVR list. It was nowhere near as funny as we had hoped it would be and it seemed to be getting worse each week.
We also tried CBS's "Person of Interest" and gave up on it after 2 weeks. We tried and after the 1st episode, neither one of us were convinced. I tried the 2nd week and it just was not happening.
We've kept our favorites like "Community", "Parks and Recreation", "The Middle", "Modern Family", "Glee" and I'm still hooked on all the Real Housewives, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Tosh.0, and many others I'm forgetting.

Books
Honestly, I have not read that much lately. I just finished Tim Gunn's book Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work. I do not watch "Project Runway", but knew who Tim Gunn was. The book was good- a very easy read- so if you're looking to kill some time and not have to think too much about what you're reading- it would be a good choice. I have Edna Buchanan's The Ice Maiden and am about halfway through The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, so those will be the next ones to read on the list.

Restaurants
We haven't tried anywhere new lately to eat, but Jeff and I are both excited about Stone Soup, a new breakfast and lunch restaurant in Midtown. One of our favorite restaurants of all time was Buns on the Run. We'd go to breakfast there every Saturday morning before Cooper was born. They'd have pancakes the size of a dinner plate and Jeff even made up his own breakfast sandwich that's now called "The Big Rex", which is Texas toast, sausage, ham or bacon, eggs, and cheese. Buns on the Run closed...tear...but the chef went on to help open another great Midtown restaurant, Trolley Stop Market. We had breakfast there a few times before we started noticing the menu had changed. Turns out, the chef moved on to another restaurant and has now opened Stone Soup, right down the street from the original Buns on the Run. Old favorites like the pancakes and famous crepes are on the menu for breakfast, so I know it won't be long before we try it. Can't wait!

Music
I'm not the best judge of music because I tend to stay closer to the pop music side of things, but I'm loving Coldplay right now. I like any type of music that makes me feel like dancing and keeps me going through my workouts. That's never really changed!

Skinny Crock Pot Black Bean Chicken

In the midst of house hopping, we decided to give staying at home another shot and failed. I'd already put dinner for part of the week in the crock pot, so we allowed that to finish (and get about an hour's sleep) before picking up again and staying at Jeff's parents. Thank goodness for Nana and Bob-O.

The good news is the new recipe was a success and because it's from the Skinny Crock Pot's blog on Facebook, it's also healthy. I'm more critical of my cooking, so I always wonder if the meal could have been better, but Jeff liked it, so I'll fix it again.

*4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, thawed
*1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
*1 container of salsa- your choice (I used roasted corn and black bean)
*Soft tortillas (we use whole wheat)
*Sour cream (optional)
*Shredded cheese (optional)

Throw chicken, black beans, and salsa in the crock pot and cook on high 6-8 hours (mine was closer to 8). Shred chicken and mix everything together well. Serve in tortillas with sour cream and cheese, if desired.
*Jeff used sour cream and cheese and I didn't. He liked his and I liked mine, so it's up to you to add what you like!

Still here

I'm here, but have been so busy lately.

Cooper turned 2 last Wednesday and his party was last Saturday. It went well and as soon as we're back in our house for more than 10 minutes, the pictures will be downloaded and I'll post about it.

What's that you say? Why are you only in your house for 10 minutes? We have roof rats again! Ha. Ha Ha. We'd heard scratching in the walls, so Jeff called a new exterminator company last Monday. They couldn't make it out until Thursday afternoon and unfortunately, Jeff spotted a rat in the kitchen Monday night. I cannot even express the level of grossness I feel about this. I will spare you the details, but the infestation seems to be worse this year than last and our new exterminator was able to show us where the previous exterminator didn't close up the holes like they claimed they did, essentially giving the rats free reign of our house. We've house hopped all week, sometimes at 2:30am after we just couldn't take the worrying and scratching anymore, but traps are set and we met with the exterminator again tomorrow. We're staying at Jeff's parents' house this week because they are out of town and Cooper and I are on fall break. I am so thankful we have someplace to stay, but as much as I hate our house and want to move, there is something about your own home.

So, in addition to a 2 year old birthday party Saturday and rat infestation, College and Career Night was Tuesday (my big project of the fall semester), Cooper's birthday was Wednesday, exterminator appointment Thursday, trying to find a Halloween costume for Cooper, keeping up with laundry as we jump from house to house, work and all its hecticness with fall break being this week, and doing it all on 2-4 hours of sleep a night- Jeff and I are both exhausted and we're trying to keep some sense of normalcy for Cooper. Hopefully I will have a happier blog post soon!

The Big 3-0

I've been dreading it for months, but it finally happened. I turned 30 a week ago. I'm not sure why it bothered me so much, but I told Jeff that maybe it was because 30 is the first age that I can really remember thinking when I was younger seemed really old. Now I've reached that age and I feel, well, really old.

Jeff had told me about my birthday present several weeks ago, mainly because he knew I'd need some time to adjust to the idea. He surprised me with tickets to see my favorite band, Foo Fighters, in St. Louis. I missed their Memphis show (and I've never missed a Memphis show) because of graduation, so as soon as I casually mentioned they'd be within driving distance a few days after my birthday, Jeff jumped at the chance. He somehow found a good deal on a room at the Ritz Carlton, set up care for Cooper and Avery, found restaurants he thought I'd liked, and budgeted everything. I was shocked and yes, it did take me a while to adjust to the idea. This was the first time I left Cooper overnight where we weren't in town and even though I knew he was in very capable hands with Nana and Bob-O, I did need some time to be okay with it.

Saturday morning, we dropped Avery off at my parents' house and Cooper off at Jeff's parents' house, then were on our way. The drive seemed like it took forever- Memphis to St. Louis isn't the most scenic drive- but we made it there around mid-afternoon, just in time for a little shopping. We checked into the hotel and when we got to our room, we found this:


Somehow, we got a room with a fabulous view of St. Louis. Even though it was cloudy, we could see the Arch and a hot air balloon race from our balcony:


And Jeff pointed out the ballerinas in front of the hotel:

He wanted me to get out and pose like them and when I refused, I was told "You are no fun. You are acting like you're 30!" Well, then.

Jeff really did his research and found some great places for us to eat while in St. Louis. On a previous trip, we ate a deep dish pizza place on The Hill, but it has since closed. Jeff found Pi, a restaurant that won the Best of St. Louis award for deep dish pizza. It definitely did not disappoint- fresh ingredients, great atmosphere, and our waiter was wonderful. Unfortunately, our camera was on the fritz at dinner, but we did get this picture on the way out of town (yes, Pi is closed and it is raining):


On to the Foo Fighters! Can I just tell you how absolutely giddy I was? Seriously, I could barely contain myself and you'd have thought I had never seen them, or any other, concert. I pulled a total fan geek move and got a t-shirt (but didn't go so far as to wear it at the concert; that's just wrong). We walked around the arena during the opening act and made it to our seats in plenty of time to do some people watching. Oh my. St. Louis citizens are an interesting group of people, I can say that much. Anyway, The Foo Fighters did not disappoint and if I had known my camera wouldn't have been confiscated, I would have taken it and gotten much better pictures:


Opening with "Bridge Burning"


The band and Pat Smear on the big screens


Dave Grohl performing "Best of You"

They played for almost 3 hours, including a 7 song encore and a cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Breakdown" that was unreal. And yes, I know I sound like a freak show groupie gushing on and on about the concert, but it was amazing and I loved every minute of it.

Sunday morning, we went to breakfast at Winslow's House, an organic restaurant and gift shop. I think Jeff and I both thought it would be like a farmer's market and restaurant, but it was more knick-knacks than anything. I had pancakes with apples that were very good and Jeff had French toast with berries that he said were good, but he'd definitely pick something else if we ever went back. After that, we were on the road back to Memphis, both ready to see Coopie and surprise him with his Cardinals hat.

A big thank you to Nana and Bob-O for keeping Cooper; Pops and YaYa for keeping Avery; all of them, plus Tada for keeping the surprise secret for several months; and especially to Jeff for making it such a perfect weekend.

Tigers Around Town and 23 Months Old

This weekend, we ventured to The University of Memphis for their Tigers Around Town event. This being the 100th year the university is in existence, they kicked off the celebration by getting local artists to decorate life-sized tigers, each representing a year. We ran through the exhibit because someone was out of sorts, but did manage to get pictures of several of the tigers.


Joey Dorsey tiger in honor of my favorite Memphis basketball player, aside from Earl Barron and Kelly Wise.


Us in fron of the 1999 tiger- that was the year I started at Memphis.


The 2003 tiger, which was the year I graduated with my undergraduate degree.


I think this was 1926, but I really took the picture because I thought the tiger was cute.
*The other pictures we took either didn't make it out of the camera or didn't turn out well including 1976 (the year YaYa graduated), 1977 (the year Pops graduate), 1987 (Tada's birth year), 1998 (the year Jeff started at Memphis), and 2007 (the year I graduated with my Master's). Like I said, quick outing.

Speaking of someone, we are a mere month away from having a 2 year old on our hands. I was looking at his baby pictures, getting all teary eyed because he's really not a baby anymore. And he's really not staying in his bed, either, so maybe those tears are from lack of sleep. No, I'm pretty sure it's because I can't believe almost 2 years have gone by so quickly.

So, what's Mr. Cooper up to these days?
*Escaping from his crib and room with the greatest of ease. Just call him David Copperfield. We've been battling naptime and bedtime because he's decided he's not going to stay put. We're working on this. Diligently. Because Mommy and Daddy are t-i-r-e-d.
*Talking up a storm. Frequent calls are made to Bob-O, Nana, Pops, YaYa, and Tada in which he says "hi", "love you", "bye" and may or may not hang up in the middle of the conversation. He talks about Mommy's glasses being on and off, our shoes being on and off, he and Daddy wearing hats, Avery playing with her golf ball and all the things "Coopie" is doing. Loves to point out school buses, trucks, cars that resemble family members' cars, airplanes, puppy dogs. And did you know that everyone mows the grass, even Carnie, Bob-O and Nana's dog? It's true.
*Loves brushing his teeth. Every morning and night, we go through "Mommy brush teeth?", "Daddy brush teeth?", "Coopie brush teeth?", "Avey brush teeth?"
*Loves reading, especially his potty book and Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin. We've read that one so much he can recite it along with us.
*Needs to check the mail everyday. He proudly announces "Maaaaaiiiiillll" or "No maaaaaiiiiillll" each time we walk in the house. Those drawn-out letters are no joke- Cooper has a strong Southern accent.
*Potty-training when he feels like it. Sometimes, he has no problems sitting on the potty and going. Others, you'd think we were about to waterboard the child. We're picking our battles, which probably isn't what hardcore parents would say to do.
*Has found a love of yogurt (strawberry seems to be his favorite) and cheese puffs. We're still struggling with him being a picky eater.

We're gearing up for his birthday party, although his Mama can't quite get it together enough to plan anything out. A party planner, I am not.

September 11th

A day that will forever be known as the worst day in American history.

I'm not one to talk about September 11th. The fact that it's been 10 years is hard to believe. For good or bad, I wasn't the person who jumped in to help the cause. I didn't join the military because I felt it was my duty to serve my country. I don't even think I ran out to buy something red, white, and blue- a flag, a shirt, a pin- to show my support of the country.

I just remember being scared.

I know what our parents and grandparents talk about when they say they know exactly where they were when they heard news about those events. I remember each minute of that day like it was yesterday.

I had an 8am class, so I didn't know anything had happened until I headed to my 2nd class of the day. Looking back on it now, the energy on campus going to that class was much different than any other day. It was almost as if people couldn't speak in complete sentences; there was so much confusion. I made it to my second class before the story really started coming together. Before I knew it, my professor stood in the doorway of the classroom and said, "Leave this room, find a TV, and plant yourself in front of it. You're going to watch history being made." and he left. I went back to my dorm room and watched The Today Show. By that time, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were sitting on The Today Show couch, speechless for the most part. They were showing replays of the first plane hitting the tower, so you fully understood that originally, this was thought to be some terrible accident that changed in an instant. The planes had also already hit the Pentagon and been taken down in Shanksville. I called Daddy who told me that whatever it was, whoever had done it, it was bad. I watched the coverage in stunned silence, just not knowing what to think. Everything was raw footage, so all the horror, all the scenes that aren't shown anymore because of their graphic nature, weren't edited out.

Not knowing what to do, I went to work at the architecture firm that I worked at all through college. Everyone was watching the news coverage, but it wasn't long before our boss sent us home for the day. The phones weren't ringing, no one was working, and I honestly don't even know if the mail was delivered that day. I went to my parents' house. I just keep thinking that any minute, the death and destruction was going to start up again. I eventually went back out to school, met up with some friends and went to church to pray, then stayed with Jeff that night because again, everything was unknown and if the attacks started again, I certainly didn't want to be by myself.

I couldn't tear myself away from the coverage, which as most will remember, would have been hard to do anyway because all stations- even MTV, ESPN, and the Food Network- were covering. I had early classes everyday and I watched The Today Show as I was getting ready, but for weeks, there was not any sort of structure to the show. They would automatically go into the updates about finding survivors, then remains, then cleaning up the site.

Eventually, despite thinking it never would, life went on and got back to the "new normal." Watching the coverage this morning makes me hold onto Cooper much tighter and maybe having him in my life is what makes this much harder to comprehend. I certainly have cried more about the day now than I ever did when it actually happened. How the families who were directly affected by this tragedy have survived- I will never know.

MTV VMAs

I realized how old I was last night when I watched the MTV VMAs. Believing I should fully immerse myself in pop culture, I am guilty of watching Jersey Shore (it's still on DVR rotation) and when nothing else is on, Teen Mom and True Life have been known to be on our TV.

And truthfully, there's always some crazy something that happens during the MTV awards shows that people are talking about later. Who wants to miss trainwrecks?

Let's start with Lady Gaga, who I normally love, but who showed up as Jo Calderone, some alter-ego, greaser-looking version of herself.

Her performance of You and I was great, but the character was just weird. And it got worse as the night went on and she presented Britney Spears with the Lifetime Achievement Award (or whatever MTV calls it), then tried to kiss her. And since Britney is on the straight and narrow (when she wants to be) now, she was like, "I've already done that." and turned away. Awkward.

Regardless of the fact Britney read the teleprompter like Hooked on Phonics really didn't work for her, she actually looked decent, like she's finally getting her act together. And who woulda thunk she'd end up with someone like Jason Traywick:


Did you hear? Beyonce is pregnant! If you haven't heard that, you must be living under a rock. Not only was it rumored, but that's all anyone has talked about since Sunday. Truly though, she really does have that "glow" and at the end of her performance when she turned to show off her belly, you could tell she was thrilled. Really cute to see:


Love Adele. Love, love, love her.


You knew I'd include a Foo Fighters picture. They won for Walk and all I could think of is how it wasn't that long ago that MTV was about music and now the Foo Fighters are almost an enigma in the music world.


And then I felt even worse for Dave Grohl when Chris Brown, who didn't so much sing as "beat that beat" and dance angrily, used a portion of Smells Like Teen Spirit in his acrobatic act:


Russell Brand did a really nice tribute to Amy Winehouse, even if he's normally so funny that it was hard to take him seriously. Bruno Mars did a great version of Valerie as a tribute. I could listen to the Back to Black CD over and over again and never get tired of it.


What the what? Is that Rainbow Brite on stage?


Oh, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj...your attempts at being the poor man's Lady Gaga are failing. Miserably.



So, the night turned out to be rather calm by MTV standards. No overly elaborate costumes, no one running on stage to ruin poor Taylor Swift's speech, and Lil Wayne's performance was almost impossible to understand because of the bleeping and screaming. Par for the course!