I'm back, nerds!!!

OK, so I'm back from vacation (which was fabulous, by the way) and ready to do some blogging! And I've decided to set a new goal for my blogging habits. I think I went a little overkill this summer between starting a second blog, trying to keep up with three different shows, and editing video recaps. Then I got what I'm going to call an internet hangover, and didn't even end up writing a single finale recap for any of those shows. And I pretty much neglected this blog until I had to word vomit all over it before leaving for vacation.

So, new goal: I'm going to blog once a week on each blog. That's not too tough, right? Plus, people probably don't want to read a new post from me every day of their lives anyway, so this will make me easier for you lot to keep up with. AND best of all, it will give me more time to catch up with YOU!

OK, now that that's out of the way...

VACATION HIGHLIGHTS!

1. Flat tire!
Yes, my very first flat tire that really counts. (My old Neon got a flat in high school, but I was literally right in front of my house when it happened, so I got it up the driveway and into the garage where my dad changed it using power tools. Which is sooooo not the same thing as an actual, real-life flat tire!)

It happened about 40 miles before Rockford, Illinois and about 15 minutes before midnight. I had slept all day and was really hitting my groove behind the wheel, ready for a steady drive through the night. Marla and I had talked our way through Indiana and now she was asleep in the passenger seat and it was just me, Heidi (my GPS), and a mix of Jason Mraz, Lady Danville, and Sara B in the CD player. I was feeling good.

And then the tire went out.

I weakly hoped for a second that the flatulent sounds being made between my tires and the road were being caused by an unfinished repaving job, but I knew this wasn't the case, so I pulled over and woke up Marla, who got out to check the damage.

"Yep, you got a flat," she said.

OK, I thought, no problem! I had a can of tire inflator in the trunk -- easy fix! So we tried to fill the tire up with the inflation stuff, but it didn't work...which meant we'd actually have to change the tire. In the middle of the night. In the middle of I-39.

We called Dad, and between his instructions and some very vague illustrations in my car's owner manual, we got the tire changed by the light of cell phones and a full moon. There was no crying or yelling, which is impressive for our family, and I am proud to say I even called off the roadside assistance folks who were dispatched by my insurance company. Marla and I did it ourselves!

I'm also not embarrassed to say that at some point in the night, both of us peed on the side of the interstate. Ah-thank-you.

We made it to Rockford on the little donut tire and stayed in a hotel overnight so we could get new tires in the morning, making us late for our cousin's wedding in Minneapolis that afternoon. But we still made it to the reception!

Of course, by the time we got there, everyone had heard about the flat tire incident and was either pitying us or giving us a hard time about it. But you know what? I'm actually glad it happened, because now I know I can change a flat and live to tell the story! Ok, highlight number 2...

2. Reunited (and it feels so goo-ood!)
For the first time in years, both of my sisters and I were at the lake at the same time, which was very special! We are a very closeknit set of siblings, so when we get together it gets a little insane. My dad is always equal parts busting at the seams with happiness and driven up the wall with annoyance, because we as a group are a little obnoxious. When we get together, we almost speak in our own language largely made up of inside jokes, weird voices, and fits of laughter. This time around our language also included several Dorm Life references, including endless choruses of "Tabitha Darling" and many other Joshua Morgan quotes. One morning I was even awakened by the Morning Song a la Steph Schwartzman, courtesy of Marla. Like I said, very special.

3. My birthday!
My actual birthday was spent driving home from the lake, which kind of stunk, but it was also a lot of fun because Marla and I passed the time using the word "essspensive" as much as possible (example: "Oooh, that motorcycle looks essspensive!" or, "Gas is essspensive!") and talking/singing in high-pitched voices to get Lola to make faces at us from the back seat.

But my birthday celebration was Friday and it was fabulous. Michelle made some kind of cake made of Kahlua, coffee, and coconut (delicious), and we took it and a bucket of frozen margarita mix on the pontoon boat and cruised the lake as the sun went down. It was the second annual Cake and Cocktail Cruise (a tradition I founded last year)! I think next year I'm gonna make t-shirts.

And now I'm back, trying to get adjusted to my nocturnal schedule again and getting back into the swing of work. And this time of year I always get the urge to buy school supplies, even though I don't need to anymore! September is just around the corner, and with it the start of FOOTBALL SEASON! I can't wait.

See you next week, I promise!
<3 Lis

somebody call freak out control...

As they say out east (I think it's a Jersey thing, anyway), I'm gonna need freak-out control!!!

Everyone's favorite mockumentary web series is ba-aaack! I just saw the Season 2 trailer posted on YouTube and flipped my lid!

Here it is:



In other news, I just found out that I have to work until 11:15 Monday through Wednesday next week. So goodbye to my daily eight hours of sleep, but hel-loooo overtime paycheck!

That's all I got. Speaking of sleep, I need to get some pronto.

Until later!

just like oprah...but without all the free stuff.

It's my favorite things! Disclaimer: I totally copied this idea from Kels (check out her blog for her favorite things--it's a great compilation!) I tried to run the gammot of random interests, but it was hard to narrow things down and I'm sure that as soon as I finish this blog post, I'll think of a few things that I love and think, "How could I leave that out?!!" I even squeezed extra favorites in by highlighting them in bold even though there's not a picture for some of them. Like I said, hard to narrow it down.

Here we go!


First of all, I can't tell you have many times a day I Google things. I am truly a child of the Information Age. I even used Google Images to find most of these pictures!


Since the days of Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire, I haven't ever quite outgrown the DC. I know it's cheesy and over-the-top, but it's also fun and very cute, and who doesn't love Disney Channel Original Movies? Plus, the fact that I check in on the Disney Channel from time to time is very helpful in babysitting situations, because I actually have stuff to talk about with the kids.



My job! I love my job so much that a lot of times I forget that I "go to work" every day...or I guess I should say, every night. And I know I have it better working in the mornings because the people are great and compared to the daytime/evening hours, it's a lot less stressful! The people I work with are all hilarious, sweet, and easy to get along with. I love my job!



Arrested Development is one of my newest TV addictions, and I am so glad msn.com has given me the ability to watch all the episodes online for free! I did buy the first season on DVD though, and I will probably buy the other two as well. This show is hysterically funny and because of it I am so in love with this guy...

...Jason Bateman. Except for in Juno, where he played a guy that was a total loser at life. But seriously, watch his interviews for Juno with Michael Cera...so cute!

Bateman and Cera played father and son in "Arrested Development" and were never actually on screen together in "Juno" but they got to do this press junket/EPK stuff together, which was great! Too bad Jason is already happily married with a kid (becaaaause I would have a better chance of marrying him then? Whoa, dream big!)



While we're talking about guys I love but can't marry because they're already taken (and famous), let's talk about this guy right here. Bill Hader has this quirky quality that I find totally appealing. Oh yeah, plus he's hilarious. You can find him on Saturday Night Live and in movies like Superbad, Hot Rod, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.



Every time I see one of these camera commercials, I want to marry this guy. Again, not a possibility. But Ashton Kutcher is so lovable not only because yeah, he's hot, but also because he's got his stuff together. A true Midwestern boy, he has a goofy guy-next-door comedic appeal that works for him despite his model looks. And he's successfully gone from TV sitcom acting to producing his own TV shows as well as remaining an in-demand leading man in several different genres of film. Plus, he does these cute commercials!



Now onto something I love and can have whenever I want: Baja chicken chalupas from Taco Bell. They are my absolute vice. I don't eat them often because I know they can't be good for you, but every once in a while, I treat myself to this delicious, spicy, carb-loaded bundle of delight. Yum!



Put this on just about anything and I will eat it. JIF extra-crunchy peanut butter is a staple in my home. That and toilet paper.



CAPAKIMAJU is my grandparents' cabin on Kjostad Lake in Orr, Minnesota. It is my favorite place in the world and I'm so excited to go this summer! I think that when I go to heaven it will be a lot like Kjostad Lake.



Ralph Lauren's Romance perfume is my favorite scent. I got my first (and only) bottle my freshman year of college and I am finally running out, so...I will probably be asking for it this Christmas!



This, to me, is the best TV show ever. And I'm pretty sure I mean that. The Office has figured out how to make me feel happy, uncomfortable, sad, mad, in love, and ready to pee my pants from laughing all at once. It also has the magical ability to cheer me up in emergency situations.



I love Waiting for Guffman and all of the other movies Christopher Guest has created with his hand-picked improv troupe extraordinaire. And another thing I love is that people from this group keep showing up in Arrested Development and The Office as well as in Judd Apatow movies...it's just fun to see where and when and how they will pop up next!



I am just tickeld by Teen Girl Squad and most other things from homestarrunner.com. Even the introduction to the website cracks me up! I always want to quote this stuff in conversation, but it can only be with a few people I know who have watched it enough times to know what I'm talking about. I've been enjoying this website since my senior year of high school in newspaper class.



Another website I enjoy visiting is www.dorm-life.com, the homepage for a web series in mockumentary format (similar to The Office or a Chris Guest movie) about a group of college kids living on the same floor. They recently ended the first season and I am already stoked for more!



And while we're talking about fun shows on the web, I also wanted to highlight Whatever Hollywood, who I've talked about in my blog before. I suggest checking them out because they'll be famous someday!



Any excuse I can find to eat with chopsticks, I will do it. I don't know why, but I love eating with chopsticks! I even have a couple "permanent" pairs that I wash with my silverware and use again!



I love Purdue. So much. I bleed gold and black. Go Boilers!!!



Oh, Reese Witherspoon. If there's any one celebrity I love no matter what, it's Reese. She is beautiful, funny, smart, and so talented. And she's 5'2" like me! And you can make fun of me all you want, but Legally Blonde will always be one of my favorite movies.



I am kind of obsessed with this girl. Which is kinda weird, I know, because she's like my age. But not only do I love Ashley Tisdale for being Sharpay in High School Musical, I also think she is a great role model for the kids in her audience. She doesn't drink, smoke, or go to the clubs, and therefore she stays out of all sorts of trouble that her peers have gotten into. And I just saw the trailer today for her new little made-for-TV movie that premieres on ABC Family July 13th. The same weekend as we open our production of High School Musical in which I play Sharpay! See, obsessed. I even bought her first recording album when it came out last summer.



Also obsessed...with these two. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are awesome not only because they are so funny, but because of all the other cool things they stand for. The first all-female cast of Weekend Update on SNL, they are also very good friends and, from what I can tell, really cool people. I love Tina's series "30 Rock" on NBC, and I love her adaptation of the book "Queen Bees and Wannabes" to its film version, "Mean Girls." Amy Poehler joins Reese and Ashley on my list of favorite blondes. I love and imitate to exhaustion her character "Kaitlin" from SNL, and I think that she and husband Will Arnett (Arrested Development, 30 Rock) have to be the cutest, funniest couple ever. And I loved "Baby Momma."



My parents always say if I went to New York City I would never come back. And they would be correct. I have never been, but when I do you can bet I won't leave before seeing at LEAST one show on Broadway. I love keeping up with what productions come to the Great White Way every season, and I even get excited for the Tony Awards every summer! I know it's dorky because I'm out here in Indiana, but I mean, whatever.



And finally, I love jeans. I think I wear them literally every day. I love them. I know, who doesn't? But really, what would we do without jeans?

OK, so those are some of my favorite things, in no particular order. And now I'm hungry for a chalupa so...I might have to go do something about that.

Until later!
lis

chick picks

Well, the Office, 30 Rock, and Dorm Life have all wrapped up for the season, leaving a little void in my life for something to watch, predict, and be entertained by from week to week. So I've picked up a couple of very girly watching habits in the meantime!

First, there's the Bachelorette. I've never been a faithful watcher of this show before, but last year I got into the Bachelor (the Brad Womack season) for one reason and one reason only---a couple of the girls I work with watch the show and in order to be included in their conversations about it, I had to actually watch it too. It turned out to be quite a memorable season as the finale ended with not one but TWO big rejections and ZERO proposals. The final two girls, Jenny and DeAnna, seemed to be amazing people; Jenny a sweet, warm, fun-loving gal and DeAnna a time-tested hardship survivor who knew what she wanted in life. Brad told them both goodbye.

I was actually interested in watching this season of the Bachelorette because I knew it'd be one of these two girls, and I was intrigued to see how they'd pick one over the other to star in the show. Well, ironically enough, Jenny eliminated herself because she ended up getting engaged! Leaving DeAnna the chance to have 25 guys from all over the U.S. fight over her on national television.

I am not a huge fan of the idea of going on network TV to find the love of your life, but it's fun to watch other people do it. That being said, DeAnna is the perfect person for this task because she really seems to know exactly what she wants in life and in love, so maybe this won't be as daunting a task for her as it would be for others. It's also WAY fun to see the different dynamic of having guys competing versus girls.

So far we are two episodes in, and though there is one guy I liked who didn't make it past the premiere (the oyster farmer), after watching last night's episode I'm glad to report that all my favorites got a rose and are safe for another week! I especially like Richard the science teacher, Brian the high school football coach, Fred from Chicago, who has a Jason Bateman head of hair and sounds like a Blues Brothers Dan Aykroyd (which in my book equals adorable), Jason the single dad, Graham the hot Southern kid, and Jesse the goofy snowboarder. I also think it was fair of DeAnna to give obnoxious Twilley another chance simply because he made a huge effort to show her a quieter, more serious side of him. I'm glad Eric the presumptuous Greek went home, and though I'm sure Ryan the football player is a great guy, I was getting annoyed by him mentioning that he's still a virgin like...every time he spoke. I think it's tough for Christians because we aren't supposed to be ashamed of our beliefs, but if we act like this guy and rub them in people's faces, we look like toolboxes. So I'm glad he went home. All that being said, I'm loving the show!

The best part of the show so far, though was during the premiere when Jenny came back to help DeAnna weed out the initial batch of guys. The two girls are standing there in the backyard, one with 25 guys falling over her and the other with a HUGE rock on her finger, and Jenny says something to the effect of, "I think we're doing a lot better for ourselves." Pretty cool.

OK, the other thing I'm watching...and this is to fill the void left by the hilarious mockumentary web series Dorm Life...is Whatever Hollywood.com, a site made by three girls (two sisters and one sister-friend) who are all aspiring showbiz folks--a host/producer, a singer/songwriter, and an actress (she's the McCleary sis who gets married via nautical-themed vows at the beginning of Wedding Crashers!!! Watch it!) who all live in L.A. and are trying to make it, but meanwhile have launched this adorable site where they make funny little short videos. It reminds me of me and my two best gals from college OR me and my two sisters, so I am totally diggin' it with new videos every Wednesday.

OK, gotta hit the showers and grab a bite to eat before heading off to song-and-dance land!

Until later!

Was it Courtney's fault?

Tommy, I am reading your blog. Are you reading mine?

Tommy introduced me to this web series called "Dorm Life." And we are both so obsessed that we watch the new episodes like as soon as they are posted (after midnight Monday morning) and then sometimes we call each other and discuss, which I love.

This week's episode was super-crazy. One story line has been following Mike, who came to college with the typical high-school girlfriend back home. But like any other college kid, he starts forming friendships at school (in this case on his dorm floor) and grows apart from his hometown sweetheart. One of these new friends is Brittany, who is cool, pretty, and smart. She and Mike obviously have one of those underlying connections, so when Mike inevitably breaks up with his gf, all of us dedicated fans are expecting Mike to develop an interest in Brittany.

And Dorm Life has been dragging us along the last few episodes without moving that story forward. This week, though, everything seemed to happen. DannyB, the sheltered and reserved momma's boy, finally got the number of the "mystery hot girl" who he's been running into in the elevator all semester. To celebrate, he decides to drink for the first time. And of course, everyone else decides to drink too. So freshmen + alcohol + no RA present = out of control party with kids who don't know their limits. And at one point, a schwasted Mike asks Courtney, Brittany's slutty-but-endearing roommate, where Brittany is. And we all think, "Yes! It's going to happen!" But then Courtney, also schwasted, says she doesn't know and Mike tells her about two other floormates who have been hooking up.

"People are hooking up? Ok!" says Courtney, and grabs Mike's drunk face and kisses him, then gets up and says, "You're coming to my room!"

Mike takes a beat and shrugs, "Ok." And follows her.

What?!!!

Then we see Courtney doing one of those classic things all of us hated in the dorms--kicking out the roommate for alone time with another person. But Britney, who is drunk (everyone's drunk, ok?), is just like, you got it. IF ONLY SHE KNEW WHO WAS BEHIND THAT DOOR WITH COURTNEY!!!

Cut to the next morning, when Brittany knocks on her door to be let back into her room. And then Mike opens the door. And they both realize what happened. And Mike exits down the hallway.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

OK, so Tommy and I talk about this, and he's so mad at Courtney. But I'm mad at Mike too! And Tommy, in his blog, brings up an interesting point--is there a double-standard that some people subconsciously adhere to that places blame on the girl, in this case Courtney, for situations like this?

I can see how it would be easier to blame Courtney. We already know from watching previous episodes that Courtney is not to be admired for her moral code, so it's easier not to like her. Also, she is Brittany's roommate and lifelong friend, so she should have some sense of loyalty to Brittany. And, she initiated the hook-up, or in toddler mentality, "she started it."

BUT...did Courtney have any idea Brittany had any interest in Mike? To our knowledge as viewers, Brittany has never admitted to liking him.

Here's why I give Mike equal blame for ruining what Tommy has dubbed "the Perfect Plan" (and I like it so I'm going to use that from here on out): Mike DOES seem to have a more admirable moral code than Courtney, so I expect better behavior out of him than what he displayed. Also, Mike wasn't dragged to Courtney's room; he agreed and followed of his own accord. And, he was asking about Brittany, so she was obviously on his mind. But curiously, he was very willing to follow Courtney into her room, so he was probably doing something I call "thinking with his boy-parts" and that's something that really frusterates me about guys.

Also, I have a theory that Mike's primary goal was revenge on Emily, his ex-gf from back home; earlier in the episode he yelled at her (drunk) on the phone and then threw his phone into the wall and broke it. Not too long after that, he was asking for Brittany. His possible thought process: I want to move on. I want to move on in a way that will make Emily mad. I like Brittany. Where is she? Oh, this girl is hot and she wants to make out. I want to make out to get back at Emily. Ok."

I want to be clear--I don't place all the blame on Mike. But I do think he is equally to blame. And I will say that even if he had found Brittany, whatever he had wanted to do with her would have been for the wrong reasons and not what Brittany deserved, even if she had been ok with it at the moment (drunk). Basically, it wasn't time for them to get together, for whatever the reason, because they were too drunk.

I can see why it's easy in this situation to be mad at the girl, but I don't understand why it's so easy to let the guy off the hook. Just because he's a "good" guy and he made a mistake, whereas she's a girl who initiated things and is therefore a shameless temptress?

I think that's where we get this double-standard. A guy hits on a girl and it's like, "that girl was so stupid to fall for that." But a girl hits on a guy and it's like, "well she's hot and he's a guy; he can't help it."

YES HE CAN! Guys were given the capacity for self-control just like girls were. I don't know why we expect it to be easier for girls to turn down someone's advances. Guys may think with their boy-parts, but they still have brains, and there's never an excuse for defaulting to the organ driven solely by hormones and inborn instinct.

I think we have this mentality that guys would never turn down sex, and so we would never expect them to. I know that's not true for every guy, but in my experience, the way most guys talk, I would say I find it hard to believe that many of them would be capable victims of date-rape. If we applied that mentality to a girl, however, she'd be a slut.

I will never forget this episode of "Family Matters" where brother and sister Eddie and Laura are talking about sex. And Eddie is worried about his younger sister Laura having sex because "it's ok for guys, but it's not ok for girls." And then Laura gives him this look that clearly says what we're all thinking: if it's ok for guys to have sex but not for girls, then who are the guys having sex with?

Ok, I think that's all I have to say about that. Except one more thing--boys, don't think with your boy-parts, ok? Thanks.