(Beware, there are a TON of photos ahead)

The concert:

Erica & Chris

John Michael & Amanda

Jarred & Sabrina

Erica, Sabrina, and me (looking like a giant compared to the other two):

Stoney LaRue!

This was the obnoxious man who was sitting a few feet in front of us:

Beer!

Great Friends. Great times.

Jarred decided we needed to swap sunglasses:

It was RIDICULOUSLY hot the whole weekend:

Merle Haggard!

Miranda Lambert!

The concert ended up being a blast!  The only downside of the night was the 1 hour wait in the parking lot to leave.

The next day we enjoyed my parents’ pool and had a great time visiting with friends and family.

John Michael’s friend Amanda made a DELICIOUS blueberry pie.

Dad grilling out.

I didn’t get a picture of all of our food, but here’s some it: grilled corn and (an awkward pic of) hot dogs!

Mojito Break!

My grandma (above) and my dad:

My friend Lani brought her family over for the evening, and it was great to get to visit with them!  Her boys enjoyed spending time with Jarred.

My cousin even graced us with his presence, looking as stylish as ever:

A picture of me doing a cannonball:

It was a PERFECT way to spend the evening.

My mom and Lani.
My mom and me!

Sabrina and JarredThe next day we took a drive out to the Wichita Mountains and up to the top of Mount Scott.  It was somewhat overcast, but still quite hot.

Jarred in deep thought (actually he was grumpy and didn’t want to smile for the camera).

Chris as King of the Mountain.

Chris wanted to get a posed picture of me, though I’m not the best at fake posing.

That night, we spontaneously planned an early birthday party for Jarred. Because it was a spontaneous party, we didn’t have a cake especially for him. Luckily, my grandma had given us a partially eaten cake earlier that day.  I’m not sure who the cake was originally for or how old it was (it didn’t taste especially fresh), but we made do with it.

It’s hard to see, but we attempted to write “Jarred” into the frosting with a knife:

Since that didn’t work too well, we resorted to a sign made courtesy of Chris.

With the help of a few random balloons that my mom had in the pantry, we put together quite a nice party, haha.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Jar-Bear!!

What a great weekend!  And on that note, I’m all caught up with my picture posting for the past month.  Hopefully I can refrain from inundating you with a kazillion pictures again in the near future!

The most interesting person we met was Jorge, an older gentleman from deep in the heart of Mexico.  He was quite a character, and by the end of the day, we were all best friends.

Jorge:

Watching my boyfriend Albert Pujols (Poo-Poo Bear) play ball:

At some point in the afternoon, Jorge kept wanting me to say “Are you talking to me? I’m Stella Artois!”  I’m not exactly sure why this came about, but I do know that he made me practice saying it without smiling a kabillion times.  I failed miserably.

Me trying to look tough:

He gave me his hat in an effort to increase my toughness:

Frustrated, Jorge decided to demonstrate the proper way to say it by asking Erica if she’s talking to him:

Erica didn’t buy it.

Oh, Jorge.

After a few hours at a bar, bad (but delicious) decisions are often made:

For the last half of our stay, I switched from beer to water.  After 23 refills (literally!), the bartender just gave me the water hose thing and told me to help myself.

We met lots of fun people aside from Jorge that night too (like our great bartender Boston!), but we only got a picture with this new random friend.

All in all, it was a great day!  I’m definitely looking forward to my next Frankie’s visit.  I just hope Jorge will be there to teach me some new sayings!

Here’s a mix of random pictures documenting some of what I’ve been up to for the last month.  This post is literally all over the place, so be ready for random!

My friend Erica and I at The Ranch on one of our many great nights out on the town.

The jury’s still out on the chicken and waffles we tried there.

At the beginning of the month, I was great about walking, jogging, or biking every day.  Despite the heat, it was beautiful out and it felt great.  Sadly, leaving for 2 weeks threw me off my game, and I’ve yet to find the inspiration to get out in this heat the last couple of weeks. Here are a few pics from the beautiful walking/bike paths in my neighborhood.

Erica and I decided to make a night out of the horse races here in town.  I’d never been to the horse races before, and it was a lot of fun!  I lost $2 on the only bet I made that night, but the atmosphere was nice.  Yay for new experiences!

I wasn’t fast enough to catch the horses as they passed the finish line.  This is the best I got:

Food pictures!  I’ve been cooking a lot this summer, using all the great fruits and vegetables that I’ve bought from the farmer’s market.  Delicious!

My experimental blueberry mojito.  Think what you will, but it was delicious!

Babies!  I got to meet three sweet, sweet babies this month.  I love that I get to be Aunt Erin to so many adorable kiddos!

My friend Bethany’s son Logan and me.  He is seriously one of the most precious newborns I’ve ever seen.

My Pookie Mike and his son Michael.  He’s such a happy baby.  I can’t believe it took me over 8 months to meet him!

I also met my cousin’s girlfriend’s son Case!  He was incredibly sweet and active, and he LOVED my brother:

My best friend Jarred’s birthday was yesterday, and because I couldn’t be there to celebrate with him, I decided to honor him by treating myself to a red velvet cupcake (his favorite) from Society Bakery.  SO yummy!

My cat looking exceptionally tall and exceptionally sweet:

I made a visit to a travel store to find the perfect piece of luggage for my upcoming 3-week trip to Europe.  I have decided that I will pack everything I need for the trip in one carry-on piece of luggage.  Those of you who have ever traveled with me know that I’m a TERRIBLE packer, so this could be an adventure.

Why I drive bartenders crazy:

Despite a constant temperature of 68 degrees in my apartment, my bedroom is too hot for me to sleep comfortably.  My solution:

Yes, that’s TWO fans next to my bed.  I also have my ceiling fan going–even then my bedroom doesn’t get as cool as the rest of the apartment.

Relaxing on the patio at my aunt and uncle’s house.

Trip home to Lawton for the 4th of July:

My first night out in L-town, I went out for beers with my bro.  He hates that I take so many pictures, so I took a moment when he was distracted as an opportunity to document the night.

Whew!  That’s the end of my pictures from this last month.  I warned you there were a lot and that they were random! Now I’ll work on my posts from the 4th and from an especially fun night in Dallas.  I bet you’re holding your breath in anticipation after seeing all these exciting photos, haha. They should be up shortly!

Also delightful?  The video of the whole situation that I shot with my iPhone immediately upon waking up.  Apparently, in my grogginess, I thought it would be good to have a video of all the noise to accompany my story.  Unfortunately, as soon as I turned the camera on the noise quieted down, and now, instead of a fascinating inside look at the midnight world of motorcycle repair, I have a video of my blinds (because I wasn’t awake enough to actually move the blinds out of the way) that is crazily narrated by a half-asleep Erin.  The Honey Badger guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg) has nothing on me.

The motorcyclist has since left, but I’m still wide awake, so I thought I’d upload some pictures from my perfect Friday.

I decided to take myself on an afternoon movie date at the Magnolia to see Woody Allen’s new movie A Midnight in Paris.

I went to the 1:30 showing, and the theater was absolutely packed. I guess everyone had the same idea that I did!  After drinking about 6 glasses of iced tea at lunch and a coke at the movie, I was dying to go to the bathroom after the show.  The Magnolia is a fairly upscale theater, and you generally don’t find graffiti on the bathroom stalls.  Today, however, I randomly chose the one stall with bathroom graffiti. It spoke to me, so, of course, I took a picture.

I’ve never really understood graffiti (for example, why do people have long conversations/arguments with each other on the bathroom stall? Do people really go back to the same icky gas station bathroom stall just to check the status of their argument?  I suppose so since I was once in a bathroom that said something like “Janet & Tom Together Forever!” This was then crossed out with a note that said “Not anymore.” Either Janet came back to the stall to set the record straight or else another bathroom patron took it upon herself to make the correction.  Either way, I just don’t get it), but I thought these were good words to live by as far as bathroom messages go.

After the movie, I was driving home when all of a sudden I came across the most beautiful park.  I don’t know how I didn’t know that it existed before, but I’m glad that I discovered it today.  I immediately parked my car and got out for a spontaneous walk.  Along the way I took pictures, and I thought I’d post a handful here.  Be aware–this post is exceptionally photo heavy!

I came upon this goose (duck? swan? I need a lesson in fowl.), and he didn’t move at all.  I’m hoping he was just sleeping, but he was eerily still.

Check out the blue eyes on this handsome fellow:

Reading break!

I love this tree!

I love the picture above.  It just perfectly captures the serene beauty of the park.

After my most wonderful walk, I came home and got ready for a fun dinner with a great friend.  We had a great time, and it was the perfect cap to my day.

It’s 6:00 am now, and I’m finally tired, so I think I’ll go try to squeeze in a short nap before the adventures I have planned for today.  Night!

But not today.

No, today, I was keenly aware of what a catch I am.  Now before you start questioning my humility or contemplate writing a comment that will bring me down a notch, let me make my case with a little visual.

I slept in fairly late this morning (yay, summer!), and when I woke up, I felt the urge to work out.  I must have slept hard last night because when I looked in the mirror I had sheet marks creased into the sides of my face and up and down my right arm.  Not wanting to lose my work-out motivation, I quickly threw my hair up into a pony tail and went to get my tennis shoes.

I quickly put on my socks and was lacing up my first shoe when I realized that in my haste I failed to change out of my pjs.  This might not have been a big deal had I slept in boxer shorts and a t-shirt, but I was hot last night and slept in only a t-shirt and my underwear.  Knowing that I would be working out in private (my elliptical is in my guest bedroom) and not wanting to unlace the shoe I just put on, I thought “the hell with it,” and went ahead and laced up my second shoe.

I had a nice, tough workout and was completely flushed and sweaty by the time it was over.  Feeling quite energized, I pranced into the kitchen for a glass of water.  It was at this moment that I caught my reflection in the mirror.  There I was, a grown woman of 31, dancing through her house in nothing but a t-shirt, a pair of underwear, and socks and shoes.  Not to mention the fact that my face was beet red, my sheet creases had not yet fully disappeared, and my sweaty hair was sticking straight up on the top of my head.  I literally cracked up at myself and thought, “Dang, I’m a catch!”

I decided that I should probably get dressed and promptly changed into my bathing suit and went to my apartment pool to read, swim, and relax.  It’s a tough life I lead.

Because I promised pictures of my day, here’s a partial picture of me pre-workout:

Haha, gosh I post exciting pictures on my blog.

And here’s a picture of me at the pool:

The rest of the day was fairly quiet–I came back, ate dinner, cleaned my kitchen, and watched an episode of So You Think You Can Dance.  While I can’t promise that tomorrow will bring another pantless day for me, I can promise that I’ll be back with more pictures from my day. Until then!

Until a few months ago, I never really worried about myself.  Wait, let me restate that–I never really worried about myself when it came to infomercials.  I constantly worry about myself when it comes to…well, anything else.

For 30+ years, I could watch infomercials (though I generally changed the channel as soon as one came on the tv) and laugh at the cheesiness of the actors or the ridiculousness of the product.  Sure, some of the products seemed innovative and some even piqued my interest.  Watching them, though, I often wondered who would fall for the line “if you call in the next ten minutes you will not only receive Product X but also a ten day supply of Product Y!”  I mean, really, they play the same infomercials over and over again, so I’m pretty sure if I wanted Product Y I could call within the next 532 hours and still get it for free.

Not to mention the fact that as a psychologist, I’d sit smugly back and balk at the infomercial’s attempts to pull one over on me.  I’m keenly aware of the research indicating that the way information is presented influences whether one subscribes to it or not.

Yes, for the last 30+ years, I’d never worried that I’d fall prey to the subtle charm of the informercial.

Until a few months ago when I saw this:

Oh dear lord.  It took all the willpower I had not to buy this grass.  I’m not even kidding.  The grass just looks so lush and soft and plentiful.  I just want to take off my shoes, lie down, and make grass angels.  ”But Erin,” you say, “you live in an apartment and don’t even have a yard.”  Oh, I know, dear reader, I know.  But.  The grass.  It’s so luscious.

Luckily, I was able to conquer my impulse and refrain from calling the 1-800-lusciousgrassthatIdon’tneed number.  It was at this moment, though, that I began to question my infomercial defenses.  To yearn so deeply for something that I could not even use worried me.

“You’re just tired,” I told myself.  But then, just a few days ago, dang if my heart didn’t start beating faster when I saw this:

And this:

Can’t you just imagine seeing your spices so neatly organized and in HD?!  Admit it–you’re a little intrigued yourself after watching those videos.

I’m being completely honest when I tell you that I really, really want these things.  I’m also being completely honest when I tell you that really, really wanting these things makes me deeply concerned about myself.  In fact, I discussed my newly-emerging-infomercial-vulnerability to a friend of mine just this weekend.

It wasn’t until tonight, however, when I saw the following that I realized it was time for me to check myself into infomercial rehab:

Oh, Erin.  There are so many reasons why getting excited about that infomercial concerns me:

1. I don’t have a baby.

2. The acting is beyond terrible and not persuasive in the least.

3. Going to a baby shower at which something like that actually happened would make me want to claw my eyes out.

4. I don’t have a baby.

But, ooh, I want a Baby Bullet after watching that.  Also? I love the drunk grandma.

And so, as a person who’s on the verge of making some terrible shopping decisions, I ask you to please help me in my fight against the smooth-talking infomercial announcers.

As always, I had visions of myself updating my blog regularly all summer long, but as you can see, I’m two weeks in and no update.  I recently read that some bloggers are doing a “day in the life of” or a “month in the life of” series of blog posts, so I thought that I’d try to jump on that bandwagon for the month of June.  We all know my history of updating on a regular basis, so we’ll see how it goes.  The part of the plan that I find most enticing is that there’s no pressure to be interesting–just a picture or three with your iphone, a brief description of your day, and that’s it!

While I won’t start my (hopefully) daily mini-updates until tomorrow, I thought I’d share a few pictures of my summer thus far.  No crazy adventures (yet!), just a lot of organizing, reading, and relaxing. Oh, and Criminal Minds.  Lots and lots of Criminal Minds. It couldn’t have been a more perfect start to my summer after one of the most hectic years of my life.

As soon as I was completely finished with school this semester, I decided to attack my bedroom closet.  I had pretty much neglected it since I moved in, and, to be honest, it was a complete disaster.  It had been driving me crazy for the last four months, but I didn’t feel right about spending time organizing my closet when I should be studying.  So, it continued to get worse and worse.  I wish I had a true before picture, but I didn’t think about it until I had emptied most of it out.  Still, I think you can get the picture:

After MUCH organizing, hanging, trying on, and sorting, here’s my newly organized closet:

Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?!

I managed to get 5 black trashbags full to donate to goodwill (even though I retained a ridiculous number of t-shirts).  Yay!  And, because, I was bored today, you get pictures of that too!

Energized and excited by the progress I made on my bedroom closet, I decided to tackle my pantry next.  Living in an apartment allows me little room for pantry/laundry storage, so I had to make due with what I have.  While it’s not the most beautiful redo ever, I still think it looks pretty good!

The before:

And the after:

Though I still have big plans to organize my office and my guest room closet, I lost a little of my organization enthusiasm after these two closets.  As a result, the last few days have been filled with nothing but this:

and this:

I just bought my Kindle 4 days ago, and I love it.  I’m already two books in and just started my third book today.  All in all, it’s been a pretty great two weeks.

For those of you who managed to make it through my post about closets without falling asleep, I commend you.  I hope (for both your sake and mine) that the rest of my summer will be just as relaxing but a little more exhilarating.  For now, though, a new (to me) episode of Criminal Minds is calling my name.

I’ve been neglecting this blogging business for awhile, but I’m happy to announce that since my last post, I’ve successfully completed my Ph.D., I’ve happily finished my first full year as an assistant professor at my university, I’ve dilgently shaved my armpits hundreds of times, and I’ve finally cleaned out the disaster that was the trunk of my car.

Now that my life has settled back down a little, I feel I can’t keep you, my avid followers (and, yes, I’m talking to you Aunt Johnnye, since I’m pretty certain you’re the only one who still checks my blog), waiting any longer.

I have many stories to tell, but today I’d like to present a PSA of sorts for all of you men out there either on or  contemplating signing up for match.com.

Over the last several of months, I have not had time to focus much on dating, and, while I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a couple of incredible guys, I have not yet met Mr. Right.  I recently learned that a couple of girlfriends of mine are about to embark on their own match.com adventures, and, given that I haven’t actively perused the profiles in a long while, I decided to take a stroll down match profile lane to see who the lucky lads are the might get to meet either one of my friends or me.

After scrolling through a portion of the available profiles, I came across a few that stood out to me not because of their romance and whimsy, nor because of their straightforward ruggedness.  No, these men stood out to me because of their glaring (at least in my opinion) online dating faux pas.  And so, I share with you the first installment of Erin’s What Not To Do On An Online Dating Site If You’d Like to Get a Woman (Or At Least A Woman Like My Friends or Me):

1.  If you are going to only spell one thing correctly, please, please , please make it your name.

Now, I realize that people have many different ways to spell their names, and I can’t know for sure that this certain gentleman actually misspelled his name, but when I clicked onto the profile of “Stepehen,” I had to wonder–especially when he referred to himself as Steve later in the profile.  I’ve known many great Stephens and Stevens and Steves and Stefans, but I have never met a Stepehen.   I checked in with Google about the matter, and even it was unclear:

(Sorry the picture came out so small–if you click on it, it will get bigger)

Did I mean Stephen you ask? I don’t know, Google, I just don’t know.  (Please, to all you Stepehens out there who may read this, tell me that I’m wrong and that this name does indeed exist.)

2.  It is never okay to discuss vomit, different sexual positions, or any other bodily fluid/function on your dating profile.

Unless, of course, the discussion is about the sweet sentimental tears you cry every time you watch those dang Hallmark Mother’s Day commercials (come on, I know I’m not the only one who tears up during those things).

3. The pictures you choose to post matter.

There’s a divide amongst women when it comes to the types of photos that should and should not be posted on these profiles.  Personally, I fall on the side of “one should not pose topless in front of a mirror when taking  profile pictures,” but I know of a few women who are either ambivalent or positive towards these pictures.

Look, I’m all about taking self-portraits to see what you look like when no one else is around to tell you. I do it all the time.  In fact, I’m pretty sure if someone happened upon my camera at any given moment, they’d find at least one of these embarrassing self-how-do-I-look-portraits.  I do not, however, make a habit of posting these pictures online (unless of course they are part of my OEBE–Of Erin By Erin–collection; but that’s a different story), and I definitely don’t use them as my match.com pictures.

I realize that some people don’t have pictures of themselves taken by people other than themselves just laying around the house.  Therefore, I’m somewhat okay with the picture-of-myself while sitting in a car/standing in the doorway/looking in the mirror.

What I am not okay with, however, is the picture of a half-clothed man in front of his bathrrom mirror making “sexy” eyes at himself.  Even if his self-tanned two-pack abs, his freshly shorn chest, and his soulful doe-eyes did for me, I’m afraid the crusty plunger and the dirty boxers strewn on the floor behind him ruin it for me.

Again, though, I realize that this opinion is not universal.  Some women like the half-dressed mirror shots, and, kudos to them for I have found that there are many potential suitors available for them on any online dating website.

Though we ladies divide on the appropriateness/sexiness of the shirtless mirror shot, I feel we can all agree that there is one photo that should just be saved for another time.  Like the second date.  Or never.

I’m talking about the picture in which the man wears a half-opened leopard-print silk robe.  Yes, yesterday I stumbled across this gem, and wow.  Just wow.

I’m not sure what the particular thought process behind this decision is, but I imagine it goes something like this:

How can I get the ladies to come crawling to my raunchy roundhouse (because I’m pretty certain that’s what these guys call their bedrooms)?”  I know!  I’ll get dressed up in only my whitie-tighties, and then I’ll throw on a silk robe and hold a rose in my hand.  I don’t want to ruin the mystery entirely, though, so I’ll delicately wrap the belt around my protruding pot-belly so that the robe just daintily drapes over my nether-regions.  And it can’t be just any robe.  Oh no.   I need a robe that signals my inner feline.  A robe that says ‘Raawr’ ladies, I’m available, I’m passionate, and I’m waiting for you!’  But what robe screams just that? Oh, I know!  A leopard print robe.  Perfect!  With a leopard print robe, there’s no doubt that the ladies will come a runnin’!

Now men, I realize that might sound good in your head. In fact, it almost sounds sexy in my own mind (not really).  In reality, though, this is never an appropriate profile picture.  Just don’t do it.

Unless you’re Jack Nicholson.  And then I say, bring on the leopard print robes.

Raawr is right!

4.  Just Say No to Text Speak.

This is a personal pet peeve of mine, but I see it so often, and it drives me crazy.  Sentences like:

“IMHO, I rlly think U R gr8! I h8 gurlz who R dum. SMH.  LOL!”

will earn you an automatic “x” in my book. Sorry.

To be fair, I haven’t yet seen a profile that is quite as bad as the previous sentence, but many have come too close for comfort.  (Oh, remember that show? Too Close for Comfort? With the one guy who lived upstairs and was always a celebrity star on the old Hollywood Squares? And the cow puppet?  That was a good show).  Anyway, the point is that good grammar and good spelling will get you a long way.

Thankfully, there are a lot of decent and even especially interesting profiles out there to balance out the bad ones.  I’ve come across some doozies before, but never so many at one time.   I realize that there are many things about my own profile that may be off-putting to the opposite sex (though I’m certain every man loves the picture of my cat in a baby bonnett and kitten-sized t-shirt that says “I love my human-mom”.  Am I right guys? What….? I’m not?), so I try not to be too picky and too judgmental.  Still, though, the  aforementioned profiles made me leary of what’s out there.  At least I have my friends to help wade through the odd-ones and search for the right-ones.  And in the meantime, the odd-ones provide some good stories.

I wish I could tell you that I’m part of a religion that doesn’t allow blogging in January (or the end of December/beginning of February), but, sadly, I do not.

I also wish I could tell you that I have a super great excuse that will defend my blog neglect, but, again, I do not.

What I can tell you is that, as it always does, my life got in the way of my blog.  I’ve been beyond swamped with work–finishing my dissertation coupled with a heavy semester and normal day-to-day life activities is about to do me in. Lucky for you (maybe?), rapidly approaching  deadlines mean ample opportunities for procrastination, so I’ll be back.

Right now I have 9 senior theses that are calling my name, and I can’t justify writing a “real” post while I still have those hanging over my head.  I do have many stories to tell from the last two months (and pictures to go along with them!), and I’ll work on getting them up this week.

Thanks again to those of you who still check my blog; in all honesty, even I haven’t signed onto my blog in over a month, so signing on tonight to discover that there’s still a handful of you who are still checking each day made my night.

I’ll be back before the end of the week…

Until then, enjoy your week!

I worked straight through dinner, so I was quite hungry on my way home.  I don’t have much food left in my house, as I’m trying to eat up what I have before I go home for the holidays.  I was too tired to go to the grocery store and had no desire to go out of my way to a fast food place, so I made a quick stop at the gas station right next to my apartment.  Now, I don’t know if you frequent the gas station for your dinner time options, but if not, let me tell you, the options are sparse. As a result, my dinner tonight consisted of a hot pocket and an ice cold bud light.  If that doesn’t say healthy high-class, then I just don’t know what does.

Sitting here trying to digest my food, I’m reminded of why I don’t make a habit out of eating hot pockets.  They’re really gross.  The things you’ll do when you’re too exhausted to go to the grocery store.

Hot pockets do, however, remind me of that one Jim Gaffigan sketch.  Haha, I just looked it up and re-watched it, and it absolutely cracked me up, because it’s exactly how I feel right now:

Anyway, the whole point of this post is that I truly cannot keep focused long enough to write a legitimate post, so this will have to do for today.

Hope you all are enjoying your Tuesday evening!