BDE

Holy freaking crazy busy where the f did my weekend go where is my life WHAT DAY IS IT!?!?!?! That is about how I feel right now. Well not anymore because tomorrow friends, is a special day. Yes it's Thursday which means volleyball night with beers ( the one day I drink during thing week ) but even more special than week day beers. Drew is coming to Des Moines! As I've mentioned before I may be a little neurotic/OCD and people visiting me throws me into a panic. The roomie and I are by no means slobs. In fact we are actually very neat and clean. However when someone comes to stay with me, my house becomes (in my mind) a germ infested meth house and OH DEAR GOD I CAN"T GET IT CLEAN!!!! I've learned to deal for the most part and just clean as usual, but in my head I'm always wondering if the person is disgusted with my apartment and won't be my friend anymore because they think I'm an unclean hobo. 

Anyways, enough of my neurosis. Drew is coming and that means a BDE! What is a BDE you ask? Why a Best Day Ever!!!! I am beyond excited for all the fun things we are going to do but I can't share them with you just yet because he might be reading...and I don't want to give anything away. Not to get all Olive Penderghast on you all again, but I really like this guy. Oh f, I just said he could be reading this . Oh well. This blog is for embarrassing myself  after all.  Anyways, Drew is kind of big deal and has taken time away from watching the wheat/corn/soybean stocks and MBA classes and being an excel wizard to come hang out in Des Moines with me so you know I've got to make it awesome. Here is a picture I made that I'm pretty sure is 99.9% accurate of an average work day for him

So until next time when I can share with you our BDE, stay cool especially my Kansas to Texas friends! I've got to get back to it and....

(via Allie @ hyperbole and a half)

BDE Cheers!!!

Marisa

From bad to good

Thats how my day went. See this morning started out with some sad tears as little car was in need of some repairs that were well....quite pricey. So I basically spent the entire day crunching numbers, panicking, trying not to cry at work and figuring out every single worst case scenario I could come up with in my head. Needless to say by this afternoon I was a nervous wreck, sick and frustrated. However as I have done everyday since my 18th birthday and being on my own, I reminded myself that I would get nothing solved if I didn't keep a level head and remain calm. So I weighed my options, made some calls and when I walked out the door at 5 I had everything taken care of and my car will be all fixed tomorrow. No thanks to my mom. But that's a story for another day. Or week....maybe month.

Anyways, so as I'm on cloud 9 driving home thinking that this day couldn't possibly get any better I get home and grab the mail and what do I see??? A little package for me from Minnesota.

(Larabars and iPod car converter)

Drew sent me some good snacks and the capabilities for good music for my next road trip, since I complained that the only radio options in Minnesota are Jesus or country. After the terrible stressful day that I had then the relief of getting everything figured out, coming home to this was icing on the cake. Lucky for me my day ended with happy tears :)

Whew, that is all I have the energy for today folks. It has been a roller coaster of a day and I am spent. Hope everyone's hump day was far easier!

Cheers!

Marisa

And it burned burned burned....

Oh hai! Greetings from the 8th* circle of Hell where it is currently 113 degrees with air so thick and full of moisture catfish can be seen zooming past your windows. Enjoy your stay in Des Moines! Ugh seriously, this has got to stop. It's just getting ridiculous. I mean sure we're midwesterners and we're used to hot and humid summers, but this? This is on a whole other level. I know we're not the only ones suffering. So to all you other poor poor heat stricken folks, stay cool and stay safe! And to those on the east coast and the south....be prepared because it's coming your way.

Enough grumbling already. Hello new followers! A big thank you to my girl Gigi for linking me in her latest post, and thanks to all of you who made their way over here. I hope I do not disappoint!

Okay so to take my mind off this insane heat going on, I'm going to think about the things I want most for this fall. 

(Kenneth Cole Pleated Skirt)

 

(Camel colored blazer)

The blazer is kind of a left over from last fall. I never got one and still really really really want one. This year is the year.

(Platform loafers)

These are the styles I live for. Classic, feminine and just a little bit preppy. I am so ready to say adios to shorts, tanks and flip flops. I know I know you all love summer. I'm sorry, I just can't get into it. I enjoy drinking beers on patios. But I actually enjoy doing it wrapped up in my Burberry scarf and North Face jacket more. What am I doing in Iowa right? Alaska/Canada here I come! 

I hope you're all beating the heat and staying cool! What are you loving/looking forward to this fall? Or are you not looking forward to it at all? You better be......;)

Cheers!

Marisa

* while there are 9 circles in The Inferno, the 9th circle is actually all ice. We're in the one right above it, the one for people that commit fraud. The one that's still hot as balls.

Coffee and Toast

Sounds boring right? Black coffee and toast. Dark dry drab blehhh...sounds like routine. Boring corporate routine. I always envision some banker or old timey sales guy reading the Wall Street Journal drinking coffee and eating toast before grabbing their briefcase, and heading out the door to some boring cubical job. I never wanted that to be my morning. Well in my vision it's always a dude, but my point being I never wanted that to be my morning with my significant other. 

I have all these ideas of how I want my life to be. I know that I can be a little OCD. I clean to de-stress, and I enjoy dumping out my change jar and counting it and sorting it for fun. While I've had many a random crazy adventure in my time, as you've all read...they're just that. Random crazy adventures. Then they end, I write about it, have a laugh and move on. They didn't fit my idea of how I felt my life should be, how I should meet my significant other, or they didn't do what I thought my significant other should do. I always told myself that it'll all fall in place and he'd be perfect and everything would be according to my plan. This idea I had in my head, if I just believed it and persevered it would all turn out. 

But what do you do when something shakes your belief to the very core? When something as simple as  coffee and toast forces you to question everything you once believed about yourself? Do you keep persevering as you always believed you should or do you re-evaluate? I mean after all it's coffee and toast, not champagne and caviar. Doesn't seem like enough to really throw you off balance or question everything you thought to be right for you. The plan you had laid out for yourself. 

This coffee and toast though....this coffee and toast is different. This coffee and toast was the best coffee and toast ever, in fact the best breakfast ever, the best entire morning ever. Best mornings ever. I tend to be a very rational analytical person. I always force myself to take a step back and analyze. Sometimes this is a great asset to have and sometimes, okay almost always when it comes to the love/romance department it is anything but a terrific asset. So I did. Take a step back, look at the facts. Was this really that amazing of a breakfast? Or are you just playing it all up in your head because it's been a while since you've sat down and had a real breakfast with someone? You know actually conversed over coffee shared a laugh, planned a day? Think girl, think because the last thing you want to be is a hopeless romantic lunatic spouting Shakespearean sonnets over some GD coffee and toast. 

I don't have a clear cut answer yet. Things aren't always clear cut, nor easy. I do know this about the coffee and toast though: it was truly amazing. The best. Super awesome fantastic. There is no doubting that. Does it go along with the plan I had laid out for myself in my head? Not at all. Despite all that, I'd be a dang dirty liar if I said mornings like that, day after day after day, wouldn't make me happy. And in the end isn't being happy all that matters?

TGUK, Minneapolis, and Real Maple Syrup

As you've probably gathered from the title I was in Minneapolis this weekend to see The Get Up Kids and stayed with one of my very best friends from college, Drew. Who made homemade maple syrup and gave me a bottle. Hence the real maple syrup. Now that that is cleared up, lets move on. 

Minneapolis houses a few pretty awesome things. The Mall of America, Ikea...okay two awesome things. 3 if you count Drew. The Get Up Kids were playing in Iowa City but I decided to just kill a bird with a stone and see a band and a friend and get out of Des Moines for the weekend. So my hungover self  (Happy Birthday Seth!!!) made the ever exciting drive to the Twin Cities. No I don't have any pictures from the drive. Have you ever driven from Des Moines to Minneapolis? Anyways, I was pretty much recovered by the time I arrived and actually felt that solid food was a good idea. So after being hungover all day resisting the urge to vom along Interstate 35, what is better than raw fish, eel and warm rice wine? Drew took me to Wakame by Lake Calhoun in the super hipster Uptown. It was absolutely amazing and know what was even better? Ben and Jerry's being next door. So naturally after dinner we hit it and I got my most favorite ice cream ON A CONE!!!!!!

(Late Night Snack!!!!)

Drew got his Late Night Snack in a dish and then was sad about it. Lucky for him I like him so I shared my cone.

After dinner and dessert, we did what anyone would naturally do next. Hit up the liquor store for some wine. 2 bottles of wine, Charlie the Unicorn, Kittens Inspired By Kittens later, I was well on my way to a repeat of the previous morning. However Sunday morning was 1 million times more awesome because it involved eggs, peanut butter and banana toast and french pressed coffee. And no not at a restaurant. I know be jealous. 

Sunday involved an Ikea excursion, and a viewing of Horrible Bosses which I thought was hilarious. Then it was time to get ready for The Get Up Kids!!!!!!!!

(Waiting for the bus taking pictures. Blue Moon Cafe.)

 

From the bus we took the "light rail". Which is basically Minneapolis speak for train.

Finally we arrived at our destination: the Triple Rock Social Club. I wish I had more pictures/ better pictures, but I think my camera has finally bit the dust. It's had a good life. RIP camera :(

 

So far I've seen Saves The Day, now The Get Up Kids. All thats left is Something Corporate and The Ataris and it will complete my high school band nostalgia tour. I don't know if it will happen, but I'll keep trying.

So! Kick ass, super awesome weekend of awesomeness. Which included a Monday breakfast of buttermilk and honey pancakes with blackberries and real maple syrup. Then I had to drive back to Des Moines. And this morning I had to make my own breakfast :( Booooooo.

Cheers!

Marisa

80/35

Okay so finally got my act together. And without further ado here was my 80/35 experience.

First started off with Bitch

Bitch is a feminist, punk, super awesome band. I wasn't sure what to expect but I absolutely loved them. I hope to see them again.

After Bitch was Jessica Lea Mayfield.

 

Girl is good, and not to mention super cute, but it was quite a shift from Bitch. Still if I was needing some calm music for blogging or chilling she'd be it. Then the generator blew and cut her set a littttle short. Which also put them even farther behind. That was cool though because then we got to hang out, drink sangria and meet new friends.

(You remember Bear Face right?)

We also had the opportunity to listen to the we're-working-on-fixing-the-generator music and get our dance on.

(Mike's only dance move...which resembles butter churning)

Once the generator was fixed Blackalicious was up next. I stuck around for a while but then got bored.

So I decided to go get a martini, and jot down some things I wanted to make sure made it into this post before I was too drunk. After my martini I met up with Mike and Kim at Cab Co. , then eventually made my way down to meet up with my other friends down at the Locust Tap.

All in all it was a fun night of music drinks, bears and dancing in Des Moines! Can't wait for next year. 

Cheers!

Marisa

A Little of 80/35

First off, hello new followers! Thanks for stopping by! This weekend was not only the 4th of July but also the music festival 80/35. I've been lazy and haven't bothered with my pics yet, so until I am able to do a proper write up, please enjoy some pics of my friend B and our friend we met, Bear Face.

 

Hope everyone had a super awesome All American and safe 4th of July!!!!

Cheers!

Marisa