Legally Blonde

The Fox theater is amazing. Everyone here calls it the "Fabulous Fox", and now Brad and I know why. It's ginormous and elaborate and a theater that would fit right in on Broadway. It has an innate Egyptian/byzantine decor going on that feels very 1920s. The immediate area around the fox theater is jumping with hipster shops, restaurants, parks - and baring the fact that Brad basically walked in to the women's restroom we will be going back as often as financially possible.



Oh, I guess I should say something about the actual show. It was great, cute as a button, and surprisingly funny. Lauren Ashley Zakrin (the understudy) performed the Elle Woods part and she was incredible, especially since this show is the only item on her resume and she's only 18 years old!

sidenote - HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jub Jub!

I wish you a day filled with Troop Beverly Hills, princess fruit snacks, and diet coke.

au revoir

Does anyone else adore the magazine Domino? Well if you do then you'll soon miss it as well, they've just announced that March will be it's last publication.

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Good bye to a seriously awesome magazine and website.

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Dang recession!

Dr. [fill in funny name here]

I work in a part of the medical field that forces me to interact with a variety doctors on a daily basis. The company I work for also has a database of all the doctors we deal with across the country. Since I started working here I began writing down any unusual names I came across just to mix things up. Some of these names might not seem out of the ordinary but once you start imagining one of them greeting you before a pelvic exam, colonoscopy, major surgery, or just answering their work phone you can’t help but revert back to being 10 years old and snicker just a little.

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I promise these were not made up:

- Dr. Payne
- Dr. Love
- Dr. Evilsizor
- Dr. Crook
- Dr. Goode
- Dr. Doody
- Dr. Smart (in our database: 10 women, 3 men)
- Dr. Weiner (in our database: 11 men, 4 women)
- Dr. Kiss
- Dr. Hait
- Dr. Develle
- Dr. Butt
- Dr. Doolittle
- Dr. Strange
- Dr. Power
- Dr. Sinner
- Dr. Pepper
- Dr. Happe
- Dr. Killam
- Dr. Deadman
- Dr. Moron
- Dr. Hell
- Dr. Doctor

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[Why the picture of George Clooney, you ask? Well, when else am I going to do a post that gives me an excuse to use a picture of George in scrubs? Exactly.]

havasupai: we roll old school style

Brad has been bugging me to do a blog post about Havasupai since last summer and the other day he had finally had TOO MUCH. In a fit of anger he picked the pictures out himself and sent them to me, along with a ‘casual’ text stating that the Havasupai pictures were ready to be posted. I find this all highly humorous since it takes three days of nagging to get him to do things that are actually important, you know, like take out the rancid garbage filled with five day old raw chicken. Raw chicken that smells so heinous I could actually get airborne salmonella. I could take it out myself but it's one of his THREE household chores he's in charge of, so I don't on principle. But I digress. [that story was of course exaggerated for blog entertainment purposes]

UPDATE #1 Brad says I sound bitter in the above paragraph. I actually meant it to be funny but I really am a little bitter because he gets two days off of school (when he has literally five feet to walk to class) and I get zero days off of work (when I have to drive 1 1/2 hours through the snow). Real cool.

We had a delightful time at Havasupai [June 08], hard to believe this exists inside the desert of the Grand Canyon. Our camera was dropped onto rocks while climbing down a 30 foot cliff which is why we recently procured a new far superior one. Brad also strained his knee cliff jumping so the 10 mile hike out was not so lovely, but we were pleased to be able to check off one of our major “Must Do”s before we left Utah. We’d go back in a heartbeat.

UPDATE #2 Brad has informed me that he actually hurt his knee hiking in and that the cliff jumping just made it worse. That's what I get for being an untimely blogger, I guess there is some merit to him complaining about taking 7 months to blog about this.

[below: if you look close you can see Brad in the midst of the fateful jump]

[This was the last picture taken before the camera fell to it's near death, lovely way to go though, huh?]

well well well, what do we have here?

Why it's an SIUe dental student and he's ranked #2 in his class.

I am equally proud of his intelligence and his threatening eyebrows.

bleak

Okay, I am not a winter-hater but I am not down with -17 degree weather either. They’ve actually canceled the schools here for the last few days. I don’t know of any offices that have closed so I braved the cold and went to work as usual. My philosophy is that if it’s gonna be this stinkin cold there better be some freakin snow to make the earth more beautiful. Instead we are forced to live in a barren waste land of ugly deadness. Lovely. Well to get myself through this bleak midwinter I have a few recent obsessions:

1. Dr. Horrible’s sing-a-long blog. I realize this is about a year old but it’s so funny! And as you all know I’m a sucker for musicals, especially ones featuring Barney (the womanizer, not the dinosaur).

2.

plus

= crazy delicious.

3. To Kill A Mocking Bird: I mentioned recently that I had never read it. I’m only about 50 pages in but that Harper Lee is surprisingly witty, especially since I pretty much know where the story is going. So far, really enjoying it. That Scout is a firecracker.

4. The aforementioned Adele album. What are you waiting for? Go download it!

5. Biggest Loser. Again, I know I’m behind the times but this show is awesome. I’ve watched it off and on since it’s inception but I’ve never been a loyal viewer. Brad and I have recently started loving this show. It’s arguably the most wholesome and uplifting thing on primetime tv. What else could you possible watch that inspires you to simultaneously want to call your parents, run 5 miles, eat celery, never give up on your dreams, and feel guilty for all the “your mom” jokes you’ve ever made that referenced weight. Has an episode ever passed that I didn’t both cry and laugh? No, because my soul isn’t black.

6. Etsy. Is there a word stronger than obsessed? Well, whatever that word is that’s how I feel towards Etsy. Spend 20 minutes on that site and try not reaching for your wallet. It’s impossible.

7. I love you more than ________. This blog is so adorable, and often hilarious. My submission hasn’t been posted yet, but these are my favorites so far:

8. New camera. Brad surprised me for Christmas. We splurged. Big time. Like eating ramen for a month big time. But it will be worth it. It’s already inspired us to go to the St. Louis Art Museum so we can practice all the settings and have subjects different than Brad sitting at the computer.


9. Did I mention that the art museum is awesome and free? Oh, and on Friday nights it’s open until 9PM and all the special galleries are free. Sometime St. Louis is pleasantly surprising. So St. Louis, you made the list. Barely. Not your weather, just you.

proof that my nephew is a genius

He already knows the right team to support.

currently listening

If you are looking for a Jazzy/Blues album go buy Adele’s album 19. I’ve been meaning to buy this for about six months and it’s de-lightful. Plus her middle name is Blue. How did her parents expect her to do anything but sing? (Maybe Spencer and Heidi were on to something when they wanted to adopt a kid from Africa and name him Dunk so he would be an NBA player.) She went to the same school as Amy Winehouse, Imogen Heap, Leona Lewis, and Kate Nash - must be something in the water there. She actually has a similar Amy Winehouse sound except I don’t feel like I’m getting a venereal disease just by listening to her. Adele is more pleasant and her album is more awesome.

If you can’t commit to the whole thing then download: Chasing Pavements, Hometown Glory, Cold Shoulder, Right As Rain, Tired, or Feel My Love (awesome cover).

Indiana vacation to visit my brother

Cassidy, Michael, Iain, and Ryan were kind enough to let my mom, my sista, Brad, and I visit for New Years. We had an excellent time.

The whole gang

The girls went scrap booking one night and left the boys to fend for themselves.


So adorable. Iain has a hard time saying chocolate milk so it always comes out f-ing milk (but the actual word). I don't know how he manages it, but he says it every time. Brad and I were even warned that he says it but we couldn't stop laughing whenever he sweetly asked for his favorite drink. It definately ups the urgency of his need for milk, instead of getting him chocolate milk you think he just wants milk IMMEDIATELY.


Brad crushing Alex's will to live.

Iain concentrating really hard to knock out his dad on Wii boxing. AND Brad looking crazy with that glorious hat hair.
F-ing milk.
Ryan always smiles, I tried to toughen him up Rocky-style but he's just too cute.\

You have no idea how many pictures we took to get this one.


Grandma and Iain. He started calling her Ma-maw and she was having none of it.



Oh, and Alex and I became celebrities. AKA we went to Target and acted like we were important.

Miss. Woods, Elle

Good work husband, you are so intuitive.

JANUARY 24TH!

Brad got me the soundtrack for Legally Blonde The Musical for Christmas and yesterday he suprised me with tickets to the see the stage production that is here on tour for two weeks. Suprisingly, this will be our first St. Louis adventure (we haven't even been to the arch together). I am a huge musicals nerd and was obsessed with The Search For The Next Elle Woods reality show on Mtv last summer so I'm excited to see two of it's contestants that didn't win the Broadway part of Elle Woods but made it on to the tour: Ashley Zakrin and Rhiannon Hansen. Someone serious, someone lawyerly, someone who wears black when nobodys dead! Hope Brad doesn't get embarrassed when I sing along to every word under my breath!

Resolute

Remember back in the day how we would write out a LIST of stuff to improve on each New Year? A List?! Waaayyy too intimidating. Even if you accomplish half the stuff you write down then you’re still left feeling disheartened that you didn’t do the others. My resolution credo? Pick one and make it relatively easy. Leave that list stuff to shopping. I know this philosophy works because last year my one resolution was to read more books. Twelve exactly. I was running a book club at the time and I figured it would be safe to say I was going to read one book a month in 2008. So it wasn’t so much a resolution as merely a fact of future endeavors. Well it turned out that the book club only lasted until March - BUT - I still managed to read 25 books. I know, I know, I’m awesome. Don’t rush to fill my “remarks” sections with praise. In actuality I moved half way across the country where I have no friends, family or television and I visit the library about twice a week. So the truth is out, I’m not actually awesome, but really rather boring. Oh well, maybe I’ll resolve to be more awesome in 2009. If you’re interested my favorite books of the year were Hunger Games, Pride and Prejudice, The Glass Castle, Kite Runner, and The Devil in the White City. This year I defiantly won’t have to make a resolution to read more, I have 17 on my to-read list. Even though I grew up in a family of avid readers, it took me 25 years to figure it all out, man did I wasted a lot of time not paying attention in AP English.

So what is my resolution for 2009? Well that’s the other part of my credo: Pick one, make it relatively easy and don’t tell anyone about it. That way you can stew in your own guilt as opposed to casually hearing from Brad, “What ever happened to your resolution to be more on time?”

HAPPY NEW YEARS! Here’s to making an easy secret Resolution meant only to make you feel better about yourself!
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cure for the post christmas blues

Our Christmas visit to Naperville was wonderful, but way too short. There just wasn't enough time to properly visit with everyone. At one point there were 27.5 members of the family in the Carn's home! Brad and I left late Sunday so I could get back to work bright and early Monday morning. I can fully attest that the last possible place you want to be after spending 4 days stuffing your face with Diane's amazing food, playing Rock Band with "Mass Carnage", and laying around all day in your pjs is back at work. Blah. The only cure for the post Christmas blues? My mom and sister are arriving in Alton this afternoon for a two day trip and then Brad and I are off to Indiana to visit my brother and his family this weekend.

It really is the most wonderful time of the year. I'm really not looking forward to next Monday when we have to get back to our normally scheduled programming (err... life).

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ST. LOUIS!

We are doing our Christmas card gen-y style, or the green movement style, or the lazy style. You decide! It's how we roll. Either way consider this your Christmas card from the Carns. Have a safe and happy holiday.

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Love, Brad & Bridget

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Not in the Christmas spirit yet? Go here or here or even here.

Feliz Navidad Alex!

I have a pretty awesome little sister. I just found out that she reads my blog so I thought I would do a little tribute. Her birthday (a day that she gloriously shares with Britney Spears) was a few weeks ago and I feel like I have new leaf to overturn. Before she turned 14 we were mortal enemies but nowadays the playing field has leveled and I can finally respect the fact that, at age 21, she is no longer annoying but actually pretty cool. I started to think of funny stories about her from our childhood to include in this tribute, and after a while I started to realize that you can pretty much chronicle her life by the different unique phases she went through. I then realized that they needed to be recorded for posterity; if I don’t, who will? I don’t remember the exact ages but these happened sequentially between ages 3 and 12. Now Alex may refute some of these stories and call them embellished and/or false. I would like to remind her that I have witnesses!
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· The Annie phase {This one included a daily living room performance of the song “Sandy”, complete with costumes.}

· The exercising phase {She went around the house for a year wearing tights, a leotard, and a headband doing jumping jacks. If you asked her what she was doing she’d say bluntly, “I’m eker-sising”.}

· The Rosie phase {No, not Odonnell or Perez. My parents refused to get us a dog when we were growing up – in hindsight for good reason – but poor Alex loved animals. As a sort of cop out my parents gave her this stuffed dog attached to a wheel and plastic leash. Alex could “walk” the dog around the house and it would yelp everywhere it went. Oh boy did it ever. She named the dog Rosie and it was a recognized member of our family for a good decade. I just talked to my mom the other day about Rosie and apparently we still have her. Good, I was worried.}

· The “Wizard of Oz” phase {She was Dorothy for 3 Halloweens in a row. My cool thrifty mom even made ruby slippers for her by covering her church shoes with red foil paper.}

· The “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” phase {She watched this movie everyday for six months until I hid it on top of the china cabinet. I still don’t understand the draw. Oh Alex, Kevin Costner? Bless your heart.}

· The “Grease” phase {I’m betting she could still show you the routine she made up for Grease Lightening, AND she knew every word! I’m just glad she was too young to understand the message.}

· The “Feliz Navidad” phase {This pretty much lasted every Christmas for 12 years. Every holiday season she played this song on repeat for hours. She always seemed so pleased that her birthday was near Christmas and that she was born in Spain, so I’m pretty sure she was convinced this song was written for her.}
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· The Black Eye Debacle {Not so much a phase as just a good story. She received the shiner featured below after she tripped and fell on to the corner of a coffee table while I was babysitting her at our neighbor's house. This black eye prompted her elementary school to 'investigate' her home life and our neighbor had to intervene and set the record straight before we were all shipped off to foster care. But it did up the awesomeness factor of her cowboy costume a week later. The whole situation seems comical. Now. Kind of.}
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There are many more phases, but these are my favorite. Ever since she was born she’s had a strong personality – the story goes that she came out unimpressed with the world and didn’t even smile until she was 15 months old. Because of this I think she’s always found a way to entertain herself, even when her mean bigger sister was constantly mocking her. I really was the meanest.

And apparently I still am.

PS – She can’t get back at me because she refuses to start a blog of her own. How do like them apples Lex?! Love you too :)

dentist glasses

Brad got his "dentist glasses", which is what I call them, they are actually called loupes. He just got them yesterday but won't be able to use them until next semester (unless he wants to find something to do around the house that requires a super magnified lens and an LED light, I'm thinking he could start building doll house furniture ...).

Oh, Brad. He gets his inspiration from America's Next Top Model, don't let him tell you otherwise. Fierce!

PS. I woke up Monday morning at 6.30AM to find Brad at the dining room table studying. He had been up all night and got cold so he put on his leather jacket. In the study haze it didn't occur to him to turn up the heat or grab a blanket. Poor guy.
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These Christmas tunes? Yes, please!

This is by no means a difinitive Christmas list, just the ones I would never change the station on or skip on my iPod. Just your run of the mill all time favorites. You know, to balance out the universe from the Worse Christmas Song List.

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Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Judy Garland {I would venture to say this is the most recorded Christmas song ever. But, sometimes I’m a purest. There are a handful of good versions, but none come even close to the original.}

White Christmas – Bing Crosby {No explanation needed. There is a reason this is the best-selling song of all time.}

Silver Bells – Frank Sinatra {City sidewalks, busy sidewalks. Dressed in holiday style, In the air there's a feeling of Christmas. It’s just not Christmas until I’ve heard those lines. AND it’s Frank, come on.}

Last Christmas – Wham {For 25 blissful days Wham is cool again. I love it.}

Let It Snow – Michael Buble {The scatting he adds is awesome.}

Auld Lang Syne – James Taylor {Best recording of this song. Ever.}

Christmas Song – Nat King Cole {This song IS Christmas to me. It's also in the name. Apparently they didn't want any confusion on the matter.}

All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey {If anyone else sings this song it’s super cheesy. These two were made for each other. She should have married this song instead of that 20 year old kid.}

Come Home For Christmas – Aaron Neville {It’s a sad song but it wierdly always puts me in the Christmas mood. PS - Is there a more distinct voice then Aaron Neville? …Cotton, the fabric of our lives.}

Cool Yule – Louis Armstrong {Louis just makes me happy, especially with this song, how could you not feel all Christmasy listening to this song? Yes, Christmasy is a word. Just like Christmas-ish and Christmasier.}

Carol of the Bells – really any boys choir/ MOTAB {I was obsessed with this song when I was little, I didn’t know any of the words so I just made up sounds to go along with the melody. I still do it. Good times.}

Run Rudolph Run – Chuck Berry {This always reminds me of the scene in Home Alone where they are running through the airport, definitely a very Christmasy experience.}

Christmas Waltz – The Carpenters {Because it’s Karen’s voice. It's amazing. Side note - someone needs to change the title to this song. As Ben Stone would say, "Whose clue was that? It's not very... it's. not. good."}

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – Ella Fitzgerald {I don’t like any other version of this song, that includes you The Boss. Ella makes it all jazzy and cool sounding.}