New Chairs

John has been relentlessly searching Craigslist for a wing back chair for the "dude den" downstairs. He finally found one, so we trekked out to Mt Juliet yesterday & bought it. It's a lot bigger than a typical wing back chair, so it wouldn't fit in the back seat of his car, like we'd hoped... We somehow got the big blue beast strapped to the top of the awesome-mobile & took off towards our next chair destination. Why we thought we could fit 3 chairs into John's Maxima is beyond me, but we somehow pulled it off.

Carolyn gets credit for the orange chairs. She knew I was looking for orange accent pieces for the living room & found these gems on Craigslist. Craigslist is where it's at people! Initially, I was only going to buy 1 of the orange chairs, but I got there & felt bad breaking up the team. One is in the living room. There's not really room for 2, so I've got to figure out where to put the 2nd one, but I love them. Thanks, C-Bass!

So yesterday we left the house at noon & finally made it back home around 4pm. It took us so long because we couldn't go over 40 mph & everytime we stopped at a red light, John jumped out to make sure the big blue beast was still affixed to the top of the awesome-mobile. I honestly can't believe we made it home with all 3 chairs, but we sure as shit did! We're kind of awesome that way.

Happy Labor Day!

Ratbones & Black Kids

I'm a fan of Project Runway. I've loyally watched every season. I love it. This year, one contestant in particular continues to puzzle me. Stella. I spent the entirety of the first few episodes trying to figure out how she made it on the show. She's 42 years old, she's from Astoria, NY & all she appears to know how to make is leather biker clothes. I've started to like her though. Her crass Queens attitude is pretty funny to watch. So last night they filmed Stella calling her boyfriend. They show a picture of him, typical tattooed biker guy, but get this, his name is Ratbones. That's right, Ratbones. I laughed out loud. Ratbones, hahahaha. It's still funny.

Speaking of Project Runway, has anyone else noticed an eerie similarity between Kayne from Season 3 & Suede from Season 5? Seriously, I think they're the same person. And what's with all the men in Suede's family being dead? Everytime he makes reference to a male member of his family, he looks up at the ceiling & says, "Miss you, (fill in the blank male family member)." It's bizarre. They're probably not even dead. They probably just quit talking to him because of his stupid blue mohawk.

Let's talk about Black Kids. I read about them in stupid NYLON recently & was vaguely interested, only because their album was produced by Bernard Butler, of whom John is a big fan. I tend to ignore things NYLON tells me is cool, but Black Kids seeped in. I kept hearing them on KEXP & finally gave in & bought the CD. I love it. Seriously, I haven't stopped listening to it since I bought it. My favorite song is Track # 4, "Hurricane Jane". We were at Grimey's on Sunday & I asked Rollum about it & he said he hasn't listened to it yet, but everyone in the store hates it. Whatever. I love it. Partie Traumatic, bitches!



And yes, he does say the word karate. The lyric is, "I took something & it feels like karate; it's kicked me down & left me for dead." Use of the word karate in a song makes it an instant hit in my book. Brilliant.

Fiesta Time!

Friday night was our first "shower". It was partly a belated engagement party & partly a couple's shower. Carolyn, Tiffany & Mary Katherine were the hostesses & it was at Carolyn & David's house. It was so much fun! All of our friends came. It was the most fun I've had all summer.

I didn't take any pictures because both Tiffany & Katie were snapping shots all night with their cameras. Here are the links to their pics: (Disclaimer: some of these pictures are not for the faint of heart)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tootsdawg/sets/72157606960772170/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/becalmed/sets/72157606928492976/

Thanks to everyone who came. Special thanks to the 3 hostesses. Thank you so much for doing this for us. We love you!

Demolition Derby

Last night John & I trekked out to Ashland City for the Cheatham County Fair. We primarily went to see the infamous Demolition Derby. It was totally worth it. And it was cheap. It was $3 to park, $8 admission & then all the rides were free. And the food was cheap. No $8 corn dogs like at the stupid State Fair. Cheatham County: you've won me over. I WILL be back next year.

After the Derby, everyone rode the Bumper Cars. Then John, Jon & Austin rode this ridiculous ride called 1001 Naughts. There was this little boy on the ride who couldn't decide if he wanted to get off or not. Everytime it went up high, he'd start crying & ask to be let off, then he'd change his mind & ask the operator to take it back up high again. This cycle went on about 3 times. Poor John, Jon & Austin -they ended up being on that ride way longer than they should have been because of that little boy. They all looked sick by the time they got off. Ahhh, Cheatham County.....

Full photostream here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16828091@N04/

I Got Cat Class & I Got Cat Style

A stray cat appeared on our front porch over the weekend. I gave it a bowl of water, but other than that, I've pretty much been ignoring it, hoping it will go away. Not John. No, John loves it. I think John's been feeding it behind my back. The cat won't leave. It follows John around from the front porch, to the back porch, to the garage. All the while, meowing up a storm. John thinks it's hilarious. He just meows right back. I can't tell you how many times in the past 2 days I've heard John meowing from the garage or front porch.

Last night John was installing a new door knob & deadbolt on our front door. The cat was on the front porch, trying to get into the house. I was in the kitchen making dinner & John informs me that he's going to call the cat "Daniel". I advise against naming a cat that we're not keeping. No response. We sit down to dinner & John asks if I made anything to eat for "the littlest Baldwin". No, I did not.

The cat's cute & he's obviously malnourished, but John's allergic & we just got a brand new leather couch. John says "Daniel" doesn't have to come in the house, he can just be an outside cat. I am starting to feel bad for the cat. If he's still around this weekend, I MIGHT buy him some cat food. Might.....

Pork Chop Extravaganza

Last night John made dinner for the 1st time in 4 years. He was flipping through a Kroger coupon thing that came in the mail & saw a picture of pork chops & got inspired. So he got online, found a recipe & took off to Kroger. As long as I've known him, he's never gone to the grocery store, except for the few times that he's reluctantly gone with me. He came back with the chops, various seasonings, 2 different boxes of popsicles & a huge box of Lucky Charms. It was cute.

So I went back to TiVo & left him alone in the kitchen to work his pork chop magic. Aside from using almost an entire bottle of extra-virgin olive oil, he did a really good job. Oh, and he almost set his hand on fire, but that's neither here nor there. The pork chops were really good. They were well seasoned & cooked all the way through. He even made 2 side dishes. It was quite a feast, followed by popsicles, of course.

I'm hoping he does this more often. I don't love to cook, probably because I feel like I have to if either of us wants to eat. The option of being able to come home & plop down in front of TiVo while John slaves away in the kitchen every now & then is very appealing.....

Hump Day

The Silver Beats show last night was amazing. I initially balked at the $18 cover, but it was so worth it. They played for over an hour. There weren't a whole lot of people there, but the people that were there knew the words to all the songs & sang along & danced. It was a lot of fun. Oh, and Michelle Branch was there. According to Wikipedia, she lives in Belle Meade. Who knew? Anyway, she was cute & very into the show.

So this morning was the hardest Bikini Boot Camp to date. I don't know if it was because I didn't get enough sleep or what, but I almost died. Seriously. We had to run suicide drills. I don't know if any of you ever played basketball, but if you did then you know what I'm talking about. Seriously, thoughts of death at 6:00 this morning. And that's not even the bad part. To get us "warmed up" at the beginning of class we did this thing called the pyramid where you do jumping jacks for 1 minute, then immediately transition into high knee raises. You start out at 1 minute & go down to 10 seconds, then (without breaks) you work your way back up to 1 minute. So it was 1 minute of jumping jacks, 1 minute of knee raises, then 45 seconds of jumping jacks, 45 seconds of knee raises & then 30 seconds, 15 seconds, etc. Doesn't sound hard? Back away from your computer & try it. You won't be able to use your calves for the rest of the day.

We also had to do a lot of plank & side plank. Plank is not my friend, but I'm getting better at it. When I 1st started, I couldn't even do plank & now I can do both regular & side plank (which is hard as shit). But I'm developing what I call "plank elbows". My elbows have become nothing short of reptilian. Yeah, it's awesome. I'm thinking about writing Bliss Labs & suggesting some sort of "plank elbow" salve or overnight cream. I'm serious.

In closing (and in pain), I leave you with this:

No More Teachers, No More Books

Summer School is officially over. My last class was Wednesday. Grades were posted today. I made an "A", which I cannot believe. The teacher never posted our grades throughout the class like he was supposed to, so no one knew what to expect for their final grade. I did not expect an "A", but I'll take it. Three classes down, five to go.

So I've got a 2-week break before Fall classes start on the 23rd. Initially I was going to take 2 classes in the Fall, but now that I'm getting married, I'm just taking 1. I'm taking Research Methods. A lot of the people I've met in my other 3 classes are also taking it, so maybe knowing people in the class will help. TSU has hired 2 new "Staff" teachers & one of them will be teaching this class. A little scary, but hopefully it'll be okay.

Tonight I'm going to see the Silver Beats at Mercy Lounge. John & I saw them last year when they opened for The Killers at the Ryman. They're this incredible Japanese Beatles cover band. There's really no way to describe how awesome they are, or how uncanny it is that 4 Japanese men can bear so much resemblance to the Beatles.... Anyway, I'm excited. What I'm not excited about is getting up at 5:30am for Bikini Boot Camp tomorrow morning. The Monday class was cancelled, so I've got to go tomorrow. No pain, no gain....

Painters, Start Your Engines!

Carolyn came over last night & helped me pick out paint colors for the house, well, most of it anyway. I'm really pleased with what we picked out. I can't wait to start painting. I'm not sure if I'll be able to start this weekend, but maybe. Carolyn also brought over the cutest little house-warming gift (see above). I can't wait to hang him. Thanks, C-Bass!

This morning I'm going to Smyrna to do wedding stuff. Me, my mom & our new wedding coordinator are meeting with the caterer to finalize the food for the reception. Then we're taking the wedding coordinator over to the Sam Davis Home to decide on how many tables/chairs we need & where to place them. TCB, bitches, TCB.

Tiffany called me from NYC yesterday to tell me she's coming into town today, so I'm excited to see her. Not sure what we'll do, but apparently Rob is in town too, so I'm sure we'll inevitably end up at the Riverside Country Club, aka Bret & Corey's. I'm going to try & take it easy tonight so I can be productive (and possibly paint) tomorrow, but we'll see....

Photostream

Well, it took Comcast until almost 11:00 last night to get my internet working, but it's working & I was finally able to upload the pictures from this weekend. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16828091@N04/sets/72157606594090173/

"We're Going To Love This House So Hard"

Well, we're all moved into our new house & it's amazing. I love this house. John's dad bought us a couch & it was delivered yesterday. It's the first piece of "real" furniture I've owned. Everything I've ever had has come from Ikea, Target, or Goodwill. I still plan on doing a lot of Ikea/Target/Goodwill shopping, but it sure is nice to have one thing in the house that came from a legitimate furniture store. Actually our dining room table & chairs are nice, too. They also came from John's dad. He brought them down from Maryland. I think they were John's great-grandfather's. They're from 1920 & they're really nice. Very sturdy. I can't wait to start having people over for dinner!

So the inside is a complete disaster, but we have, by far, the best yard on the block. John & his dad spent all day Sunday working in the yard while I was out shopping it up (tax free) at Wal-Mart & Red Wal-Mart (Jon Burr). Grass was mowed, weeds were "eated", stone walls were rebuilt, flowers were watered, trees were planted, leaves & grass were blown into the street. By the end of the day Baldwin Sr. was shirtless & Baldwin Jr. was easily 10 lbs lighter. I hosed them off & we went to dinner. It was a productive day. I got home from class around 8pm on Monday & John had been home since 6pm watering everything & taking the trash down to the curb. He even installed a peep hole for me in the front door. A girl can get used to this.

We still have A LOT of unpacking & arranging to do & I need to get started on painting, but it's coming together. I think it will feel 100% better once a couple rooms get painted & we buy some more furniture, lamps, etc.

Oh, and Dad, if you're reading this -I'm still backing into the garage. I haven't hit John's car yet, but I did hit the house once. Definite improvement though.

Pictures coming soon. Stay tuned....