Weekend Wrap Up: Memorial Day Edition

Baby birds in a nest over our garage. Yes, they nest in an actual plastic bird. I know...

Friday:

I met my friend Jaime at the nail salon on Friday afternoon for the birthday pedicure she generously treats me to every year. She brought a bottle of wine & they put us in a private pedicure room - so fun! I had my toes painted in Essie Pretty Edgy, which I LOVE & may have to buy.

Saturday:

On Saturday I set out with my friend Megan to try & spend my Green Hills Mall gift card. Sadly, I was embarrassingly unsuccessful. I only bought a t-shirt, a tank & a skinny belt, & I'm returning the tank, haha. It was a combination of not finding anything I wanted to buy & having a bad body image day. C'est la vie. I'll try again next weekend.

Sunday:

In the summer months, John & I inevitably find ourselves at Bobby's Dairy Dip at least once a weekend. Technically, it's not summer for a few more weeks, but here in the Dirty South, it's already a gazillion degrees outside & don't even get me started on the cicadas... I tried something new & got a chocolate soft serve cone dipped in coconut. That's right, COCONUT. It was the best ice cream cone I've ever had! I had to fight the urge all day to go back & get a second one.

That night, we tried a new recipe: long boy burgers. They were really good, although they are definitely more of a meatloaf sandwich than a hamburger. John made homemade fries, too - so good!

Monday:

Tiffany was in town from NYC, so we had brunch in M'boro with Lauren, then we went back to her house to see the nursery. So cute! Later, Tiff & I went to Green Hills Mall to make another go at spending my gift card. Success! I got all kinds of good stuff - yay! Then we met our friend Jess for dinner & ritas. Good times!

Working Out & Shit

Source

I just finished a 4 week boot camp via Nashville Adventure Boot Camp. The picture above is from the last night of class. I'm the sole black t-shirt (of course I am).

My friend Claudia has done this boot camp before. When she won a free month for herself & a friend, she generously gave her friend pass to me. So for the entire month of May, Claudia & I trekked out to Lipscomb University & worked out for an hour, outside (cicadas be damned), 3 nights a week.

I was a tad hesitant to do this because of my knee injury, but shockingly my knee didn't give me any trouble. Josh was great & kept an eye on me & altered some of the more knee-central exercises. While my knee didn't give me any trouble, my calves did.

I had some pretty serious calf cramps for the entire 4 weeks that I did this class. In fact, they got so bad that I had to have my physical therapist check me out to make sure I didn't tear anything (I didn't). Because of this, I couldn't do my normal, weekly runs. I kept trying to, but my calves would lock up about a mile in & I'd have to hobble back to my car. Not fun.

Because I want to end on a positive note, I'm going to list my cons first:

Cons:

Cost

Duration

Equipment

Slow start

Too much emphasis on lower body, not enough on upper body

Personally, I can't afford to spend $200 a month on fitness, but if you can, mozel tov. On that point, this class is only 4 weeks long. I wish it were a little longer. You have to bring your own hand weights, which I find annoying. I don't mind bringing my own mat, towel, water, etc., but it would be nice for all of the equipment to be provided. The first few classes were purposefully easier in order to ease us into it. While I appreciate the sentiment, in a 4 week class, I want to hit the ground running. As someone who has spent years attending body sculpt classes at the Y, I am accustomed to full body work-outs. This class almost exclusively focuses on lower body (& abs). As a runner, my legs are good. What's not good are the wings hanging off of my arms & the chicken cutlets that hang over when I wear anything strapless.

Pros:

Josh

Class participants

Fun

Location/parking/facilities

Accountability

Different exercises - never boring

Challenging cardio

Encouraging, positive environment

Josh is great. He is the perfect combination of friend & trainer. I really appreciate how much he watched out for me & my knee injury. He was also quick to jump in & push me if I got partnered with someone below my fitness level. He realized what my strengths were & continuously challenged me to push further. Aside from one horrible girl who tried to kill me during a friendly game of 3-on-3 basketball, I loved all of the girls & had a lot of fun working out with them. Even at its hardest, I still had fun & looked forward to the next class.

The location of the class (Lipscomb University) is convenient for me & there is ample, easy parking. I'm always a better attendee when someone is expecting me to be there & doing this with Claudia kept me accountable, especially since the work-outs are so partner-driven. Although we met 3 times a week, each class was different & you rarely did the same exercise twice, which I appreciated. I really enjoyed the cardio portions of this class. I LOVE a challenge. The harder the better, so when you task me with running at full speed with someone running behind me, pulling me with a rubber band around my waist, I will try my damnedest to pull them off their feet (which I almost did multiple times, so much so that by the last week of class, Josh himself was the only person he'd let run behind me). On this point, Josh is very encouraging, as is the whole atmosphere of the class. It is a very positive environment.

Overall, I really enjoyed participating in this boot camp & if it weren't for what it did to my calves, I would probably do it again. But I am a runner & not being able to run for 4 weeks just doesn't work for me. I have yet to complete my final evaluation, but I can tell I lost weight. I recently tried on some summer dresses & I'm a full size smaller, so there's that. Also, you could cut glass on the definition in my quads right now.

I definitely recommend this boot camp. Although it may be more for those of you who have never done anything like this before. It's a good intro into the boot camp world. If you've done super hard boot camps before (Ali) & are already in good shape, this may not be the backbreaking work-out that you're used to. However, that being said, if you can afford it & need something to do 3-4 times a week, you will get a good work-out & you will see results.

I can't imagine what stone I left unturned in this super long post, but if you have any questions, please feel free to email me or leave your question in the comments section.

More info on Nashville Adventure Boot Camp here. More info on Josh Allen here. Also, like them on Facebook here.

Book Review: Girl in Translation

Some time ago, Tiffany told me to read Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok, but I just read it recently (because she gave it to me). It's so good! If you've read Free Food for Millionaires, this is a similar story, in that both protagonists are the children of immigrants, although this a more coming-of-age story. I liked Free Food okay, but I LOVED Girl in Translation. The characters are more likeable, probably because they're children, and the personal struggle is much more profound. This book is heart-wrenching. There are few books that bring tears to my eyes, but this was one of them. It very much reminded me of how I felt while reading The Kite Runner years ago.

From Publishers Weekly via Amazon:

"A resolute yet naïve Chinese girl confronts poverty and culture shock with equal zeal when she and her mother immigrate to Brooklyn in Kwok's affecting coming-of-age debut. Ah-Kim Chang, or Kimberly as she is known in the U.S., had been a promising student in Hong Kong when her father died. Now she and her mother are indebted to Kimberly's Aunt Paula, who funded their trip from Hong Kong, so they dutifully work for her in a Chinatown clothing factory where they earn barely enough to keep them alive. Despite this, and living in a condemned apartment that is without heat and full of roaches, Kimberly excels at school, perfects her English, and is eventually admitted to an elite, private high school. An obvious outsider, without money for new clothes or undergarments, she deals with added social pressures, only to be comforted by an understanding best friend, Annette, who lends her makeup and hands out American advice. A love interest at the factory leads to a surprising plot line, but it is the portrayal of Kimberly's relationship with her mother that makes this more than just another immigrant story."

I loved this book & highly recommend it!

Weekend Wrap Up: Birthday Carpe Rapture Edition

My birthday was Friday, so this weekend was jam-packed with friends, food & bad (Read: AWESOME) rapture jokes. Mary Katherine's birthday is the day before mine, so our Friday morning Pancake Run started off the birthday festivities. Mary Katherine got me a tiara & sash to wear during the breakfast & our server brought me a serving of birthday pancakes. Love my Pancake Girls!

Continuing my birthday food parade, my friend Chrissi treated me to lunch & gave me an awesome pair of earrings, to boot! Then that night, my girl gang treated me to dinner at Woodlands Indian. My friend Katie has been sewing up a storm lately, so I was super excited to receive a handmade tote bag from her. Katie is also a master baker & blew us all away with my birthday s'mores cake. OMG, it was sooooo good! At the end of the night, they surprised me with a gift card to Green Hills Mall, which was so generous & unexpected. I may or may not have cried into my naan...

Saturday was just going to be a low-key dinner with friends at a local Mexican restaurant, but fueled by the excitement of not being raptured, it quickly turned into a 6-hour tour de Nashville, including drinks at No. 308 & karaoke at Fran's Eastside. At some point after drinking a 32 ounce mason jar full of god knows what at No. 308, I started shouting, "Carpe Rapture!" at everyone & everything, taxidermy lynx included (& exhaustively photographed).

Clearly, there was only one thing to do with me at this point: take me to a karaoke bar, albeit one where the patrons buck the law by A) still smoking inside & B) running a very successful (so I hear) meth ring in the parking lot. Also, the bartender, who I lovingly refer to as 'Fran' signals last call by commandeering the mic & belting out a stirring rendition of "Short Dick Man". And let me tell you, nothing makes you close your tab & exit an establishment faster than a 4 foot, toothless, possibly inbred, "woman" sitting open legged (in a skirt) singing about what it takes to satisfy her sexually.

Thanks to everyone who made this birthday the BEST BIRTHDAY WEEKEND EVER. I love you all! And to those of you who I'm not celebrating with until this coming weekend, prepare yourselves, ha ha ha.

Full birthday/carpe rapture photostream here.

Pooches Gracias

via

Man, you guys are awesome! Here's a sampling of some of the responses I got from yesterday's Manic Monday post:

Kim, I am so so sorry about what happened with the job(s)! God! What the hell is wrong with people. That is so f-ing rude of your workplace. You're better than that job anyways. I know you will find something, but I know it doesn't feel that way right now. You're a super qualified, intelligent professional and someone will see that. Just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you. HANG IN THERE

Kim, just hang in there and keep your chin up. How many times have you heard THAT, I guess? Good grief--I can't believe that place where you are working right now. How inhumane NOT tell you they hired someone! Totally unprofessional. As usual, I don't have anything to say to make it better but I know you are hurting. AND, don't stop running! It helps when nothing else does!

I just read your latest blog post, how depressing. I do not even know what to say. Not sure that you care to hear I'm sorry but I am. Sounds pretty darn rude and disrespectful, ughhhhh! I wish I had some wonderful fabulous job to offer you. Keep your chin up. Good things come to good people and you are one of them.

That place is such a mess, so sad.

Oh no -talk about poor management! What jerks. I believe its a pretty basic HR policy to notify all internal applicants ASAP if they aren't being hired. Hang in there! Things must get better!

God, that totally blows. I am SO sorry. Hang in there. . .

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That is perhaps the most unprofessional thing I've ever heard of in my life. What a horrible person. OMG. You should hurl a coffee mug at his head and say "peace out!". What a prime example of unprofessionalism.

If it doesn’t kill you…….

*hug* Turn that frown upside down, I have two $3 off coupons for frappucinos at the Target Starbucks!

Awww Kim! That's so jacked up...all of it. I can't believe how hard it is out there...you would think experience and a master's would account for something...

You put into words EXACTLY how I feel too. For months now I've been doing the same thing. Yesterday, I even went to a job fair. To top it all off, I came home to 4... count them 4 "Thanks for applying for this job, but..." emails... The thing is they are jobs that called EXACTLY for what my resume has on it. I'm starting to think I'm too cool for this job market. I'm taking a break from it, because I don't want to end up putting a gun in my mouth. I suggest the same, even if it's just a week. Good luck on your search.

Hang in there, Kim! Good luck on your quest!

Man. That sucks. I am so sorry, Kim. I think a change of scenery, even if the pay is bad, will do you good. Your current work environment is obviously toxic.

Kim!!! I just read your blog. Seriously, that is b.s.!!! are you still working at this job too? I've been on the job search for a year now myself and yesterday, I started researching unemployment! Just to see that I wasn't crazy and that it's really this hard to find something! I listened to this radio show yesterday. Somehow hearing about it on a broad scale helped me feel better: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ it describes the state of the nation, politicians, it's at the very least, informative!

Thanks, friends, especially those of you who I frantically called on Monday when all of this went down. This situation continues to, in the words of my husband, suck monkey balls, but what are you going to do?

To be continued.....

XOXO!

Manic Monday

When you're unemployed & looking for a job, you have a lot of bad days. Because I spend all day, every day, applying to jobs, I get at least one 'Thank you for applying, but...' emails a day. At least one. It's especially fun to get turned down for jobs that you could do in your sleep, like Receptionist. Or! To finally get an interview for a job, only to find out that it pays under $30K/year & doesn't offer health insurance. To put this in perspective, I've been working professionally for over 10 years & I have a master's degree.

Back in February, a friend of mine hired me as her part-time Assistant. She was leaving to take another job & was hoping that I would become her replacement. I got in, I applied for her job, I sent in about 100 letters of recommendation, I was interviewed -twice. In fact, in my last interview, I was told I was still a candidate & that I was to have a phone interview with Corporate. Well, that phone interview never happened & yesterday my friend's replacement walked in the door.

To recap, I was not hired for the job, nor was I given the professional courtesy of a heads-up that they hired someone else & that she was starting yesterday. Keep in mind, I WORK HERE. This is where I am Mon-Thurs, 9am-5pm. Oh! And, her name is Kim, too. Awesome.

This is what's out there people. It's not just that there are no jobs, or that it's hard times. It's this: it's working somewhere for 3 months; still not being able to get a job there; & then not even being thought highly enough of to be told that the job you applied for was filled with someone else & that she's starting on Monday.

Oh, and the only other job I'm still in the running for went into a hiring freeze yesterday until late June/early July. Again, awesome.

So today I'm going to a job interview for a job that pays less than I made when I was 23 & doesn't offer benefits or health insurance, but I will probably accept because the thought of spending one more day at my current job is suicide-inducing.

Weekend Wrap Up: You Are Awesome Edition

Friday:

When I got home from boot camp the other morning, this (above) had been spray-painted on the building next door. Ahh, the perks of living next door to a dilapidated Korean strip mall.... You can also see my picture on Nashvillest here.

Friday night I had a girl date with my friend Megan. We ate sushi at Ginza in Green Hills, then saw Something Borrowed. I thought the movie was really cute. Not surprisingly, there's a lot of stuff that's different from the book, but all the major stuff is the same. If you liked the book, you'll like the movie.

Saturday:

My friend Lauren is expecting & there was a baby shower for her in Murfreesboro on Saturday. My friend Holly & I rode out there together. I only took a few pics, but you can see them here. The shower hostesses did something so smart - they unwrapped all of the gifts while we were eating & then we just went upstairs & saw everything unwrapped & on display. Genius!

Saturday night, John & I met Dave & Alexis for dinner & a movie. We tried out the new Noodles & Co. in Green Hills (it's where Baja Fresh used to be) & then saw Bridesmaids. First, dinner: Noodles & Co. was good. I'd definitely eat there again, although maybe for lunch instead of dinner. Also, the small noodle bowl is really small, opt for the regular. Okay, Bridesmaids: Bridesmaids is HILARIOUS! We all loved it! Highly, highly recommend it. Also, I covet Kristen Wiig's hair.

Sunday:

I got up early & drove to Centennial Park to watch MK compete in her first triathlon, Ramblin' Rose. I missed the swimming part, but I got there in time to see her transition from her bike to the run & to blaze through the finish line. Congrats, MK!

Sunday night, while John cut the grass, I made shepherd's pie (recipe here) & a cherry-almond crisp from the June 2011 issue of Cooking Light. After dinner, we watched The King's Speech, which I had seen before, but John hadn't. He loved it & I enjoyed watching it again. Love Colin Firth!

Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird

Here lately, a lot of the books I've been reading are books I'm getting chastised for in Book Swap for not having read, e.g. The Poisonwood Bible. Well, To Kill a Mockingbird was another book I've somehow made it 30+ years without reading. I have no idea why. Presumably I read it in school at some point, but who knows.

Mary Katherine & MHG brow-beat both me & Kathy into reading this, and I'm so glad they did! This may be my new favorite book! Why have I never read this? OMG! Also, how did I not know that this book was Southern fiction? Where have I been?! Harper Lee, you complete me!

From Amazon:

"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice—but the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

One of the best-loved classics of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has earned many distinctions since its original publication in 1960. It has won the Pulitzer Prize, been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, and been made into an enormously popular movie. It was also named the best novel of the twentieth century by librarians across the country.

This book is so good! I loved the relationship between Scout & Jem & Jem & Atticus. I now see where a lot of the books I've enjoyed over the years got their inspiration, e.g. The Help, The Little Friend, etc. If you haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird, or haven't read it in some time, I highly, highly recommend it.

Viva la Scout!

Book Review: My Fair Lazy

I just finished reading My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover if Not Being a Dumb Ass is the New Black, or, a Culture-Up Manifesto by Jen Lancaster. From Ellen Wernecke via The A.V. Club:

"To be fair, being intellectually shown up by Candace Bushnell might press a radical re-evaluation of self on anyone, as Lancaster is during a radio interview when she doesn’t recognize the name “Baudelaire.” She later diagnoses herself as stagnating in her reality-TV-and-Ambien life after a string of tony social events at which she’s ill at ease making conversation, even though she’s well-versed in John Hughes films and the musical choices of Adam Lambert. (Though her chapter on the shifting appeal of The Real World might well live to be quoted in semiotics dissertations 20 years hence.) A hazily defined “Jenaissance” finds her tearing through Edith Wharton on a Kindle, puzzling through a modern-dance performance she believed would contain tango, and sitting down for an avant-garde dish resembling a half-smoked cigar, with the help of her tolerant but somewhat incredulous friends."

While reading reviews of My Fair Lazy online, I came across this one from A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore & wholeheartedly agreed with it. Review here.

I've read & loved all of Jen's previous books & follow her blog, Jennyslvania, in Reader. While this isn't my favorite Jen Lancaster book, it is entertaining, especially if, like me, you watch more than your fair share of reality-TV. She does a chapter on The Real World that will make you cry if you're old enough to remember the first season. It's chapters like this that display what a powerful writer she is. Her writing style & her sense of humor are an inspiration to me, personally.

Like her other books, this book's chapters are divided by emails between Jen, her husband Fletch & her girlfriends. I've always loved the way she does this. This book does something new, it also prints some of her tweets. I've been following Jen on Twitter long enough to recognize some of these tweets. I just thought it was a neat thing to do. (Follow Jen on Twitter here.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book & definitely recommend it, especially if you share a slight addiction to reality-TV. It's a light, quick read & you'll laugh a lot. It would be a great beach/vacation read.

If you're new to Jen Lancaster, I highly recommend her first two books: Bitter Is the New Black & Bright Lights, Big Ass. They are, to date, the funniest books I've ever read.

Weekend Wrap Up: Cicada Invasion Edition

Friday:

Pretty low-key Friday night. After finishing my Mother's Day & graduation gift shopping, I ate dinner at home, painted my nails in Essie's Mint Candy Apple & accidentally got sucked into a two-hour Dateline....

Saturday:

I woke up early on Saturday & ran the Bellevue Hell or High Water Flood Run 5K with my friends Claudia & Seanna. Post race, Claudia treated me to a smoothie. Thanks, Claudia!

Back at home, I got going on the aforementioned browned butter cupcakes. My friend Jessica graduated from TSU, so I was making the cupcakes for her & her family, who treated me to dinner in honor of her May graduation & my December graduation. Congrats, Jessica! We're done!

Sunday:

Yesterday, John & I drove to Smyrna to spend Mother's Day with my family. The cicada invasion has hit Smyrna. We still don't have any at our house, but apparently we're the only ones. In the video below, our friends Jeff & Ashlee, who are pretty much obsessed with this cicada phenomenon, fry & eat cicadas. If you know Ashlee (Caryn), you'll want to watch this video.

Full cicada invasion photostream here.

Browned Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

These are hands-down THE BEST cupcakes I've ever made. The browned butter really makes a difference. These are the first cupcakes I've made that tasted like they came from a bakery instead of my kitchen. Highly, highly recommend this recipe.

(I over-filled...)

Browned Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from Divine Baking

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2 1/2 cups AP flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temp

1 cup milk, warmed in the microwave for 20 seconds

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

In a large pot, melt the butter on medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden & finally start to turn brown & smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, remove from heat & allow to cool to room temp.

Preheat oven to 350F & prepare 2 cupcake tins with liners.

Combine the flour, baking powder & salt in a medium bowl & set aside.

Beat sugar & eggs in a stand mixer until thickened, about one minute. Add milk, vanilla & browned butter, beating until just combined.

Add half of the dry ingredients & beat until combined. Repeat with second half.

Pour the batter into the lined cupcake tins & bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool tins for 2-3 minutes before carefully removing the cupcakes. Allow to cool on a rack completely before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients:

5 oz Bakers Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

1/2 cup butter, room temp (1 stick)

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp baking cocoa

4-8 tsp milk

Directions:

Melt chocolate & allow to cool to room temp. Transfer cooled chocolate to a large bowl. With an electric hand mixer, beat in the butter until creamy, about one minute. Sift in half of the powdered sugar & all of the baking cocoa, then beat until thickened & mostly combined, adding 2 tbsp of milk to loosen. Add remaining sugar & beat until combined, adding up to 6 tbsp more of milk until desired frosting consistency is reached. Slowly beat in milk 1 tbsp at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Frost & serve!

Full photostream here.

Birthday Wish List

I really enjoyed doing this in November, so I thought I'd do it again in honor of my birthday month. Viva la May!

Emily Henderson is my new style icon & I'm obsessed with this jacket she wears in almost every episode of Secrets From A Stylist:

EmersonMade 1960's Jacket - The Tweed, $238.

Bossypants, by Tina Fey, $27

A Merry Mishap coal geo earrings via Etsy, $10

Decorate: 1,000 Design Ideas for Every Room in Your Home,

by Holly Becker, $35

Land's End Canvas 1963 Emmaline Hooded Thong, $68

Homako Origami Kuru Shou Aspahlt via Etsy, $38

Fabric & Handle Delmare Tote Shopping Bag, $39

J.Crew Short-sleeve selvedge chambray shirt, $88

J.Crew Silk Blythe blouse, $98

Madewell Contract Ticker-Stripe tee, $45

Modcloth Rich Like Butterscotch Skirt, $48

Imogene + Willie Gladys Blue Chambray, $275

FNL Series Finale: "Wet Eyes, Broken Hearts, Can't Breathe"

I stole that headline from NY Magazine because there's no way I can come up with a more apt description for the series finale of Friday Night Lights. I've been home sick for two days, so I decided to go ahead & watch the series finale of FNL, which I've been sitting on for weeks.

I started watching FNL back in October & have quickly plowed through all five seasons. Tiffany tried in vain to get me to watch it years ago, but I wouldn't have it. I had zero interest in a tv show about Texas and/or football. Oh, how wrong I was....

This is one of the best shows I've ever watched. It's embarrassing how much I've come to love & feel for these fictional characters. Not to spoil anything for those of you who are currently watching Season Five on NBC, but I was pleased with the finale. They brought back everyone I wanted them to bring back & I feel like they tied up all of the loose ends that I would have wondered about. Oh, and you better believe I cried.

I know a couple of you are also watching & I'm curious as to how many of you have watched the series finale & if so, what your thoughts were?

My days are going to be a little darker without Tim Riggins, Coach Taylor, et al.... To again quote the NY Mag article, "And always remember this: TV shows come and go. But Texas? Texas is forever."

A Weekend In the Life of Linda McCartney

This week has consisted of big news, big idiots, lots of hiding & deleting on Facebook, & a sinus infection. Like my momma always said: If you don't have anything nice to say, show pictures of your dog.

(Friday Night Linda)

More Linda here.