Thursday thoughts

{one} Saw a lady using mascara at a stop light. To give her credit, it was a stop light. To take said credit away, she continued after driving. Maybe you need to start waking up earlier if you have to resort to eye make-up application in the car.

{two} Addy babysat today and thus brought the cutest 11 month old to our meeting. Meet Piper:

{three} I met all the new first-year PsyDs in our department. Lots of smart people, but I'm interested to see clinical skills (our program always boasts about how the PsyDs have to have a 1250 GRE minimum to even be considered for the program, but I think it's imperative to remember that GRE scores are NOT indicative of interpersonal skills--some others who are in the program confuse me because they lack personal skills, but I'm sure they're great clinicians). They all seem pretty cool though, so I hope we'll get more interaction.

{four} With teaching my 8am class, meetings, working, and the PsyD mixer today, I was at Baylor from 7:45am to 8:30pm, which is far too long.

{five} I found this on my car when I got to my car though, which made the long day totally worth it:

{six} Pretty sure the results section in my paper is exactly backwards to what I predicted--and then subsequently, what I wrote up in the results and discussion. I misread the results and now have to redo the entire sections, which makes me want to cry and pout all at once. It still works out, it was just double the work due to my mistake. ::Bangs head on desk::

{seven} Texas needs to stop being so hot. The end.

Wedding centerpiece WIN!

Remember how a bunch of us girls got together before Megan and Patrick's wedding to work on wine bottle centerpieces?

I was stalking Megan and Patrick's beautiful wedding photographs yesterday when I saw the final centerpieces. Behold, the awesome final product:

Photo via their awesome photographer, J.Shipley

(And if you're like me and love stalking others' weddings, even more photos can be found here! Click on "Gallery" to see all of the photographer's faves.)

2011 wedding extravaganza v.3

This past week, my former student Rachel got married to her lifetime love, Frank. They had been dating for a super long time (5 years? I'm pretty sure it started in high school) so the wedding was full of people who have shared in their love.

The wedding ceremony was held at the Piazza in Colleyville, TX, a beautiful location that apparently has been on WE TV's "Platinum Wedding" and TLC's "Four Weddings." You can imagine how gorgeous it was.

Rachel & Frank's sign on the front of the chapel doors

The inside of the beautiful chapel

My favorite part of the wedding was after they said their vows, Rachel and Frank went to the front of the chapel and prayed together. You couldn't see anything except them kneeling together, but you could feel the love and prayers around them. I bawled. Nick hugged me. It was a love-filled service indeed.

A cell phone pic of the happy couple being announced as husband and wife!

We then drove over to the Colleyville Center for the gorgeous yet simple reception.

The location was beautiful for photos, but we didn't know anybody so we used my car and my camera's timer feature. I look awkward 'cuz, well, it was. ;)

Rachel's colors, if you couldn't tell by the sign on the chapel door, were teal blue and bright red. Their wedding was the best use of color I have ever seen at a wedding. Proof:

Berry Lemonade Jones soda and water (plus Big Red, but nobody at our table wanted to drink soda that tastes like bubblegum).

An amazing idea for a tall ceiling: big balloons that create color without being in the way. The teal tableclothes also added a necessary pop of color.

The beverage station had big tubs full of appropriately colored cans and bottles, with the obligatory sweet tea (and unsweet tea!) for real Texans.

In lieu of a guest book, they asked friends and family to write love notes, sweet thoughts, or advice on cards and pin them up with clothespins on a large frame.

I thought it was such a good idea to add color!

Nick and I were starving but food hadn't been served yet (the couple and bridal party were still taking photographs) so we went outside to take some photos. Isn't he handsome?!

Instead of a traditional guest gift, they had a color-coordinated self-serve candy bar. So good! Nick appreciated the large quantities of yogurt-covered pretzels and gumballs, but I loved (LOVED) the Hot Tamales.

The cake was beautiful and consisted of five (!) flavors. Rachel told us after the cake tasting she had dreams of eating the cake, so the bakery made her and Frank their own baby cake for the wedding night at the hotel. Sweet right?

Nick thought it'd be rude if we didn't try all the types of cake, so after we shared one piece (and after everybody else had some), we ate some more. :) It was heavily iced (with amazing buttercream icing!) so that's what you see in the pictures. Yum!

There was a small amount of dancing but we left after I got stepped on by a very crazy, no-nonsense dancer. Just because I'm vertically challenged does not mean you can literally walk over me, people! Two out of three weddings (not including the times Nick steps on me, which would be three out of three weddings) I've been stepped on, so let's hope Court's wedding in July doesn't involve any injuries. :)

What I'm Lovin' Wednesday

Linked up with Jamie for What I'm Lovin' Wednesday (and I love life in general, so you know this list is gonna be long).

[1] Pool time.

Best part of summer in Texas by far is the Future Doctor Martindale's pool. (Sidenote: A few of us call her the Future Doctor because we had a professor in a course with PsyDs in which the professor called all the PsyDs "clinicians," Sarah Martindale [who is a PhD student like me] as "The Future Doctor Martindale," and me as "Sarah." True story.) Sarah granted me access to her pool since she's in Chicago this week so Nick and I took advantage of it yesterday. Amazing.

Can you guess what Nick's trying to be?!

[2] My co-elected leader for the GSA and bestie, Addy.

She's amazing, for so many reasons, but most recently because she updated our GSA Handbook with the most rockin' graphic designs ever, in a two-day time period. Seriously, she's crazy awesome, so much that if you go to her website, she has a link to a blog entitled "Are you a poop stepper?"

[3] Subway's Wednesday Sub-of-the-Day.

Hello, turkey breast on wheat bread for $2.99, you're my favorite in the whole wide world.

[4] Jumping photos.

My parents went to Hawaii last week and, in true Lake-style, took a jumping photo. Awesome.

Bonus points to Mom for getting air with a bad hip!

[5] Sharpie pens.

I can't stop using them. Does everybody else get this excited about office supplies or is it just me?

[6] Harry Potter hype.

I cannot wait for HPDH.II. I've read the books a zillion times, but am going to read the last book one more time before July 14th. I'm buying our tickets today for the midnight showing; we're going to see it with some friends from my department. Eeee!

[7] My stats class.

Having three tests in four weeks is rough, but I love that they're willing to still participate in class. My mid-course reviews were full of praise for the homework assignments (Nick couldn't believe that they all loved the worksheets), and the pub trivia-like exam reviews I've been doing are a hit. My students even came up with witty team names for their review pairs, like the "Mean Deviants" and "F This Statistic," which not only made me laugh but made me announce it to no less than six department professors.

[8] The feeling when you step outside in the hot sun after you've been inside an over-air conditioned building for the past five hours.

Looking forward to that moment in a few minutes. 'Nough said.

What do you love this Wednesday?

Cheap (but adorable) wedding gift

Something that is becoming increasingly draining is that all of my friends are getting married.

Like, all of them.

And that's great, 'cuz weddings are fun and marriages are beautiful and dancing rocks, but it sucks 'cuz I'm broke (Hi, my name is Sarah and with my graduate student stipend, I'm still at poverty level).

Nick and I were at Kevin's house a few weeks ago and Emily was making an awesome candle as a gift for a couple whose wedding she was attending. She used a hair dryer and tissue paper to melt into the candle. It looked beautiful, but took a very long time to get perfect.

I took a note from her and decided to use her idea but execute it slightly differently. Below are the results:

Supplies:

-Candles (Em used a large circumference pillar candle, I used two smaller pillar candles as a set)

-Tissue paper

-Small spool of ribbon

-Decoupage glue

First, cut the tissue paper into the design you want to decoupage onto the candle. I like a strip around the base of the candle, but I thought about gluing "Mr. and Mrs." squares randomly around the pillars.

I made sure my seams matched, so there was no awkward half-cut writing anywhere.

To make the tissue paper flat, I put decoupage glue on the candle first, then put the tissue paper on top. In previous candles I made, I would put the decoupage only on the top and it wouldn't lay flat easily (the tissue paper bunched or tore often).

Then, cover the top of the tissue paper with decoupage glue as well. You can be liberal, as it dries clear. I used a damp paper towel to wipe off any glue that was on the candle but not on the tissue paper, just so part of the candle didn't look too shiny.

Be careful not to swipe over the writing too much or else the ink will bleed. If this occurs, you can actually just pull the tissue paper off, wipe off the glue, and start over.

After the decoupage glue dries, accessorize with some ribbon!

Here's some other candles I did for Andy and Christina's wedding last weekend.

Perfect, cheap, and easy wedding gift right?! I also usually give the candles with some dish and casserole towels that match in color.

The moral of the story? If you're getting married soon, this is what you'll get. And you'll like it. ;)

What are some of your favorite things to give for weddings?

Fill in the blank Friday v.4

Linked up with Lauren for Fill in the Blank Friday

1. The last thing I ate was sushi with Austin at Teriyaki Park. Sooo good.

2. The next thing I'd like to eat is a Klondike Heath bar.

3. The best things are hugs, dancing, and kitty purrs.

4. Something that makes me supremely and utterly happy is Nicholas. Chloe. Giggling.

5. Sports are fun to watch, more fun to play.

6. I miss my parents (although I'm angry they're in Hawai'i and didn't invite me), ChelMel, all friends in Washington, my brother/his fam, and the Pacific Ocean.

7. Right now I am watching a horrible movie (Life as We Know It, thanks Netflix recommendations) and grading papers. Err, I'm about to go grade papers.

Link up!

Thursday thoughts

1. Nick and I are thinking about becoming wine snobs. And by that, I mean we'll use our BFF Casey's amazing wine knowledge, plus this book, to learn as much as possible about wine. I kind of cannot wait.

2. Yesterday, the LaBouffs invited us over for dinner to celebrate Jordan sending his dissertation to his committee. Rae made amazing shrimp and rice coconut curry. So good.

3. Nick is a stud. Have I mentioned that recently? I'm in love. (Nick just read that and said, "What?! You're in love?!")

4. We have another wedding to attend this weekend. The bride, Rachel, is actually a former student, and I'm totally psyched to attend! Woot!

5. I'm pretty sure that something is psychologically wrong with you [me!] if you enjoy watching shows like Law and Order: SVU. Psychopathology is cool.

6. The Future Doctor Martindale invited me over to her pool in the middle of the day today, which almost never happens on a weekday. What a glorious break this afternoon!

7. Today, I sent my first package to somebody I didn't know, for part of the Color Me Happy package exchange. I'll show pictures of the package I sent in a week or so when the package has had enough time to reach Tampa, FL.

How's your Thursday going?

2011 wedding extravaganza v.2

This past weekend, I attended my second wedding of the summer. I technically was a "plus one," as Nick was a groomsman, but I've been blessed to know the couple, Andy and Christina, since Nick and I started dating.

We had a blast.

The weekend began with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday evening. The rehearsal went off without a hitch, and it gave some time for me and Emily to chat (her boyfriend Kevin was also in the wedding party)!

Andy and Christina are two of the most love-filled people I know. The entire weekend was solely about the love they had for each other--and the love we all had for them. When you get that much love in a room, joy is bound to occur.

The rehearsal dinner, however, was ah-maze-ing. No, really. It was better than some of the weddings I've attended! It was Western-themed, so I got to wear my favorite boots (woot!), and the food was yummy but low-key (brisket, potato salad, peach cobbler, Blue Bell, and cupcakes with yellow roses of Texas on them...totally awesome). It wasn't the dinner that made the experience, though, it was the blast of a time we had.

After we sat and ate [and the awkward five minutes where I was standing while everybody else was sitting because I had already asked the bartender for a drink when Andy's dad asked us to sit down, and I hadn't received my drink so I waited and he just stared disapprovingly at me and I turned into the reddest beet possible], the DJ turned on some amazing tunes and taught us how to line dance.

I can now officially say I can boot scoot boogie.

We danced the evening away, so much that my feet were sore after being in my boots far too long, Nick was feeling physiologically weak from dehydration, and I lost at least 3lbs that evening alone. Kidding, but only kind of.

[Total sidenote, if you're in the Dallas/Fort Worth area (or even anywhere in Texas, it appears) and you need a DJ, I strongly and highly recommend Joel Morris with PartyTimeTexas. He was professional, appropriately hilarious, and so much fun. There was never a dull moment, and after Jake gave his speech about Kenya, Joel played the song "Africa" by Toto. No joke. I don't need a DJ, but I feel immense need to pimp him out because I loved his DJing so much.]

My hot med student (MS2!) non-wedding party date Emily, and her boyfriend Kevin.

A little Macarena photo strip of Em, Kevin, Jake (Nick's old roomie and another groomsman), and his girlfriend Merrit.

Nick (sans the cowboy hat he was wearing and awkward bandana he had in his shirt) and I looking only slightly sweaty from dancing our butts off.

If for any reason you doubted the amount of dancing that went on, here's a small collage of how much fun we had.

(We dance like nobody is watching, even when someone is taking photos!)

Saturday morning, Emily and I went shopping because I wanted a new dress for the wedding. I've lost a little less than 17lbs since the middle of February (woot!) which is great, but I only have two wedding-appropriate dresses that fit (and one I wore two weeks ago to a wedding). I brought it as a back-up, but was hoping to find a new inexpensive dress that I could wear to weddings.

Insert Ann Taylor Outlet in Plano, Texas, and Sarah finds a dress and two pairs of shoes on super-sale. Double woot!

It was the first store we went to (for those who don't know me, about 85% of my clothes are Ann Taylor, LOFT, or the outlet versions of those stores), then we went to the Banana Republic outlet and Emily found a gorgeous dress at a great price too! Success!

Emily and I in our new dresses

The wedding ceremony was beautiful.

Andy and Christina, totally in love:

The singers sang a song titled, "The Prayer," when God decided to let the couple know he approved by shining the most joyous ray of sunshine straight through the stained glass window.

Because they had a professional photographer and I was conscious about it, I had my flash off--hence my awkardly blurry photo. However, here's Nick and his gorgeous bridesmaid Rachel (you may recognize her as the woman who taught me how to play racquetball, or as one of my Church Under the Bridge besties) walking down the aisle after the ceremony. Rachel has been in graduate school at Oxford (my friends are geniuses!) so I haven't seen her in a year! You can bet that an amazing reunion occurred.

The reception was at an Italian restaurant in Dallas called Maggiano's, and the entire top floor was reserved. I had never heard of the restaurant (but considering I'm not a Dallas native and I've been to the city all of four-ish times, this isn't surprising), but it was amazingly good, the staff was attentive, and the ballroom was beautiful.

Our table settings:

The gorgeous centerpieces:

The wedding cake (you can see the amazing chandeliers in the mirror in the background):

The Kenya room, in which the groom's cake resided (along with some Kenyan decorations). Andy and Christina got engaged in Kenya last year (their second trip to Kenya together), so it is special to them. In this room was also a Cuban cigar roller (kid you not) and a Cognac bar. (I didn't get a picture of the third room, which housed a zillion desserts and a candy bar. Sadly, I left my bag of candy on the table as I rushed out to say bye to the couple, but my hips are thanking me.)

My dreamy boyfriend and me, at the reception (my mom's fav. pic of us of the weekend):

And a full-body picture (see my awesome new sale shoes?!) which is my fave. Also, notice how I only come up to his chin, even when I'm wearing heels?!

I didn't catch the bouquet (I postulate that Christina threw it up, not back, which is soooo not a bouquet toss), and jokingly complained about it. Nick, with his freakishly long arms, was able to swat the football with the garter wrapped around it away from the other men, and came out with a victory.

Win!

I feel like this post is along enough so I'll limit the photographs to this, but if you want to see more, check out the Facebook album on my page titled "Eat, drink, and be married, friends!"

What'd you do this weekend?!

First-Author Pub!

I just received word that my very first paper where I'm the first author was published! When it was accepted, I was told that it was set for publication in April 2012, so it was exciting to receive the PDF of the article today!

Here's the first page (which contains my name)!

Pretty awesome eh?! Woot!

Just call me a Daddy's girl

I wrote a love note to my mother for Mother’s Day, and thought it would be a glorious idea to dedicate a post for dad for Father’s Day! I used the same format as I did with my mom, so enjoy (and post about your own dad so I can read)!

1. What is your best childhood memory with your dad?

I have a lot of awesome childhood memories with my dad, but my favorite was our bedtime ritual. We started out with a kiss and a hug every night. Then, we decided to add Eskimo kisses (nose-to-nose) and butterfly kisses (eyelash-to-eyelash) because it was cool. But our tradition was missing something, and that something was dumb humor. When I was in sixth grade, we added something called the Lake Earie (ear-to-ear…get it?). We thought it was hilarious. I made him tuck me into bed when he was visiting Waco last month, and I’m pretty sure he teared up when I made him do this bedtime tradition. He’d forgotten about it, but it’s definitely something I will never forget.

2. Was he constant with his discipline?

I remember my mother being more of the disciplinarian, but I don’t remember either of them ever being too bad. My dad was the one you didn’t tick off, especially in the car when your brother is on your half of the backseat and wouldn’t stop breaking the air barrier you had designated.

3. Did you ever make your father cry because you were unruly or disobedient?

I don’t think my dad ever cried out of frustration with me, but he’s a softy so he cries at all sad movies. It’s one of my favorite traits that my dad passed onto me.

4. Do you remember any of the special things your father did for you?

When I was in preschool, my dad used to pick me up from the babysitter (whose house was next door), and we would skip down the street all the way home while holding hands. He would stop and get the mail after picking me up, and he’d let me open the box, take out the mail, and carry it (if it wasn’t too big) into the house. My dad wil alwaysl hold my hand and skip at any occasion, and will watch Mamma Mia in closed caption so we can sing along. Best dad ever.

5. Did he teach you something significant?

My dad taught me to hug everybody because hugs make your heart happy (I can’t help that I’m a hugger, it’s in my blood). He taught me to learn people’s names because they like you more when you let them know you care about them. He taught me to be nice to people who serve you because they’ll usually let you bend the rules if necessary. He taught me how to tell bad jokes, and how banana Laffy Taffies are the greatest. He also taught me that nobody remembers who the first person out on the dance floor was, but everybody remembers having a great time dancing. My father symbolizes the phrase, “Dance like nobody is watching,” and I am grateful that he passed that on to me. My father is amazing.

I know that will be hard to top, but tell me about your dad!