Sunday musings

I love and loathe Sundays at the same time.

Love them because they're simply the most relaxing day of my week, loathe them because it means Monday is looming in the very near future.

Sunday evenings are the last bit of pure contentment before the busy week begins. It may seem dramatic, but it really is a bittersweet feeling for me.

It is currently 11:20 p.m., I have about 40 minutes left of my blissful Sunday...minutes I will spend writing this, then reading before bed.

So here I have another happy list...mostly because I am dealing with a strong bout of writer's block, and lists are the only things I can seem to write these days.

1. Mom's Weekend was lovely. I got to spend time with my momma and my older sister, and it was really nice. We mostly just hung out together, eating and talking, but that's all that the women in my family need to have a good time. Plus, there were some yummy drinks involved. (Side note: I am never turning 21. That's how I feel anyway. Maybe I'll write about that later to break my writer's block.)

2. My room is ridiculously clean. We're talking vacuumed and dusted, with all the clothes hanging in their assigned spots in the closets, all the books lined up neatly on the shelves, all my page-a-day calendars on the right date. It is really a thing of beauty.

3. I watched The Blind Side this weekend. I forgot how good that movie is. If you haven't seen it, you really should. Sandra Bullock definitely earned that Oscar.

4. Trashy magazines. I have two magazines (People and Us Weekly) waiting for me to read. I've had them since early this afternoon but have refrained from reading either one so I can have something to read at the gym this week. I can honestly (and pathetically) say I'm really looking forward to it.

5. It's May. More specifically, May 2. Which means it is almost June. Which means summer. Which means much happier times. Hopefully.

6. It's week SIX. Six! (I'd say it again, but that would just be satanic. Or something.) This term was really dragging, but it has started to pick up the pace quite significantly, which has been a welcome change from the sluggishness of weeks one through five.

7. This week's weather calls for sun. That really is all I need to be happy.

8. I made three Pioneer Woman recipes this weekend. I started on Friday night with Ree's Baked Lemon Pasta for dinner with my mom and roomie. Yum. On Saturday morning I made her French Breakfast Puffs, which are absolutely delicious. And today I made her Buttermilk Biscuits. Next time, I'm using way less salt than the recipe called for...still okay, but required a lot of water to down. Still, I was very happy to be using my kitchen up here - three separate times, no less.

9. Freshly painted fingernails. I just painted mine with a lovely shade of Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure "All Fired Up". It's delicious.

10. My hair is going to be curly tomorrow. Hopefully. I've been missing my perm lately, and wanting to get it redone, but it's a little too short for that right now. My hair has absolutely no wave or curl to it, but it looks gross if I don't dry and straighten it every time I wash it. I don't like to style it everyday, so I decided to attempt curls by using a lot of twisting and pinning...we'll see how it goes.

11. It was a lovely Sunday. I went to church with my mom and sister, then out to breakfast. My mom went home and then I spent my day doing laundry and homework, and mentally psyching myself up for the week ahead of me.

12. Bedtime. I love my bed. It is insanely comfortable, and features five pillows and two extra blankets for optimum warmth and comfort. So now, it's off to bed and off to dreamland (which has been a weird place these days...more on that later.)

♥ abigail

Blog-Stalking Confession...

Readers, I have a confessions to make.

Are you ready for it? Here goes.

I am a blog-stalker.

I shamelessly follow popular blogs (The Pioneer Woman, Joy the Baker, Enjoying the Small Things, Brown Eyed Baker, Confections of a Foodie Bride, to name just a few. No, honestly - that's just a few. I have a tab of all the cooking blogs I stalk, and it has 28 blogs - and counting - on it). I also shamelessly stalk blogs of friends and acquaintances, which I won't provide a list of...I'm not gonna lie, it makes me feel like a creeper.

There's something so great about blogs to me. I love reading other people's styles of writing, seeing their pictures, and getting insight into others' lives. My favorite blog of all is definitely Ree Drummond's: The Pioneer Woman.

I discovered her earlier this year when someone sent me a link to her recipe for The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever. Ree's personality shines even through her recipes, so I was instantly hooked. Next I read the story she wrote about her romance with her husband, entitled From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. After that, I was addicted. Completely infatuated and, yes, obsessed. Ree became my girl-crush, and I began talking about her as if I knew her.

I began cooking all her recipes, and checking her website for updates every day.

And then, a few months later, the most amazing thing happened.

Ever.

She announced her book tour, and guess where she was headed? The Pacific Northwest. And guess where I live? Oh yeah, the Pacific Northwest.

And I decide that when Ree came to the Portland area (and hour-and-a-half from me), I would be there - nothing would stop me.

So, long story short, I ended up driving an hour-and-a-half to Powell's in Beaverton. I arrived at 5:00 p.m. for the book signing that was set to begin at 6:00. I, along with around 450 other people, waited patiently for Ree to arrive. When she did, it was amazing. She spoke to the audience and answered several questions, as well as singing to us. She was as nice and sweet and funny as I had imagined she would be.

I settled in for a few hours of waiting (luckily I brought my studying in anticipation of a long wait). I met some really nice women and ended up chatting with them for an hour or two. They had higher ticket numbers than me, so they met Ree and said goodbye to me, then were on their way.

Finally, at 10:15 p.m., my number group was called. I got in line, waited patiently, I finally met Ree at 10:24 p.m.

It was the happiest moment of my life.

Okay, maybe not. But it's pretty high up there.

She was as wonderful as I thought she would be, and she graciously listened as I tried to get a sentence out - I was a bit star-struck. She signed my cookbook ("Love to Abigail! Ree/PW :)" and I was on my way.

And I was the happiest girl in the world.

♥ abigail