Saccharine Thoughts

Where has this year gone? It's now been 8 whole months since my last surgery. I have what could be my final follow-up appointment with my orthopedist scheduled on December 7. Holeee Crap. Dr. Brotzman keeps telling me that I HAVE to regain the musculature in my right leg in order for it to support the ligaments the way that it should, which I've written off as damn near impossible since it is the result of 8 years of overcompensation for 2 botched ACL repairs. However, since this 4th surgery has left me stronger and in less pain than I've seen since my freshman year of high school, I have to wonder how close I can get. As of now, the stats are as follow: Left calf: 14.5" Right calf: 14.25" Left upper quad: 21" Right upper quad: 20" Left lower quad: 18" Right lower quad: 16.5" So, I essentially have 35 days to whip my butt into gear and close those gaps, so that I can without hesitation ask for a rock gym membership for Christmas :D Let the work

I think xkcd is teasing me.

This is a completely frivolous post, but it regards something that excited me to the point of squealing tonight, so deal with it. Victoria's Secret is finally making pretty things in my size. This glitzy little get-up would have only been available up to a 34C 2 years ago. How do I know? Because I recall shopping for similar things 2 years ago and throwing the catalog across the room in a storm of frustration and tears, swearing I would take all the money I couldn't spend on cute underwear and get a reduction. So just humor me now and imagine my glee when I stumbled across it tonight and saw 34DD listed among available sizes! Glory be! This calls for celebration. Rest assured, this will be the newest addition to my underthere wardrobe. Boobies, prepare to sparkle.

This makes me wish I could sing. I would join a troupe like this in a heartbeat. improveverywhere.com

or, Why I Love Canada. It is mid-October, which is supposed to be my favorite time of the year. Pumpkins, scarves, funny hats, chilled noses, and time to make warm hearty home food. There is one thing standing in the way of my fully enjoying this season: I live in Texas. It is currently 83° and thanks to the unfriendly 70% humidity it feels like 90°. On a side note that is, I assure you, completely unrelated, it is currently 40° in Toronto. Did I mention how much I adored Toronto? NO?! Well then, please allow me to gush just a bit… As a recap, BlueEyes and I decided to make the trek to Canada since he and his brothers were performing at the Toronto Improv Festival. I will regale you with stories of our international adventures later on (as if they’re not already overdue) but for now, just let me tell you about wonderous mythical place and what I loved about it. The People - I have always heard that southerners are a friendly, trusting people, more pleasant and welcoming than our north

Thank you, Chloe.

After a tiring weekend of driving and lots of buttercream icing, I can mark one more thing off my list of things to accomplish before my birthday in November. My junior high pal Megan was married in Mineral Wells this weekend, and I had the privilege of playing an active part by making her wedding cake. Megan chose a Fall theme with lots of yellows and oranges and owls everywhere. When we met back in May to discuss the sugary details, she simply provided me with 5 pages of printed cake pictures, an invitation and a ribbon sample, saying "I trust you to make me something I'll love." Uh, pressure much? So I took the confidence she had in me and ran with it, creating the 4-flavor 5-tier 240-serving monster of a pastry you see here. In a turn of potential disaster the bottom layer (filled with lemon-cream cheese goodness) slid on the board, threatening a cake-toppling catastrophe. Dad and I *carefully* pulled it out of the back of their CRV and got it to the display table, t

This is very much what our quest to choose a hotel in Toronto was like for the past 2 weeks.

credit Well friends, I feel it's time to fill you in on the big Fall vacation plans. In ten days' time I will be on a plane next to aforementioned Blue Eyed Boy on an 8-hour flight to Canada. Note: I have already been sufficiently shaken and reminded (thank you Jack ) that I am going out of the country with a guy who I met over a poker game 6 weeks ago. I also couldn't be happier about it. Why Canada, you ask? Well to start with we have been in Texas all summer where, up until last weekend, it has topped a hundred f'ing degrees every day. No joke. The deciding factor, however, is that BlueEyes and his brothers are set to perform at the Toronto Improv Festival , and I was invited to tag along. Pretty sweet deal huh? Ok, honestly it took about a week of batting around tentative travel plans for me to think so. As we started to talk about actual dates/times/places, my feet began to freeze. Yes, this girl got the jitters and came about this close to backing out, but thank

credit Here, my friends, comes the next installment of Two Dozen Doozies, my quest to undertake 24 new things before I turn 24. This specific doozie came rather unexpectedly, and I was quite sure I didn't want to cross it off my list until I was much closer to my November deadline. I sat through the summer with arms crossed, obstinately and presumptuously thinking that I knew what was best. Yes, I thought, I'll wait a while. I have plenty to focus on. Heart has some healing to do. No dates for this busy little lady. The universe retorted, "Oh really?" And threw me a curve ball in the form of a boy with pretty blue eyes and all the right words. Dammit. So one fateful Wednesday in July from across the poker table, boy made eyes at me over his winning hand of cards. "Smooth-talking asshole" were the misinformed descriptors that came to mind, and I thus gave him little more than my name and the time of day until the following weekend. That weekend, date went as

Today is Miss Tuft's birthday! She celebrated on Monday with truckloads of barbecue, croquet in the park and the last show of the OOB Fest. I also made her, as promised, a triple-murder-by-darkest-chocolate Twilight cake because she is wonderful and I wanted to hear her squeal. Mission: accomplished. Tufts, you have quickly become one of my favorite people in the world and I wish you the best birthday the universe can muster. <3

Inside joke today. If you're not in , don't ask. Just giggle.

Today marks 6 months since my third ACL reconstruction . So close to recovery, I can almost breathe in the barefoot-and-chalk smell of the climbing gym. Gross, but awesome. While I admittedly haven't worked it as hard as I should, my knee is way stronger than it was even before this last blowout. The size difference between my right and left legs is laughable. There's at least an inch difference in the circumference of my thighs, but that's the result of 8 years of overcompensation for a faulty ligament and something that time and weights will eventually remedy. I've noticed better control, more power and way less pain in going up and down the stairs to my 3rd-floor apartment. I don't remember having used stairs without struggling since I was 16, so this little daily luxury is actually pretty monumental. I guess the surgeon can make all the difference in the world, and Dr. Brotzman apparently did a killer job in there as well as in keeping me on a steady track to r

Is it a bad thing that my first instinct upon receiving my OOB Press Pass was to take it home and be-glitter the castle? Surely not. As much as I would like to reinstate Foodie Friday today, I'm just too damn busy with Out of Bounds this week. You can follow the festivities on Flickr or be more awesome and come to a few shows. So far the entertainment has been pretty stellar - last night's You're Not My Real Dad (ATX), Splendid Things (MIN) and 7-10 Split (LA) all had me cracking up behind my camera. If you're in Austin, there are still a few days left and the shows only get better from here. Might I suggest local troupes Girls Girls Girls, PGraph and Knuckleball Now, as well as FUCT (NYC) and Available Cupholders; or for a cheap thrill hit the $5 marathons at Coldtowne Theater tonight and tomorrow.

In the month or two that I've been so carelessly absent here, my living situation has been decidedly... undecided. The roommate with whom I signed a 14-month lease expressed interest in moving out back in May (lease ends October 19) and followed through on her whim to bail in June, leaving me with our ideal 2/2 apartment and double rent. Coincidentally, a friend fresh out of A&M thought he might take the spare room but has yet to find a job, so that fell through. I had plans of subletting a friend's apartment when he leaves for school in September and thought I would just tough out the double rent until then. That plan went ka-put as well, and probably for the better. I made the solid decision last week to re-sign the lease on my own. Yes, that is just how much I love this apartment, the location, the people... Vaulted ceilings, spacious layout, washer/dryer connections, colorful accent walls painted by yours truly, all this tucked away in Austin's Greenbelt with a bea

Why, what's this? Well well, it looks like me. On a stage. With a mic in my hand. Yes indeed, last Friday I drug my semi-sick self out to fulfill #11 on my list of 24 Things to Do. This actually makes the 3rd time I've sang karaoke in the past month - the first two times were warm-ups at Ego's, where I assuredly dazzled with my renditions of Total Eclipse of the Heart and The Donna's Take It Off . This was a whole other playing field because, in case you didn't notice, there's a real live band behind me. Those are the Dead Motley Sex Maidens, who facilitate Austin karaoke enthusiasts in fulfilling their exhibitionist needs through live band karaoke. Somehow I convinced myself to play lead singer through Poison's Talk Dirty to Me . Can I get a holy crap please? In case anyone is wondering why this is such a big deal in my little head, it's because through most of my life I was more or less socially handicapped by paralyzing stage fright. We're not ta

Hi. Remember me? Yeah, I once was the author of a neat little blog, but then my real life took over and the internet-me had to take a back seat. I am back in action now though, and will be doing my best to get up to pace with my posts and fill you in on all the wonderfully neat things that have pulled me away from my regular pandering here on Saccharine Thoughts. The first of September is upon us, which I think I can safely call Autumn even though it's still a hundred f'ing degrees here in Austin. Anyone who is anyone knows that the first of the month means it is time for a little check-in with the to-do list fairy. September promises to be a ridiculously busy month, so here is what lies ahead: The Out of Bounds Comedy Festival , which I highly suggest to anyone in Austin who remotely enjoys laughing. OOB consists of wonderfully talented comedy, sketch and improv groups from all over the country dogpiled into this awesome little city I call home. I will be shooting shows back-t

Wait, no, that one also loses. How about a nice game of chess? Those rules are much more clear.

Tonight kicked off what promises to be a very busy and friend-filled weekend for me, and what better way to get started than with good food? Good food consisted of grilled pizzas, an idea stolen from A Good Appetite : 1 c warm water (110 to 115 F) 2 1/2 t active dry yeast 1/2 t sugar 4 T olive oil 3 1/4 c all-purpose flour, plus more if needed 2 t kosher salt Combine the water, yeast & sugar in a bowl & stir until mixed. Let sit 5 minutes until it gets foamy. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Mix the flour & salt together in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture & stir until the dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a floured surface & knead until smooth & elastic, about 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky, not dry. If more flour is needed, add it in 1 tablespoon at a time. Coat the inside of a large bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Put the dough in the bowl & turn to coat with oil. Cover & let rise until doubled about 1 hour

I promise I don't have a fixation with bacon. No, really. I'm actually a vegetarian. Sort of, part-time, etc... I DO, however, have friends with pork problems, and I just facilitate their habits :) Just for Kim, here is the candied bacon ice cream from David Lebovitz 's archives. For the candied bacon: 5 strips bacon ~2 tablespoons light brown sugar Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil, shiny side down. Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon. Bake for about half an hour. Midway during baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the melted sugar. Remove from oven and cool the strips on a wire rack. Once crisp and cool, chop into little pieces - I used a food processor here. At this point in the process, you'll want to beware of adorable bacon burglars . Just a head's up. For the ice cream custard: 3 tablespoons salted butter ¾ cup

As you may have gathered from my latest to-do lists, I bumped a few projects so as to devote time and energy to creating a costume for a friend. Well dear audience, here are the spoils of my labor: Jon's Time Sorcerer costume for a new improv series, Guilds of Steel. I'm especially proud of this because I didn't actually have a pattern to work off of, just a picture from an online costume shop that he'd picked out. Guilds is a serial improv series chronicling the online lives of characters from an MMORPG (World of Warcraft, anyone?) and the offline lives of the players. The show has been playing every weekend since May 22, with recurring characters and all sorts of plots twists and legendary quests. I've been to at least one show each weekend and I am SO proud of my friends who have been involved in this; they were even recognized in the Austin Chronicle last week, which is a pretty big stinking deal! The makeup for the show has again been mastered by Jason Vines

This year has flown by so fast, I haven't even noticed that it's actually summertime. Well, other than the sweltering Texas heat and the wondrous lack of university students around town... I kicked off my realization of official summerhood with a movie last night. Each summer 101X and the Alamo Drafthouse team up to present Movies in the Park - a series of movies shown on an inflatable drive-in movie screen, sans the cars. Instead, picture a field of Austinites, their kids, their dogs, blankets, lawnchairs and generally a little booze. That's what my Wednesday looked like as we attended this year's first movie of the series, which happened to be Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark . I think I've seen that movie 30 times now, and I haven't gotten tired of it yet. Give me 32, and I might sing a dif ferent tune.

Click for the Onion article . Prepare to chuckle and relate uncomfortably .

Foodie Fridays is my attempt at establishing some sort of structure within my blog; each week I'll be sharing something I've made, and most likely the corresponding recipe. Hopefully it will be delicious. Last week I had 2 opportunities to take a twist on my go-to chocolate cake recipe. This recipe rocks; I've added cofffee, Kahlua, Grand Marnier, chipotle & cinnamon and now peanut butter and bacon and it has yet to do me wrong. Yes, peanut butter and bacon. No, not in the same batch. The peanut butter beauties above were in payment to a friend for dogsitting while I was away reveling it up at the Ren Faire . The dark chocolate bacon cupcakes were made for Jason's 34th birthday on Thursday. They were a great finish to the mountain of barbecue we had at Kreutz's Market in Lockhart. Here is my go-to recipe. For the first batch I added a dollop of peanut butter in the middle of each cupcake before baking, and garnished with the mini peanut butter cups from Central

I arrive home from work on Tuesday night, like any normal night, around 6:30. I plan to walk the dog, put the finishing touches and alterations on Jon's costume and bake the dark chocolate and bacon cupcakes for Jason's birthday on Thursday. After taking a stroll around the complex with Carmen and checking the mail, I begin my work in the kitchen. I carefully lay a full pound of sliced bacon out on 2 cookie sheets, put them both in the oven to broil and head back to my room to begin my meticulous work on the sorcerer's hood. The smell of applewood bacon starts to drift through my small apartment; a smell not natural to my place being that I was primarily vegetarian until recently. After a good bit of progress on the costume, I take a break to pull the bacon out. I prepare a shallow bowl and begin pulling the sizzling strips off the pans and layering them between sheets of paper towels, ending up with 4 layers of meat-napkin-meat-napkin. I share one crispy piece with Carmen,

... that Facebook would provide so many reasons to smile in just a few days :)

Here we go again! It's already a new month, time to start new things! There seems to be a lot that I didn't get done in May but really, all those things I didn't complete were replaced by other neat projects like costume making and the doll shoot. Got my computer; have yet to edit headshots and promo pics... Finished From Russia with Love and am nearly done with A Clockwork Orange. Resolved roommate issue and made a commitment to future housing plans. Kept patio flowers alive. Sort of. Released second newsletter at work. Payed off a major credit card! Made tilapia-mango tacos for Chloe and Christin :) Completed Jon's costume for Guilds of Steel, and mine for the Ren Faire. Started counseling. I am well on my way to that magnificent something. June brings us to the 6-month mark, so it's time I take a look at what I thought I wanted for myself back in January , see what projects I need to wrap up and which ones I need to reprioritize or delete completely. This

I am joining Sarah Von in her endeavor to do 30 new things before she turns 30. I have 24 weeks until my 24 th birthday, so that just worked out way too well to not take part. Drumroll please: Find an organization to volunteer and become actively involved with. Hostess a breakfast/brunch, with Saturday morning cartoons. Take voice/singing lessons. Take a stripping/pole dancing class. Hostess a RockBand party. Learn to make pasties! Get an addition to my tattoo. Take a bellydancing class Go on a date. Go country dancing Do Karaoke. And rock at it. Spend a day thrift shopping Have my tarot cards and palms read. This may not be a first - I had a tarot reading done at the ren faire, but the reader was adamant that I would have a proposal for marriage before March, which I adamantly protested - so I am demanding a second opinion. Spend a day book shopping. Take a vacation. Preferably to somewhere I've never been. Make a wedding cake! (Not my own)

Well, that's it. After a weekend of shenanigans, Jack is off to LA. My longest running friendship since moving to Austin... is no longer in Austin. Jack is going to kick ass in LA, there's no doubt about that. Looks like it'll be Scrubs and macaroni across time zones from here on out :) *Yes that's us, circa 2005

*self-punch in the ovaries, per order of Jack* Today was spent reveling in Renaissance fun at Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie. We had a group of 10 people meet up out there, and I've been led to believe that everyone had a good time. That's what I call one hell of a Memorial Day :) Half the crew: Marc, Topping, Kristin, Kacey and Kareem. Click for the rest on Flickr!

I have recently come to see that one of the hardest things for me to deal with is being misunderstood. Before you go calling me a melodramatic emo kid, hear me out. I am not referring to the no-one-gets-me, I’m-a-lonesome-snowflake-floating-in-the-dark type of misunderstood. What I am getting at are those moments when I have the best of intentions, yet somewhere between planning and execution something goes awry and someone I am close to reacts in a way unforeseen through my rosy specs. It may be so clear to me that my reasoning, my opinion or my words and actions are justified and may be the best way to reach an objective, yet the person on the other end just misses it. Maybe they can’t quite see past their own understanding and emotions to the grand scheme in my head, maybe I just haven't communicated clearly enough, or maybe my scheme really isn't so grand. Perhaps the people closest to me aren't used to anything but the agreeable and occasionally over-a

From the brainthoughts of me and my crazy friends, brought to life by the makeup artistry of Jason Vines and awesome photography of Jon Bolden . Be prepared to be slightly creeped out.

I know I have played hooky from the online world for a week or so; what can I say, we all need a vacation every once in a while. Unfortunately mine has not been from the real world. I've been busting my tail at work to crank out our second newsletter which is coming out this Thursday. May 8-11 was spent in dear old Mineral Wells for my kid sister's 16th birthday. Watch out world, the kid has reached the driving age and will inevitably wreak havoc on that tiny town. At least, I hope so :) Friday was spent in the Texas summer sun, volunteering with a small team from HomeAway to renovate a NE Austin school yard. I specialized in inverted hopscotch design. We spent Sunday putting into play the long-awaited Dolled Up photo shoot, details and photos to come ASAP. The roommate situation (ie: my roommate wanting to bail on our lease 6 months early and my scramble to find a trustworthy sublet) is cured for now. She's sticking it out, and we're now tentatively planning to pay a

One credit card completely paid and canceled. Take that Bank of America.