A Peek at The Week and the Story of Friday

Friday was a particularly awesome day. It was the perfect mix of relaxing at home, being productive getting errands done, and a little bit of shopping. Kyle had the day off of work (post-ball; they can't expect them to drink that grog and then come to work the next morning), and the weather was perfect- sunny with a breeze, not too warm as it has been the last couple days. We had Chipotle for lunch, went to USAA to get motorcycle insurance and look into switching our car insurance over, attempted to get Kyle his updated licence for motorcycle riding (closed and long lines), got the oil changed in our car, found me a helmet and gloves, my head didn't hurt, and I scored some good deals on clearance at Old Navy (that bird print shirt, I have had my eye on it for a while. And then I found the cats, with a bow. I am a cat lady after all). The best part of it all, aside from spending the day with my husband, was that everyone was so nice and pleasant. The guy at Chipotle: said my bright green coat was nice and put a smile on my face. The lady at USAA: wonderfully helpful and letting us in on a back route between Temple and Fort Hood. The guy at Honda: pleasant and chatting about motorcycles; I always have a great experience at Honda, both down here at in State College. The cashier at Old Navy was nice, the guy at the motorcycle shop was helpful and made sure my helmet and gloves were a good fit. I really appreciated everyone helping us out and doing their jobs so happily today, or at least pretending to for us as their customers/money. Good service goes a long way, and I find it to be quite common down here. 

Thanks, Texas! 

My motorcycle things:

Oh, and I told you a picture of us at the ball would pop up!

Military Ball

Turns out the rough timeline we had been told for the evening was false, and we just hung out for nearly two hours, mingling and shaking hands, until we finally got to sit at our table, table 2 not table 10, and then dinner wasn't served until close to 8. Even so, it was a surprisingly pleasant evening. Kyle wore a bow tie. We left as the skits were beginning (see the program below). I changed into flip flops in the parking lot and drove us home.

our names were wrong, but close

my water with lemon

The grog that was made. Kyle was selected to participate and add an ingredient. Ingredients included: at least ten bottles of different alcohol (151, 99 bananas, tequila, bourbon, champagne, beer, etc), grenadine (why it is red) a dirty shirt, some socks, a chicken leg, some donuts, general grossness. I tasted it. I was oddly very spicy. There was a mysterious sediment that settled to the bottom of Kyle's glass.  

Sorry there aren't pictures of us. People took some, so maybe they will show up somewhere. You know we're bad at that sort of thing. I personally am proud of myself for taking pictures of myself at all. 

Also, not on a related note, before we left, my admissions packet arrived in the mail! I was hoping they'd have a similar sort of preview day as Baylor, and it looks like they do, but it is later in April, after we're to make a decision. I'll have to go another time and meet with some people, learn more about the school and what two years there would look like! I should make sure to go when it is still might be cool out; last time we went to Austin it was hot and I was very grumpy about it. 

Getting Ready for the Ball

First, a little story about this morning.
This morning, a little bit after ten am after I finished my workout and was about to hop in the shower, Kyle arrived back home from visiting a veterans retirement home, and told me that he had to report in at Fort Hood at 1300 (1pm). Which meant, I would have to leave with him by noon, in my whole fancy outfit, and probably wait in the car for four or five hours until the event started. I like to play Angry Birds every once in a while, but five hours at a time is too much for any person. Needless to say, I was not happy. I was mad, and upset, and figured the day was ruined. Luckily, though, after a few phone calls and as new information came up (the Army functions last minute), we learned there would {probably} be time for Kyle to come back and get me between his rehearsals and the event starting. Phew. The Army is infuriating sometimes.

But anyway, yes, today is the military ball! While I really don't know how big a deal it is, or what other ladies will be wearing (I now know drinks are at 5, dinner at 6, we will be at table 10, and there may be skits and a ceremonial alcohol mixing or somesuch happenings), I feel like it is an event worthy of some pamper and prep (as much as I ever do those things). I did buy some new supplies yesterday evening, though. ;) I don't wear much makeup often, so I haven't updated my supply in a while.

I did a preview of my plan for what I'd be wearing last week, when I finally figured out my ensemble (ok, sometimes I function last minute too), and my orders arrived a couple days ago!

The various greens are not a perfect match, but they are pretty close. It's hard to capture the vibrant green of my shoes; they often look more teal in pictures than they are, but the photos on the right do a pretty good job. My shoes will mostly be hidden under my dress, I suppose, and I don't think anyone will be looking too closely to check that they perfectly match my bag. Anyway, I love them both, and plan on using them a lot in the future (or I wouldn't have bought them!). 

As for my nails...

Fingernail polish: Essie "allure"

Toenail polish: Unknown gift from sister, "blood"

Since I figured my gold and green combo would stand out enough, I wanted to keep my nails pretty toned down. I went for a deep red on my toes (really only a little of my big toe would even show with my shoes), and a neutral, semi-transparent white on my fingers. 

So now I am just hanging around the house in my dress, waiting to do my makeup a little bit later. It's kind of fun being dressed up, dress swishing back and forth. 

Alright; hopefully we will get some decent photos of us together later! Kyle looks so handsome in his dress uniform, and I'm feeling pretty good in this dress! :)

Baked Lemon Pasta

I mentioned before that we just discovered The Pioneer Woman and her delicious looking meals, and for dinner tonight I tried one! It was warm today, about 80 degrees out. That's about as warm as I ever want it to be, but it is Texas, and I know that is nothing but a depressing preview (I mean 80 in February?) of what is to come in a couple short months. Luckily this meal, though a baked pasta, is quite a cool refreshing pasta,  thanks to the abundance of lemon. It was really tasty, and quick and easy to make. Honestly though, while I was making this I felt like a much more impressive cook than I am; I think it is because of the use of lemon zest and fresh parsley, things I've not cooked with before. I was zesting (a word? not a word?) a lemon thinking, "Wow this is fancy!" Anyway, Kyle and I agreed it'd make a good side dish in the future, definitely something to make again. You can find the recipe here (which I cut in half for the two of us, with leftovers remaining).

PS- I also used angel hair; I much prefer it to regular or even thin spaghetti.