Scenes from my camera lately.....

We've had such a wonderful time South Bend

with Anthony's family for Christmas. 

 Dog snuggles

 Jax was so excited for the snow! 

He loves snowballs!

Click on the link or the above photo

to see his snowball skills!

 Merry Merry Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Two wonderful things happened at work on Monday. 

1. The Tamale Spacehip appeared in our parking lot. 

I quickly weighed my lunch options. 

Healthy delicious homemade soup vs. Kickass tamales

Not even a contest. 

Oh, and did I mention the owners wear luchadore masks? 

Yes. 

Tamales? 

Awesome Sauce. 

And by Awesome Sauce, 

I mean they were fantastically-gigantically-delicious...

and literally had an awesome sauce to accompany them.

Number 2 on the wonderfulness that was Monday? 

Threadless Cookie Exchange. 

I brought Momma B's  famous Rice Krispie-Coconut-Oatmeal ones....

or in the Bower's family, they're just called "Aunt Lee's cookies" 

Bringing 30 cookies and coming away 

with 15 different kinds is pretty (literally) sweet. 

We were all pretty happy. 

And although I loved all of the crazy creative cookie combos, 

I think my favorite were the good 'ole sugar cookies* Craig made. 

Overall, not too shabby for a Monday :-) 

**Threadless now has a Pinterest. Follow them! 

I also stole the snowman pic from there. 

I think Sean probably took it? 

On the third (and fourth and fifth!) date of Christmas....

Last weekend Anthony and I had the perfect Saturday. 

Open Studios

A trip to one of our favorite bars from our old hood, 

Four Moon, for the IU/Kentucky game

and a Threadless 20's themed Murder Mystery Christmas Party at Gibson's

I'm counting it as three dates....

because I can. 

Anthony always has the best treats at his open studios. 

Nothing says "art chic" like buttery holiday cookies, 

cheese, cheetos and a lucky candle. 

Love it. 

Speaking of love, 

I found out love Flamin' Hots. 

So much so that the next day I finished 10 servings in 1 sitting. 

Worst.Bellyache.Ever.

So I don't know if this is real or not (leaning towards not),

but it's still pretty darn funny. 

Go Hoosiers!

And bc I was glued to the tv at the bar, 

we had to make a quick pit stop at a wig shop 

to finish up my 20's costume....

IU Basketball will always trump "hair-fixin" time. 

No one from work recognized me. Ha. 

Can you find me? :-) 

 I'm kinda sad there aren't more pics from the day....

someone was having too much fun to remember to take pictures. 
(I even had to steal this one from the DJ's Facebook page. ha!)


Happy Holidays x3x4x5!
(that's 60 for all you non-Math folk)
:-) 

cliche, schmeche

I never tire of seeing Annie Leibovwitz shoot for Vogue. 

It's not usually terribly risky or surprising....

....but it's always terribly beautiful....

safety has come a long way.....

It's great to be alive! 

oh man, this is funny.

in other news:
iu beat #1 kentucky last night....
and I'm still wearing my candy stripes.

go hoosiers. 

a post from jdog.

Although I look mean and scary, 

I'm actually a pretty big softy....

Kim and Anthony always try to bug me, 

I may look annoyed, 
but secretly I really like it. 

I also really like bacon and doughnuts. 
Which is awesome because 
Kim and Anthony love them too.


I love sitting in the kitchen while they're cooking.   

Oh, and sitting on people's shoulders like a parrot is the best. 

It's just more comfortable that way. 

narf. narf. narf. 

On our second date of Christmas.....Double Dinner Date.

 Notice the phrasing...

No, I didn't mean we went on a double date. 

Often on Sundays,

I can't make up my mind about what to fix for dinner.

Instead of choosing, I just make two dinners**

This time? 

Homemade Pizza (mom's recipe), Super Spicy Chili

and a healthy portion of Friday Night Lights.

For those of you who I knew in HS, 

you'll remember that my mom made the BEST pizza

(usually at 2am for us....yes, she's that awesome). 

I've tweaked her recipe a bit, 

but one thing that makes it especially delicious?

Brush the crust with olive oil, parm, basil, garlic 

and throw it in the oven for 10 min before putting on toppings.

BOOM! You just made your pizza 100000 x better. 

Happy Friday! 

**If making two dinners, 

it's helpful to have a significant other 

who often orders two meals when dining out.

Anthony definitely does this.... frequently. :-) 

12 dates of Christmas: On our first date of Christmas....

....art in the neighborhood and eating tasty Mexican food....

and maybe a scotch drink or two :-)  

These shoes were made out of cardboard, 

I thought they were pretty rad, 
Anthony thought they were lame. 

Couldn't agree more. 

Although nothing beats El Rodeo in Indy, 

there's a great Mexican place a block from our house! 

Happy Holidays! 

*I didn't come up with the clever "12 dates of Christmas" blog idea, 

but I like it....it's nice to make some time for just us over the holidays. 

RKF: Baking

I am not a baker. 

Cooking? Yes. 

Baking? No. 

The preciseness of baking just isn't my thing. 

But every once in a while, 

I make a pie or two. 

The crust is a bit dry, 

the filling is a bit runny, 

but it's delicious and raspberry filled. 

And yes, I had fresh homemade pie for dinner tonight. 

Maybe two pieces. 

Maybe I can get the hang of this. 

middle school

It's easy as an adult to forget how hard it was to be this age.

I love everything about my job 

and my life right now. 

But videos like this make me miss working with kids. 

I have mixed feelings about the anti-bullying movement...
but at the same time,
This just makes my heart hurt.

I know this is usually a happyfunupbeat blog,
but I couldn't stop thinking about this.

because I need another reason...

...to love Threadless more than I already do.

2pm on Thursday afternoon and our CEO Tom

is mixing LCD Soundsystem beats in the warehouse for the crew. 

living.the.dream.

lunchy lunch

Ski***

Louie CK clips

Buffalo Chicken Snackers

 

annnnnnnnd further proving Anthony's point 

that I eat like an 18 year old boy.  

***For those of you not from S.Indiana, 

Ski is Mt. Dew x 100000.

I would not advise giving it to children.

It's a....family tradition.

I had been looking forward to Thanksgiving since August. 

There's not much better than
turoni's pizza, 
shooting guns, 

shooting hot damn, 

eating venison salami,  

$3.20 Gerst Haus draft fishbowls.....

all with your family. 

Here are some pics from the weekend! 

Not being home for Thanksgiving for the past 2 years 

ruined my marksman skills. 
Maybe I can blame it on the 60 year old shotgun? 

Anthony and my Grandpa Dale

The Venison Salami is always the first thing to be gone. 

This dish was full at 11am. 

This picture was taken at 11:20. 

hahahahaha

Dad and I. 

And yes, my uncles made fun of my new giant glasses :-) 

I've always loved myself a delicious fishbowl of Gerst Haus beer. 

But when we got the bill and saw that it was only $3.20?! 

We definitely stopped back in the next night. 

My Grandpa Bob in his shop with my brother. 

Of course he knows how to sharpen chainsaw blades. 

My family members never cease to amaze me. 

Finally, J.Dog. 

Who, you might notice looks distraught....and for good reason. 
Sneaking 3 pieces of uncooked bacon from the counter? 

Makes for a long, uncomfortable drive home. 
Poor guy. 

And yes, we definitely bought back a box of Grippos and a case of Busch Light. 

Some things never change. :-) 

thanks

i thought i'd take a moment to share 

what i'm thankful for right this very minute. 

goofy times with muh ladies. 

not much compares. 

unexpected animal upstagings.

because what's more hilarious than this? 

sleepy dog paws. 

no, there's no picture. 

next time you're around a snoozie pup, 

sniff his foot. 

it's a weird thing to be thankful for, 

but, i am. 

working in a super fun environment.

(yes, this is at work)

having a wonderful family that supports me. 

yep, i'm lucky. 

and last, but not least, 

this guy.....he rocks

what are you thankful for this holiday season?

Things I'm loving....

Just some things I'm really into right now. 

Friday Night Lights may be the best tv show I've ever seen.

(and unbelievably heart-wrenching) 

It's not just a show about football,

but about family, life, relationships. 

I can't help think about it all the time. 

Each time I turn on the netflix, 

I'm deathly afraid that it won't be available anymore. 

hahaha. Sadly, I'm totally serious. 

Finding new music.
Lately I've been really into
Miike Snow, Camera Obscura, and Miniature Tigers.

Great for work

Great for running. 

Great for driving. 

Great for anything. 

Soup.
In the past 3 weeks,
I've made Chili (twice!), Potato and Leek, and Mushroom soups.
I just can't help myself. So good.

Jax's Fall Obession? 

Corrective eyewear :-)

hahahaha. 

Wanderlust

Anthony and I were talking today 

about how we were both itching to travel. 

Not that I necessarily want to do this.....

but doesn't it look just amazing?!

my dad, a hipster?

One of my favorite blogs is 

dads are the original hipsters. 

and in celebration of my dad's awesome stache, 

I may have sent this gem to the site for publication. 

fingers crossed it get's chosen. 

I love you dad!

Country mouse and city mouse.

Last weekend we were busy bees. 

Not only did I shoot Kara and Paul's engagement shots

(coming soon!), 

but also my parents trekked up from Wadesville for a visit. 

Here are some shots from their visit :-) 

 Mom and I ran the Hot Chocolate 5k....

it was a great morning!

We also ate at one of my new favorite restaurants, Quartino. 

It was a wonderful visit and I love showing them around the city!