Lesson 99: I MET LAUREN CONRAD!!!!!! And spent an awesome day in Portland with Mama Mann

What a great day! And boy was it long. I will back track to Wednesday evening to start off. While driving home I decided none of my sloppy sweaters and sweats were worthy attire to meet the fashion goddess Lauren Conrad. Tyler came with me to Kohl's and we bought some new clothes. In fact, Tyler went a little crazy and got me my new summer wardrobe. Afterwards he told me to never say I don't have anything to wear again. He is a great husband... I say that not only because he let me get clothes and helped pick them out but he does not get frustrated and leave when I start stressing out about clothing (trying on a pile of clothes in the store dressing room is my nightmare).

Anyway we survived and I even got a cute new jacket to wear for the big day that is from the LC Lauren Conrad collection.

Wednesday started EARLY! I had to wake up at 2:50AM! And if you remember from my past posts, the dogs think it is breakfast time as soon as they wake up. If they do not get food then it quickly becomes wrestle mania.

My mom and I were on the road to Portland by 4:15AM. We learned the Map quest failed and after completely passing the correct freeway exit we ended up calling the bookstore. Getting lost seemed to be the theme of the day.

We got to the mall  at about 8AM and waited in line for a bracelet that would ensure we got to meet Lauren at 7PM. You had to buy a book to get the bracelet.



Got my book... so what should we do for 8 hours?




Super insanely cute mini Ferris wheel at the mall.

 Once this was taken care of we had just a bit of time to kill... about 8 hours! We walked around the mall for a bit and then headed over to the other mall in Portland. We met my Aunt Aileen for lunch because she works right by the mall. It was great to catch up with her and hang out for a bit.



Lloyd Center Mall.
My mom used to go here when she was growing up and always got caramel corn at this very shop.
So OF COURSE we had to pick some up :)

 The next stop was the famous Voodoo Doughnut Shop! (we had both learned about the shop from the Food Network). We got lost looking for it... The shop was PACKED! Getting skeptical I opted to scrap the idea but my mom is more diligent then myself and we waited. I am glad we did because the doughnuts are amazing and it is just a pretty cool place.



Voodoo Doughnuts is that place in the background with the huge crowd around it.
We stocked up on chocolate covered jelly filled voodoo doll doughnuts and bacon maple bars. (Their claim to fame)


At this point it was back to the first mall where we saw the movie "Mirror Mirror" (and got just a little lost). It is a cute movie which is saying something considering I initially had no desire to see it. I liked it.

Then came the big moment! Lauren showed up at about 7:20PM and all rules were enforced. Here are a couple of bummer rules you must abide by:

-THE AUTHOR IS NOT ABLE TO PERSONALIZE BOOKS SO THAT SHE CAN MEET AS MANY FANS AS POSSIBLE DURING THE SIGNING

-THE AUTHOR WILL ALLOW PHOTOS, BUT ONLY CANDID PHOTOS FROM THE SIGNING LINE. NO PHOTOS ARE ALLOWED AT THE SIGNING TABLE. ALL CAMERAS MUST BE PUT AWAY BEFORE APPROACHING THE SIGNING TABLE.



Super excited crazy face and my wrist band guaranteeing I am #25 in the line




My mom practiced taking pictures of me while I waited in line so she could be prepared when Lauren came.




I can only smile for so long while my mom gets the camera all set.

 No one was allowed to take pictures from the first floor unless they were standing in line. This was sad because you can't really see Lauren until you get to the table. My mom almost got herself kicked out of the mall trying to help me takes pictures. Rock on mom!!!! :)

Here are the pics she was able to get from the second floor balcony. I really wish I had my dad there with his fancy camera and telescopic zoom. Oh well...



My turn!





No big deal, just chattin it up with Lauren Conrad!

 I will say the experience was still fun. People in line were all polite, the book store was very organized and no one ever rushed people through the line. When you met Lauren you could talk to her as long as you wanted and about whatever you wanted. I never saw anyone pressing people to wrap up the conversation.

I could try to write how my experience with Lauren went but I will let myself do the talking:

Then it was the end of the day. My mom and I shared a voodoo doughnut and made the long trip home. 



Do you ever think, hey you know what this doughnut needs? Bacon!



This one got a little mangled but it should look like a voodoo doll with a pretzel stick stabbed into it.
I am making a scared face. eek...



Lesson 98: Take me out to the t-ball game

Coops had his first t-ball game. I don't remember t-ball being like this... but then they are only 4 years old. Every child gets to bat, every child plays a position and instead of teamwork it is every man for himself to run and grab the ball. It was very entertaining. To heck with major leagues. If you want a good show watch little league t-ball.

I do love how my parents are still the same as they were when I was growing up playing sports. They were great about going to every one of my games... and yelling out corrections to my playing hahaha.

Ready position

Miranda and Tyler's go to photo expressions

Of course nothing says ballpark like bringing the dogs along

Lesson 97: Blogging creates an incentive for me to carry around my camera

This past weekend was Easter and full of activities. Saturday we had an Easter breakfast with Tyler's family and then a mini egg hunt for the kids. This is such a great idea as I have found city sponsored egg hunts give me heart palpitations. Easter egg hunts should not be that high level of stress... I blame parents who cheat and pick up the eggs for their kids. You know who you are!

The rest of the day was filled with errands and getting ready for Easter dinner. Nothing can quite get you in the mood to clean and organize like the prospect of having family over for a holiday meal.

Tyler broke out our baby grill for steak dinner Saturday night... as you can see Max reeeeeally wants the meat!!!!!

 

Happy Easter Tyler time to wake up!!!

Tyler's first ham... completely covered in pineapples and cherries

I made felt roses for Ruby and Max. Thanks to Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing for the tutorial





Tada! Here is the dress! It made its debut for Easter Sunday.



And my mom was right... the purple does not match the red.

Lesson 96: Bring on Easter weekend... and new fabric

What are you doing for Easter? This is Tyler and my first Easter as a married couple and in our new home. We are doing the all out ham dinner. Since neither of us has ever cooked a ham this should be interesting... Unfortunately we have been booked solid this weekend with activities (and the dentist) so it will certainly be a test of my skills to get it all in. sigh....

On the awesome side we get to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ :)

Tyler the trooper made the trip to Joann Fabrics with me last night. The pink on the right is a great medium weight linen for the jacket from my last post and I saw this silky floral print that I had to have! :) I am going to make a second dress in this fabric AND it will go nicely with the pink which is pretty cool.

Lesson 95: The next sewing challenge and the dogs

Moving on to my next sewing project hooray :) and yes I realize that I have yet to post pictures of the finished product for both my dress and my jacket. While trying to not sound completely lame, I am kind of self-conscious right now so I will get to the pics ASAP.

This is the second pattern I bought at the Puyallup Sewing Expo. I love the suit coat and have wanted one for sometime. As I pull jackets off the rack in Nordstrom, Tyler's response is always, what will you wear that with Whitney? (curses he knows my style all too well) I would like to take my wardrobe to a more professional level for my job though. With spring and summer on the horizon the short sleeves will be great for work. You can't see from these pictures but the skirt also has a cool back ruffle panel. I am feeling more corporate already... for my job as a secretary.

Here are our one trick ponies.....

Max's ballet stance

Ruby snatched a scrap of fleece from my fabric bucket so I tied it to her collar as a bow

Oh my heavens.... I also had to share this gem I just found on the Simplicity website. Better hurry, this pattern is in the "out of print" section".

I would love to poke fun at the very idea of this much crazy coordination, but sadly (and Tyler will enthusiastically agree) I could completely see myself making matching furry coats for me, my daughter, and my little dog. Please note the little girl also has a matching furry backpack. Why, yes these pattern are all included in the package. :) Happy Thursday everyone!

Lesson 94: Like pulling teeth... getting my husband to agree to this

For today's lesson on being a wife and servant to the dogs I would like to welcome Tyler! The man who made all this possible! (being a wife... and he bought me Ruby for Christmas so there you go).

Me: It has been said that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. If I were to draw a road map from your stomach to your heart, what foods would be along the way?

Tyler:  oreos, gold fish, pizza, BBQ chicken salad, steak, venison(spelling)
coke...crystal light packs

Me:  Venison huh?

Tyler:  deer meat

 Me:  I know

Tyler:  it's good

Me:  Alright next question: If you were a tribute in the Hunger Games, what would you run for first in the Cornucopia? Or would you be like Peeta and high tail it out of there?

Tyler:  i would go for something close and then run

me:  just anything close?

Tyler:  yep just so I have something

me:  How very Katniss of you

Tyler: :)

 me:  As a husband and the Dogfather what is your stance on Ruby's exploding pug fur?

Tyler: annoyance

me:  You are a contestant on the Dating Game and your 3 ladies or choice are a hunter, a housewife, or a zebra with a blond wig on. Who would you select and why?

Tyler:  zebra? what the..where are theses question coming from?

me:  please just answer the question sir

Tyler:  I am also working remember the longer it takes me here the longer it takes to get home

Me: I'm here until 5:20 so that is fine. And you took too long to answer the hunter has killed the blond zebra

Tyler:  so hunter then because the rest are dead

me:  poor housewife... never saw it coming. What should the Easter Bunny bring you this year to stay in your good graces?

Tyler:  nothing

me:  Am I to understand you are threatening the Easter bunny to stay away from you in order to stay on your good side?

Tyler:  no, he can bring me blinds

me:  Hopefully the Easter bunny is one of those monster size bunnies and not a dwarf rabbit

Tyler:  hopefully
 
me: If you instantly turned into a woman for a day, how would you spend that day?

Tyler:  kissing you hahaha

me:  as a girl?

Tyler:  yep

me:  eww

Tyler:  I'm married to you

me:  not if you instantly became a girl

Tyler:  only for a day yes so

me:  Alright moving on...What would you like for dinner tonight?

Lesson 94: How to tell when the planets are aligning

I am going to Portland! My boss is letting me have the day off. My mom is going to take her day off work as well in order to make the trek south on April 11th to meet Lauren Conrad! Wish me luck! After calling the bookstore twice to confirm the details I have worked out our plan of attack. We have to get there early in the morning to secure a bracelet and then return that evening for the actual signing. This is shaping up to be the equivalent to a Black Friday adrenaline fueled event.

Alright, in other news I finished my cape/jacket. I am not sure how I feel about it yet. I like the sleeves which are wide and bracelet length. Tyler is on the fence regarding my newest garment.

Last night around 9PM Max sat at the top of the stairs barking at us until we went to bed. It is like living with an old man or something.