ToTD. Top of The Day. #4

Guys.  I love bagels so much.  And maybe that's why I'm fatter, and maybe that's why I have blood sugar issues, but like have you HAD an Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese?  Sigh.  I love them so much.  I grew up in New Jersey, and I think I had a bagel every day in high school for lunch-except Fridays-when we had Dominos-okay fine I KNOW this is why I have health issues.  Dear readers....eat your greens and proteins.  ANYWAY, Bagels, delicious, and my love language-one of them. 

One of my very dear lovely humans in my life gave me this shirt for my birthday.  Sweet Karyn-yes with a Y.  She's one of my friends from my home church in New Jersey.  She loves Jesus, and clearly loves me.  She's also an EXCELLENT gift giver-my ACTUAL love language. We have spent hours having coffee, laughing, seeing movies or Broadway shows, and TRAVELING!  We've done Paris, Greece, Turkey, and Italy.  She's a founding FoF member!  (Friends of Fraus-we travel, if you want info-you can ask). Anyway, she's a gift to me, and so was this SHIRT!  A shirt, with BAGELS!  

So this was my birthday present in 2024, it's made by J.Crew.....I will be honest, I was worried about it fitting, but it did!  It's stretchy, and it's lovely.  I make it back to New Jersey twice a year, and Karyn makes it a point to make it back there also-it's a highlight, and coming home, I always have a minimum of a dozen bagels.....a dozen EVERYTHING bagels, so if you smell garlic and onion on the plane, I make no apologies, there are no good bagels in Texas.   

Bonus of this shirt...I wore it at a later date.....eating a bagel,....and I spilled Cream Cheese on it.  lol. I mean you have to laugh, I was just making it more authentic!  I wish it was a scratch and sniff....can you imagine? 

Favorite Bagel places in NY, NJ, or TX being accepted in the comments.  I joke that some day I'm going to open up a bagel shop here in Texas.....I'm going to call it "Disgruntled Bagels" and the attitude will probably come with it, since I'll have to fly the water in, and be up early to make the bagels....but they will be delicious.  

ToTD. Top of The Day. #3

 Was I in a grey phase of choosing?  Sure...but also these shirts were smashed in my closet, and I'm not certain I've worn them since being married to my "Instagram Husband"....if at all honestly.  This shirt, I tried on when I bought it....and then, well, this day for the photo shoot.

So a few things, since you asked.  It IS lularoe.....I went through a phase as we all did.  I was in it for the ridiculous leggings mainly, and I DID have a party-like nobody came, but I got some things I liked, and well that was fine for me.  This shirt, I sort of liked, but what sold it was the cassette tapes on the bottom.   I'm a sucker for nostalgia obviously, I mean wait til you see some of these shirts that are coming!  So a throw back to the 80's on a shirt?  Cool.  

And then I never wore it.  Why you ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  1. It is ALSO one of those shirts that leave your armpits unattended...2. We already learned I'm weird about 3/4 sleeves, 3. It just didn't look right.  I did want it to win, and I hemmed and hawwed, but like I hadn't worn it since I bought it....so why was I keeping it, new home needed, to the thrift store it went.  It's over a year later, do I miss it?  No, I have my photo, I've written about it...I'm good.  Do I miss my actual cassette tapes?  Sometimes. 

Did I make a sticker of my booty to show you more of the material?  I did.  And then did I blend it in to the tree so you aren't quite sure what is going on here?  Also yes. 

ToTD. Top of The Day. #2

Hmmm....it was September 3, 2024.  I had more hair then, but I was also a bit chubbier...did you know the two were related?  So like you can be thinner, but weight loss might cause your hair to fall out?  Sigh.  Also did you know that any hair issues?  You'd see your dermatologist?  I had no idea.  I mean I guess I had never thought about it.  That's your fun fact for today.

THIS shirt...again, I have no idea...I'll assume Marshalls or TJ Maxx. (Both owned by TJX Companies, and both should have an allowance under your mental health insurance-cuz I feel better just walking in there!  Do I need anything?  No, obviously, but the best affordable things, though, my recent shoe purchase....my blister may disagree with me....I digress...)

I didn't keep this shirt....mainly because there is a STAIN on it.  It's on the front near the bottom in the middle.  I don't mind a stain on a shirt because that means I HAVE to get rid of it. 

 I wore it loads on tour, it was in rotation often, so it lived a good life.  

Our local thrift store, (first is the best, second, supports our local library-which is also the best) Anyway, they have a bin outside that is for clothes they can't sell.  Garbage clothes if you will....torn clothes, clothes smelling like cigarettes, etc.  They get paid by weight for these clothes and shoes that are being thrown away and cannot be resold? It's not a great amount, but it's something!  "Better than a stick in the eye" as Gayley would say.  SO, I contributed to the weight.  If you want to contribute to our library...you should, libraries are the backbone of our communities.  ( Bertram Library )

ToTD. Top of The Day. #1

 It's January of 2026.....I haven't looked at this page in over 10 years.  Fine 13.

I googled if people read blogs anymore, the internet said "77% do", but I don't believe it.

I'm back, but for me.  lol. I mean if you read....great, but I wanted a place for the ToTD project.

So forever I've been overwhelmed by STUFF...and oh-still am, I think I love hotels so much because I only have what fit in my bag, and that's all!  Do I still buy more STUFF? Yes.  Did I need that pencil sharpener from the Guggenheim in Bilbao?  Also yes. 

Sigh.

ToTD.

Top of The Day.  So I used to say I bet I could wear a different shirt every single day for a year....and I would laugh.  Then one day....September 2, 2024, I started.  I had my "instagram husband" take my picture outside.  I dated it and put it in an album on my phone.  It's January 26, 2026.....I AM STILL GOING.  

What were the rules?  Well, first of all....my rules.   There is no second of all.   

It's a different top every day for a year.  Some are/were jackets, dresses, bathing suit cover ups, t-shirts, etc.  Granted, some I wore only for the photo, then I put back on my trusty OOTW (Outfit of the Week-I work from home), but some will be with me till I die.  I'm looking at you Upperwest Aviation in Laurel, Montana.  

I did try to to be diligent about donating, or passing on, but then I have often been sabotaged by a bag of clothes from my Sister-in-Law that I would NEVER buy, and yet they look super on me.  Shakes her fist in the air!  Also, then I go to places I've been waiting to go to and need the t-shirt.  GAH!  Or we have a Stranger Things watch party, and I am assigned "Eleven".

So here we are..

It started on September 2, 2024. We had flown home on September 1 from a wedding in Oregon, or I'd probably have started on the 1st....but let's be honest, the 2nd day of the month is really the best day. 

I didn't keep this one.....I don't know the last time I wore it....but it's also one of those shirts that leave your armpits unattended....so you then smell.  I'm also weird about 3/4 sleeves I'm learning.  

See you tomorrow.

January 2013

WELCOME TO 2013!!!

"The Calendar said JANUARY!"

 

Time continues to fly doesn’t it, like the pigs on this float!?  And the calendars haven’t even made it to the post office yet!  (At least they made it from the printer!)  At any rate….I vow to have a monthly post of the calendar photo….how about that?  I gave it a valiant effort last year, but something happened beyond August!  LIFE!  Life happened!!!

January’s Calendar photos come from the Rose Parade 2012, the 123^rd Annual Rose Parade.  Which is ALWAYS a highlight of my year.  I don’t sleep, but I see many people that I love, make new friends, and get to watch these flowers float on passed me!  It’s awesome!  The theme for the parade in 2012 was “Just Imagine”….and La Cañada Flintridge had “If Pigs Could Fly”!  It was adorable….and won the “Bob Hope Humor Award”.  Seeing these things go by us?  WOW!  Again, if it’s on your bucket list?  Do it soon…..and I stand by the fact that you should do it with Al Brooks.  They give the best tour, the prices are legit, AND?  The seats on parade day are PERFECT! (Fill out the "contact us" form, and tell them you WANNA GO!)

Now, after the parade, you can go to the Rose BOWL and see the football game, OR you may want to peruse the actual FLOATS from the parade!  It gives you a chance to get up close and personal with the floats!  Really look at them slowly!  (We DO go to the float barns BEFORE the parade, but they are still working on them, so it’s fun to see the PRE-Floats at the Barns, and the POST Floats in the street!!  Again.  Al Brooks.  This inch worm to the right is from the Rotary International Float, as seen from the “Post-Floats”.  JUST WAY COOL!

Last year…2012, the parade was on January 2, the rule of “never on a Sunday” had taken affect!  The Rose Parade is always on New Years Day, unless New Years falls on a Sunday, in which case the parade is done on that Monday!  Such as it was for the 123^rd Tournament of Roses!  We expect to see you there for the 125^th!  No pressure, but get booking.  (jay@albrooks.com) Easiest thing to strike off your bucket list!!!!!

How better to spend the day of one's birth than in the London Olympic spirit!

I wish there was a word that could sum up the last 30 days….but it wouldn’t be enough.  Surreal….if I had to pick one.  Living with people I’ve never met, in a city that I can’t get enough of, working a job I’ve never done, with more people I’ve never met, and all in the middle of a worldly event dating from Ancient Greece.  Just crazy.

I’m sitting here in the kitchen…wondering if I’ve put back the house properly, freaking out about how many bags I’m taking back-and what I’ll do with my Union Jack pillow, and wondering if I’ll get everything done by the time my mini-cab shows up.

Life is made up of moments….but some more grander than the next, or the one before.  This moment…has been just awesome….every single moment.  Okay…I take that back, there were some moments when I crossed my eyes, and some moments where I wanted to stick my tongue out at people, but other than that….loved it all.   I worked long weird hours, and stood all day, and slept in the  kitchen.  HOWEVER, didn’t matter…I worked with amazing people….some more amazing than others, but amazing none-the-less. 

For the general audience that still has no idea what I do for a living….and for the audience that THOUGHT they knew what I did for a living!  I was working for Coca-Cola and a “program” that they had for the Olympics.  They essentially took over the entire hotel, decorated it beyond measure for Coke, and created an atmosphere to the likes I’ve never been a part of.  I mean the signs that simply said which way to the toilets was totally “Coke-ified”!  It was cool.  Cool to see….but COOLER to be a part of….even if our Coke T-shirts weren’t really the most flattering thing going….

So I was working in the Transportation Department….and I was on the Dispatch team.  Which means, I parked buses in bays, loaded passengers, unloaded them, worked out schedules, drivers hours, etc.  It sounds simple and mayhaps a little trivial, but I assure you that there were days when we were just keeping our heads above water.  This sort of thing, if you’ve never done it, it’s pert near impossible to wrap your brain around it….and really….why should you.  Know that I did it, loved it, and THAT’s what I’ve been up to for the last month.  

I worked the late shift most nights….which was really great.  I could “sleep in” most mornings.  (Let’s back up and define “sleep in” as just “not set an alarm”….as sleeping in in the kitchen rarely happened…..many times thanks to the sun, or street noise, or my roommates making breakfast….but still….no alarm set.)  So then I could get up at my leisure, clean the kitchen-as it was my bedroom, and make my way to work….some days early so that I could be a tourist on the way in!  Museums, Shows, walks, shopping, Wenlock Stalking (One of the Olympic Mascots, and there were 80 of them all over the city, I had high hopes for finding them all, but alas, only about 20.) , to name a few, and then stroll into work.  Sure, most nights I got home at like 1 and 2am, but it was all good, and there were always stories to be told!  Like the one night when I met Anthony Daniels….just C3PO….just the ONLY character to be in all 6 Star Wars films!  Or when Will.i.am walked by me 3 times….never once did I ask for a picture tho….a twinge of regret, but to be fair, it was never the right time.  I made friends with the neighbors of the hotel, where we’d taken over with our buses, and they made me smile every day.  And then there was my late night crew….that made it all bearable.  Great people, and we laughed a lot, enjoyed Chaqwa Hot Cocoa’s-Thanks SB. 

So I was working on the streets behind the hotel for a month, but that’s not the Olympics….no, but it’s having to do with the Olympics.  AND?  I got to GO to the Olympics.  Out of this world experience.  For my birthday….I was given tickets to Beach Volleyball.  One week later?  To Athletics.  I can’t describe the energy of 80,000 people cheering in a stadium.  (Let’s not leave out my breakfast date at the world’s largest McDonald’s!)  And then, just 2 nights later, I was given the opportunity to go to a medal round of Athletics….and Bolt, maybe you’ve heard of him, was standing right in front of us, well, 16 rows down, but incredible.  We saw a world record happen, we listened to the Russian anthem a few times, and decided it was a lovely tune as well!  (Prepping us for Sochi!!!)  So I went to venues!  I went to the Olympics!!!!!!  Wow. 

I’m sure I’m leaving loads out, but you’d be bored, or green with envy, so just know that the Olympic experience with Coca-Cola was one of my great moments in my life.  I am beyond blessed, my cup runneth over, and I feel just grateful for the moments I’ve been blessed to have.  God is good, all the time, and if you don’t think so, I’m sorry.  It “must be nice”….and I’ll be honest.  It is.  Thanks for the support from home, liking my pictures, and moments, etc, I’m feeling the love.  I’m super sad to leave it, but bliss can’t last forever right?  So….I am headed home, and then quickly on for a proper vacation, and ticking off states I’ve never been to!  ALOHA!

The Calendar said August 2012!

It's the month of my birth.....and honestly....you ALWAYS flip to your month to see which rad picture you have!  When I make my calendars though....I try to pick a photo from that month too....there IS a method to my madness!  Most of the time.  This picture is from my aunt's house in Washington State....post Alaska.  So I was coming off of a glorious Alaskan high....and it was AWESOME to be brought to reality slowly!  My Ant Anona (NOT A MISTAKE) and Unkle Carl live on some land way far from the world, and have amazing flowers, trees, berries, etc.  And this guy....well, I liked him, but then when I saw him on the screen?  I loved him.  And?  I have this dream of living on "Blueberry Lane"....sounds perfect.  White picket fence and all!  So, happy birthday month to me, and all you other August babies!!!!!