Girl Crush: Tina Fey, Oscar Edition

Ummm, can we please talk for a minute about how amazing my favorite funny lady looked at the Oscars last night?

Tina in Carolina Herrera

And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Tina is consistently being mentioned as one of the best dressed of the night. This brings me way more happiness than it should, maybe because I don't have much going on in my own life, but, I think, more so because it's like now people have sort of realized, "Oh yeah, she can be funny AND pretty!" 

Plus, who knows, maybe Tina's own confidence is up after her new Garnier Fructis ad. The commercial plays up her tomboy chicness while also enhancing her natural beauty just like that of any other model they featured. The end result? She looks gorgeous. 

Anyway, the point of this is just to say, I'm very proud of you, Tina. Fingers snaps for big, chic buns. Navy is a timeless color. You look great.

Now, can you, me, and Amy please go to brunch?

An Important Guide To Charisma: Baby And Puppy Edition

What makes some babies cuter than other wee ones? What makes some dogs more adorable than their pup peers? What makes some coral nail polish hues more desirable than those that look practically the same?

Charisma.

Okay, well maybe not the third one (unless you count a clever name as Nail Polish Charisma because it does matter), but for the other two, it's totally true.

Think about it. Babies are generally kind of similar. Yeah, sure different colors and what not, but they're roughly the same size. They all have soft heads, making them inherently cute. And, for the most part, they're basically working within the same wheelhouse in terms of entertainment skills.

Yet some just radiate a certain je ne sais quoi.

Let's take celebrity tot Louis Bullock, for instance. Please note how this adorable adopted son of my close friend Sandra, has more Baby Charisma than most.

As you can see, Baby Louis has flavored his Baby Charisma with a dash of unexpected seriousness. That side eye look? Those adorable, miniature-sized adult outfits and hats? I mean, please, stop, I just can't handle it!

Before I move on to our four-legged friends, if you are interested in the ultimate in Baby Charisma, I highly suggest you check out Suri's Burn Book, the fake Tumblr from the perspective of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's spawn precocious kid. (I think I love it because it reminds me a little of a modern day Eloise, one of my favorite books of all time.)

Anyway, the importance of charisma is the same for dogs as it is babies, maybe even more important. Sure, like babies, all puppies are basically adorable. This is because they are miniature and wrinkly and smell good. But when they grow, not all dogs are created equal. Some just come off so boring and terrible, right? I'm looking at you, Long Haired Afghan.  

This is where it is important for a dog to have a good personality. My brother and his wife have two adopted dogs. One, they think, is a Whippet and a German Shepherd mix. Omg I know (and he had to be shaved at first, it was a disaster). But it's not all about looks, people. This dog has charisma, and thus I like him.

Of course I can assuredly say that no dog has as much charisma as my family dog Jesse. Jesse, a very rugged Cocker Spaniel, is sadly getting up there in age, but he is still full of spunk.

Here he is trying to get fresh with me. 

Anyway, hopefully this assessment of the importance of charisma has been educational. Please feel free to incorporate the phrases Baby Charisma and Dog Charisma into every day conversation as you see fit. Actually, I encourage it. Then tell me about it and make my day. Think about how good you'll feel!

[And if you think this post is just an excuse for me to write about/google pictures of puppies and babies then you are right. Please humor me.]

Mountain Shots

After I've been super lazy about taking pictures while I'm in the mountains, so on our way back from Keystone on Monday I took these with my iPhone. 

Beautiful, ain't she?

Conversations With My Grandma: Office Edition

I really hope this was consensual.

Although half the time I call she conveniently doesn't pick up, I love talking to my grandma Dolo because she always makes me laugh. (Plus, bonus, she laughs at my jokes too.) Anyway, the other day I was able to get a hold of her as she was headed out the door.

Dolo: "I have to leave for work soon. Today we have a safety training."

Me: "That sounds very Michael Scott-esque."

Dolo: "You have no idea. That is exactly how this place is! Last week we had to have a sexual harassment training!

Me: "No you did not!?"

Dolo: "Yes! And we had to take a test on the Internet afterward. It was really tricky! I missed three!! Do you have any idea how bad that makes me feel?"

You should know that my 81 year old grandmother is far more concerned with not living up to her over-achiever perfectionist persona than being perceived as a sexual harassment threat in the workforce.

I mean, that is just something to be proud of at her age.

A Little Denver

[Clockwise from top left]

1. I just learned there is an amusement park (a former Six Flags) only a few blocks from Shawn's apartment, but it is closed for winter. Nooooo!!

2. It's too bad I missed this season's Tebow madness considering her proximity to the stadium. The Stadium Formerly Known As Mile High is actually a pretty beautiful structure all things considered. 

3. Fresh tulips make everything better. So does cooking in a beautiful kitchen stocked with all the essentials I've dreamed of yet never seemed to gathered for myself. 

4. My best pal Merl, the golden retriever and old English sheep dog mix. His head is the same size as mine. It is awesome. 

5. Denver is a pretty place. 

6. Day or night. 

Adventures In Cat Step-Parenting

When I was around four, a stray cat adopted our family, and "Kitty" is what I named her. (Real shocking I wasn't accepted into my elementary school's Gifted & Talented Program for creative kids, huh?)

Anyway, with the exception of one picture capturing her momentary tolerance of me, for the better part of the next two decades, Kitty would hiss at everyone but my father, her source for rations, whenever they came near.

She was not friendly nor was she nice. (I pictured her when reading about Buttercup in Hunger Games). And so I grew up never really trusting cats to be anything other than secretly or not so secretly full of hate towards me.

But you see, Shawn IS a cat person and has two of them here in Denver. She adopted Sgt. Pepper (who I always think is a boy but is actually, allegedly, a girl) in 2007 before she moved to Denver. Then when she got up here, she adopted another cat named Stimpy (but who The BFF and I refer to as Mrs. Beatrice because he is the least manly cat ever).

Don't let this picture fool you, they are not Siamese twins. 

Pepper playing it cool.

Stimpy knows how photogenic he is.

But the real bane of my existence is the water situation. Pepper's favorite game is what I like to call "birdbath." She bats the shared bowl back and forth, splashing the water all over the ground. She is capable of drinking normally from it considering she will when I'm watching so I KNOW she is just does it to be a brat on purpose!

The evidence!!!

The result of this is no water left in the bowl for Mrs. B Stimpy. In order to ward off dehydration, he then goes and compromises every single water glass left around the apartment. By compromise, I mean he delicately dips his front paw in the water and licks it. It's kind of adorable until you realize you will have to get yet another clean glass unless you want cat backwash. Tasty!

Anyway, the pinnacle of hatred was reached today as it was their annual vet visit. Shawn had warned me it would be a little complicated to wrangle both into one cage, and she was right. I have the scratches to prove it.

Hopefully our "relationship" will be able to be repaired after all of the trauma. Or not. Either way.

Daddy Daughter Ski Date

The last two days were spent skiing with my dad at Breckenridge, the same mountain I skied with Shawn this time last year. (Just as random as the high school friends I ran into on that trip, while we were eating lunch at the lodge on Monday when I looked up and spotted one of my favorite ladies from NYC! Hooray small world!)

Anyway, after a winter of lackluster skiing conditions, luckily the snow has finally started to get good and we had a great time.  

My dad is the best skier in the world* and the sport has always held a place in his heart. He shared this love with my mother (they spent their honeymoon crashing on people's couches as they skied their way around Colorado) as well as instilled it in me. (Although, let's be honest, there is a frigid chance in hell I would happily go along with that honeymoon plan.) 

So from an adorable rug rat age, I've been on skis. Some of my earliest childhood memories involve family Christmas trips to New Mexico where we would ski at nearby Red River. 

I loved this little mountain, but I remember at the time thinking that some of the runs were so steep and scary. But whenever this was the case, I knew my dad was there to scoop me up under one arm (think: him runningback, me football) and swiftly ski me down to safety. 

Although now I'm too big to carry and my sense of fear has moved from black diamonds to more intangible life worries, I still know my dad is always there for me whenever I need him, and for that I am so grateful! Thanks, dad! Love you!

*According to me and/or many of his stories about "the badass old days"