book talk and butt flashes

i'm a woman on a mission. i've been trying to talk chris into building some built-in bookshelves on the long, windowless wall in our living room and calling it my christmas gift, my birthday gift, my anniversary gift, whatever - i'm flexible on this. so far the wall is still bare, but i'm really determined to dig my heels in on this one because i've got far too many books not to have some awesome shelving. and let's face it, i basically need built-in shelving as a means of storage, and the fact that it will look amazing is just an added bonus, right? and i'm not even picky; i'll take a whole wall of shelves, or just a few long ones on part of the wall!

more in the way of book talk, i've read the painted veil (not so good, but it's my fault since i chose it), the worst hard time (interesting and educational, but a little slow), and bel canto (an epic disappointment) for book club, and now i'm working on the cider house rules. i'm not quite 100 pages into it, but i love it, and i look forward to going to bed so that i can get back to it! what have you been reading lately?

now it's time for butt flashes. i must have subconsciously made it my mission to show the city of lynchburg my cheeks because i've been flashing all over town. EXHIBIT A: last week chris dropped me off at the office, and as i was jumping out of the vehicle my dress got caught under my hand which was placed firmly on the seat, causing my dress to come up to my waist, giving everyone a free show. who surrounds our office? an office full of state troopers and an office full of land surveyors - all male. embarrassing? you bet. EXHIBIT B: the day after that i was walking out of the post office (at lunch time when it's the busiest, obviously) when my foot slid on the wet sidewalk and i did a split...in a dress. my first thought was, "crap, how am i gonna play this off?" then i realized that gymnastics in a dress on the post office sidewalk can't be played off. luckily the only thing hurt was my pride (and i'm pretty sure it's still bruised). last, EXHIBIT C: the case of the flowy skirt and the windy day. i don't talk much about what i do for my part-time job, but technically i'm a field representative, and i go to meet clients (mostly car dealerships) to do their advertising. today while i was at a client's business, i was outside just starting to take pictures for his ad when a gust of wind came and blew my skirt up to my chin. first, this place is located on a very busy highway, so people saw; second, i was wearing a slip (luckily), but seeing as how it was white and semi-sheer, and it was a sunny day, nothing was left to the imagination; third, there were two guys sitting in their car which had broken down, and damn if my skirt didn't decide to fly up right in front of them! embarrASSing? YES!

now that i'm tucked safely away in my quiet house wearing FLANNEL PAJAMA PANTS i'm finally calming down. but honestly, i may never be able to show my face in lynchburg, va again!

literary GREATNESS. and a snack.

last night was the book club meeting, and i can't even begin to tell you how excited i was to finally be able to talk about the thorn birds with people who actually wanted to hear about it! side note, i should probably apologize to my pop, my sister, and my husband, who heard about it non-stop for the last month even though i'm pretty sure they didn't want to. anyway, book club was great and we all enjoyed the book, so there actually wasn't all that much to discuss since we all agreed! if you have a copy that's been sitting unread, or if you're looking for a good read, i strongly suggest this book.

since erin just had a beautiful baby girl not quite a month ago, we all met at her house instead of going out to eat, and we decided we'd all bring either an appetizer or a dessert. it took me about 2 seconds to decide what i was bringing (because i really look for excuses to make this)! if you don't eat meat or don't like spicy foods we can't be friends then this may not be the best idea for you, but if you like both, then you should make this buffalo chicken dip! it's delicious and SO easy!

you'll need: one chicken breast, 8oz. package of cream cheese softened, 1/2 cup chunky bleu cheese dressing, 1/3 cup (or more if you want it extra spicy) frank's red hot sauce, tortilla chips.

-boil the chicken breast and shred it up once it's completely cooked.
-in a baking dish mix up cream cheese, bleu cheese dressing, hot sauce.
-add chicken to the baking dish and mix it all up so everything is evenly distributed.
-bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
-enjoy with tortilla chips and don't leave a single bite or angels will cry.