the journey to madonna...

It all began when my fantastic friend Jen decided to celebrate her birthday by doing it throwback 80's style.  We had done this once before in our college sorority for an 80's skate party which resulted in me throwing together an outfit at last minute with a random purple dress from Goodwill, black tights, my trusty crimper, and some ridiculous bright make-up. 

I obviously wanted to redeem myself when I realized that another 80's skate party was occurring in my life, so I decided to go all out.  And when you put 80's and going all out together, you instantly get MADONNA.

So how exactly do you become Madonna?  It's certainly not easy and there were definitely times I didn't think I was going to pull it off... so I thought it was only appropriate that I share my journey to the top. 

• The first thing I knew that I really needed was an amazing outfit.  Where in the WORLD was I going to get an outfit fit for Madonna?  I knew instantly that if this part didn't work out then it was over from the start.  I headed for the thrift stores full of hope and aspiration that surely someone had retired their fantastic 80's formal wear that they once rocked just because Madonna wore a similar outfit.  And that's when I saw it.  A gold and black lace tight bodice dress on top that flared out at the bottom.  Madonna would SO wear that.  Nevermind the fact that I did not even think to look at the size and my friends decided that I should try it on over my million layers of clothes (if you know me at all, you know I love layers) in the middle of the store.  The Goodwill guy definitely walks by and says "Lookin' good!"  My proudest moment.  As I try to get the Madonna outfit off of me as quickly as possible after we decide that it's perfect, I definitely hear something rip.  Oh yeah, definitely the zipper.  $5.99 and a lot of safety pins later, it still was my perfect Madonna dress.
• Obviously there was now an even greater need for a jacket to go over the dress.  No one I seemed to know owned a fantastic black leather bomber jacket.  The responses I got from people were hilarious.  Some people seemed offended I would ask.  Some people seemed to wish they owned one.  Some people just owned 'conservative' ones.  People, don't you realize these jackets were in style last year?  Well anyway, the person that came through in the clutch was my mom.  Oh yeah, she's hip with the hop.  Don't mind her, she just has it lying around from when she wore it to the motorcycle rally.  She would SO make Madonna proud.  Major shout-out to the Mom for being so hardcore!
• Accessories are an essential when it comes to Madonna.  Hello lacy gloves and huge bow!  I was on a hunt and did not have to go far because the party store offered these to me for a low price.  They obviously wanted me to be Madonna as well.  Fishnet stockings were also available at this party store so check, check, and check! 
• Jewelry are of course accessories but I feel the need to make it separate when it comes to Madonna.  Thankfully between my sister and I, I wasn't hurting too bad in this department.  We are a lover of the jewelry so I had huge black and gold hoops, tons of gold bangles, black beaded bracelets, pearl beaded bracelets, white beaded bracelets, a huge gold bracelet, and tons of black and pearl and gold necklaces to wear.  I did find myself in Forever 21 though where I purchased a cross 2-ring and a massive black ring.  Wouldn't have been Madonna if I didn't have SOME sort of religious accessory.
• The last accessory that made it complete was a pair of gold and black sunglasses.  Just didn't feel like Madonna would want to make eye contact with anybody.  She's obviously way too cool for that. 
• The shoes that became the winner was a pair of my gold heels.  Definitely got asked at the party if I bought those at Goodwill.  Nope... I own them and have owned them for probably about 6 years.  Guess Madonna and I just have the same style.
• I felt like the best way to get Madonna hair was to crimp it with my trusty crimper and then tease the ever living daylights out of it.  Well I crimped it alright... and let's just say I don't really do that often now that I have super short hair and am not used to it at all.  Which now I have about 50 million burn marks to prove it including one on my neck... which looked like a hickey all night.  You just can't be Madonna without having a hickey on your neck.  The pain came when my roommate had me lean over and start teasing the super-hairsprayed-crimped-down hair into the Madonna-craziness-poofy-80's hair.  If she did that everyday, she earned every single penny of those millions.
• The make-up was the final touch which required some bright colors for the eyes but also some dramatic smokiness to go along with it.  Quite the balance, that Madonna.  She never did anything halfway. 

Once the outfit was complete, Madonna was ready for the party.  Definitely have never felt as hardcore as that night.  We went to The Magic Time Machine for dinner which was probably the only place we could have appropriately fit in with our outfits... I've obviously shared my thoughts about this place before.  As soon as we walked in the door, a little girl asked us to sign her little book because she thought we worked there.  Her father stated how could we blame her and explained to the little girl that we were probably apart of a jazzercise group! 

Needless to say, we got quite a few looks and people of course called out to Madonna.  Who wouldn't?  It's MADONNA.

What is the 80's without skating so we headed to the rink next.  Madonna of course rocks on the skates so tons of fun was had as we all went round and round and round the rink groovin to the tunes.  And proud to say that none of us fell... even though became a little worried for some at times.  Definitely not Madonna though... way too hardcore for that. 

After it was all over and the bright make-up was all washed off and the crimped teased hair was brushed and washed out and the gold and black lace dress was hung to the back of the closet... I've got to say that it was definitely one of the most awesome nights ever.  I absolutely loved being Madonna... even if she is utterly and completely inappropriate and I'll never be half as hardcore as her.  For that night I'd like to think that I was.

living outside of the law...

DISCLAIMER:
So let me just preface this post by stating that it is not intended for the faint-hearted or the judgmental.  To read this, you actually need to be open-minded and understanding.  Actually you need to be adventurous. 

This past weekend my fantastic roommate and I were needing to go on a road trip due to a few different occasions.  (I'm gonna go ahead and give a shout-out to my roomie here since this post includes her completely and she usually only reads this blog rarely for the sole purpose to make fun of me.)  So we were heading south on Hwy 45 which only gives you two lanes to work with for about 15 million hours it seems like.  And then lo and behold, the thing that you dread the most in the world happens.  STOPPED TRAFFIC.  And you see somewhere up far, far ahead in the far away distance a sign that speaks about the unspeakable mandatory one-lane.  And of course there is no exit ramp to be seen for miles.  So if you're from Texas, you know what happens next.  There are THOSE cars that start immediately driving through the grass to get to the feeder road.  You know the ones... the people that just can't even handle the traffic long enough to decently wait for a paved road to exit the highway like a civilized human being.  The people that leave ruts in the grass because there become so many of them that they create a trail.  The people that insist on acting barbariously instead of waiting in the 4.5 hour traffic like the rest of us while we all secretly hate them.

And that's when it happened.  Katie's not from Texas so she instantly thinks it's hilarious that this happens when traffic occurs anyways, but she says "DO IT!"  I of course was appalled at the thought because I am such a law abider... but the thing that actually came out of my mouth was "My car's too low.  I'll totally get stuck!"  And that's when about three cars the size of mine decided to go for it and they all made it.  Hmph.  They showed me.  I was in the left lane so when the truck in the right lane scooted up, Katie said, "You better go now or..." and I don't even remember what the threat was because I immediately turned my car towards the grass and accelerated headed towards the feeder.  The entire time I plowed through the grass all I kept saying was "I hate you.. I hate you.. I hate you.." but I followed the person before me and made it right safely onto the pavement.  The ol' Solara still had it in her!  There was many shouts of victory and high-fives occuring in that car!  And of course Katie made me take the whole "I hate you" thing back.

Then came the next part... getting back onto the highway.  We began driving on the feeder road for quite some time noticing all of the traffic on the highway and for how many miles it went on.  We quickly figured out that definitely would have at least put us back another hour in our trip if we would have stayed so of course more high-fives happened in the Solara as we continued on our drive.  Well the traffic finally ended but still no entrance ramp.  We were of course in the hill country so this tends to happen from time to time where you can go for miles without one.  Well this is when we noticed we had caught up with some of the other cars that had also used the "grass exit" from the highway and it was almost like we were a type of gang as we maneuvered through the hills together trying to find a way back onto the highway.  Katie and I immediately contemplated and figured out that these other people were definitely not new at this and we were the "rookies" when it came to the whole driving outside the entrance/exit ramp limits of the law but we were in now.  I'm pretty sure Katie even broke out in a chorus of "Me and My Gang."  We were officially hooked.  That's when the leader of our pack saw it... the perfect way to get back onto the highway.  If you're thinking that we saw an entrace ramp, you're obviously not ready to join the gang.  It was no entrance ramp... and to be perfectly honest, I don't know what it was.  I just stopped and turned and accelerated right onto the highway with the rest of my partners of crime.  We were back on track and free sailing... and had lost no bit of time. 

And I've gotta say if it wasn't for my crazy roommate that pressured me to do it or my spunky Solara that felt like being a little dangerous... it never would have happened.  But I'm so glad it did... it definitely made our road trip WAY more entertaining.

random ramblings...

So thanks to a dear sweet little wisdom tooth of mine being extracted from my being yesterday, I decided that this post would be deemed random ramblings and come at you in a listing format at whatever comes into my mind (due to the wonderful drugs of course).  Sound good?  Alright then.

• I absolutely love TV and miss it oh-so-very much so we have decided that we do not "deserve" cable right now.  People ask us that innocent question "Don't you have SOME channels though?"  NO... no we do not.  Thanks to some stupid digital converter.  Thanks a lot technology.
• I have embraced the short hair.  I look at pictures of my old hair now and think about how I should have cut my hair forever ago.  I owe it all to my amazing hair lady.  She rocks my world.  Her and root plumper.
• Thanks to the lack of TV, I watch about a million episodes of Friends like everyday.  Could I BE more awesome at Friends trivia?
• I've decided that I need to suck it up and buy a Glamour subscription.  Either that or ask for one for my birthday (hint, hint).  Reason being that I've gotten to the point that I buy it EVERY month.  I feel like once you get to that point you might as well just have it shipped to your door... and it's cheaper, right?
• I love sunglasses... and I say the bigger, the better.  And also you can never have too many.  I would be all about owning like 145 pairs of them.  I'm very particular about my brown sunglasses living in my brown purse and my black sunglasses living in my black purse... that way I'm never without!
• I am very bitter about not getting to eat chips and salsa on Cinco de Mayo today due to the 'soft food' diet.  I think the restriction has made me more passionate about this holiday than usual.
• I began watching this season of Dancing with the Stars as basically a filler between the Bachelor and the Bachelorette but now I have finally gotten to the point where I actually care.  The couples I would actually want to see win is Ochocinco and Cheryl or Maks and Erin.  Reason being is because I would marry Maks or Ochocinco if either one of them asked me tomorrow.  The couple I don't want to win is Pussycat doll.  Reason being is because she's a professional dancer so duh she's good so lame that she's on the show. 
• I'm going to my grad school's spring graduation on Friday which is a huge reminder that I have been out of school for an entire semester.  WHOA.  Where has an entire semester gone!  Let's not even get into the point that it reminds me I still am not doing what I thought I would be doing.
• My 25th birthday is next month so we're planning a girls river weekend trip and I am SO excited.  It's really the only vacation thing I have planned for the summer so far so I'm looking forward to it big time!
• My dad just left for Mobile, Alabama this morning to help with the oil spill for at least a month.  Crazy times.  I was rooting for Florida so that could be potentially another vacay spot for the summer but hey, I've never been to Alabama either.
• I ate ice cream for dinner last night and macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight.  I feel like I'm five.  Or super irresponsible.  Or utterly unhealthy.  (Or super fun! Thanks wisdom tooth!)
• The song "I'm feeling hot, hot, hot" is stuck in my head from being played all day today for our celebration of Cinco de Mayo at school.  This song always reminds me of cruises and makes me want to be on one.  The 90 degree weather today definitely adds to the fact of me wanting to be laying on the deck of a cruise laying out and listening to some Jamaican band singing to me.

Alright on that note... I'm thinking my random ramblings are over for now.  Hope you enjoy if you endured them all and of course if they even made sense...

the waters run deep...

As an assistant kindergarten teacher, my lunches consist of sitting with 5 and 6 year olds as they pull out 20 million things out of their lunch boxes while I usually pull out 1-2 things out of my purse.  This usually results in them saying "That's ALL you have for lunch Ms. Raven?!?!?!?" Or if they feel like my lunch is gross, they feel free to point and say "EWWW!"  But don't worry... I usually take up for myself by saying, "Did you realize it was rude to tell someone that their food looks gross?" (Which I actually ended up saying to someone else in my social life the other day which went real well for me by the way.) 

Anyway.  As you can imagine... sitting with 5 and 6 year olds for lunch can be a bit entertaining because this is their time to talk about pretty much anything they would like (with of course still some type of boundaries).  Conversation can go ANYWHERE.  Today though it was really quite cute and reminded me why I love kids and continue to do what I do.  A hot topic lately has been where all the kindergarteners are going to go to first grade since this school ends at kindergarten so this discussion came up during lunch.  Some of the kids already know where they're going and some still aren't quite sure.  The following was the particular conversation from the lunch table of kindergarten girls:

Susie: Me and Sally are going to the same school for first grade.

*Sally is sitting right across from her and very obviously not paying attention.

Me: (even though I've heard this piece of information a MILLION times) Oh wow, that's really fun!

Sally: (finally snapping to reality) I'm going to that school too!

Susie: I know Sally!  We're both going there!

Sally: God made it possible for me to go there!

Lola: (listening to this entire conversation) God promised that He would never flood the Earth again.

Susie: I've seen Noah's Ark.

Lola: Yeah God promised after the last time He flood the Earth.

Susie: Yeah I know.  We read that at my house.

They continued to discuss Noah's Ark and God's promise to not flood the Earth and I continued to be floored about how my kindergarten girls could grasp that getting into their school of choice was made possible through God and how that resulted into a conversation about one of His greatest miracles.  You never know the randomness and even sweetness that you may get at the lunch table... gotta love their childlike faith.


*And OBVIOUSLY I changed all little girls names to protect their precious little privacy.  DUH.