What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I know I stopped doing the link up (because being in charge of a link up is hard, lol), but I'm still gonna use this idea. MAYBE I'll start the link up again if I have people ask about it. :)

I'm loving...

The Gustave Caillebotte exhibit on display at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Some friends and I went last weekend to see it. I'm a big fan of Impressionism. I knew of his painting Paris Street; Rainy Day (because it was in so many of my art history books) but I really wasn't familiar with the rest of his work. I absolutely loved this exhibit. If you live in DFW, the exhibit is here until February 14, I highly recommend checking it out!

The Kimbell had a replica of Paris Street; Rainy Day that you could pose in front of (they even had props) 

I'm loving...

Dallas Stars hockey games. I went to two games last week with some friends. It was a lot of fun, especially the night that the Stars actually won! :)

With my hockey-loving peeps!

I'm loving...
This sweet picture with my best friend's kiddos, Miss E and Mr. A. I saw them last month when I was in Austin.

I'm loving...
These amazing, tasty treats. My friend Alan bought some for me. I love them!

Why yes, I do have the complete sets of Diagnosis Murder AND The Waltons on DVD

I'm loving (kinda)...

That I've had to put this on every form of social media since so many random people kept asking if I was a fan of Steven Avery from the documentary Making A Murderer (if you know me, I KNOW you know my Averyfan obsession is from Steve Avery, the former baseball player). :)

I'm loving...

That after having it planned for five months (no lie, I wrote about this in September) my best friend Mandy and I are FINALLY going to the Supernatural Convention in Houston next weekend. We've known each other for 27 years and neither one of us can remember taking a road trip by ourselves together. This is LONG overdo! :) We may or may not need bail money by the time the weekend is over with- stay tuned. :)

I'm loving...

That my first "midnight showing" in the theater was for the new Stars Wars movie (yes I know, that was almost two months ago, I'm way behind on updating my blog). :) 

I love this shirt!

I'm loving...

My sweet nephews C and E. I spent a lot of time with them over Christmas. I can't wait to see them next month! 

On Christmas morning C wanted to get a picture with me. I told him I didn't have any make up on and I didn't look good. He hugged me and told me I always looked good (THIS KID!! Love him.)

After my carjacking in December 2012, I spent a week with my family on the beach in Galveston. E and I took a picture while collecting shells (L). We went back to Galveston after Christmas this past year and took another picture (R). Again, we were collecting shells. If you hear of a shell shortage on the beaches of Galveston, it's because my nephews picked up most of them. :) I can tell how tall he's getting by comparing these pictures!

What are YOU loving today??

XOXO!

Thursday Thirteen and Thirsty Thursday

After taking a break last week, I'm back with my Thursday Thirteen and Thirsty Thursday!

If you might recall, a few weeks ago I listed 13 places in Texas I want to visit, and then the following week I listed 13 places in the United States I would like to visit. I thought about listing 13 places worldwide I want to visit, and I realized the majority of them were in Europe (although there are other places in the world I want to visit). So, I decided this week to list 13 places in Europe I want to visit (because one day I WILL visit Europe.) I might have to take a sleeping pill (or have a couple of adult beverages) for the long plane ride, but I will get over there! Again, there are over 100 place I could list, but I had to narrow it down to 13. This was tougher than I thought!

1. Big Ben-London

2. Tower of London - London (do I really need to specify that?)

3. Buckingham Palace- London

4. The Running of the Bulls- Spain (note: I don't want to actually run with them, but I want to watch from a safe distance!) :)

5. Edinburgh Castle- Scotland

6. Eiffel Tower- Paris

  

7. Loch Ness- Scotland (I'm hoping to see the Loch Ness monster!) ;)

8. Mona Lisa- Musee du Louvre, Paris

9. Parthenon- Greece

10. Colosseum- Rome

11. Brandenburg Gate- Germany

12. Vatican City- Italy

13. Vincent Van Gogh Museum- Amsterdam

For my Thirsty Thursday I will be decked out in Rangers gear and enjoying a refreshing beverage from Chick-Fil-A (I'm off work early and a friend and I are going to eat lunch and then watch the Rangers game at 1:30).

Wanna participate in Thirsty Thursday? Head over to Freckles and Fudge, my friend Vic will take care of you! :)

 

Giddy Friday and Blog Journal Day 17

Okay, I have to share this with y'all. So, there is a very good possibility that the Rangers will be playing beyond the regular season (I refuse to say it's a done deal because I don't want to jinx them). But, tickets for the American League Division Series (aka the ALDS-the first round of post season play) are going on sale tomorrow to the general public. I get a Rangers newsletter emailed to me daily (are you really surprised by this?) so we were able to participate in a pre-sale yesterday (it later got extended to today). I knew my brother (aka my "Bubba") wanted to go so I was trying to get tickets for him and my nephew to go with me. Pretty much all day the website was having technical difficulties and by the time I finally got through, it said only single tickets were available (meaning that if I got tickets, we wouldn't be sitting by each other). But, I broke down and did that (just to get us into the game). Unfortunately I could only get two tickets, but they were only a row apart.

About 5 minutes after my order went through, I got a phone call from the Texas Rangers box office. They said they saw I had been having problems getting tickets and wanted to help me get tickets that I wanted. I was floored. I couldn't believe it. The guy (his name is Michael) was not only able to get me tickets together, he was able to get me three (which means my nephew could come with us!) I told the guy a friend of mine had been having trouble getting tickets as well, and he took down her phone number and said he would call her (which he later did). She got tickets a few sections over, but we aren't far from each other.

Backing up for a minute. While I was trying to get tickets, I emailed Chuck Greenberg  (owner of the Rangers) on Facebook (yes, it's really him. He has said in many interviews he likes to be connected to the fans. He also said that he personally replies to each message- he doesn't have an assistant do it). I told him I appreciated him extending the presale but I was upset I was still having difficulties getting tickets. I'll just let you read the email chain between me and Chuck. ;)

 

Oh yes, Chuck Greenberg personally helped me get tickets! :) So let it be known, the Texas Rangers have the greatest owner and do everything they can to help their fans!! Makes you wanna move to Texas and watch baseball, doesn't it?? ;)

1. What is the first nightmare you remember?

I remember when I was about 7 years old I had a dream that I was dying. I woke up crying. I can't remember ever little detail, but I remember that much. I think I had watched a show about a little kid dying and that triggered it. It was the first time I remembered waking up from a dream crying.

2. Even if you are not a sports fan, what's your favorite sport to watch/play?

HA HA HA. Obviously this question wasn't aimed at me. I think even if this is your first time reading my blog, you can take a wild guess what my favorite sport is!! I blame my Bubba. He loves baseball, and ever since I was little, I've loved it too! FYI, if I'm never heard from again, it's because my Bubba killed me for posting the following picture!! ;)

Me and my Bubba, circa 1982ish. LOVE the socks Bubba! :)

3. If you could pull off one piece of trendy fashion, what would you want it to be (jeggings, hats, thigh high boots, etc)?

I think I'm going to go with hats. It might surprise you, but I wear baseball caps a lot. :) I see a lot of women wearing stylish looking hats, but I think they always look goofy on me. I would love to look stylish in one! :)

4. Did you make good grades in school?
I did okay. I had a minor learning disability so schoolwork was harder for me (not to mention my slight case of A.D.D.) When it comes to class rankings, I always say I was in the half that made the top half possible! :)

5. What magazines do you subscribe to?

I used to subscribe to ESPN the magazine, Sports Illustrated and Baseball Weekly (I know, you are shocked!) But in order to save money, I canceled my subscriptions about two/three years ago. Also, all of those magazines are available online so I really didn't need to the paid subscriptions.

 

Day 17: An art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)

It's so hard to pick just one, but one of my personal favorites is Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. In 2007 I went to New York City and got to see Starry Night live in person at the MOMA.

Me (with my short hair) next to Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Thursday Thirteen

For my Thursday Thirteen I thought I would list 13 of my favorite artists (as in painters, not musical!) ;)

1. Vincent Van Gogh: Vincent is definitely near the top of the list of my favorite artists (if not my favorite). I starting liking him back when I was about 12 or 13. There was a movie called Vincent and Me (it was a French movie called Vincent et moi, but the Disney Channel dubbed it into English.) It was about a young painter who encounters the ghost of Vincent Van Gogh.

Me at the MOMA in New York back in 2007, standing by my favorite Van Gogh painting, Starry Night

2. Claude Monet: Another one of my favorite artists. Actually, he and Vincent might be tied for first place on my list!

Me at the MOMA, standing by Monet's Agapanthus

3. Pierre-Auguste Renoir 

Bal au moulin de la Galette

4. Edvard Munch: Even if you don't know him by name, you will probably recognize one of his more famous paintings.

The Scream

5. Paul Cèzanne

Still Life With Apples and Oranges

6.  Georges Seurat:

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

7. Norman Rockwell: My dad had a lot magazines and books about Norman Rockwell while I was growing up. These are two of my favorite (for obvious reasons). The Rookie (left) and Bottom of the Sixth (right).

8. Èdouard Manet

Garden Path in Rueil

9. Georgia O'Keeffe: I visited her museum when I went to Santa Fe back in 2003. I really enjoyed her artwork!

Ram's Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills

10. Andy Warhol

Me at the MOMA by Warhol's Campbell Soup Cans

11. Edgar Degas:

The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans

12. J.M.W. Turner: The Dallas Art Museum had a special exhibit of his artwork a few years ago.

Wrecker's Coast of Northumberland

13. Henri Matisse:

Vase of Sunflowers