An obsession of the cookie persuasion.....

Girl Scout Cookies. Enough said.

(But really...what's up with Samoas being called Caramel delights and Tagalongs being called peanut butter patties? Not. As. Cool. Luckily....equally delicious.)

This one is for the Ingoldsbys.....

Seriously....if you're not an Ingoldsby I can almost guarantee you this post will not interest you. You've been warned.


First let me say how absolutely cool it is to have cousins living nearby. When C and I moved to Texas I could have never imagined we'd soon have family following. Last month we got together for Michelle's birthday, yesterday for Clint's birthday and we're planning a St. Patrick's Day celebration for March. That's right Ingoldsby clan.....Texas is the new California!

For Clint's birthday our celebration revolved around Ingoldsby tradition. A healthy obsession with South America + dreams of explorations + an Ingoldsby original (props to Uncle Todd!) board game = AWESOME. That's right ya'll.....we played Z....here's a quick rundown on how everyone fared in the Amazon.
The competition was FIERCE.




Z - "In exploration there is no glory in second place." ("If you come in second, you're just a tourist," Michelle)




Money-bags (C) -
Now, we can't be sure, but as far as we're concerned C may have been the richest explorer to ever make it to Z. When C landed in La Paz he had over $10,000. While the rest of us were hitting the trail with a mule or two and a handful of porters C had 20 of each. And as he rolled into Z he still had almost $4,000 to his name - although all of his team had perished in the jungle. We practically had to take an intermission every time C needed to update his Talley Sheet because of all the goods and money he was able to move around.




$10 Dollar Explorer and THE WINNER (Chris) -
First, I have to apologize for not having a picture of Chris's face! But check out the way Michelle is looking at him....like she'd sell him to the savages if it meant she could make it to Z earlier. Classic.
Chris said he was all about the risks, but when it came down to it he avoided the drug lords in Bogota and went to Caracas. Having made it to La Paz before the rest of us he had a good head start as he ventured to Z. And then with an amazing stroke of luck he landed on the arrow that would lead him into Z. All that stood in his way were a slew of red and blue cards. However, he muscled his way through the jungle (eventually losing his team and only being able to carry what he could on his back) and, in his own words, strolled into Z with $10 in his pocket. Chris's success was so quick we decided we had to keep playing.


The Comeback Kid (Michelle) -

"Wait for me guys!"
There's no nice way to say it....Michelle was BEHIND for most of the game. In fact, I think a few players had already made it to La Paz before she had the money to fly south. I think she was about 32 turns behind when we started on Map Z. Chris and Clint were enjoying the bliss of Z before Michelle could even roll the dice. But, she never gave up and in what can only be described as a miracle she navigated the jungle without a single red or yellow card. AMAZING. And in the end she had a lot of money and made it to Z.

Senhor Birthday Luck (Clint) -

Clint was prepped and ready. With his birthday Gatorade in hand you would have thought he was drinking some type of magic juice. In the beginning Clint was fairly unassuming - reminding us of the rules, keeping track of turns and playing banker. But then when none of us were looking he decided to keep up with Chris's rockstar pace and landed himself on a blessed arrow that led to Z. With our jaws practically on the table Clint coasted through the jungle like he owned the place. The savages, animals and other tragedies seemed to steer clear as Clint made it to Z a move or two behind Chris.


The Survivor (Julie) -

Julie survived it all.
First, she spent a considerable amount of time in jail when she was caught with drugs in Colombia. Things were looking grim, but Julie recovered well. She was quickly relaxing in La Paz and heading toward Z. And then BAM! She lost everything. Before she knew it she found herself with 4 turns to make it to Z, a bulb city, or starve to death. It seemed impossible. In the beginning she wasn't even going in the right direction. On her final roll we all started to bid her ADIOS when she stumbled upon some friendly natives who gave her supplies. The next roll took her to a bulb city. All of a sudden....JULIE....WAS.....BACK. She continued to defy death and eventually made it to Z.



The Wanderer (Hilary) -

My luck....was not so great. I made money early on and headed to Bogota to take my chances. Big risk = big rewards. I invested in emeralds and on my next turn lost EVERYTHING I had in a volcano. I had some minor luck with drugs and was feeling okay by the time I reached La Paz. However, the jungle was out to get me. Although I maintained a strong team and always had plenty of supplies I couldn't for the life of me roll what was needed to get on the paths to Z. I wandered, and wandered and wandered......and finally.....with everyone else basking in Z's glory....I had to give up.



One final picture to illustrate the night -

Hours of Z = Happy faces.

Friday Night Jazz...

San Marcos has a few famous sons and daughters and famous Jazz guitarist/composer Eddie Durham is one of them. Every year Texas State hosts the Eddie Durham Jazz Festival and on Friday night C and I attended the opening concert and LOVED IT. The Texas State Jazz band favored us with a few fun tunes which made me nostalgic for...

Jazz Band was hands-down one of my favorite activities in high school....I mean who doesn't want to wear a brightly colored tux? (Okay...maybe that's the one part I DON'T miss....but every time I hear a standard like "In the mood," "A Train," "String of Pearls," etc. my hands are dying for a saxophone.)


The special guest at this years festival was renowned jazz trumpeter Joe Wilder and let me tell you at age 88 good 'ole gentleman Joe still has it! So impressive. Let's hope we can all still be rockin' when we're his age.

Obsession #1....

My good friend Bonnie (who has not updated her blog in forever....cough cough....hint hint...) has a section of her blog called "obsessions" and it's one of my favorite parts of her blog. I love to read that she can't get enough of a certain smoothie and finds herself stopping on the way home and buying one etc. With her as my inspiration I've decided to - every so often - share something that I love, an obsession of sorts. So here we go...


Brianna's Asiago Caesar salad dressing....
I LOVE this dressing. Is love even a strong enough word? Seriously...thus far in my life it is my all-time favorite. I want it ALL THE TIME and am filled with a certain sadness when a salad is dressed with another. I am convinced C and I are the reason our local Wal-Mart keeps this baby on the shelf. Now before you run to the store based on my suggestion (I know you've already grabbed your purse and tied your shoes...) you should know this dressing is a STRONG flavor....which is what I love....but you may not....but you should.....because it's amazing.

This leads me into another obsession.....raw vegetables. Salad. Cut up veggies. Love them.....can hardly go a day without them.....feel anxiety when we start to run low and I don't have time to get to the store.

Now, before you get all impressed at how fancy my dressing is and how healthy I am to love raw veggies you should know that the pot next to my salad in the photo above was full of Kraft mac-n-cheese. Man, I love that stuff too.