Go Griz!!

Okay, so BEST. WEEKEND. EVER. There are some out there who will be shocked, but I currently LOVE football. I have a team I like, I have fun tailgating, I understand what's happening during the game, and I have awesome NON-OBSESSIVE friends to enjoy the game with. Friends who can hold a conversation AND watch the game at the same time. Crazy, right?


This Saturday was the Griz/Cat game - like the Civil War of Montana. Missoula filled up with Griz and Cat fans alike from across the state and beyond, which let to some crazy crowded bars. I had the odd opportunity to view this entire display completely sober due to the fact that I'm not currently drinking (much to my dismay). I got to watch crazy tailgates where one guy chugged an ENTIRE FIFTH of Jim Beam and kids were dancing on top of motor homes. I watched several people stumble and weave down very treacherous stairwells and at half time got the pleasure of watching while paramedics wheeled a college student out on a stretcher while he continued to vomit in a bucket they put in front of him. Then there was this sitting in front of us:

Now that takes creativity. My favorite sweatshirt of the game read, "What's the Difference Between a Bobcat and a Dollar?" and on the back it said, "A Dollar is Good for Four Quarters." Ha.

Anyways, we had fantastic seats again courtesy of Ken and had a great view of the Griz completely stomping the Cats 35-3. And the Griz wore their old orange and yellow uniforms, which everyone seemed to absolutely love (I'm personally happy with the new colors):

The weather, while cold, could have been a lot worse. We bundled up, had sun during the tailgate and it was snowing when we left. That's Montana for you.

Now I'm sure you're thinking, "what could top such a fantastic Saturday?" I'll tell you what: VAMPIRE SUNDAY. Twilight was better than I ever could have hoped for and I'm fully committed to finding myself a hot vampire. I now understand all those girls who were scratching their necks and posing for pictures of Robert Pattison aka vampire Edward Cullen. I'm with you now, ladies. We've decided to throw one of the Twilight parties I was making fun of last week for the video release. You're all invited and you KNOW you want to come...

Thanksgiving in three days!!

Bloody Obsession

So this might be new information for some of you, but I have a mild obsession with all things vampire related. I find it fascinating and just...HOT. Something about pale skinny dead guys sucking blood... I think this is where my love of red lipstick stems from.

Anyway, this obsession has been taken to a whole new level recently with the introduction of the HBO show True Blood. All HBO shows are wonderful and since the Big Love season ended, I was VERY excited to learn about the addition of a new show about vampires that's set in the south and examines the moral and social ramifications of race and sexism in today's society (see? More than just a show about vampires!). True Blood takes place in a small Louisiana town where the integration of vampires, who now have legal rights and buy Japanese-made synthetic blood (True Blood), causes quite a stir. See the HBO trailer here:



Just as I used to enjoy weekly Mormon Monday dinner parties with Alyson and Amy in Portland for Big Love, we now have Vampire Sundays here in Missoula where we have dinner and drink red wine while watching True Blood. This Sunday is the season finale of True Blood and I'm pretty sure a main character dies so we're all very excited. This show is full of vampires (good and bad), shape shifters, mind readers, werewolves, exorcisms and some kind of weird pig lady so you really never know what's going to happen.

This Sunday we're also going to see the movie Twilight (which was written by a Mormon - see how all my obsessions are connected??), which is the story of a vampire falling in love with a human. It also has these weird abstinence messages embedded in the storyline, but I mean come on - it was written by a Mormon. The movie has sparked this weird international phenomenon and theaters are selling out like crazy so I already have our tickets:


From there we're putting together a vampire-themed dinner complete with blood and guts (baked pasta), seared flesh with blood dipping sauce (beef tips with BBQ sauce) and, of course, straight human blood for drinking (Bloody Mary's and red wine). So it's really just a big awesome vampire Sunday. And just because I'm going to take it to the next level and use the vampire bite mark tattoo Paige gave me doesn't mean I'm crazy. Just a VERY DEVOTED FAN.

Dirty Bird

So Red Robin has opened in Missoula!! Just like when Hooters opened, this is a BIG DEAL. But, unlike with Hooters, I was almost crazy excited for this to happen. I love Red Robin and everything it stands for. We spent a ridiculous amount of time there when I was in high school and then I somehow let it's awesomeness slip away from me. Then here I am, living in Missoula where restaurants of any kind are few and far between, and all of a sudden the comforting familiarity of bottomless steak fries with sides of ranch, a teriyaki chicken sandwich and lying about your birthday so you can get the free sundae all sound SO APPEALING.

Brittany from one of my favorite blogs, Barefoot Foodie, recently blogged about how she found herself waiting outside Chipotle at 10:45am like a woman out of one of those old Mervyn's commercials... "open, open, open.." - you know the ones. Having ALSO found myself outside Chipotle before they opened more times than I can count (until finally they felt bad for us and started letting us in early), it was an odd feeling yesterday to be considering doing the same thing at Red Robin. Once I got it in my head, it's all I could think about ALL DAY.

Finally, 5pm rolled around, I literally RAN to my car, sped home, let Jackson out, drove to the mall (yes, it's at the mall. Don't judge), illegally parked and pushed my way through the already overly crowded entry way to put our names on the list. Thank God I have friends who were excited about this as I was...

Anyway, once there, several things went wrong:

1. I see this crazy hot man walk by. Seriously, just my type: tall, thin, all his hair, nice teeth, fitted pants, jacket, and HOT cowboy boots. Perfect amount of cowboy and metrosexual. I look at Christy and Kristi as he walks by and go, "OH MY GOD, did you just see that amazingly hot guy??" and Christy goes, "Oh! It's Christian!" Ya. Christian is Christy's gay friend who was meeting us for dinner. And we wonder why I don't date... CLASSIC.

2. We, of course, asked for fries before our burgers come. It's just what you do. Well, they end up coming after we get our meals. I understand it's opening day but shouldn't you be MASS PRODUCING those things??

3. My meal, which consisted of a chicken sandwich and a Corona, cost me almost $20. Ummmm... there is no way we would have eaten there so much if it cost that much in high school. I think the Dirty Bird might be ripping me off...

But, since they fully sucked me in with all their new menu items and the way they call chicken strips "Clucks & Fries" (I love that!), I will be back. I'm going to give them some time to pull it all together and then - mark my words - those servers will know me by name.

MIA

Just wanted to check in with all 10 of my awesome blog followers (hey Mom and Dad!) and say sorry for being so lame about the blogging recently. Things have been kind of drama-filled around here recently, but there have been some great moments. We’ve had some absolutely gorgeous late-fall weekends, which have led to lot of time outdoors. Kim and Brian came to visit for Halloween and we had a great weekend partying it up. My friends Christy, Denise and I were baby mamas (modeled after that group of girls in New Jersey who went and got pregnant at the same time) one night, and I was Izzy from Grey's Anatomy the next night. Paige and Justin were Mounds and Almond Joy bars and Kim and Brian were zombie runners. I haven’t really celebrated Halloween in years so it was fun to go out and get a little crazy:

Beyond that, Christy, Paige and I braved the passes for a girl’s weekend in Spokane. This idea was sparked after some stupid architect told me I was “too tall to date.” Ya, I’m sure you are all aware of how well that went over… but the Spokane weekend was awesome. Did some shopping, dressed up, had dinner at PF Changs and danced our way through quite a few sketchy bar/clubs. Paige even rode the bull! Since we’re all over 6’2’’ in heels, we decided to tell people we were plus-size models on our way home from a job in Seattle. Paige did the best job with the whole story line, convincing a group of women that she’s been on numerous covers and that she goes by the name “Leslie” in public because she gets recognized so often. It was fantastic. Of course I completely messed it up by talking about my real job all the time and no one believed that was Christy’s job since she rolls in at about a size 2:

So after a long night of dancing and general debauchery, we see THIS:

If that doesn't keep you from making a trip to Spokane, I don't know what will.

Anyway, coming back to Portland in less than two weeks for Thanksgiving and couldn’t be more excited about it. And then back for Christmas and New Years! Can’t wait to see everyone over the holidays, but I’ll try my best to blog more in the meantime…

Delicious Change

An awesome likeness of Obama made out of 1,240 cupcakes. Now THAT is my kind of President!

Beautiful Change

I would have posted this much sooner, but I have been sick as a dog for over a week... oh well, better late than never.

I had the honor on Tuesday to call myself a Montanan in the closest presidential race the state has ever seen. Montana is a red state. Guns, fishing, land usage rights, and hillbilly back country mountain men (think the unibomber) have kept this state veeerrrryyyy Republican. But this year was different. I strong grassroots effort, four visit from Obama and ZERO vists from McCain all helped Montana become a "tossup state." Whhhhaattttt? We're not light pink or red anymore?? No, in the end Montana was one of three states that was "too close to call." In the end, the state did go red, with 50% of people voting for McCain and 48% voting for Obama, but I was still SO PROUD that a state no one would ever think would vote Democratic gave those Republicans a run for their money.

At least it didn't come down to Montana as the deciding state. You know, with our 3 whole electoral votes... As I'm sure many of you were, I was proud and honored to watch what unfolded on Tuesday night and have nothing but hope and faith for the future of our country. And can't wait to watch Montana turn blue in 2012... :)

Herding Instinct

I haven't posted a blog about Jackson in a long time, so I thought I was due. Jackson really liked my baby mama stomach (aka a Walmart bouncy ball) and is now obsessed with herding it around the yard. Enjoy: