Thunder Up

I might be the only person in Oklahoma City not watching the OKC Thunder playing basketball tonight. I am just not in a basketball mood this evening. In turn, I am sitting in my man cave, eating raspberry sherbet, flipping through a J. Crew magazine, all the while a thunderstorm is brewing outside. I am somewhat thundering up in a scene...right?

My May Birchbox

Today one of my sorority sister’s blogged about her May Birchbox, so I figured it was time for me to review mine.  I have to agree with Sami, this box did not really impress me that much.  Which seems surprising to me since this is “Gossip Girl” edition, shouldn’t this be all things glamorous, preppy, and trendy?  Ahhh, I am so confused!  Usually, there are at least two items I want to order full-size products of.  However, this box left me confused and not too thrilled.

 

I already purchased six of these in neon colors two weeks ago at a local boutique in Shawnee.   I do think that they are a fun and a must for a girl on the go.  The best thing to do when you’re not wearing them in your hair, keep them on your wrists—they look cute and don’t cut off circulation.  I consider this a win-win situation!   I just wish I would have had one of these adorable hair ties on my left-hand wrist when Jered proposed instead of the brown Goody hair tie that I was sporting.  Hindsight is 20/20, lesson learned!

You can glide them on as a thick liner, or smudge them to create a shadow (they go on opaque but blend easily for a sheer look). This product makes it very simple to achieve that smoky eye we all want so badly.  I have been using mine, however; this is not something I want to order.

To me, this is a great product that we always need to have in stock.  I do like that the earth-friendly formula gets rid of the bacteria, dirt, and oil that can accumulate over time. Plus, the gentle low-suds formula doesn’t contain any artificial dyes or irritating ingredients.  I just wish this product was not in my box, I would rather have had a nail polish or something fun like that.

I really couldn’t think how to best describe this perfume, so here is what Birchbox had to say about it: A cascade of fruity top notes—most notably crisp Asian Nashi pear—hits you immediately before giving way to a feminine core of lotus blooms and other floral notes. Woodsy bottom notes of balsa wood and bamboo give the scent a strong foundation.  My overall impression is just blah; I don’t love it or hate it.

This product I plan on using this week during 4-H Camp.  When I am spending time in the great outdoors in the summer, I don’t want to apply heavy makeup.  I want a tinted moisturizer that has SPF and from what I understand, this product does just that.  Made up of a combination of glacier water, deep ocean water, hyaluronic acid, and aloe vera deeply hydrates skin. The cherry on top of this multi-tasking product is broad-spectrum SPF 25+, which blocks harmful UVA and UVB rays from reaching your skin.

If you are interested in ordering a Birchbox, you should try it for three months to see what you think of it.  Overall, I have been really happy with the fun and new products I have been receiving.  Like today, I am sporting the turquoise nail polish that I received back in my March box.

Oklahoma City Arts Festival, Deep Fried Peaches

It is hard to believe that I have been engaged already for a month! This time, last month I was getting on a plane to come back to Oklahoma from my Florida vacation.  Everyone has been asking me about wedding planning.  Here is the deal; wedding planning up to this point has been nonexistent.  Between the four graduations, 4-H camp planning, and prepping for the end of school year activities there just has not been time.  Hopefully, this summer I can get a good grasp on it, I know one thing—I am not going to stress over it.  If I served as formal recruitment for my sorority during undergrad, I can plan a wedding (right?).

 

One fun thing that happened was making our engagement “Facebook official”.  Some people have given me a hard time because during our whole relationship, we never had anything on Facebook until now.  I just never really wanted everyone up in my business.  I am not the type of girl to blast it all over social media until now.  I feel like I have a valid excuse now and if that offends you—feel free to unfriend me.  That is a little forward but I am okay with that.  I have waited my whole life for this to happen, so I am going to celebrate accordingly!

 

Speaking of reasons to celebrate, The annual Oklahoma City Arts Festival happened a few weeks ago.  This is becoming a tradition for us.  The thing that is great is, you can walk around looking at beautiful art and also enjoy some wonderful food.   You can never go wrong sharing an Indian Taco and deep-fried peaches.   It is like a little slice of heaven.

Do you want to wear the cheesy button?

The first day as a newly engaged couple was spent at the Animal Kingdom fully equipped with “Just Engaged” Disney buttons!  At first, I was a little hesitant to wear them, but after much deliberation, we figured that this would be the place it would be the most socially acceptable.  It was Sunday, our last day in Florida so we had to pack a full day of park adventure into just a couple of hours before we had to be at the airport.



We had two main objectives: go on safari and ride the awesome rollercoaster.  Somehow we were lucky enough to ride the rollercoaster twice.  The safari is a whole other story but before we get to that—Jered’s number one request: a safari hat.  If he was going to Africa, he wanted to look the part.   Mission accomplished, we found a Mickey Mouse safari hat and I must say it’s pretty cool!  We ended up coming home with five sets of Mickey Mouse ears, we may have gone a little overboard…



Back to the trail ride, a bus ahead of us broke down while on safari.  In turn, we were stranded by the hippos and birds for about forty-five minutes.  I was really glad to get off of that ride by the time it was over.

I am so thankful I packed a rain jacket.  You know why?  It rained every day that I was there; all five days were filled with a rain shower.  It cooled it off but man after it stopped, it was so humid.  Needless to say, my hair was never looking that great.  Lesson to be learned here is to always be prepared for weather elements while on vacation.

Dreams Do Come True

On the fourth day of Disney Vacation my true love game to me….a shiny diamond ring! Wait? Did you read that right? Yes, I said a diamond ring! However, you must follow along. So set down your laptop or iPhone, go grab a box of tissues, because this is going to be good. My apologies in advance if you have already heard the story.

Jered’s conference was over; we had a whole day to spend in Disney together. We chose to go back to the Magic Kingdom together. He had a whole to-do list of things he wanted to accomplish. We had to ride the iconic tea cups, magic carpet, Space Mountain, and most importantly—Dumbo his childhood favorite! That afternoon we basically did everything imaginable before we left to return to the hotel. We had to freshen up because we had a hot date a Cinderella’s Castle later that evening.



As we are walking into the Magic Kingdom Jered said, “Let’s take a picture in front of Cinderella’s castle but not right here, it’s too crowded—let’s go to the rose garden.

“Why can’t we take the picture right here?! You are soo picky!” I exclaimed because my feet were so swollen from a large amount of walking. The only shoes that fit were flip-flops. We are on our way to the rose garden outside of Cinderella’s castle to take a picture that didn't have too many people in the background (or so I thought).

When we arrived to take pictures, I set down on a bench in the rose garden to change out of my flip-flops and into my fancy high heels (or as I like to call them, my princess shoes).

While all of this is going on, Jered whispers to the photographer “We are the ones you are expecting.” I obviously did not know that this conversation was going on. He is very sneaky as you will further discover.

Once my shoes are on, I follow the photographer’s instruction on where to stand.  I am just doing my signature arm pop and hoping that my hair has not gotten too out of control from the humidity. Clearly the logical thought process in my mind: you are about to have dinner in a real princess castle—you must look the part (you must have pretty princess hair and shoes). Check and check, everything is going according to plan.

While all of this is going on, I am totally oblivious to the fact that Jered is reaching into his pocket to get something out. All of a sudden he whips out a blue box from his pocket and presents it to me! Is this what I think it is? The only thought running through my head: OMG! I really hope these are not earrings. I will die if this is not an engagement ring….oh lord.

My hands are shaking so badly because I am nervous. Who knew I am so incredibly awkward in these situations? All of a sudden, whammo! I am crying like a little girl whose kitten was run over by the neighbor lady. Jered cannot even cite the words to his proposal because he is laughing so hard he is crying!

Finally, Jered stops laughing long enough to get these words out of his mouth. “For the last ten years, every time I’ve looked at you, I have seen magic! So tonight in the Magic Kingdom, the happiest place on earth; I ask you to be my princess, now and forever, and make me the happiest man in the world. So we can write our own fairy tale and live happily ever after. Lindsey Lynn Long, will you marry me?”

Naturally, I said yes—I have only been dreaming of answering this question for ten years! Jered is laughing hysterically, I am still crying, but trying to pull it together because by this time a crowd had gathered to cheer us on and congratulate us. I felt like I was playing out a scene from a romantic comedy or something.

We proceeded to take cheesy pictures accompanied with fireworks (talk about wow factor) until this conversation arose. Jered said with all seriousness, “You do realize that we have a Fast Pass for Peter Pan's Flight, right? I really want to do this before dinner at Cinderella’s castle.”

After I called my family to let them know the exciting news, we were off to ride Peter Pan’s Flight as a newly engaged couple. We then made our way to the castle for dinner, I was so excited I could hardly wait! Cinderella was there to greet us; we took pictures with her and waited to be seated. While waiting for our reservation, we sat next to a lovely family with tiny human divas. One of them made up with me immediately. It was her birthday so they were there to celebrate. She was in her favorite princess dress and a lovely up do with a perfect little tiara to top it all off. In the middle of our conversation, her family was called to dinner. She looked at me and shouted “I hope you have a happy wedding!” I had just stopped crying from the previous events, I looked over at Jered and started crying again. That might have been the most adorable thing that anyone has ever said to me. What a darling little girl she was!



Once we made it to our table, Jered had monogrammed Mr. and Mrs. Mickey Mouse Ears waiting on us. My goodness, he seriously thought of it all! Dinner was everything you could have dreamed of—the castle was beautiful, the food was delicious, and I was greeted by numerous princesses throughout my dining experience. To top it all off, we got to watch the nightly firework show from our chairs.



I have never felt more like a princess in my entire life.  I am so incredibly thankful and blessed to find someone in life who wants to treat me like that.  I have always said that every girl deserves to be treated like a princess.  You should never settle for anything less than that—God has someone out there that will look at you with magic in his eyes and will treat you like the real life Disney Princess that you are deep down inside.

One day this will be a funny story

That Friday, it was my third day in Disney. During the morning and afternoon, I spent my time at Disney Hollywood Studios. If you want to hit up awesome rollercoaster’s this place is for you—other than that this place didn’t wow me like the Magic Kingdom. Other than the rollercoaster’s, I really liked the production of Beauty and the Beast!

During the afternoon, I stood in line to have a meet and greet with Toy Story characters. It was a pleasant surprise when I made it to the front of the line and there stood Buzz and Woody. Hear me out, the original Toy Story came out when I was in 1st grade. I feel like I have grown up with those toys—so I had every right to be standing in line anxious like a little kid.

Later that afternoon I went to meet Jered so we could get ready for our wonderful night ahead. I had brought my two pairs of “princess heels” that Jered gave me for Valentine’s Day. I had not had an opportunity to wear them and I figured what better time to break them in? I talked about how my feet were hurting badly from all the walking in my post yesterday. Come to find out, the bottom of my feet had blisters and were so swollen. I was putting the finishing touches on my outfit, setting out my glitter high heels, just to be disappointed. I slowly try to place my foot in my shoe and it will not go. You would have thought my shoes were two sizes too small. In complete shock and disbelief that this is happening I burst into tears on the floor. My heart shattered into a tiny million pieces because I now have to go to a fabulous dinner in my Sperry’s. Needless to say, I will never pack light again for another vacation.

I am going to have another pair of shoes just in case! He had made us reservations at Emeril’s restaurant. We are both such foodies, this was really something we were looking forward to! We made our way to our seats; little did we know we were in for a treat! They set us in the cigar room—the best seat in the house because it overlooked the whole restaurant. It was perfect for a dinner for two.

Starters

Deconstructed Quail Seared Breast, Barbecued Quail Legs, Zucchini, Celery Root Rémoulade

Emeril’s New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp Florida White Shrimp, Petite Rosemary Biscuit

Main Dish

Pan Seared Sea Scallops Egg Noodles, Stir-Fry Vegetables, Thai Red Curry Sauce, Marcona Almonds, Cilantro

18 Oz. Creekstone Cowboy Rib Eye Upland Cress, Truffle-Herb Compound Butter, Mashed Potatoes

Dessert

 Chocolate Dacquoise Hibiscus-Raspberry Coulis, Toasted Hazelnuts

Emeril’s Banana Cream Pie Graham Cracker Crust, Caramel Sauce, Chocolate Shavings

In the end, this was an experience that I will never forget!

Maybe he will write you a fairytale?

On the second day of my Disney Vacation, I spent my time at Epcot.  My visit was right in the middle of the International Flower and Garden Festival by HGTV.  I have never in my life seen so many beautiful things—everything was so perfect it almost seemed unreal.

This is the first thing you see when you walk into the park, a scene from Fantasia.

For the first thirty minutes, I walked around the park just in awe looking around at all the wonderful flower and garden displays.  I grabbed the daily activities list and realized that in less than a half hour, there were character meet and greets!  You would have thought I was running with the bulls in Spain trying not to get trampled over.  I made a mad dash for the other side of the park to make sure I could meet a few princesses.

 

First I ran into Marie, she greeted me with a hug then we proceeded to take pictures.  Here we are doing the kitten pose!  We are two adorable smitten kittens if you ask me!

Next it was off to meet Sleeping Beauty and I had to stand in line for a while—she is a popular lady!  She told me that my lips were the color of roses and I was a pretty princess.  Needless to say, I was on cloud nine!  Finally, it was time to meet my favorite, Belle!  Our conversation went a little something like this…

“Where is your beast?” Belle

I replied, “He is working today.”

“I hope he is picking you up a book.” Belle

I replied, “He might just do that.”

“Maybe he will write you a fairytale!” Belle

At this point, I was in France.  The only logical thing to do while in France you might ask?  Sample wine and shop, two of my favorite hobbies!  I walked around, had lunch, and then I realized there were going to be more character meet and greets.  Since it was pouring down rain, I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go inside and stand in line to meet all of the traditional Disney characters.

Here we are with Farmers Market Minnie and Mickey

After Jered’s conference was over for the day, he came to Epcot to join me.  We took pictures, found sweet treats at a bakery, had a few drinks, and then sat down for dinner.  After we finished walking around we decided to spend some time at Downtown Disney.  There was a Lego store that had all kinds of wonderful displays, Buzz, and Woody from Toy Story, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  There was so much walking; by this point in the day my feet feel like they are going to fall off!

This soap is called Queen for a Day--how fitting?

Walking around Downtown Disney, I found the best bath and body store Basin!  I purchased a bath bomb in hopes that soaking my feet would make me feel better.  I also snatched up the soap with high heels shoes in it, I almost felt obligated. Finding this place online after I made my return to Oklahoma made me jump for joy!  I look forward to many goody baskets filled with this great stuff!

The Undercover Princess

For five days in April, the opportunity arose for me to take my first grown-up vacation!  My boyfriend, Jered was going to Orlando for a work conference.  I figured tagging along with him was a great idea!   Disney World is something I have always wanted to see for myself.

We packed up and headed for the airport in the wee hours of the morning, early enough Krispy Kreme was not even open.  We had a flight into Memphis Tennessee with enough time to grab some Starbucks before we hopped on our next flight to Orlando.  When we made it to Orlando took a cab to the hotel where the conference was taking place.

These are the sweet tanks that my mom made for my Disney Vacation

I had a quick wardrobe change and headed for the Magic Kingdom.  This is the place I have dreamed about; a million thoughts were running through my head.  Was it going to live up to my imagination?  Would it be weird for a 23-year-old girl to be at Disney World by herself?  Is it socially acceptable for me to be freaking out with excitement?

Seriously, if you know me at all—you know that I have always joked calling myself a “real life Disney Princess”.  I was going to dominate Disney and not hold anything back.  Jered referred to it as “tiny human rage”.  Acting like a tiny human diva is basically what I did and it seemed perfectly fine.

I spent the entire first day at the Magic Kingdom and had a blast!  The first thing I did was walk to Cinderella’s Castle, where I stood there in awe!  How could something be so magical and just like the movies?  After I got over the initial shock of it all, I went straight for the rides.

While standing in line for a ride, a dad looked at me and said, “You look just like Snow White.”

I replied, “Why thank you that is the ultimate compliment!”

After this exchange of words, a line of tiny humans dressed as princesses formed to take pictures with me.  They referred to me as an undercover princess in normal clothes.  I would hate to be that parent that has to explain to them in about ten years from now when the little girl asks why she has her picture taken with some random stranger.  Makes for a good story, at least, I loved every second of it.

I felt like Woody was pointing straight at me during the afternoon Pump It Up parade!

Later that evening, Jered came to the Magic Kingdom.  We had dinner and walked around the Magic Kingdom.  A mom from the Snow White incident ran into me and said, “Hello there Snow White, good to see you again!”

I just had to get my picture taken in front of the castle!

At this point, Jered realized that I was not elaborating about being mistaken for a princess, he couldn’t keep it together—all he could do was laugh. Later that night we patiently waited to see the magical parade of lights and it was amazing!  Dealing with the crowd was not so great, but we managed.  Disney is the place to be, I am so impressed with how perfect that place is!  I look forward to telling you more about my trip!

12 Hour Van Ride

Yesterday I told you that we are going to do a replay of my life. There are a few important things that happened over the past month. So here goes nothing… We are moving on to the week of April 9-13. Easter evening I packed my bags because I was headed to the Southern Region Science Academy in Huntsville, Alabama or also known as “Rocket City”.  We left Stillwater at 4:00 a.m. Monday morning to ride in the van to Huntsville.  It made for a 12 hour van ride that was full of chatting.  Needless to say, I know my coworkers really well!

This was a conference for work that I attended to learn more about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum for 4-H. It was a great opportunity to learn more about this field because this area I have no expertise in.  It was wonderful to have this networking opportunity to meet with other 4-H Educators from all over the region. Furthermore, I had a chance to present a workshop over service learning and how to incorporate STEM into your projects.

I have always said that I have been misplaced at birth. I think that I belong in the deep south, being a southern belle would be a ton of fun. Don’t get me wrong I love Oklahoma and I think it works for me (at least I like to tell myself this). The best thing about  the south, it has to be the food! I had sea food for every lunch and dinner while in Alabama.  The food was so amazing!  I could eat shrimp, oysters, and lobster every single day and be content.

Twinning With My Sister

I am back up and blogging again!  Over the past month, I have poured all of my free time into my job.  There was not much time for “Lindsey” or personal time.  So much has been happening in my life.  I am very happy with how things are going.  Change is not easy, but in this case—it is fabulous!

Over the next week, I will catch you up to speed with what has been going on in my life.  First, we will go back all the way to Easter.   This is where the story begins, I finally got to go back home and spend some time there.  It was nice to see my family and not to mention enjoying the great food that went along with the holiday weekend.

My little sister and I had matching dresses that she picked out for us.  If you would look back fifteen years ago, matching dresses would not be unusual for us.  My mom and grandma made sure that we always had to match, or if not complementary colored dresses with all the fixing including hair bows, fluffy socks, and little handbag.

If you had the opportunity to grow up in the south and have siblings, you understand what I am talking about.  Mom’s and Grandma’s alike love having their little ones in matching outfits.  My brother, John Paul is 13 months younger than me.  For all intensive purposes we were twins; more times than not we wore matching outfits on most holidays and family picture occasions.

Who knows, maybe one day if I ever become a mommy blogger (this is the running joke @brookeclay) I will torture my tiny humans by making them wear matching outfits in public.  All the while taking pictures and documenting it all on the current/hip social media tool of that time. Let's be real, I will be a "cool mom", right?