S&R Lovefest

BE PREPARED

Otherwise known as the Boy Scout motto.
Also, according to Oprah, “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”
BOOM. Oprah-ed.

In S’s somewhat questionable but nonetheless humble opinion, everyone needs to be prepared for three things at all times: a party, the apocalypse (or maybe just a day when it seems like the world is going topsy turvy), and destiny.

So before you sashay out the door in the morning, maybe put a little more thought into what you are, or are not, stashing in your backpack/man-purse/satchel/handbag/pockets.

HOW TO ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR…

1) A PARTY. Keep glowsticks handy. They can turn an otherwise horrible “i’m stuck in an elevator with my co-workers and the power’s gone out” kind of situation into an impromptu rave while you wait for the firemen to arrive. It also helps if you’re not afraid to burst out into song and dance.

2) APOCALYPSE (or a rather apocalyptic day where you might find the need to escape to Canada). It’s always a good idea to keep an up-to-date passport on your person at all times. I mean, if Zooey D as the insane yet adorable (remarkable how often those two coincide) Kat on Weeds, says it then it HAS to be true. It was on TV! Also, glowsticks come in handy here too, whether you’re signaling for help or trying to help an airplane land. Or for heists, according to ocean’s eleven. SO many applications for glowsticks.

3) DESTINY. Put on your game-face and get ready, folks, cause it’s 2012 and that means that some really good stuff is going to happen. Or, if you’re incredibly lucky, maybe the TARDIS will drop out of the sky and you’ll get to run away with the Doctor. In any case, keep #1 and #2 handy, because you never know where #3 is going to take you.

And since we didn’t say it earlier, HAPPY 2012 Y’ALL!

It is officially cold outside. Very cold. 

It sucks! Cold weather sucks, cold people suck. Cold is just a horrible adjective…. however, since this a lovefest blog, we are here to help you get over the cold. For me the only way to get over the cold is to laugh… laugh a lot. laugh often. laugh at yourself. laugh at your falls. laugh at your mistakes. just laugh. 

In the meantime, head the advice from other members of the Kingdom Animalia:

1. Find warmth in others…. cuddlefests? 

Stay warm! 

It is officially cold outside. Very cold. 

It sucks! Cold weather sucks, cold people suck. Cold is just a horrible adjective…. however, since this a lovefest blog, we are here to help you get over the cold. For me the only way to get over the cold is to laugh… laugh a lot. laugh often. laugh at yourself. laugh at your falls. laugh at your mistakes. just laugh. 

In the meantime, head the advice from other members of the Kingdom Animalia:

1. Find warmth in others…. cuddlefests? 

Stay warm! 

In the midst of the Christmas break, R goes home and…. confession…. practices her inversions.

R IS OBSESSED!

R loves headstands. She…

• showcases them at parties (sometimes under the influence)
• practices a lot. Yes, she has punched a whole in a wall with a bad fall.
• She teaches other people headstands (sometimes under the influence)

R also loves handstands. She…

• showcases them at parties (she may have knocked out a beer pong table)
• challenges people to competitions (which is funny because she can’t hold a handstand without the wall)
• teaches other people handstands (using the wall of course or double down dog)

There’s is just something about having your feet over your head that is liberating and exhilarating. 

When R gets discouraged in her practice, she turns to YouTube videos to inspire her to inversion-greatness. Here are some handstand gems for your viewing pleasure. Share them with your family over the holidays 

1. Just your everyday handstand workout

2. The new dance craze: handstands: this one is awesome!!

3. Inspiration not to fall

4. dog, cat…. and panda: Animals do handstands too (warning: panda is pooping and peeing. watch you’ll understand)

5.  handstand on handstand : R actually saw this one live in Vegas

If you have any more awesome hand stand videos, comment on this blog with the link. R will be very thankful!

I am a huge fan of holiday / family baking time.

As a clan, we are huge fans of using the Cupid Shuffle as the best way to ensure that we all get in each other’s way during baking endeavors. Even though, in truth, Nutty is the only one doing actual baking, the rest of us just wander around with random hot pads and tasting spoons making sure that white powdery substances cover the entire kitchen, including the dog. True story: S once accidentally covered our dog with frosting during an ill-advised gingerbread house project at 2am. And when I say covered, I mean it looked like we had poured white paint all over him. Sad day for Sir Wiley Woo.

A typical baking endeavor goes something like this:  

[CUPID] to the right to the right to the right to the right

[NUTTY] OUT OF THE WAY, 400 DEGREE THINGS ARE COMING THROUGH!

[EVERYONE ELSE IN KITCHEN] What? Did she say something? Man, I am uncoordinated with the kicking part of this song… maybe I’ll just spin around while everyone else kicks things.

[WILEY aka THE DOG] I think I’ll just bounce around nomming on various items until someone decides to dance with me.

Drop things. Mass confusion. Repeat the Cupid Shuffle.

Wash dishes. Exhaustion from so much Cupid Shuffling. Sugar coma.

How do you avoid this situation? For starters, you do not put the Cupid Shuffle on repeat.

THE SKEELS CLAN KITCHEN SHUFFLE PLAYLIST

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Chinese Proverb

1.     The importance of education cannot be overrated. Classes, however, are sometimes overrated. In any case, graduation is non-negotiable.

2.     Teachers are people, too. Crazy, vulnerable and problem-plagued people.

3.     If you get caught mid-caper…

a.     Be a girl… with boobs.

b.     Don’t use chloroform… ever.

c.      Pretend you’re asleep.

4.     Just because there aren’t cameras, doesn’t mean that it’s not a show. Someone is always watching. Thanks, Google Earth.

5.     Everyone needs Batman. Sidenote for the gentlemen: successfully pulling off the Batman voice (specifically the Christian Bale Batman voice) is even better than this.

6.     Anthropology is indeed a racket.

7.     It’s okay to be insane, but you will need to find other insane people so you can protect both one another and the general population from your shenanigans.

8.     Puppy parades should be held more often (or, really, all the time). Such displays of pure adorable-ness would boost the general population’s serotonin levels (thereby leading to a decrease in crime and suicide rates), cause adoption levels to soar and finally get those depressing Sarah McLachlan commercials off the air.

9.     If Abed has taught us anything, it’s that TV is extremely important both as a learning and problem-solving tool and should be made available to everyone

10.  Friendship is the most important thing. It’s full of awkwardness, weirdness, dance parties, blanket forts, bets, hugs and laughter. Friendship is sticking together and that, my friends, is Community.

Remember, wherever you are, it’s your friends who make your world.

Best part of Christmas season:

I GET TO BAKE LOTS AND LOTS (did I say “LOTS”?) of COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!

Some people would be intimidated by baking over 5 different kinds of cookies in a home kitchen by yourself, but here’s what I’ve got to say: Challenge accepted.

I love baking. I love finding new recipes. I love baking new recipes. I love eating all by myself sharing new recipes. None of those boring old peanut butter cookies with the kiss in the middle (though, I do like those) or the over-done, always dry sugar cookies (though, I do like decorating them)…. Okay, so maybe there isn’t a cookie I don’t like to bake (or eat), but the trick to getting through a baking marathon (for the record, I’m at 24 hours of straight baking… with the exception of yoga and sleep), is variety and innovation. 

Intimidated yet? Really? You are? Come on… it’s just baking. There’s only 6 different things going at once. There’s only 25+ ingredients. There’s only 100 different ways you can mess up… JUST KIDDING! You can do this! You can conquer even the toughest of cookie recipes, and I’m going to tell you how.

Here’s R’s survival guide for holiday baking:

1. Research recipes- Start early. Enjoy the journey. Sit back with a nice cup of coffee (with soy milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon), and peruse your favorite baking blogs. Never read baking blogs. Check out http://www.tastespotting.com/ and bask in a little thing I like to call foodie’s heaven. There are pictures. There are seductive and succulent descriptions. Check it out for yourself. Best part, you can type in search words in the search engine on the web page and look up just “cookies”- I almost died. No more sifting through thousands upon thousands of webpages of stupid ammateur recipes. These things are the real deal.

2. Get the ingredients, and if you forget one, don’t panic- This is important. Scan your recipes. Make a list. Notice which ingredients are used over double recipes. Read AMOUNTS not just what you need… but inevitably, you’ll probably forget something. It happens, and life does goes on. I used to be like those uptight chefs you see on TV that panic when a pivotal ingredient is missing. It was a dark time in my baking career. There may have been tears shed… Then I started doing yoga and learned the art of improvising and the art of remaining calm. Yoga taught me to improvise? Yup, it taught me to look at things from a different perspective and to look at things in a non-belligerent-throw-flour-across-the-kitchen-and-break-a-spoon manner. If you can’t find a subsititute, just go to the grocery store, and GET THE FRICKIN’ INGREDIENT! Problem solved. Funny, how that works.

3. Set the mood- Candles. mood lighting. wine. seductive smells. Marvin Gaye crooning in the… hahah JUST KIDDING (except maybe not about the Marvin Gaye part). I don’t suggest lighting candles or letting any type of aromatic frangrance fill the house (candles= fire…. free aromatics could get trapped in the cookies= not tasty). Setting the mood for baking is a little different than a seductive date… or is it?

Seductive Date:

• dim lighting
• heat… from the candle, duh?
• music…. like Marvin Gaye 
• good company… however, you define good company
• sexy food made with love and fancy ingredients….. or at least the guy (or girl) should be able to talk about the ingredients as if they are really fancy i.e. mashed potatoes are way more seductive if you describe them as “fluffy mounds of starch infused with imported garlic, thick, flowing cream and sea salt.” Everything is sexier when you throw in a science term (see this), unique verbs, and “sea salt”…. but I digress
• good conversation (again see this)
• alcohol…. really? You want an explanation. Use your imagination…. S&R likes wine though ;)

Baking for any occasion:

• good lighting. not too dark you need to be able to see what you are cooking :)
• heat… from the oven… duh?
• music… I like tunes I can shake my “cake batter ass” too or anything I can belt too (cue Celine Dion and Glee)
• good company… this one is tricky. Choose your baking partner wisely. Personally, I find it a little stressful if I’m baking with someone who is controlling or doesn’t know what “sift” means. The worst, though, is someone who is too afraid to do anything involved with the process of baking. PU-LEASE! If you mess something up, we just pull an all nighter and make the batch again… No big deal. What I’m trying to say is choose your company wisely or bake alone (which is quite therapeutic and conducive to creativity and ingenuity if I do say so myself)
• sexy food made with love and fancy ingredients… It’s all about marketing here. You can make “sugar cookies” or you can make “granulated derivatives of straight chain polyhydroxyl alcohols (see this and this) adorned with a homemade ganache/frosting/icing infused (buzz word) with vanilla (imitation vanilla extract that is)”…. How’s that for sexy? I guess what I’m trying to say is even simple ingredients can create magnificent cookies. You just have to provide the confidence (and know your audience)
• good conversation… baking is a great bonding experience. Baking is like alcohol. Just add flour and suddenly, the kitchen is your therapist’s bed. You’ll be spilling about everything from failed romances to life’s ambitions to politics to fart and poop stories (hahaha my favorite!), Let the stories keep flowing. Baking alone? Talk to the cookies. They are your friend.
• alcohol….. It’s an ingredient. It’s a deterrent from eating too much dough… or it pairs really well with cookie dough. take your pick ;) 

Sexy date like baking? You decide

4. Know who the cookies (baked goods) are for- Know your audience. Know their likes. Know their dislikes. Know what’s going on in their life right now. It’s amazing what a correctly chosen cookie recipe can do to heal a broken heart or welcome a family member home or just remind friends of why they are friends with each other. Cookies not just a source of energy and calories. Cookies tell a story. Cookies make a story. Cookies… it’s what’s for dinner.  

Now you know! Baking is doable and enjoyable for everyone. You can do it! Go forth and make great cookies. Don’t stress. Don’t worry. Love every minute of it. Indulge. Indulge others. 

Happy Baking!

I had the great honor of attending an absolutely wonderful wedding last night; seeing so many incredible people so happy was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed.

Wedding: WIN.

Happiness: WIN.

Happiness is kind of our bread and butter. Other staples of the S&R Lifestyle include coffee (preferably with soymilk or vanilla almond milk), dance parties (usually to Glee’s mash-up of Adele’s “Rumour Has It” and “Someone Like You”), hugs and a rather ridiculous amount of laughter.

When it comes down to it, however, happiness is a choice.

Death must be fought with life, and that means courage and that means joy.  (Nancy Farmer, Sea of Trolls)

See? Super important stuff, people. Don’t believe me? Believe Voltaire. He’s fancy and intellectual and dead. However, before he was dead, he was alive and when he was alive, way back in the 1700s, he is said to have said “I have decided to be happy because it is good for one’s health.” THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S HEALTHY.

BAM. You’ve been Voltaire-ed.

So let’s have tea time like it’s 1769 and be happy together - it’s the holidays, after all.

Group hug time? Good. I am now hugging all of you via my hubby aka the Internet RIGHT NOW.

S&R Lovefest: we love our people, we love our people to be happy and we’re here to make it happen.

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Awesome.

definition according to…

dictionary.com: inspiring awe

urbandictionary.com: something Americans use to describe everything

Barney Stinson: Barney Stinson aka himself

I think Barney Stinson (from How I Met Your Mother) is on to something. There is something to be said for believing that you, yourself, are awesome. No matter what the circumstances, if you go about life with your “awesome goggles” on, then nothing can phase you. Nothing can bring you down. Nothing can make you “uncool” because you are the definition of cool in your own way.

I could ramble on, but S would probably start shaking her head from side-to-side at my inspiring and motivational rants…. so with that said, I’m going to leave you with 10 “BEING AWESOME” quotes that I found to help you live life as the awesome people I know you all are:

 1.”When I’m sad, I stop being sad and be AWESOME instead” ~Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother

 2. “You can’t get arrested for being awesome.” ~Unknown

 3. “You are always awesome in your own way and don’t try to change that by caring what other people say. Don’t live for others!” ~Unknown

 4. “When you woke up this morning, did you say to yourself today I’m going to talk or today I’m going to skate?” ~Brink from Brink

 5. “Always be the first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else.” ~Judy Garland

 6. “Okay, pep talk! You can do this, but to be more accurate, you probably can’t. You’re way out of practice and she’s way too hot for you. So, remember, it’s not about scoring. It’s about believing you can do it, even though you probably can’t. Go get ‘em, tiger!” -Barney Stinson 

 7. “Nothing is ‘Impossible’, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’” ~Audrey Hepburn

 8. “I look at you and I see two men: the man you are, and the man you ought to be. Someday those two will meet. Should make for a hell of a football player. ~Coach McGinty from The Replacements

 9. “Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.” ~Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights

10. “We need more awesome people in this world, and I would  

       like to be one of them” ~Unknown

We here at S&R Lovefest live life only one way… and that way is AWESOME. Go forth and be awesome ;)