My Dad sent me this picutre of him yesterday...

My dad is a unique guy. I call him a Buddhist-Mormon because he has Nepalese Buddhist prayer flags all over the deck at his house, and he's always trying to find his Zen. Looks like he found it. Go Dad!

ANNOYING REMINDER

Okay, this is the last time (well...maybe second to last time) that I will do a MADE post. It airs TODAY (had a little problem with my FB status mixing up days of the week) but for reals this time guys, Today, 4:00pm est (that's 1:00pm for you CA people) on MTV. Only shameless HealthGirl promotion from here on out. :)
Photos by Brian Ramsay modbee.com

I'm kind of obsessed with red lipstick right now...

It's a little ridiculous and I'm wondering if its even age-appropriate. Something about being 30 makes me think about stuff like that a lot more. BUT I am in love with this retro red lipstick. I also like how i just got rid of my nose completely, ever want to do that ladies? I guess I was having a bad nose day.

RZ totally HATES it. LOATHES it. He's that CA guy through and through. He always says things like "I love it when you don't wear ANY make-up." But don't buy it for one second. I promise you, when I put on the "full face" he's always like "You look so pretty! yadda yadda." He doesn't say that when I don't wear make up.

Moral of the story: Guys like make up. They love it. They just want it to look natural. In the meantime, I will be wearing my red lipstick to the grocery store and getting strange looks for it. That's fine with me.

Lipstick is NARS Jungle Red.

My two cents on {The Bachelor}

Couple of thoughts:

• Oh how I wish we could have gone to Costa Rica this year with my parents. How gorgeous is that place?
  
• That resort looks amazing but I would be nervous to be that close to a live volcano.
• Chantal O is a Looney Tune but boy is she a beauty. "I'm totally in love," on the second date...sounds like a few other Mormons I know. ;)
• Brad's "seriousness"is starting to get annoying. He would be kind of boring to be married to, I think.
  
• Brads attitude toward Michelle is just "shut up and lets get it on."
• Emily is still my fav
• Brad and Alli on two asses. Hilarious.
• Why does every girl on The Bachelor have fake boobs?
• How amazing are the car scene's? They can't just walk away and compose themselves, they have to talk to the camera all the way to the airport.
  
• You gotta hand it to Michelle, she knows how to make herself the star of the show. Even though she is just gross.
• Brad's mental capacity can't handle Michelle's level of manipulation. How awesome would it be if he sent her home?
• I'm bummed he sent Jackie home. She looks like Sandra Bullock meets a Kardashian.
  
• How about those promos?! Cant wait til next week.
  

I guess there was a big game on today...

I didn't really notice. I was too busy watching commercials and feeling super awkward during a really silly, out-of-tune, half-time show with a bunch of 40 year-olds jumping around in robot costumes. (Just sayin) And that is all the negative blither I will spout. (I did make the required "super bowl" chili, fyi).

We did do a quick drive to Santa Cruz because the day was BEYOND gorgeous. One of those days where you wake up, look outside, and thank your lucky stars that you are living in a ridiculously rent-inflated place. It's freaking February and look at this place.
Landon was pumped for puppies and boats. As usual.
I was happy he tolerated the stroller.
The only pic we took of the ocean. (back lit pic...someday we will find our regular camera but in the meantime we are very thankful for cellphone cams)Aw, these two.

MADE people.

MADE - MTV Shows

Oh my gosh! GAHHH! I'm already having an aneurysm. It is slightly masochistic to watch yourself, seriously.

It will air next Wednesday, 4pm est Feb 9th on MTV.

Egypt

Rod and I at Giza.
Almost exactly two years ago, RZ and I were just two terrified tourists roaming around Cairo. Well...at least one terrified tourist (me). I'm not your typical fearful tourist (In the word's of Brad Womack, "I promise you, " I'm not bragging). I grew up in an airline family with my mom working for the better part of my childhood as a flight attendant and my step-dad as a pilot. I had been to several Latin American and European countries and thought I was pretty savvy about international travel.

I have never been so unsettled in a place--perhaps it was because we were with a large, loud, touristy bunch and clearly stuck out, or maybe it was the aggressive cab drivers mobbing us to get in their taxi. Either way, it was a far cry from a whimsical frolic through Vatican City. Egypt felt very foreign in every sense of the word and volatile. I'm not trying to speak as an Egypt expert, rather a red-headed American tourist who didn't spend a lot of time there, just enough to see the Pyramids, the Cairo Museum with all the ancient Egyptian artifacts, and buy a few beetle rings.RZ and I with Indiana Bob (my step dad)
Fast-forward 2 years:
photo credit
Seeing the political unrest and violence in Egypt is sickening and for some reason, a lot more haunting after having been there. Watching the TV footage of what is going on and reading the cnn articles makes me feel so sad and helpless for these families and individuals suffering. How lucky to have seen the beauty and people of this area when I did, even for only a few days. The attacks on reporters, violence, lack of food and general pandemonium happening in Egypt is so awful.

In the midst of all the violence, there was one story from a few days ago that was inspiring.

I'm so grateful we live in a place where Democracy is paramount. Say what you will about our problems, but in my lifetime, we haven't had to deal with an evil dictatorship, royals, and overall oppression. I have never had to see or experience what these people are experiencing. I was just an American whisked into the country to marvel at the mountain-like Pyramids, touch all the sarcophagus's (because almost nothing at the museum is behind glass) and call it a day. Kind of a sobering realization considering what is going on there...

I hope that a resolution is made quickly and before too many people suffer.