all songs considered

i met this mac genius at a party on friday night and he gave me some good iphone tips, and mentioned one of his favorite apps is the NPR app. so i downloaded it. and i love it. it has great articles and interesting reads but my favorite is the all songs considered program. every night i've been following asleep to it. there's something about the guys voice and the tunes he plays that just works.

i love having music play in the background all the time--when i'm working, doing dishes, getting dressed, falling asleep, or just hanging, life is always a little better with some good tunes. i feel like living with holly, brooke and denise upstairs in apt b taught me this. music was always on and somehow the music always fit the mood. and sharing a room with holly meant falling asleep to music most nights. i miss that upstairs. and when i hear the songs we listened to over and over it will always make me remember and cause me to tear up and think about how good we had it.

dreams

okay, so i know no one likes to hear about other people's dreams but everyone always wants to share their dreams, well i just remembered mine from last night and wanted to write it down b/c it made me laugh for some reason. warning: i know its not going to be funny to you, but this is my blog so i honestly dont really care that much. :) love you.

i dreamt that i had to give a 4-6 minute speech on something. anything. and of all the zillion things i could have chosen to give a speech on i chose lebowskifest. and i was going to bring in the bumper sticker that my friend gave to me as my prop. i guess i need to watch the big lebowski soon and drink a white russian.

xo

aunt corky

microfinance.

oh and i am researching extensively about microfinance/microloans, the good that it does, how i can help and contribute. great oprah show on empowering women, and this was a huge part of it. and i want to read this book Half the Sky, as empowering women is the issue of our generation: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/oprahshow/pkgregistry/20090925-tows-microloans

Microloans: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/oprahshow/pkgregistry/20090925-tows-microloans

Educate yourself with me.

xo

aunt corky

as of late.

i have been bad at posting but wanted to document a few updates and maybe one day i'll go back and write the details about them...

-i am going to a murder mystery party this weekend. i've never done one, but can remember being a kid and my parents going to one dressed up and leaving us at home with a babysitter. weird how this is coming full circle and now attending one and will be leaving my little ones at home with a sitter.
-i am VERY anxious for mr. yogato to open on the east side. its been since july that i had my first experience with mr. yogato and have been waiting patiently i might add for it to open. but this is getting ridic. OPEN ALREADY. i'll be your biggest fan, and bring friends by the dozens.
-still cooking. made salmon and rice pilaf a few weeks back and recieved rave reviews, doing a different salmon dish for girlfriends tomorrow night, and after having chocolate mousse with a rasberry on top at a party on saturday that is my next treat to try. mostly because i want to put whipped cream on top of it and place a beautiful rasberry on the top. just seems fancy and gourmet.
-my trainer is moving at the end of the week. i feel terribly sad. she deserves her own post for sure. jessica is so amazing, and wonderful, and has a great laugh and has seriously been the MAIN reason i have lost some weight, climbed a rock wall, eat a little healthier, and dont fear walking into the gym anymore. we have had some of the best conversations--some so honest and deep, most full of laughs and each i am so thankful for.
-the bon iver show that i saw this past sunday was magical and amazing. the pre and post events were wonderful as well. i am blessed with great people in my world. i'm not worthy.

okay, back to work and then off to get my hair did.

xo

aunt corky

what a stinker.

An email from Ashley..."So I was do proud of hunter for finishing his whole plate of mini waffles...then a few minutes later I found him behind the table and there were his waffles carefully placed in each section of this Halloween candy tray. Silly boy."

so of course i think that my nephew is the cutest, funniest, most amazing human to roam the planet...getting this email and photo on saturday made me laugh out loud, and realize that there are going to be some pretty amazing stories to come. he's developed such a personality, and just imagining his brain plotting this makes me laugh, smile and worry for ash and bill all at the same time. he kills me.

xo

aunt corky

precious.

okay, so i have always loved katherine heigl. i think she's gorgeous, has an amazing laugh, fiercely loyal to her friends and just seems like a fun human.

i watched her announce on ellen that her and her new husby were adopting a baby girl from s. korea with special needs. i fell more in love with her as i have always had the desire to adopt. not now of course (or for a long long time) but one day i hope.

i melted when i saw these sweet photos she released. what an angel. i love baby arm fat.

http://www.jasonheiglfoundation.org/news.html

enjoy!

aunt corky

to control reality is to destroy possibility.

when we try to control everything and believe that we know whats best, or our way is the only right way, we dont allow other possibilities to bubble up to the surface. i love and cling to the promise that the unthinkable is possible with God. but when i really look at myself and how i've been living, i find this to be more true (with the help of listening to god and wise counsel)-- i like being in control and want to make sure that i'm okay, others around me are okay, and everything is going according to plan (mine not god's). i choose to participate and go thru out my day making sure i dont walk into a situation i can't handle, i want to assess the situation and if its "safe" then i'll dive in, but if there is a risk of feeling stupid, getting hurt, or thinking that i might fail, i'd rather abort the situation, back out, or reverse and act as though i wasnt interested, its not my responsibility, or didnt want it that bad. put it to bed and move on. no one gets hurt.

what i think god's been telling over the past few months is by living this way the small and big things of life, i miss out on experiencing the many possibilities of God and what he can do. i've put my relationship with him in a box and said let's stay here where its safe, where i am comfortable, where i know i wont fail, where each day comes and goes and i havent let god be as big as he could be...which speaks to how much i dont understand the fullness and depth of god's glory and his power. my prayer is that god will break thru the box i put him in and i can begin to experience the possibilities of god and i'll be humbled by the way he orchestrates the details of my life because i trust him to be in control. not me.

i want to experience the possibilities of this life with the god who's greatness i'll never comprehend until i see him face to face.

third base.

been playing softball with friends for the past few weeks. every wednesday i suit up, get to the game about 30 minutes early for warm-ups and drills, and take my place as third baseman. i am tough, crush the ball at bat, catch most line drives that fly at my face, and i think most players on the other team are scared of me. but this is softball and we are out there to win.

we are not the team that shows up 5 minutes before the game, drinks beer, makes quite a few errors, has a girl playing third base (me), who misses most balls that come her way, and the other team calls her cute and girly when she's at bat. no way. no how.

just look at us.

favorites as of late.

just thought i'd throw out a few of my favorite things that i am enjoying as of late. some are new, some i've always loved, and some i suppose will only last for a season.

-bon iver (in anticipation for his show during ACL)
-go naked's (my friend courtney's famous margarita...)
-hanging by the pool at my parents house
-brooklyn lager
-the book captivating by Stasi Eldridge
-wearing skinny headbands
-mad men (season 3 just started)
-downloading & learning about new iphone apps
-cooking & wearing an apron (hoping this one sticks around for a while)
-summer dresses
-podcasts
-making lists in my tiny moleskin (and crossing things off)
-self serve yogurt! probably should be at the top of the list, i can't get enough
-silly pop songs from the radio (Party in the USA Miley Cyrus, Battlefield by Jordin Sparks, Love Story by Taylor Swift)
-and blogging ( i hope this one sticks as well)

that's enough for now.

more to love.

okay, so i got home and turned on the tv and "more to love" and i observed something to ridiculous. ( i know the entire show is ridiculous but this observation is totally ridic).

it really is sooo much like the bachelor, and they seem like normal peeps, but at the ring ceremony where he lets someone go, they showed all the girls eating cake and snacks, normally on the bachelorette they do show those girls drinking, NEVER eating, but for sure drinking.

do you think its b/c the idea or premise of the show is these are "normal" people, more to love, bigger women? how sad and sooo stupid.

that's it. i just had to tell someone how lame and stupid that was.

hayley boop-if you read this blog can you get back to me on that since you work at FOX?

xo

aunt corky

ps: aunt b--there's room in this world for 2 aunts. :)

Maximus Eli Day

well blog, there is another fantastic man in my life who makes me melt at the site of him, and has a great head of hair, and a very sweet disposition.

his name is maximus eli day and he's 3 days old. i think we'll be life long friends.

i need to make sure mom and dad day are okay with me posting his pic but i will upload a few shots of him soon. (they are proud to show him off!)

d is an amazing friend, and wife and now i know she will be one of the coolest, kind, and greatest mom on the planet.

well done days. well done.

xo

aunt corky

bed blogging

its a new favorite past time of mine. i love being in my bed, i believe if someone did a study they would find mine is the coziest. i love reading in bed so the other night i wrote my "i have thoughts" post in my bed. and its so fun to sit their with pillows propping me up and type away.

i will admit i also feel a little bit like carrie from sex and the city, when i type in my bed. one time i even smoked a cigarette while working and typing in bed. i opened the window, there was a great breeze and i smoked the cig and typed and thought i was way cool. for just a minute and then i was over it.

so this morning i couldnt sleep so i woke up and wanted to blog. I grabbed my computer opened it up and propped it up on my knees, next thing i know the whole computer is flying towards my face and bonks me on the nose, it hurt so bad and is still throbbing, i am praying it does not turn black and blue or leave a mark. i am never smoothe.

xo

corky

patience is a virtue...

that i do not possess as of late. i move too quickly and and if people, ideas, thoughts and feelings dont keep up i get frustrated.

i am praying for patience and kindness towards others as we are all just trying to exist and you never know what people are going thru or where others have been, so how can i say that they should know what i know, or think the way i think. maybe they are just as frustrated with me?

in college i would probably write a verse about patience on an index card and put it on my dash to memorize but i think for the next week i am just going to stop and pray. whether its a quick 5 second prayer in the middle of a meeting or being on my face alone in my apt and asking god for peace and patience i am confident he'll meet me where i am at. he's good like that.

grimsley family "staycation"

this just in...the grimsley family vacation to south carolina has been re-routed to the great city of austin. with everyone's meetings, vacation time, and hunter's workaholic mentality we couldnt get the week to work out right. BUT that's okay as long as we get to be together for a handful of days it doesnt really matter where we are.

lounging in the pool yesterday with my mom and dad we started brainstorming the itinerary for the labor day weekend. i thought i'd document and welcome any suggestions as well.

-take hunter to the austin children's museum
-mandola's winery for wine and dinner
-hamilton pool or barton springs
-dinner at Frank
-tavern for football and white wings (my dad still has not been)
-grimsley golf --i said i'd play a few holes, i am the ONLY grimsley who doesnt play regularly, even Hunter plays more than i do. (he carries his golf club with him everywhere). :)
-Lakeway waterpark
-drink great wine on dad's tab
-lounge in the pool and eat good bbq, and drink margaritas

so family let me know if this list sounds good, and if we want to add or remove.

looking forward to staying in austin with the fam.

xo

aunt corky

i have thoughts.

i saw Julie and Julia last night with Brooke and Sam and i loved it. both brooke and i said that half way thru the movie we were so glad that we chose to go see that movie as i wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

we laughed thru out the entire film as Meryl Streep did an amazing job as Julia Child, but even more i was so intrigued by the person of Julia Child. The word JOY kept coming to my mind over and over. she had this gift of engaging with everyone she met, and passionately pursuing something she wanted to do and believed in. they worked so hard to make the cookbook happen. didn't know i would love her so very much.

both brooke and sam have great laughs, and so it was so fun to laugh at parts of the movie together and hear such great laughs. i got overwhelmed with happiness during this film, it was an experience. fo sho.

julie (who cooks and blogs her way thru the entire julia child book) was quite great herself. i titled my post after a favorite line she says. "i have thoughts", i feel that way all the time. i have all these thoughts swirling around in my head and wonder do i share them all? do i keep them to myself? are they weirder then anyone else's thoughts in the world? either way, i do have thoughts and it makes me to continue to write and blog and share so i can look back and see what i was thinking about the small and big things of life. thanks blog.

then we shared beers with jg, b and erik who were in the theatre next to us seeing the glorious bastards (not my cup of tea) at the draught house.

I love going to the draught house. It is one of my most favorite places in austin. roone (my favorite bartender) came out from around the counter to give me a hug, poured me a beer and had a bowl of goldfish waiting for me when i came out of the bathroom. it was good to be back--it had been a while. btw--my new favorite beer right now is a brooklyn lager, its fantastic.

i bet now every blogger in the world is wondering if someone will stumble upon their blog, cause a frenzy, have a book published about it, and then turn it into a feature film...i do not believe that will be the case with this blog, but it definitely crossed my mind.

parkside, frank and the other boom boom room.

well i didnt want the week to go by without blogging about last weeks fun friday. as mentioned in previous blog post "austin social scene" some friends and i have come up with a list of things we'd like to do in our great city. on friday--we knocked out 3 great ones.



The night started with drinks and fun appetizers at Parkside. parkside is newer and none of us had been. they have fabulous drinks, great atmosphere and some tasty tasty treats.

next stop was Frank. a fabulous new gourmet hot dog restaurant downtown. the space is fabulous and a real cozy place with amazing tasty bites. i had corn dog nuggets that tasted like little bites of heaven.

fast forward to about midnight and you've got a car full of friends ready to shake it on the dance floor of the boom boom room. we danced and sweated till 2 AM, danced on the table that is there for just that purpose and had an absolute blast. the boom boom room is about the size of my living room and people just cram in and dont stop dancing till they turn on the lights. it was a late night but one for the books for sure.

thru out the night you could find me pulling out my brown moleskin to scratch each event off the list. we knocked out 3 things and each was as fun as i had hoped.

x0

-cg

a picture debut.

well it is 2009, i am a digital producer (meaning my entire life is spent thinking about how people use the digital space), my sister does it, and so does the entire world. I will now start using pictures (when appropriate) on my blog.

blog--i reached out to you about this issue quite some time ago and never heard back so i assume you will be okay with this new addition.

i thought i'd throw a few pics up of my favorite subject: Hunter William Blalock.

he is getting so big, and funny and i miss him dearly. i am so thankful my sis is so good at documenting the random and fun moments so i can pretend like i am there when he eats doughnuts, plays in the backyard and tries new food. i'm hoping to see them in the next few weeks.

supposedly he says "court" (which is my name) when he sees my pic, which makes my heart melt and my eyes tear up. didnt know it was possible to love something so much.

that's all. stay tuned for more stories, deep thoughts, and now pics.

xo

aunt corky

austin social scene.

driving home from port a with the "road trip gals" we decided to start making a list of things we havent done but always wanted to do in the great city we all reside. austin-one of the best cities in the world in my opinion. i need to get the list down and out of my tiny gurnal so here i go. i can't wait to do these things with some of the best people on the planet.

i titled the list Austin Social Scene in my book so i will keep it at that.

Austin Social Scene:

-Rollergirls
-Round Rock Express game
-Fonda San Miguel
-Frank's (new gourmet hot dog restaurant)
-Parkside for Oyster's and Champagne
-Olivia
-Live on the Lake
-Cafe Blue for Brunch on Lake Travis
-Boat Dock
-BBQ Roadtrip (luling, lockhart, etc)
-Midnight Bike Ride
-Master Pancake Theatre
-Alamo Drafthouse Sing Along
-Chicken Shit Bingo
-tailgating for UT game
-Float the river
-Farmer's Market
-Rolling Road Show
-Port A (twice a year) --special request by B
-Ski Trip ( i really want to make this happen)
-Ranch 616-Bachelor Meet Up ( meet my FH Jesse, the winemaker, from the bach)
-Temple Road Trip ( Souder's boat, lake belton, beers, tour Dr. Chris's hospital, and lots of laughs)
-Wine Tour (dinner at Mandola's)
-Wurstfest
-Oktoberfest
-Party at the Greer's (with live band)
-Rib Rocks aka Rib Off
-Spring Awakening Broadway Musical (girls only)
-Austin Ballet
-Dance at the boom boom room
-Night Swim at the Grimsley's house (girls only...for obvious reasons)
-Scoot Inn for skee ball and beers
-Longbranch and Lustre Pearl
-Brown Bar in the historic Brown Building for drinks
-Volunteer/Serve at a homeless shelter
-Ski Shores for burgers and floating in the water
-Mushashino (i've never been and my friends say its better than uchi)

wow. we've got a lot to accomplish, but its fun to have these down so i can reference and check them off the list!

i can't wait to blog about port a. stay tuned!

xo

-cg

a new leaf.

so i got a trainer. i joined a gym right by my house and figured the only way to get my ass in gear was to get a trainer to make me get my ass in gear. she's pretty cool. i'm already sore. my arms hurt as i was typing on my blackberry.

i am pretty excited about it--i know. its only day one, but i'm thinking i'll keep the momentum going.

i was actually doing pretty well until she made me do this plyo-metrics drill where you jump on this box alternating legs for a minute. i was horrible at it. i wanted to die and i was so uncoordinated i felt so dumb. oh. and i fell over and this man caught me. it was awesome.

b/c i joined the gym i got some "free" perks. one being a massage. i think after i make it thru my first month of training i will redeem it.

i'm also working on maintaining my center. which means you are all aligned, glutes tightened, shoulders back, pelvis tucked under a bit. next time you see me i'll probably look taller.