5 Things I Didn't Do This Summer

 1.  Eat a healthy breakfast.  Every morning we drove to Jamboree and Alton Parkway and ate pastries at 85 Degrees.  Have you heard of it? If not, click on Yelp's reviews here to read all about it.  The four of us ate like we were in France, all for under seven bucks a day.

2.  Read Fifty Shades of Grey.  Instead I finished rereading Romeo and Juliet and left the romantic parts to my imagination.

3. Exercise.  Remember how I was getting into my personal fitness?  Well that ended three days after I bragged about it to you.  Summer kind of got in the way. But at least once a week, I cartwheeled along  Newport's sandy shore.  Does that count?  That was right after I had a red velvet cupcake from Susie Cakes.  Have you had one?

4.  Yell.  OK, maybe I yelled once or twice, but that's a major improvement for this passionate, crazed chica.  This summer I trapped my swamp witch and loved on my homies until they said, "What's wrong with you, Mom?" :)

5.  Listen to Spotify.  Have you downloaded it onto your computer yet?  They're going to put iTunes out of biz, I tell ya!  You can download and listen to any song for one low monthly price.  Or, you can be like me and listen to the free, but commercial filled version.  Still LOVE IT, and as I'm typing this I'm tapping my toes to Erasure's "Respect." Then next up is a little Skid Row, Smiths, and Santigold.

P.S.  Cali was worth every Benjamin I spent.  Just take a look at my homegurl.  Did the teachers at Maple do a good job or what? She's the very best.

My Girl and Pizza

Yesterday my homeboyz went to a D-backs game.  Since my homgurl and I didn't want to eat peanuts and Crackerjacks for dinner, we decided to stay home and do our own thang.  Instead of staying home and eating leftover potato soup like I had promised myself I would do, we hopped in the car and headed to Pizzeria Bianco.  If you're an Arizonian, you know this pizza joint is infamous for its 2 hour wait times.  We've attempted eating there before, but there isn't a pizza on earth worth that wait, not even Oprah can convince me otherwise.

When we pulled up to the valet  I said to my homegurl, "If it's more than a 30 minute wait, we're going to eat bean and cheese burritos at Del Taco."  She curled her lip and stuck her tongue out at that idea. "How about Cheesecake?" she said.

I rolled down the window and asked the young man, "What's the wait?"

He flung his hands in the air like I had just handed him Wonka's Golden Ticket.
"Lucky you," he said.  "We're dead tonight."

My girl and I looked at each other in disbelief as the valet excused us from our car.  In the eight years we've lived in Arizona, we had never been closer to sinking our chompers into food fit enough for Arizona Royalty.

The Pizza We Ordered

Our First Bites

Diet Coke in a glass bottle

Homgurlz Por Vida (for life)

 We gave the pizza a 7 out of 10.  We've had better, in NY, of course.

Myers-Briggs Personality Test

image via 

My sweet friend sent me this link to a Myers-Briggs personality test.  Have you ever taken one?  I took a similar test during my freshman year in college, but I couldn't remember its outcome.  Curious to see if my personality was similar to my friend's ENFP, I took the test.  Turns out I'm an ENFJ, just like Ronald Reagan, Ashton Kutcher, and my cousin Darcy.

What are you?

Put a Bird On It

Mi amor introduced me to the show Portlandia.  Do you watch it?  It's a satiric sketch comedy similar to SNL, and It's been on TV for two years, so you probably know all about it, and me sharing this video will be like seriously, chica, step into the now already.

While some of the sketches are not suitable for pious gals like you and me, some of the skits provide an insightful commentary about people, like me, who grew up in the nineties.  Hellou, lovers of Nirvana and everything grunge, am I describing you?

I made sure mi amor only showed me rated G clips, and now I'm sharing my favorite one with you.
After watching this video, you may agree that I should update my blog's banner.  The bird is so 3 years ago, right?  Why do I love birds on things?  And why do I still crank Kurt Cobain's "Smells Like Teen Spirit?"

Be Strong and Summer Reading

I just walked in the from the gym and took this gratuitous picture of myself.  Are you grossed out at the sight of my pits? Wipe the throw-up from your chin and be glad that I'm once again recommitting myself to physical fitness.  Unlike moi, you're probably already working-out, and you don't need to sweat all your swamp witch out before your homies awaken in the morning.  I really am a better person when I exercise.

We're spending most of our summer living with mi abuelo in Santa Ana, CA.  My homegurl will be dancing here while my homeboyz and I will be reading books from Arizona's 2012-2013 Battle of the Books reading list.  Between books we'll be hittin' up D-land and teaching ourselves to catch some serious waves.  I may even do back handsprings along Newport's shore.  What will happen to my c-section scars, though?  I will keep you posted.  In the meantime, I can't wait to hear and read about what you're doing this summer.

I've linked all the books from the list in case you're interested:

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

by Bruce Coville

Pictures of Hollis Woods

by Patricia Reilly Giff

Running Out of Time

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Rules

by Cynthia Lord

Battle Two

Chasing Vermeer

by Blue Balliett

Hatchet

by Gary Paulsen

Poppy

by Avi

Riding Freedom

by Pam Munoz Ryan

Battle Three

Because of Winn-Dixie

by Kate DiCamillo

Captain Nobody

by Dean Pitchford

City of Ember

by Jeanne DuPrau

Ella Enchanted

by Gail Carson Levine

Real Simple Essay Contest

Ryan Mesina

Are you entering Real Simple's fifth annual Life Lessons writing contest?  I'm thinking about entering, and I even have an idea of what I'll write about.  Here's the writing prompt if you're interested, too:


If you could change one decision that you made in the past, what would it be? No, you can't go back in time, but here's the next best thing. Think of a decision that you regret—anything from a ridiculous choice of prom date to a serious lapse in judgment—and tell us what the mistake taught you about yourself.


Go here to read all about it.

Mother's Day Getup Continued

 Eric, the one with the short hair, was my 11th grade nemesis. 

I covered my face and listened as the principal's voice fought through the speaker static, "This year's senior student body officers are as follows: Treasurer, Rita Hanks; Secretary, Megan Biggs; Vice President; Laurie Valroy..."

The new USB officers were all girls.  What was Eric going to do with a room full of intelligent, smart, and talented girls?  I belong in there. Pick me.  Pick me, everyone.  I hope you picked me--my last internal plea before the verdict was announced.

The principal paused, clearing his throat, "Ramona High's new student body president is...Katy Ballantyne!"

My class turned to look at me.  One boy started clapping and the rest of the room joined in.  I had won.  I, Katy, had defeated The Eric Ferguson!  But had it not been for mi Madre, I would have bowed out the day I came home crying.  Word to mi Madre!

P.S.  My homgurl said, referring to Eric's picture and all the trauma he caused, "Him, Mom?  He looks like he's missing a tooth."

"He's not missing a tooth," I said.  "It's just the way the picture looks.  But the guy next to Eric is my friend Matt.  He voted for me."

"That was high school, Mom.  Why are you talking about it now?"

"Good question."