family Jeopardy

This year for Adam's sibling family reunion we played a family Jeopardy game (a.k.a. Dikefest 2011). Clearly I looked nothing like Alex Trebec, but I was able to create a similarly cheesy game show host effect by fashion a toupee-like coif with my two toned hair*. Some of the younger contestants didn't even know it was me (ha! kids can be so dumb). 

If you have a family gathering coming up...play this game! You won't regret it. It took a little preparation, but between Facebook and a few peeks off of Grandma's ole' genealogy records, I was able to find some good info. Like a jerk, you might get an occasional fact wrong or start to sweat uncharacteristically, so you must be prepared to improvise. It's just fun, don't over think it. 


To get your ball rolling here are the categories we used:

-Odd man out (groups of family members and they figure out who is missing)

-Blogos (I show a picture, they name who the blog header or business logo pertains to)

-You're Hired (I say a job title, they tell me which family member has worked that job. This one was funny...the things people do to get by)

-Triple Bull Whip (I say the nickname(s) they tell me which family members it is. this one is fun for the kids)

-M.A.S.H (i show you the initials they give the full name of the person they think it is)

-It's a Date! (i show a date, they name why it's significant...birthday, anniversary etc.)

-Whiskers on Kittens (I show a group of favorite things - they guess who's they are)

-Eye see you (I show picture of a pair of eyes they name who they belong to...this is a favorite. kids rock at this one)

*It is not required that the host look like an idiot to have fun, but it helps!

team Boo ♥'s you

boo does Europe (in 6 minutes)

The last day of our trip we rented a car and braved the opposite day roads of the English countryside. It was both incredible and terrifying. You have to understand I am used to seeing cacti and monochromatic tan when i drive, so this just seemed too amazing to be real. Also I can count the number of times on one hand that I have seen my step dad get mad, and the best ones are definitely while in the car. Like once when my brother kept hitting the back of his chair with one of those blow up hammers and finally, in one fail swoop, he yanked it out of his hands and ripped it open with his teeth. It was awesome, and we'll never let him live it down. He was a bit stressed driving unfamiliar roads in an unfamiliar car on the wrong side of the car and street, but he drove like a champ and we all made it out unscathed. hooray.


We drove up to York and had a blast visiting some of my moms cousins, and then to Derbyshire to find my mom's childhood home. The owners were so nice and showed us all around. I know it meant a lot to my mom and was a sweet and meaningful way to round out the trip. Go to England! (also take me with you) It is the tits.

Does it make me a b-hole if i secretly cringe when people ask me about my vacations? It's not that i mind sharing, it's just the generic question "how was your trip?" (especially when i'm up to my face in laundry) Plus I can't tell if you actually really want to know that i ran out of socks half way in and had to keep washing them in the hotel sink, or if you just want to know that it was "awesome" so you can roll your eyes whenever i complain about life. You know, we all have our things - and as long as were telling secrets, i also hate calls on my birthday. boo. My point is, i'm glad i have this blog to save me from being annoyed with you, and for you to censor the details you don't give a crap about :)


It is inevitable that i will be kicking myself after every trip wishing i had taken more video footage. I'm sad I had to flesh this one out so much with slideshow...but what's done is done. 

Of course there is really no way to express my gratitude fully, this video is my "thank you" to my awesome parents who made this amazing trip happen. I love you guys! thank you thank you thank you thank you.....have a nice day.

boo does Europe from team boo on Vimeo.

How sick are you (carly) of hearing about my kid free Europe trip? This is the last post i promise, but feel free to watch on repeat while you secretly (openly?) hate my guts.


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old blighty

Since we have mortgages and children, the trip did actually have to come to an end. And what a better place to end it than London! A quick chunnel ride from France and i found myself in my new favorite place on earth (besides Disneyland and this one taco stand in Mazatlan) The place where adorable taxis, red telephone booths, crooked teeth and Jude Law run free. 

This first picture is funny to me because i was taking a self portrait in Hyde Park and this dude walks by and says in broken English "do you want me to take your picture so you can have a better face?" Oh that's okay sir, believe it or not, this is the face i am stuck with.

Remember my blog friend and "non drag queen" Renee? Well a couple months ago she asked her friends to vote for her brother's band (I Am We) who were finalists in a Hard Rock contest. Like a good wannabe BBFF i did. Story over, good luck Renee's brother, right? Wrong because guess who's real face i recognized from his internet face in front of Westminster Abbey? Re-nee's brother!! (said in unison) I asked him if he had a sister Renee (to be sure he and his cute wife were clear that i was her weirdo groupie not his) Turns out his band won a trip to London to play in Hyde park. I blubbered something crazy about "watching his sister online" and something sarcastic (shocker) about their band being there because of my vote (har har)...you know, to really drive the awkwardness home. Then I muscled my way in the middle of them for a picture with fanny pack in hand.

Did i mention i am really cool on the spot? Cause i was lying.

The Tower of London was my favorite place we went in the city. I wish i could go back since i only saw about half of it. As an American, it's always trippy when something was built before the 1986 let alone the 1200's. There is so much to see there and so many (one...the Tudors.) loosely historical showtime series to rent afterward and pretend like you know everything about English history.* Plus now that i am so well traveled, i am probably a lot smarter than you, sooooooooo.

Big Ben-ch* 

Stay tuned for England part 2 as we tour the english countryside (where fake looking landscapes and wrong side of the road driving through roundabouts claim 2600 tourists lives each year*)

*Also my mom is from England so (via my blood) i am basically an expert. Unless having never read the Harry Potter series trumps blood. In which case i know nothing.


*cool joke credit: brother-in-law jason


*this is a guess based purely on my fear for my life whilst driving through it in our rental car.


team Boo ♥'s you

salt in my wound

I have been eyeing Saltwater sandals for Elyott for at least 4 years now. Every time i go to buy them i just can't bring myself to spend 40 bucks on kids sandals. Mostly cause i know that it won't change the fact that she tucks her t-shirts into her stretch pants. This summer i almost took the plunge and bought her some from j crew. Again, i got cold feet and decided to wait.  

And booyah to the universe cause, wouldn't you know, that very same week i found some mint condition saltwater sandals at the thrift store in her exact size with the 1980's Mervyns sticker still attached!! 

"Ha! my frugality has finally been validated!" i thought. I paid the 4 dollars with my middle finger and cartwheeled my way home to show off my goods.  Even more amazing was that Elyott approved! "Try them on" i urged with my stupid faced Wallace and Gromit grin. They fit! 

annnnnd....SNAP! 

Turns out old leather doesn't age well. I kept them around a few days in denial hoping there would be some way to will the fibers back together with my sorrow, but all it did was piss me off more. Not only did she not have the cute shoes to wear but i was out 4 bucks that i could have put toward new ones (i still wouldn't have) okay so at least some gas station nachos or something.

Basically there is no moral to this story. Except for maybe the fact that the universe doesn't give a kitten's fart about what i do or don't buy for my 8 year old's feet. In which case i would say "touche' universe"

BUT then again maybe it does care, and it just really hates those shoes?? Either way...$2 Old Navy flip flops it is!

team Boo ♥'s you

Par-ie part 2

Now that i've been to the Louvre twice, i've probably seen about 25% of it. Maybe. Here i am 11 years and about 30 lbs ago :) Last times I was in Europe I lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks. That did NOT happen this time. Ah, good times.

My hands down favorite thing in Paris is the royal palace at Versailles (well technically it's in Versailles, but whatev) It is the estate of what became the ill fated King Louis the 16th and his once publicly loved Marie Antoinette. It is such a fascinating palace and story. And to think it was almost torn down after the rebellion. It has almost no furniture but the walls and ceilings speak for themselves...those royals were a class act.

My mom was bascially a 14 year old boy with all the stone genitalia we saw in Europe.  That probably answers a lot of your questions about me. 

The Luxembourg gardens were amazing, but I spent so much time trying to get a picture of this beat down pigeon's brain back that i forgot to get good pictures of the rest of the park before it closed. I think if you have to have your guts falling out of your body, then you might as well live out your final days at the Luxembourg. Smart little street rat. I did get a few videos of me tap dancing while we were there though. So between that and the zombie bird, we can all tell i clearly have a knack for priorities.

My favorite planking memory in France was when my little brother tried it in Versailles and got yelled at by some crazy french lady :/ The one above was particularly tricky since this escalator was on an incline. And the answer to your question is: YES. This definitely hurt my boobs.

By this time in the trip I was pretty breaded out and was dreaming hourly of tacos (or some equally delicious form of hamburger meat). Also I will never take all the free wi fi for granted again. Even our fancy pants hotel didn't hook us up. I didn't get to talk to my munchkins the whole time i was in France! 

Paris is a very cool city. Not as glamorous as people romanticize it to be (but maybe that's was just my manly blazer talking ;) but still very well worth a visit. It is strange because there are like 4 colors in the entire city. But it still managed to be very beautiful. Go to there, you won't regret it, but then take a train to Italy and never look baaaack!

One more country party people...

team Boo ♥'s you

better off French

Bon-jor (no accent). Now that i'm writing about my trip from home it feels way more annoying to act Fronch. Not that i really did it there. France was much more beautiful and clean than i remember. It is probably because the first time i went i was on a senior trip staying in seedy hotels with hairballs in the beds, and this time we stayed at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe. I felt like Eloise (minus the ratty hair)...cozy robes, running up the stairs to beat my brothers in the elevator (i lost) and sleeping on a feather dream of a bed. Much appreciated after a long night on the train. I was so fancy you wouldn't have even believed my fronchiness. If Adam were there I would have totally Fronch kissed his face off right in the lobby. But only cause we were in Paris, cause otherwise gross.

(my cute mom)

First stop: Eiffel tower! (smaller than i remembered) We got to the top right at sunset. Which was perfect because last time I went it was dark :/ It was so crowded though that we managed to get separated from my parents in the some 1500 square feet at the top?? We caught one of the few metros home before they shut down due to some local rioting in the streets. Bottles flying. Men fighting. total bananas. I scary. 

Some equally sketchy dude on the metro asked if i wanted a picture with him. I didn't cause i figured it was some new weird way to get tourists money, or pickpocket them (which by the way "you got to pick a pocket or two" was stuck in my head about 95% of my trip) Anyway it turns out he was "looking for a new girlfriend because his other one can't stop the 'coca' and he has been clean for 11 days." As enticing as it was to fill those shoes, i opted for just the picture :)

Since my parents were total Metro spazzes they caught one of the last trains BUT ended up miles from where they needed to be. Due to the street fighting they could not catch a cab and ended up walking home until 3:30 in the morning. Talk about midnight in Paris! 

We visited the Notre Dame too. I gave my little brothers the option of having me tap dance the rest of the way there or acting like a hunchback. They chose the tap dancing. I think the latter would have been more appropriate (more offensive?) but whatever. Either way both refused to walk next to me. 

(You'll have to excuse my brother chris, no one ever showed him how to not make a handicapped face in pictures.)

Can you believe that I didn't even remember to eat an eclair while i was there!? What a dummy! I even took the advice and looked up this little fronchy place that the fabulously stylish and newly Parisian Jordan Ferney recommended. So, if you are going to Paris go there and eat one for me! strike that....if we're gonna do this eat at least 5 for me (i have no will power).

p.s. It was finally cool enough to wear my blazer too. Except i don't like how butch i look in all the pictures with it implemented. It was seriously so hot in Italy and Spain and i was starting to feel a little dumb for building it up so much before i left (okay so its still dorky that i did) Cause now when i wear it here people are like "SOOO, is that the one!?" and then i'm like "aw this old thing...um well yes" and then i am annoyed with myself that i share such dumb things on such a public forum. Where was i?? Paris! yes....I intentionally didn't pack the classic stripes because that would be trying to hard since i was also toting a honking camera and "fanny" (I totally snobbed at the tourists who did. shhh)

p.p.s. if you are not drooling from boredom (or jealousy) come back to read Paris part deux tomorrow. It involves a little more tap dancing and a lot more immaturity.

team Boo ♥'s you

back in black

I am home! 


(No i haven't been in europe this whole time) Looking forward to getting back on track...going for a run, getting some one on one with my kids, editing my pictures, making out with Adam and blogging! (in no particular order). 


But today...I am gonna get crap done


So you'll have to wait a wee bit longer :) 
And i can't wait to read up on you guys! i just tried to start and then i got really overwhelmed and emotionally ate some ice cream instead. Why do i feel like i need to read every post i missed? I am feeling left out and I don't even know you! geez. turbo loser.


team Boo ♥'s you