Odd Bird

There is not a lot of excitement going on with me these days. I'm reading lots of books, but took a trip to the library after I discovered I had spent $50 on books for my Kindle last month. My dad was like, "That's not bad. You'd spend more buying hardbacks."

Alas he is correct, however I don't ever buy books. Historically I went to the library or borrowed books from my friend Jamie. Now I have $50 worth of digital books that I have read but cannot share with my pal Jamie.

Boo hiss.

Kindle Hiatus is in full effect.

Moving on to a total Betsy story. My favorite bar in town, The Ball and Biscuit, has been open for a year. As part of their celebration, the owner is hiding one $25 gift card around downtown Indy each day for like a week. He is posting clues on FB to find them. I love a good scavenger hunt. My mom did a great one for me on like my 11th birthday to find Samantha, my American Girls Doll. Yes, I was 11. Yes, I was playing with dolls. Shut it.

So Trinity is like, "you're not working, go find one of those gift cards!"

I set off for my 6:30 a.m. yoga class early to hit up the Indiana War Memorial to locate one of them there gift cards.

Picture it....

the sun is rising and an odd girl is running laps up and down the steps and then in circles around the obelisk looking for the card.

I looked like I was getting exercise, running the stairs, but I had my purse all Estelle Getty style.

I didn't find it. I felt defeated. Scavenger/Treasure hunts aren't as fun when you don't find the scavenge or the treasure. I will try again tomorrow. I'm thinking someone already snagged it, rather than that I have poor eyesight. I've had Lasik, so I refuse to accept that.

Moving on to yoga, my pal and instructor Amy pushed me to do a headstand.

I was scared.

She was pushy.

I have shared my donkey kick story from childhood and my reluctance to do anything resembling gymnastics.

She was pushy.

I did it.

She totally held my legs up.

I count it as a small victory.

When I came back down, I considered doing this-

Getty images

but I didn't.

I'm thinking chalk powder all over me might help my form.

Lastly I moved on to the post office.

I hate the Post Office. I recognize that it is a federal office, so I might be put on some sort of watch list for saying that.

They are usually mean to me.

I needed to return something and brought the box in.

The lady asked me if I wanted to ship it PRIORITY MAIL.

I did.

She then handed me this-

clearly she has never seen me gift wrap something.

I hate these things.

There was no one in line at 8 a.m, yet she watched me wrestle with this tape thingy whilst trying to hold my box edges together.

I taped my chest to the box while simultaneously removing the tip of my left pinky finger.

That didn't happen, but it was probably definitely worthy of a youtube video.

Package returned, on to a day of little activity.

Stay tuned for scavenger updates.

I am determined!

Kenny, Weddings and Milkshakes

Last week was incredibly boring. It was the first time I've been bored all summer, so I filled my days with reading, cleaning and spanking my sister in Words with Friends. That silly sibling encouraged me to put that App on my new smartphone, and now her every attempt at victory has been quelled by her sister who has a penchant for words.

See why I'm winning?

Now here are our conversations:

K: You keep winning because you're better at words, but I'm better at tile placement.

B: I think I keep winning because I'm better at words AND at tile placement.

Last night was the best. After a neck and neck game I won. She called me a skank. I replied with

In the words of Rikki from Girls Just Want to Have Fun-

"No Matter how hard you try, you'll never be as good as me."

So my whole Words story has a point, other than just giving Katie some trouble. On Thursday night my phone scrabbling was interrupted by a call from high school BFF Mandy.

You know her.

We became good friends in junior high, but became especially close in high school when we both scored jobs at the Dairy Queen located behind our school. In all fairness, Mandy got the job first and convinced the pervy manager to hire her equally lanky pal. We grew closer as we shared a special affinity for crushed Reese's Cups and also a shared disdain for our subsequent ill-fitting black shorts.

This was prom. Our natural curls looked hot when a few strands were pulled down and curling ironed. In case you're wondering, we doubled as Jackie Kennedy and Miss Indiana 1996.

This final cheesy iPhone photo taken of my high school scrapbook shows us ready for Homecoming. Mandy's sister Angie was on the Homecoming court that time. She was rockin' a tiara on top of that bouffy bob. I was never on the Homecoming Court. Don't get me started. That's a whole different post.

I hope you enjoyed that background. Mandy was calling with an extra ticket to see Kenny Chesney in concert. I'm kind of a closet Kenny fan. I don't think it's generally known that I loved that straw hatted mini man. But I do, so I jumped on the chance to go with Mandy and Angie and some of Ang's friends.

Giddy up! We wore shirts and shoes, because we figured if we didn't we would have problems.

Mandy found a toddler toy in Angie's bad a** mini van. Of course I had to get a picture. I'm not even being snarky about the mini van. I want one. I'm very lethargic and prone to napping. The idea of not even having to shut my own doors sounds awesome.

We met this rowdy man post entry. I am posting this even though I look like Khloe (all gigantic and fat) next to Kortney and Kim. This man was the size and shape of Woody from A Toy Story. His outfit was a hoot.

Angie replaced her tiara with a straw lid. Too cute.

The night was amazing. Mandy talked incessantly, and I laughed at every thing she said. I felt 15 again.

Mandy is a bit of a rebel.

I am a rule follower.

We go together like peas and carrots.

Scenario #1:

There were 600 women in line for the bathroom.

M: We're not waiting in that line.

B: We have to! I have to go!

M: Follow me.

(She walks to the door clearly marked OUT)

B: MANDY, I can't. We'll get in trouble.

M: With who?

(grabs my arm and 30 seconds later I am relieving myself in a stall.)

The euphoria of no longer having to urinate and being a rule breaker was intoxicating. Maybe that was the beer. I don't know.

We marched right out and got lots of death stares but not one comment.

I forgot how generally no one messes with two nearly 6 feet tall women.

Mandy is the female version of Steve McQueen.

Her commentary is also sometimes similar to that of a first grader. I would liken her to a character known as "Mrs. Obvious."

As we were walking behind a fellow she says,

"Look at the cat hair on his shirt. He must have a cat."

I nearly wet myself.

She is truly hilarious and I almost cried with hysterics several times during the evening.

Thanks girlies for an amazing night!

Oh and Kenny was fun.

T and I went to the Shelbi Street Cafe in Fountain Square on Saturday for lunch. I didn't have a shake but thought the shake mixers were worthy of a photo.

We went back to the park where things were in full bloom!

This man was on a unicycle. I can't figure out how he gets on top to start.

I make Trinity take a picture often before I leave the house. I have to make sure that I look the way I think I do. I have confirmed with at least one other friend that she does this too. I'm sure there are more of us out there. The best part of this pic is the pair of cowboy boots from the Kenny concert that I had yet to pick up off the floor.

We went for sushi, or sushis as Trinity calls it. We stopped by Robeghan's for a brief visit.

Mom and Dad had been to a wedding and had to pick up London, who had stayed with Robeghan. Mom has perfected the Betsy lean and leg tuck for photos. Well done, mother!

Prohibition

T, Robeghan and I headed to the Indiana History Center for a fun evening that combined the history of Prohibition with a little drinking.

Oh, the irony-

We enjoyed a Tom Collins cocktail in the Cole Porter room.

T said my outfit was like a zebra who had been saddled.

I can see that.

This seasoned bartender taught us how

to make Tom Collins drinks and sazeracs.

This drink featured a brandied cherry.

I have decided that the only thing I like more than fresh fruit is fresh fruit drenched in alcohol. So nutritious yet so intoxicating.

Miss Indianapolis herself, Miss Molly, was in attendance.

This was an Indy Hub event, so it was totally her territory.

She reigned supreme as Queen Bee of socializing and beverages.

A Heavily Photographed Celebration of Me!

Mother's Canon was out in full force on Saturday night to celebrate my birthday at my parents' house.

There are lots of pictures of me. I was the star. Consider yourself forewarned.

We started with a fabulous pink and green cake. The cake was pink and green. It made me wish I was a fan of Lilly Pulitzer attire, which I'm not. I am a huge fan of cake though, so I was super excited.

It was from Tiers of Elegance. I told my brother this. He was so confused, exclaiming, "that's a terrible name for a cake place." I had to spell tiers, not tears. No one's crying over cake, least of all me.

We started with margaritas. Mom hates them. She even tried to send one back at a Mexican restaurant once. I had to drink hers and mine to avoid wasting it. I love margaritas, but hate the heartburn that always follows them.

Prom style pics with the parentals.

Here are all of the young kids.

Robeghan, T, moi, Kate, Ryan, Molly and Megan

Molly wooed us all with her 2 year old preciousness. She liked to kiss her daddy.

Kate came down from Chicago for the weekend to visit. She also came to take a fabulous picture.

Precious face

which is a mini version of her mother's precious face

Robby was the grill master.

Then things got silly. My dear mother wanted me to pose with my husband. I did this move instead.

Oh, I'm so glamorous-

Yes, yes, Betsy, you're the next Cindy Crawford.

And I was just so busy being stunning that I didn't realize that I did this-

THAT FACE!

The one I claim I don't make even though everyone says I do it all the time!

Yes, it looks familiar.

You've seen it here

I fold.

I do make that face. Now that I have admitted it, perhaps I can stop contorting my features into that horrible look.

Speaking of ridiculous smirks...

Cooperate, please.

We are so funny!

We must look at the mamarazzi!

We ended the evening with cake and a very cooperative toddler who enjoyed saying

"Happy birthday, Beshee."

Thank you to my parents who made this birthday ever so happy with a little soiree, a pedicure, iPhone, Hobo clutch and a book version of this here silly li'l blog.

xoxo

My Dad's a Peach

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful father, who made me who I am today. He might not want credit for my demanding and annoying attributes.

He's always been a hoot of a man.

Patient, kind, with no temper at all.

This fact was proven by his mild reactions to my pitiful attempts at sports throughout childhood.

He was definitely a "just try your best" type of dad.

I rarely tried my best in athletics.

That might have made me sweat.

This might be my favorite photo of us, taken when I was about 3, and Dad is 33.

In honor of the holiday, I thought I'd include some of those hilarious cards that I love, both of which are appropriate for our relationship.

www.someecards.com

*this last one is a total exaggeration. He totally stopped paying my credit card when I was 23. That's when I gave up my final Shell gas credit card. I would really like to have that again.

As I was preparing this,my dear mother told me that I didn't do a Mother's Day post for her. Oh, the shame and guilt that woman can bestow upon her middle child.

She doesn't like to be left out.

She always came to Dad's Weekends at the DG house because she didn't want to miss the action.

Oh, and we were very happy to have her.

So here's a little tribute to Jane, courtesy of Brittany, Jeannette and Eleanor.

Birthday fun and a Concert

I turned 32 on Monday. Yay for me. I got lots of goodies in the mail, including Nordstrom gift cards from my in-laws and sista Katie, moolah from Aunt Shirley, and a sassy little Sephora gift card from best friend Nicole. T came home from work with this pretty little sparkly-

along with some beautiful flowers. He then took me to Chick-fil-a and to see The Hangover II. I've never seen a sequel that is just the same movie repeated. It was pretty lame.

The party continued the next day with a trip to see Ray LaMontagne in concert, birthday tickets courtesy of brother Robby.

I wore my new necklace that was a birthday gift from best friend Jamie, who took me to brunch on my birthday along with Allison. I regaled Allison with tales from my 12th birthday pool party. I reminded her that her job was to bring the cool factor then, as she was 16 and very awesome. Big sister Katie was her sidekick in coolness, as I looked adoringly at them while they organized my fellow gangly preteen friends into teams to toss water balloons. Sadly, neither of them remembered much about what I considered to be a very memorable day. Boo hiss. Allison still brought the cool to my birthday 20 years later.

We had a stunningly beautiful evening to listen to Ray.

Sweet Steph and I covered ourselves in blankets after it got dark. It was a tad chilly in Indiana in June. Fabulous!