okay let's skip day 13 and 14. on to 15.

if you want day 13 and 14, go to a previous blog.

day 15: my dream house.
http://www.cooptours.com/host/northog/index.html?mls=1

day 12: something i'm OCD about.

**full blog entry disclosure** this posting will ACTUALLY have wedding updates! wahoo!

okay, day 12 in this 30 day blog that i swear has been spread out into like two months. i'm OCD about a whole lot of things. little things that don't matter or really make sense to other people but my BIGGEST is not finding any of my belongings. let me explain: i'm a hardcore sagittarius. if you're into astrology like i am and read the sag discription..yeah it's me. to the core. i'm a very very messy person, as sags are meant and astrologicaly made to be. even though there's a pile of clothes in the corner, books and magazines stacked on a coffee table, or random belongings on the bed..i can tell you exactly what is in the pile, in the right order. if something is moved or kicked out of that order and i cannot find it..Houston, we have a problem. i will cut someone if i can't find it. it literally drives me crazy. i'll know it's there and in my head it won't make sense why it's not! it could have been a common courtsey of someone to put it where it should really be [ie: clothes shouldn't be anywhere but hung in the closet] but i'll be at the point of no return. ask my parents, i've been this way since i was a little kid.

the moment you've been waiting for: updates on le wedding! [i'm sure you haven't been waiting on the edge of your seat but pretend, k?]

SOOOOOOOOOO..we have the venue booked! finally, finally, FINALLY! our wedding will [officially] be at The Old Red Museum in Dealy Plaza, Downtown Dallas on October 21, 2011 at 6pm. i'm so excited. Old Red has so much history behind it and is an essential part of Dallas. LOVE IT!

Michael and i celebrated our 3 year anniversary on the 23rd, last weekend. i woke up that Saturday morning and began my celebration early by chopping off all of my hair. my hair was a little past my shoulders and a little longer because i also had extensions so it made it look soooo much longer than it already was [punk'd you all, suckas]. we celebrated by having glorious sushi, delicious starbucks and then went and saw Nowhere Boy at the Magnolia. it was PERFECT! nothing too fancy but a wonderful, wonderful date!


you can check out some of these websites to get an idea of what i've been talking about:
www.oldred.org
www.landmarktheatres.com/market/dallas/themagnolia
www.nowhereboy.com

let the hardcore wedding planning begin!
xo

day 8. 9. 10. and while we're at it, 11.

I'm way behind on this blogging business. What can I say, I'm a very very busy gal. No but really, I've been so busy it's crazy. I hardly have time for anything! With wedding planning and work..my hands are full 24/7! I love it but, I think it's time to get an assistant like every other Hollywood actor out there. It's the norm, right? Sure, I'll log into Facebook to do a little stalkerooing but who doesn't? Here at the latest pictures. Ps. I hate the whole picture blog thing..this whole 30 day thing is starting to get a little repetive. JUST saying. xo

Day 8: photo that makes me sad/angry

This is absolutely disgusting! I have no problem saying that I absolutely HATE war of any kind. I don't support it and I never will. Look at these little kids, seriously? What the hell is wrong with the world today?! They view fighting and guns on a daily basis. Republicans, you happy? Innocent little kids carrying guns around and it doesn't help that we have troops there parading around these fire arms just adding fuel to the fire in which these children see EVERY DAY! Next :]

Day 9: photo i took

mami y papi*

Day 10: photo of me from at least 10 years ago

Obviously, way over 10 years ago. I can't stand how adorable I am in this picture! I was very particular about the way my mom dressed me. She would pick out the outfits, I would accesorize. Color choice of this outfit: YELLOW. :]


Day 11: recent photo of me

Showing off my engagement ring, d'uh. I'm so proud of the ring Michael gave me. People have been so materialistic and rude upon looking at my ring. I'm sorry that it doesn't look like every other ring out there and I'm sorry that it doesn't weigh my finger down. It's called being UNIQUE and not following the crowd. Quit hating!

scratch day 6, move forward to day 7

day six in the 30 day journal..i've already done. look at my previous posts for that.

i'm jumping ahead to day 7. why? because i don't like following rules.


day 7: picture that makes me happy.



Agustin was just 5 when this picture was taken. after a long day of swimming, he was still as happy as he could be. If you don't already know, Agustin is my little brother and he is 12 years my junior. he is the coolest kid ever! tease him or bully him and i'll beat you to a pulp. :]


***WEDDING UPDATE*** just recieved paperwork/contracts for our wedding AND we take our engagement pictures this month. i'll keep you updated :]

'til then.
xo

favorite quote [day five]

..As always, I can't just do one.

I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I'm one of those people. -John Lennon


There are beautiful sounds in rock. Very lazy, dreamlike noises. You can forget about the lyrics in most songs. Just dig the noise, and you're got our sound…We're musical primitives. -Andy Warhol


Reality is something you rise above. -Liza Minnelli


Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin. -Alice in Wonderland


Dreaming is a singing of the mind and taste is just like seeing to the blind. -Sean Lennon


You see, we are here, as far as I can tell, to help each other; our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies. That is to help each other and not hurt each other. -Stevie Ray Vaughan


And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. -The Beatles


xo.

favorite book [day four]

i'm jumping the gun because i haven't been consistant with my blogs. so, i did two in a row. this one is one of my favorites, anyway, so i had to do it! if you haven't read any of these, THEY ARE A MUST!

favorite tv show [day three]

JUST NOW GOT OBSESSED! soooooooooooo good.

favorite movie [day two]

"don't you have any regular friends?" [william]
"..famous people are just more interesting." [penny lane]

30 day journal [day one]

Not much has been going on in the life of Jimena. I've just been working a ton and planning a trip to McAllen for this upcoming weekend. My cooking has been put on hold because I just don't have the energy to get in the kitchen lately! But rest assure, it will have a come back!

For now, I want you to get to know me by doing something that I totally stole from my friend Emily's blog. It's called a 30 day journal. Each day for 30 days [duh] you answer a question and it can be in full detail or just very brief. Here are the Q's:

Day 1: favorite song
Day 2: favorite movie
Day 3: favorite television program
Day 4: favorite book
Day 5: favorite quote
Day 6: 20 of my favorite things
Day 7: photo that makes me happy
Day 8: photo that makes me sad/angry
Day 9: photo i took
Day 10: photo of me from at least 10 years ago
Day 11: recent photo of me
Day 12: something i am ocd about
Day 13: a fictional book
Day 14: a non-fictional book
Day 15: my dream house
Day 16: song that makes me cry
Day 17: an art piece (drawing, painting, sculpture, etc)
Day 18: my wedding
Day 19: a talent of mine
Day 20: a hobby of mine
Day 21: a recipe
Day 22: a website
Day 23: a youtube video
Day 24: my town
Day 25: my day, in great detail
Day 26: my week, in great detail
Day 27: my worst habit
Day 28: what's in my bag/purse?
Day 29: hopes, plans, and dreams for the next 365 days
Day 30: a dream for the future

It's perfect because it does talk about wedding and future plans that I already had in mind of sharing with you all!

So let's start on Day 1: Favorite Song.

In my case, there isn't just one..there's TONS. In a previous blog, I wrote about my favorite songs of the moment. Well, I'll now share my ultimate favorites..

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there's so many moreeee.
til next time.
xo

grow old along with me..

enjoy a video i made after we got engaged and never got around to posting it. wedding spoiler: i'll be walking down the aisle to the song :]

these are a few of my favorite things.

I took this idea from one of my old friends that blogs and such. It's midnight, i'm not tired soooooooooo I do what I want.

20 of my favorite thaaangs:

20. Sunflowers.
19. Perfume. [currently: "Feeling" by I <3 47th Street and "Stella" by Stella McCartney]
18. Good 'ol southern sweet tea.
17. Thunderstorms.
16. Learning about other religions.
15. Make-up, make-up, make-up!!
14. Emeralds and Aqua Marine Stones.
13. Traveling.
12. Texas.
11. Glitter. Ziggy Stardust-kind-of glitter.
10. Hard Rock Cafe.
09. Old family photos.
08. Argentine Soccer.
07. Texas A&M Football.
06. Agustin Adolfo Brizuela.
05. Mango or Strawberry Margaritas from Chuy's.
04. Argentina.
03. My ENTIRE family.
02. MUSIC. [especially: The Beatles. Mae. Dylan. Rilo Kiley. Adele. SRV. Roy. Jerry Lee Lewis. Sean Ono Lennon. Lily Allen. Harper Simon.]
01. Michael Ray Babbitt.

"..i just believe in me. michael and me. [and that's reality]"

ooo wee baby, i declare you sure look fine.

i've been horrible about blogging and have been extremely busy at work! [sorry sorry sorrryyy] and actually instead of blogging right now, i should be working on some stuff for work. no, i'm not trying to be a brown noser. yes, i love the feeling of being accomplished and getting stuff done.

buuuuut, taking a break to blog don't hurt nobody!

not much has gone on in the life of mena and michael. ok wait..let me take that back, a lot has happened but nothing too shiek.

michael started school, his senior year, a couple of weeks ago. i'm so proud of him and so excited to see him graduate! i know he's soo ready to be out of college but i keep reminding him that senior year is the best and to enjoy it..it flyyyyyys by!

i've been working my booty off but loving every minute of it. i'm one of few people that come home and actually have NO complaints about work. i'm a pretty lucky and blessed gal :]

lately, i've been coming home and just vegging out. i prop my little feet up, turn the tv on, baby winston by my side, a book i can grab if i feel like reading and computer on my lap with iTunes opened. i've been exploring so much music lately. don't ask me if i'm listening to any "new" artist because you know i'm not hip with the times but i will tell you that i'm obsessed with some pretty classics right now. top 10 songs i'm listening to [and i'll be artsy and include lyrics to. no need to thank me]:

10. "i wanna tell you and now's time. i wanna tell you that you're gonna be mine.." Let Me Roll It [Wings]

9. "if i could turn the page, in time then i'd rearrange just a day or two.." Little Lies [Fleetwood Mac]

8. "i swore the last time that you let me down that i wouldn't see you if you came around.." Under Your Spell Again [Bucky Owens]

7. "tell me that you'll never leave, oh i just try to make believe that everything you're telling me is true" Lie to Me [Johnny Lang]

6. "i hope you don't mind that i put down in words, how wonderful life is while you're in the world" Your Song [Elton John]

5. "but now you take my boogie, it keeps you in the groove then your sacroiliac begins to shiver and a move" Lewis Boogie [Jerry Lee Lewis]

4. "come home lastnight, half past four, 19 women knockin' at my door.." Everybody's Trying to be My Baby [Carl Perkins]

3. "it won’t be long, just wait and see i’ll have a big car, fine clothes and then i’ll be.." Uptown [Roy Orbison]

2. "i don't want to fade away.." Bell Bottom Blues [Eric Clapton]

1. "let me love you baby 'til your good love, drive me crazy" Let Me Love You [Stevie Ray Vaughan]


can you tell i'm a little obsessed with old honky tonk, bluesy, 80's music? i know, i'm PATHETIC! but i'm so fascinated by the lyrics, the beat, and the passion each artist puts behind these songs. love it!


ok i really should be productive but i swear, this is all i've been doing! maybe the next blog will be filled with juicy gossip about my training for wife-to-be.

xo

cooking attempt #118: mediterranean food.

I grew up eating strange food. As you can obviously see, I'm not a size 6, so that should go to proove that food has a lot to do with my culture. I'm Argentine so with that being said, we are of Italian, Spaniard, German, and Middle Eastern decent. In my family it's very common to cook, not only Argentine cuisine, but also Italian and Middle Eastern. I'm 4th generation Italian on both sides of the family and we've always believed we've had a touch of Greek, Armenian or Palestine somewhere up our crazy family tree. At my parents house, you'll find my dad making red sauce from scratch, cooking Gnoochi or munching on prosciutto crudo. And some days, mom will be cooking Dolmas with meat, eating baklava for dessert or making fresh tabouli. The point is, we eat A LOT of Italian and Middle Eastern food.

Tonight, I decided to make Falafel with a greek salad, hummus and pita bread and dill yogurt dipping sauce.

Ladies and Gentlemen...SUCCESS. The Falafel mix was store bought (obviously I'm not at expert mode yet, dude) but SO easy to make. Everything was mouth watering and fresh. I feel so mature for making such a delicious meal! I was a little "ish" about
first making it; I honestly thought it would take me a year and half. Yes, it takes a little time to prepare the mix, prepare the yogurt dipping sauce and cleaning up during prep time (I HIGHLY recommend to clean while cooking for this meal, because it gets pretty messy!. All in all, it came out fabulous and I can't wait for Michael-baby to try it. He, of course, is at work tonight. I have no idea who is playing at House of Blues tonight but if you get curious and research it, let me know.

If you'd like the recipe(s) please email me at menabriz@gmail.com

Stay tuned for tomorrow, I may not cook so hardcore but I'm sure I'll have atleast ONE interesting to say about my day.

weekends CAN be successful..say it with me!

For once, Michael and I were off of work at the same time. With him working at House of Blues, his schedule is usually way different than mine; he works late night weekdays and weekends and I work at Hard Rock Monday through Friday during the day. We both LOVE our jobs but it sucks that we hardly ever get to really spend an entire two days together.

Saturday we went to Joshua to hang out with Michaels parents while his dad fixed something in his car. I always have the best time with my mother-in-law to be. Our visit to Joshua was diiferent this time because we brought baby Winston with us! He's never spent the night with us over there. By the end of the weekend, he felt that house was his and was beyond terratorial. It was the funniest thing ever!


Saturday evening, I told Michael that I finally found us a photographer for engagement pictures. See, the thing you have to rememeber about Michael is that he's not a details kind of guy. When it comes to photographers and wedding party gifts, he's not really in to it. Now food for the reception, rehearsal dinner location and wedding registry..i might as well get out of the way for that! So when I broke the news about engagement pictures, I nearly died of laughter when he asked, "is it normal to get someone to take your engagement pictures?" That's just Michael Babbitt.

So now I guess the next step is figuring out where we want to take our pictures. Downtown Dallas? Botanical Gardens? I have no clue. And surprisingly enough, Michael has been giving his ideas for it too. I just don't know how cute an engagement picture would look if we were standing on the X where Kennedy was fataly shot, in Dealy Plaza. No joke, it went through his mind.

Help with ideas! And check out our photographer's website at renmorrisonphotography.com

Oh and today I got my first "Family Circle" Magazine. Hey! It said 'Easy Recipes' on the cover. But that's for the next post. xo

I'M ENGAGED..now what?

It's finally happened. Who would have known that I would have EVER found the love of my life? That I would have EVER gotten engaged in Argentina? That I would have ever made it a key point to attempt cooking on a weekly basis?

Well friends, that's the real deal.

Michael and I will be Mr. and Mrs. in October of 2011 but there's sooo much to do until that day. Dress: check. Venue: check-ish. Million other things to do:..blank..

I'm so excited but so overwhelmed about wedding planning, that I decided to blog about it. Most every girl goes through this moment of their lives. Some have it way too easy with wedding planners and budgets that could feed atleast four countries in South America. But ladies and gentlemen, I promise you, I'm the real deal.

I won't be writing "woe is me" poetry. I won't be complaining and sharing moments of utter anger with myself and/or my Michael. I will, however, be sharing the most realistic things that every girl goes through with planning THE BIG DAY. I'll be sharing cooking attempts [because if you know me, you know I'm awful at being in the kitchen], clutsy moments and beautiful success stories that will lead to October 21, 2011.

Give me your comments, advice, high five or sigh; I'm just so excited to sharing all this with you.

OH MY LORD, I'M GETTIN' HITCHED!!