we made a new friend on the beach in mexico... everyone, meet the many sides of coco.

'hang loose' coco

'eff you' coco

'cuddly' coco

happy birthday to me!
happy birthday to me!

happy birthday, hot ta-mollie, happy birthday to me!

my sweet boss sent me flowers!

i'm so ready for november 7th to be here.

in other news, rush limbaugh is a dick.



ps. michael j fox did a similar ad a few years ago for a republican who supports stem cell research, but you didnt hear rush calling that ad 'exploitation', did ya? maybe its because rush was too drugged up himself at the time...

here are a few cute pictures from lucy's first birthday!

bumble lucy, pocahantas, and el guapo

snotty teary eyed lucy the bee

her whole costumed gang

mexico pictures will follow soon!

more adorable lucy pictures...

can you tell that i'm a proud aunt??!!

i'm officially an npr nerd. not only did i join kera this week during their membership fundraising drive, i called the friday talkshow "everything you ever wanted to know" to ask a question that has been perplexing me for years.

heck, a girl has got to get international news and the answers to her burning questions somewhere!

now if only i could get my celebrity gossip at the same time...

i've made the conscious choice lately to try and NOT wear jeans to work every day of the week. i'm going with that whole "dress for the job you want" theory and making the effort to cut back to 3x a week. : )

this plan leaves two days to experiment. today i dressed in a khaki corduroy skirt, teal sleeveless sweater, and brown flats. still casual, right?

i walked into the office and my boss asked me "what's the special occasion?" you know its time for you to shelf the jeans when a corduroy skirt raises eyebrows.

bea is famous!! ok, maybe not famous, but she's enjoying her momentary notoriety online today- check her out!



my agency made the site and bea was one of the chosen pups for the site launch. i love her video- she is so cute!

could my puppies be any cuter?

no. not possible.

umm... lemme see. seven. yeah seven people have called me adorable so far today

check out all my teeth!

not sure how to tell you this, aunt mollie, but you should really wear more makeup.

kevin and i had a blast at the fair- we laughed till we cried on the love bug!

i absolutely cannot help myself. this is the only thing that has made me laugh so hard i've cried in weeks...

man i love this stuff.

what i don't get is how he fooled anyone into voting for him.

i just wish we had good candidates to look forward to in 2008, but man they aren't exciting me. hillary clinton? you gotta be f'in crazy.

imagine the earth represented by a village of 100 people. what would that village look like?

this short video has a lot to say.

kevin's sandal that was NOT left in the dogs' room yesterday...

kevin's sandal that WAS left in the dogs' room yesterday...

kevin should know which dog owes him about $80 by which one poops leather for the next few days.

things picked up by one of my 5 senses this weekend at acl:

- sweat. mine, other people's, you name it.
- 60,000 people all enjoying themselves and getting along
- pot... and lots of it. (i havent smelled that since i moved to dallas, it doesn't randomly waft through the air here)
- ben kweller with a tampon up his nose trying to stop a nosebleed that was dripping on his guitar and making streaks of bright red on his piano keys
- maudie's queso. it is the stuff of gods and i ate the whole bowl.
- cool rain on sunday morning that later turned into stifling humidity
- my favorite pastor's hugs and love that still bring tears to my eyes. we need that back in our lives.
- laughter at brenda's house late saturday night about our willie nelson fiasco
- the beauty of town lake. i think it misses me.

i miss you too!

i got my lucy fix today after work. i went to hang out with her and michelle for a while and got to watch her try and take her first steps! granted she was more falling toward michelle than walking, but it still counts!!

now its that time again... here come more lucy pics!!

submarine lucy!

daddy's girl


AND in case you wanted proof she is tim's child...

has everyone else already realized that 'fergie' from the black eyed peas was once the star of nickelodeon's 'kids incorporated'??

how did i not know this? i loved that show!



now that i've written this i am realizing its entirely possible that none of you ever watched that show, but if you did... i'll bet the theme song is running through your head right now.

(kids incorporated... k! i! d! s! woah oh oh! looks like we made it, with kids incorporaaaated)

the long-awaited, much anticipated, yearly tradition of fantastic music, yummy food, and lots of sweat is only 4 days away!

acl starts on friday and so far God is smiling down upon us with the weather forecast- highs in the upper 80s means that it will literally be twenty degrees cooler than last year.

the plan of attack...

friday:
gnarls barkley*
nickel creek
cat power
thievery corporation
matt nathanson
ray la montagne*
john mayer
van morrison*

saturday:
ben kweller*
nada surf
secret machines
the shins*
the long winters
aimee mann*
the raconteurs
kings of leon*
iron & wine
willie nelson

sunday:
kathleen edwards*
kt tunstall
jose gonzalez*
ween
matt costa
ben harper
g.love and the special sauce
tom petty


* absolutely positively cannot miss this show!!

from my devotion today:

The proliferation of both spoken and unspoken judgment found primarily within us, the Church, has forced many to not know or understand our faith.

We are constantly trying to separate ourselves from a world that Jesus wants us in. Not only that, he wants us to see our own sin and not make such a big fuss over everyone else’s. Our sin is our connection with our neighbor, our salvation is our hope, and the good news of the Gospel is our message.

amen!

kevin and i were at the galleria on saturday, and when we weren't running into murff and ame, we were laughing our butts off at the newest exercise gadget at the brookstone store - the igallop.

it is essentially a stool with a motorized seat intended to mimic horseback riding. the motion it simulates seems a little more like sex to me than riding a horse, but maybe i just haven't ridden a horse recently enough... and maybe i need to!

my first instinct was that i was being a dirty bird, but i'll leave it up to you. HERE is the japanese commercial for the igallop. whaddya think- excercise machine or extremely expensive joy ride?

following in my proud team in training tradition, erin signed herself up to race for the cause! you can donate to her online:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntntx/etyrrell

first she got a subaru like me, and now she's joined TNT - next thing we know she'll be moving to austin and eating vegetables all the time! heehee

we had a fantastic girl's night on saturday which led to a new self-instated rule. mollie is not allowed to ever drink two margaritas from mi cocina/taco diner EVER again. those things are lethal!

don't get between a donovan and her food. check out lucy's concentration in this moment...

now here's a side of steven colbert that i haven't seen before...

"I love my church, and I'm a Catholic who was raised by intellectuals who were very devout. I was raised to believe that you could question the church and still be a Catholic. What is worthy of satire is the misuse of religion for destructive or political gains. That's totally different from the Word, the blood, the body, and the Christ. His kingdom is not of this earth."

- Stephen Colbert, of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

i am reading 'fast food nation' right now, so when i got an email today about helping to demand that mc donalds raises wages for farm workers, i was quick to respond.

its all wild, wacky stuff once you start digging into it and learning more.

click HERE and if you feel so inclined, take some action.

the 'purpose driven life' email devotional today was about getting your focus off of ME! and start thinking more about serving others daily. i know this is a tiny action, but if enough people take it, maybe... just maybe... we can make a positive difference in the lives of people we don't even know.

it's official!!

you know its insanely hot outside when you notice a bag of un-popped microwave popcorn in your car on your way in to work and think to yourself - it wont be hot enough in the car today that the popcorn will begin to pop, will it?

if you are now asking the question- why does mollie have a popcorn in her car anyway? you must not have ever ridden in my car. its full of surprises and at least 2 pairs of shoes at all times : )

also- i would like to confess that when the forecast is predicted to hit 105 degrees is NOT the best day to forget to throw your deodorant into your gym bag. i'm staying in highly air-conditioned environments today so as not to disgust my co-workers. ooops!

if i could splurge in any of the following categories- here are my picks....

office supplies - see jane work
workout clothes- lucy
furniture - design within reach
linens - dwell
stationery - kate spade by crane
handbags - michael kors

not to mention the fact that i'd get a personal trainer and a decent haircut.

as the npr nerd that i am, i was listening to 'all things considered' on my way home from work today. i was completely enraptured by an artist they were interviewing - his music was so amazing, i sat in my car in the driveway to keep listening. he is an argentine- born guitarist who grew up in sweden.

check him out - jose gonzalez. his new album on itunes- veneer - is really wonderful.

on the surface, it might seem to the average person that watching 'saved by the bell' re-runs in the morning is not a useful way to pass time at the gym...

but that person must have missed the episode this morning where zack and jessie run against each other for student body president.

their campaign slogans were AWFUL!

don't be testy - vote for jessie!
jessie now!
i back zack!

as i was laughing (hopefully just in my head) at the campaign commercial that zack played in algebra class, i stopped dead in my tracks when i saw his final campaign slogan:

"zack. why the heck not?"

um.... kinky... is there something you'd like to tell us about your apparent plagarism of zack morris?!

saturday night we had a reenactment of a photo taken circa 1992, roughly 15 years ago. make sure you look closely at the pic on the television screen for full effect.

kevin was trying his best to look as awkward as he did in 8th grade... and i think he was pretty sucessfull.

i just had this conversation on instant messenger with a guy who sat next to me when i worked at apple...

mark: you know what I miss?
mollie: ummmm?
mark: I miss that song you shared out of your iTunes
mark: "you're the best around... nobody's gonna bring you down... you're the best around"
mark: it was from Karate Kid
mollie: HAHAHAHA
mollie: the theme to karate kid!
mark: so missed!
mark: oh yeah, and we miss you too.

if you know the song he is talking about, i'm sure you will find that as humorous as i did.

people always say that you don't always realize the depth of impact that you can be making on other people's lives every day... its good to know that i have reached someone on such a soulful level.

no cute babies for you today... just a little political rant.

i just read my latest issue of sojourners (the best resource ever for a balanced, christian view of current events.... i know it doesn't sound possible, but it IS!).

this really chaps my hide:

Friday, the House passed legislation to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour over three years. But there's a catch. The bill (Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act - aka "trifecta" bill) would also permanently reduce the estate tax - an important source of federal revenue impacting only the wealthiest half of one percent of our nation's taxpayers, which also encourages billions in charitable donations.

In essence, House leadership decided it was fine to help an estimated 14.9 million workers making less than $7.25 per hour increase their average annual income by $4,400, as long as 8,200 wealthy people receive an average estate tax reduction of $1.4 million each (in 2011).

that makes me wanna barf. don't get me started on estate tax. i can't stand the idea of passing down wealth in general. i can give you my estate tax schpiel another time.

it is infuriating to me that the two are even tied together - that representatives are basically saying that in order to approve raising minimum wage for the lowest paid workers in the country, they also have to ensure that some brat gets her dad's millions after he dies, without donating any of it to charities or handing it over to the government.

grrr...

your public service announcement for the day:

i was hoping for a sugar-free equivalent of juicy fruit. instead my mouth was assaulted by a mix of crappy tropical fruit flavor and artificial sweetner.

woohoo!! the kitchen is 95% complete! after we install a few more handles on the drawers- we're done.

kevin showing off his handiwork

the whole she-bang

finally... functional counter space AND storage!!

a BIG 'thank you' is owed to meagan for sharing her rockin' pottery barn discount with us- we love the shelves!

its time to add another girl to the list of donovan beach bunnies!

i am in the middle of a project at work for one of my clients called 'from' line testing. basically this is where you send out the same email to three different groups of consumers with three different 'from' lines and see which of the emails is opened most often. you use testing like this to determine the optimal set-up for an email program.

anywho- i am writing a document for this testing that outlines the process, evaluation, etc. and all of a sudden the word 'from' seems like the weirdest word in the universe.

does that ever happen to you? after you stare at a word for so long it just doesn't make sense anymore?

man, i'm glad its friday! austin or bust!!

things that make you go hmmm....

- working out this morning on the elliptical i noticed that of the 9 people running on a treadmill in front of me, 8 were watching CNN and 1 was watching an alternative news program. i was watching 'saved by the bell'.

- during a meeting yesterday in an effort to appease a designer i made a witty joke and winked at him. next thing you know i'll be shooting the double barrel while making a 'click' sound out the side of my mouth.

woooo hoooo! the kitchen is almost complete! all we have left to do is add the handles to the new set of cabinets and drawers and hang shelving above the addition.

let them eat cake! i have a feeling i'll be cooking up a storm now that i'll have a functioning kitchen with ample counter space.

i'm pumped! the contractor just showed up at our house with his crew to install our new kitchen cabinets and countertop. i am going to go home at lunch to check it out and if its finished, i'll take pics.

ps.
this post could go one of two ways, but since i have resolved to be more positive and just enjoy life without questioning things at every turn... i decided to not bitch and moan about the inane cost of quality kitchen finishouts like granite. but i could. i definitely could.

i had a great weekend! lots of quality time spent catching up with friends and family with just enough pool time thrown in for good measure.

ummm...

does anyone else out there think ashlee simpson once resembled haley joel osment in drag?

something tells me we need a bigger dog bed...

target has done it again- they keep ripping off steve madden every season! can you imagine being a corporate shoe spy?! hah.

my sister was at garden ridge today out in the burbs. she picked up a watering can on sale (isn't everything at garden ridge on sale?). as she tipped the can over to read the price on the bottom, she inadvertently poured someone's urine all over the floor, splattering her feet.

several questions come to mind when pondering this story...

1. who pees in a watering can at garden ridge?
2. since when does erin shop in the burbs?

i should have known something like that was too good to be true.

now, i would like to take this moment to ask all of my email forwarding friends to please use snopes to check the validity of their emails before breaking out their address book in an attempt to either save me from eminent danger in a mall parking lot or to help a kid with cancer break a world record.

i have seen entirely too much of britney spears lately. after her train-wreck of an interview on dateline with matt lauer, i would have been pretty happy not seeing her again for years.

then i saw this:

what the HECK?! first of all, the haircolor is a mistake. secondly, you aren't demi moore, nor will ashton kutcher mistake you for her, so please refrain from posing pregnant and nude. and thirdly, the majority of americans have a stomach that sticks out farther than that- you aren't impressing anyone.