Yard Party

People still do this? This afternoon Jason called me to come check out the front of the house. We stood there in disbelief and giggled like children. Who would do this? I have a feeling I know who did this - we call each other "cuz" and she probably had the help of a Serbian side-kick. Thing is, she hasn't called me back. Perhaps she's reading this blog right now and laughing to herself. This is so her. Girl, call me back!

UPDATE: So I talked with my cousin Jennifer, and she swears up and down that she didn't do this. It has got to be someone who lives in Oak Cliff since it happened between 3am and daylight. Hmmm...Dave? Ean? Larry? ChickyD? Nikola? Those people who came to our party and drank our beer?

I Am Officially Bummed

Show your LOVE this Valentine's Day!

My Fat Season

Well folks, my Fat Season is over. I am finally back down to my normal body size, no thanks to the countless cookies, cakes, pies, chocolates, and junkjunkjunk I ate over the holiday season. There was not a munchie that I didn't love with all of my heart.

But for the past 2-3 weeks, I've been on a mission - not a diet, mind you. I don't believe in diets. While diets work, people on diets don't work. So instead of making myself eat crazy wierd stuff for a certain period of time, I told myself to cut out the following: cheese, sweets, cola, and fried crap. So that's what I did. Now, by "cutting out" I mean "staying away from" for most of the time. I definitely believe that if you don't allow yourself a splurge every now and then, you will fall off the wagon and hit your head on the way down. (This does not apply to actual addictions, so don't take my advice if you have a real problem.)

So Saturday I splurged on cheese and crackers. Oh, I love cheese, from the top of my head to all the way down to my toes. After two weeks of virtually no cheese, I declared it Cheese Time and plopped my pajama-clad self down on the bed and munched away. The Saturday before that I decided it was Junky Fast Food time, so I went to KFC and got a mashed potato bowl and loved every minute of it. Knowing that I'm eating well 6 out of 7 days a week allows me to feel zero guilt when I splurge a little.

Now I'm back down to size, and my pants are even a little looser than they were before my Fat Season began. I even told Jason yesterday that I would actually wear a bathing suit now! Whoop, whoop. I daresay, I've lost a little weight too (as opposed to fat), which I plan to pile back on in the form of muscle now that I'm almost over the flu and ready to go back to practicing kung-fu 2-3 times a week.

But I can't help thinking, when will Slim Fast get around to making a Grilled Cheese flavored shake? Mmm, cheese...

Mama's Gotta Watch Her Stories: A Ramble

So I'm thinking, Man it's the pits that I'm sick. I've got this flu-y viral thing that's taken down half of Dallas.

Then I got to thinking about the phrase "the pits" and I wonder where I first heard it. Then I realize I'd heard it first from my mom, who immigrated to this country over 30 years ago and learned English, no doubt, from a textbook last updated in 1943.

So then I started thinking about where that phrase originated and that made me think of peach pits and how I was always told never to suck the peach meat off of them because I might choke and die.

And that reminded me of The Peach Pit. You know, the diner where Brandon worked. You know - Beverly Hills 90210. And I started thinking about Dylan and how he was supposed to be "bad" and James Dean-ish and well, no one is James Dean-ish except for James Dean.

That got me to thinking about all of the stories I'm missing because of the writers' strike, and why didn't I follow my dream and become a famous writer, anyway? Well.

So there's Ugly Betty, Lost, House, Dirty Sexy Money, etc. etc. I miss you all! At least I've got my Golden Girls reruns on Lifetime, brand new American Gladiators (Nitro, I will always love you.) and semi-funny Colbert Reports to watch. But still, mama's missin' her stories. Achoo! Sniffle sniffle.

Shiny New Title, Same Old Tefi

You see, I can't get this song out of my head: "Expectations" by Belle & Sebastian. It's from their first (and best, I think) album Tigermilk, and I was pleasantly surprised today to hear it in my new favorite movie, Juno. ("Piazza, New York Catcher," a sweet folksy Gaelic-type ditty, is also on the soundtrack and also by B&S.)



So this takes me to my new blog title, making life-size models of the Velvet Underground in clay. It's a line from "Expectations" and it also stars my alltime favorite band, VU, who I keep just a notch above B&S in my list of tops. I thought it was time I had a full-on blog title rather than just some generic "Tefi Designs" wannabe title. So here it is. Hope you love it as much as I do. And go see Juno already! It's tops, foshizzle.

Islands in the Stream (Remixed)

Oh Todd, what were you thinking filming this? There's goes my chance at a run for office.

Droppin' Signs at Ye Olde Monk

Anya Is All Thumbs Up


Nikola and Anton Gettin' Thumby


I really can separate my thumbs. No really.


Representin' Kremlin Style (and Belgrade, too)


Jason gets tonguey and I get second chinny.

Thanks to Charles for taking these pics!