Party trifecta!

I've been thinking in movie/TV quotes more than usual this week. If you can guess what TV show that's from, I'll buy you a cookie.

It's barely 8 a.m. on a Saturday - my only day to sleep in! - and I'm awake because SOME DUMB CAT (ELLIOTT) won't stop jumping on things and making noises. Ugh.

I feel really crummy this morning, most likely due to the massive amount of sugar I consumed yesterday. We had our office Christmas party, and we had catered in delishhhhh food, and there was candy scattered all over all the tables and ... well I need to learn a little self-control. After work I got all dressed up for Matt's friend's rehearsal dinner, and they were trying to pawn off all their dessert food afterwards, and somehow I ended up with an entire pie. I was like, great, what am I going to do with this? I can't let myself eat a whole pie! I tried to give it away to one of my neighbors, who was outside smoking when I got home, and he took half of it, but was all, "I can't take your whole pie from you!" and I'm like, "PLEASE, I don't need to keep a pie in my house." I don't keep sugary stuff at home, because if it's there I'll eat it. I do enough of that at work every day. Plus this guy has kids, kids love pie. Well, at least now I only have half a pie to worry about, and someone suggested freezing it, so maybe I'll do that.

The rehearsal dinner was in this really cute art gallery that was full of Aggie-related pictures. There were a lot of pictures of the various Reveilles and a lot of football pictures - even pictures of Aggies playing football with Longhorns - so I asked Matt where were the pictures of the Aggies playing the Sooners, and he said that since OU wasn't in their fight song, we weren't special. I beg to differ, sir, I beg to differ. There was also a train caboose outside, and it was just a cute place overall.

I hope my stories are at least somewhat interesting, ya'll. I try to take mundane things and make them sound cooler than they actually are (without exaggerating) because really I'm not that exciting in my day-to-day life. So I hope my pointless Allie stories are amusing, if nothing else. Have any suggestions about things for me to write about? I will totally do it. :)

Last weekend was the biannual Percussion Studio show, which was awesome. The theme was YouTube videos, and there were a lot of creative things done for it. Then, mid-week after all the college kiddies were done with finals, Percussion Studio did their annual boxer gift exchange (everyone brings boxers and Yankee Swap ensues). Ended up with some South Park boxers that are really soft, so now I have some new PJ pants? Somehow, awesomely, I have become an honorary PS member, along with another friend, Jackie, whose boyfriend is also in Studio. We end up at all their events and we're just awesome that way. ANYWAY. That party was followed by another party for being done with finals, and I went for an hour or two, but since it was a Wednesday night and I am an old woman who has to work, I left like, five hours (!!) before everyone else.

Today is the wedding (Matt's a groomsman, hopefully I can remember how to get to the church...), tomorrow my book club is doing a White Elephant gift swap and hors d'ouevres. Things are crazy! Hope your weekend is awesome too.

Life09

The IAO Gallery in Oklahoma City is hosting Life09, a one-night art show to help raise funds for the Maisha Arts and Cultural Camp in Kenya. There will be a silent auction for works produced by local artists, as well as Kenyan musicians. The goal is to raise money through social activism rather than asking people for money.

Attendees can not only help provide backpacks and art kits for campers through donations, but can also get involved in the art show personally through a community art piece.

The Maisha Orphanage was founded in 2006 by Beatrice Williamson, a native Kenyan. Her mother taught kids in Kenya and had an 8-year-old girl in her class. The girl stopped showing up for class when her parents both died of HIV, so she was taking care of her siblings and living with their uncle, who was also HIV-positive. Williamson's mother offered her home as a place where the kids could receive food and have a safe place to do their homework. As time went on, the kids brought more and more children with them, until she had 80-some-odd children outside her home every day.

Multidisciplinary studies senior Kendall Brown got involved with the Maisha Orphanage project randomly — through Facebook. "It's a total mark of our generation — I went across the sea because of Facebook," she said of her trip to Africa. When the village was affected by heavy violence, Brown talked to Williamson about creating a camp for the children, and ultimately founded the Maisha Arts and Cultural Camp. "I thought I wanted to be a photographer. Turns out, I want to be an art therapist," Brown said. She said she has always been passionate about the arts, especially in education and "how it helps kids deal with pain and tragedy that they otherwise wouldn't be able to handle."

Life09 will take place from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 2 at the IAO Gallery. The gallery is located at 811 N. Broadway in Oklahoma City. Pre-register at www.NightofArtandMusic.com; as space will be limited, there will be a guest list at the door. The event is free, but the suggested donation is $10 at the door.