i have a problem...

fun and comfy.

sweet and sassy.

and damn sexy.

Shoes.

I love them.

I bought 3 (no 4! Reef sandals - essential- not pictured) pairs on Monday! The prices were ridiculously low and I was in desperate need of some retail therapy.

Don't worry, I am seeking help.

*BTW - who knew Keds could be so stinking cute?

for your ears...

You probably have noticed by now the tunes that assult you when you navigate to my blogs (not much to write home about and allie kemp photography, the blog). If your confused, turn your speakers on. If you are reading this via Multiply, then you have no idea what I am talking about either (click here or above to tune in). Anyways, I thought I should bring this new accessory to your attention for a couple reasons.

If you were secretly surfing the www at work or quitely at home and happened across my pages and I blew your cover, I am sorry. Be prepared next time.

If you can't figure out where that noise is coming from, scroll down and look to the right of the page.

If you hate this new addition, scroll down the sidebar and hit the pause button, or mute your volume, or turn off your speakers, or suck it up and expand your musical horizons.

If you find yourself shimmy-ing in your seat and tapping your toes, then I have good news. The player can pop out and stand alone away from my sites. You can enjoy my current song choices while you work, play solitair, or stalk other blogs. Just maintain an internet connection and sing along.

If my music selection isn't your cup of tea and you want to creat your very own, check out playlist.com. My friend Missy introduced me to this nifty place a few weeks ago. I am diggin' it.

my grandpa and pink daisy razors...

Most important of the two, my grandpa. Today is his birthday. He is wonderful grandpa. Whenever I see him or talk to him he greets me with a hug and tells me I am his prettiest granddaughter. There are 6 of us granddaughters in total and he tells them the same thing, but I think it is so cute. He wears hearing aids and I am pretty sure he uses this "ailment" to his advantage whenever possible. I watch my grandma, who is 2 feet away in the other recliner talk to him while he continues to stare at the TV completely ignoring her until she swipes at him and says "Did you hear what I just said?" and he jolts upright and says "I am sorry did you say something?" with this bewildered look on his face. I know he hears her, I have used this same move before. I love him.

___________________________________________

Today is also my 13th leg shaving anniversary. Yes, I know the date. This was a big deal in my tween years. Being of Mexican heritage (which I can thank my grandpa for) I was destined from the beginning to be a hairy beast. I was so embarrassed as a kid, I had these skinny little sasquatch legs and my mom wouldn't let me shave them. I begged and I pleaded with her beginning the summer before 6th grade, but she wouldn't give in.
Most kids would just go and do it themselves, but the threat of TV restriction for the rest of my teen years and the idea of carving a line down my leg if I slipped up kept any pre-emptive hair removal at bay. So I decided I would just wear pants for the rest of my life.
Then one day, after explaining to my mom how I couldn't continue to hide the fact that I was the missing link on the approaching 6th grade trip to Catalina, she finally caved. It was the night after my grandpa's celebratory birthday dinner, probably at Sizzler. As happy as I was to rid my legs of these keratinous filaments, I was scared to death of the possibility of slicing a major artery or losing a foot. I had heard horror stories from my friends at sleepovers whose smooth legs were scared up and down from razor mishaps. The marks of grown women, I was terribly jealous. All I had were bruises that were barely visible through the dark forest.
My mom handed me the little pink razor with daisies down the handle and it didn't look so bad. I made her do the first couple of strips, but once I realized the tub wasn't filling with blood I took over. Apparently there was a catch, I couldn't go above the knee. What? Stupid I know, but I think this was my mom's clever thinking to keep me in shorts with no shorter than an 8 inch inseam. Now, I was the hairy kneed girl, great. My legs looked like the island of Hispaniola. But even after just my two calves, it looked like we had just bathed a litter chocolate lab puppies.
I remember getting into bed that night and having the skin on my legs touch the sheets for the first time, I kept repositioning my legs all night just to feel the softness of my 150-thread count heart patterned covers. I was so happy, it was going to be 90 degrees the next day and I could finally wear shorts to school.

remember to ret her into your heart...

If you're a myspacer, then you have probably already seen this courtesy of Tom.
But I had to share it with the rest of you.
Enjoy.

*ps. scroll down and pause the sidebar tunes

korean baby singing hey jude

key west...

Think New Orlean's Square in Disneyland with a tropical twist, minus the screaming children and obnoxious teens, keep the gay/lesbian couples, but fill it with a bunch of middle aged (plus) Jimmy Buffet fans burnt to an almost unrecognizable crisp, and lots of roosters and you get Key West. Tanner had an overnight there last night so I decided to hitch along for the ride and check it out. We got in at about 2:30 in the afternoon and checked into our room (free room that is) at the Crown Plaza. We were both hungry and so we took a stroll down Duval Street to find a good place to eat. Is it too much to ask for a humburger under $10? It seems so. We decided on a restuarant we had been to before, but on another island, Oahu. Cheeseburger Key West, no not Cheeseburger in Paradise, although Tanner kept singing it. I read later that Jimmy Buffet thinks he should pretty much own all things "cheeseburger" and the restaurant basically hates him for this. I just hope the servers never heard Tanner singing, or at least only spit in his food not mine. Either way, our food was sooo good -we ate like vacationers. Chili-cheese fries and the best oriental chicken salad I have ever had in my life.

Key West has to be 10 degrees hotter than any other place in Florida, so after lunch and a stroll thru this historical site/master planned community we decided to take a nap and shower before heading out again for dessert and the sunset festivities. Key Westerner's love their sunsets.

For dessert we enjoyed the Brownie Explosion Sundae with Kaluha ice cream at Matteessen's. It was difficult to walk after that. I couldn't decide if standing up straight or if leaning over and holding my belly would make the amount of food I ate somehow shrink and take away the pain from overeating. We walked it off though and headed for Sunset Pier (I think that is what it is called) to watch the sunset (obviously). Our friend had warned us of this place and insisted we stay as far away from it as possible, something about taming (originally I thought she had said painting and I was concerned) mice, cats, and dogs to dance with each other or something, I didn't understand, but when I expressed what she had said to Tanner we had no other choice. He had to see this dancing mice/cats, whatever. So we walked and walked and found the crowds. Key West is home to many interesting people, like bag pipers, jugglers, people covered in silver paint who make "machine" noises, the Great Rondini, and yes, cat tamers. We thought if we just kept walking the crowds would thin and we could stand in a place without "performers". Well, we reached the end of the pier and there was the juggler. Tanner was instantly captivated when he started juggling 5 firey torches, this would later cost him (Tanner, not the juggler). While he stood there staring like a seven year old, the juggler picked him out the crowd to be a "helper" by throwing a cardboard block at him. He tried to hand it off to me, but the joggler caught him and publically chastised him for being a weenie. I loved this. He then was made to hold hands with a bunch of dudes in front of the rectangular crowd that had formed, but ended up holding a tightrope for the juggler to walk on while juggling knives. I was slightly impressed.

Anyways, the sun set and once it was gone, everybody clapped. Yeah, Sun! I don't know why. However, it was beautiful and boats seemed to take their cue and position themselves right in front of it to make these perfect sailboat silhoettes that really solidified the whole experience.

We had been told of a ghost that haunts the hotel we were staying at and so all night scenes from the move 1408 kept popping into my head even though I find it to be complete rubbish (sorry I just finished reading Harry Potter).

So it turned out to be a fun a little excursion and small taste of life after 40. Here are some pictures from the day...

looking out towards Sunset Pier

so happy we are about to eat chili-cheese fries and oriental chicken salad.

super cute home in the Truman's Annex community

like i said, chicken and roosters everywhere. here's a gang of them hanging out at the court house.

friendly cat. I was trying to check his toes to see if he was one of Hemingways 3-toed cats, but he wouldn't cooperate.

And here is some of the local talent...

yeah that's a dog in shorts, he wouldn't tell me what his talent was though. but what can you expect from a dog wearing shorts?

jumping cats.

here is Tanner's performing debut, check out the little curtsie the guy next to him is doing.

tightrope walking juggler, tanner said he was heavy.

the sunset. photographed by Tanner Kemp of Tanner Kemp Photographical Institue of Art and Picture Talking Abilities for the Blind and Kids Who Can't Read Good, a division of Allie Kemp Photography.

pirate allie.

drinking the night away. "milk was a bad choice"

happy birthday...

Emily Michelle!

Today she is officially half my age, what does that mean? She is growing up way too fast, and I am feeling old. I mean, I changed this girl's diapers! (Sorry Em, but it's true) Now, we are practically sharing clothes (actually that used to be my shirt she is wearing)! Well, the good news is she is growing into a simply gorgeous young lady who (whom?) I adore. I love you, Emily.

happy birthday...

Yitzi girl! Love, Tanner and Allie

Lindsay, You are probably saying "Where the hell did she get that picture?"

Well, I have my ways.