miranda!

her new record - four the record - drops today.  yayyyyy!  and she was fantastic on the today show this morning....LOVE this girl!

i couldn't have been the only one who saw this coming...

looks like kim kardashian & kris humphries are headed for the big d, and i don't mean dallas.  if my trusty hometown newspaper confirms it, it must be true...

what a joke, no respect for the sanctity of marriage.  couldn't they have given it more than 2 months?  i guess when you have glittery ponies, three wedding dresses, and helicopters at your wedding things are D.O.A.  like many americans, i watched the two-part e! wedding special and i saw bad omens that this relationship would tank (how uncomfortable was the rehearsal dinner where the betrothed didn't even sit together?)  i am appalled that this wedding earned the kardashians an estimated $18 million profit, yet i still watched...don't really know if i want to follow this family anymore?

texas book festival

this past saturday, i had the privilege of volunteering at the texas book festival at our state capitol.  if you're unfamiliar with the festival, it was started up 16 years ago by my FAAAAAAVORITE first lady in the world, mrs. laura bush.  ah, i just adore her.  anyway, it turned out to be a beautiful day, as evidenced by my iphone photo of the texas capitol:

i found out about the festival through texas monthly and i thought, "hmmm...i don't have any weekend plans and this sounds like it's right up my alley!"  i was assigned to the google technology tent, which i soon discovered was not my forte.  i had to spend the entire afternoon convincing people of the magical, liberating, and dynamic powers of the e-reader (irivers, kindle fires, nooks oh my!) when i positively detest the idea of having one.  i realize this is the direction the world is going, and like many associates at google assured me, "you'd love having one on an airplane!", i still can't shake my old soul ways.  i need to smell a book, i need to feel it in my hands, i need to write my name and the dates i read it in the front cover, i need to dog ear the pages, i need to write my notes in the margin, and i need to place it in its alloted space on my book shelf.  (sounds more like a love scene in a telenovela i realize, but i do have a passionate affair with my books.)  as you can see, the tech tent was not a good match for me.  next year, i shall do author escorts.

the increcible part about the festival was that all of these remarkable authors were in attendance and from what i am told, it is a huge honor to be invited to the texas book festival.  i was giddy at seeing all of the people's names from texas monthly - mimi swartz, jake silverstein, and paul burka and i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw that sarah bird, molly shannon, and paula deen would be there!  surely by now you do know that paula is one my icons?  side note: before i married my husband, my grand plan in life was to move to savannah so that i could marry bobby deen and have paula as my mother-in-law...i'm not even being facetious.  i didn't get to meet her, but i did buy her new book which promises to be tasty and phenomenal.

one of my favorite parts of the day was going to tall of the cooking demonstrations and i sat in a fabulous one by virginia willis, author of bon appetit y'all.  she was gracious, kind, and a firecracker and she used to head up culinary arts for martha stewart!  she's from georgia, but she's french trained so she mixes the two to create her cuisine.  i am DYING to try out some of her recipes.

VERDICT: this festival is a must do!  who wants to join me next year? 

theron's music!

hope everyone is having a good day out there!  i thought i'd shamelessly plug my love's band for a sec because i happen to think he is uber talented.  i might be a tad bit biased, but i'm just so proud of him!  he has been playing for the last eight years and along with playing piano, guitar, and harmonica he is also a tremendous singer/songwriter.  he writes about his own experiences or things and people that have inspired him along the way.
 he has just released his debut album TEXaS FoReVEr and it's now on iTunes!  fun fact: tracks 8 & 11 are about the author of this blog.  if you're in to folk/americana/texas country, you should definitely check him out!

you can also visit his facebook page THERON & THE OLD QUARTERS and become a fan!  i know he would really appreciate it...

maggie sottero

cool thing about buying your wedding dress from maggie sottero? she just might put you on her site! 

click HERE to see the rhiana royale in all its glory and hear my "say yes to the dress" story.  

open letter to courtney kerr

as i mentioned in my previous post, i was a consistent viewer of bravo's "most eligible dallas."  it's not the proudest moment of my life, but somehow this series found its way into my little world.  when i saw the previews for the show, i thought it was somewhat tacky and tres cheezy, but my interest was peaked because i wanted to see how bravo would portray texas and i also had a good friend who dated one of the main characters and we were curious about that as well.  out of all of the characters, i gravitated toward courtney kerr.  though i thought she had some unabashedly rude moments coupled with lingering (and very difficult to watch) insecurities, i applaud her for having gumption, sticking to her guns, always lighting up a room, dressing to kill, and being what i like to call a real girl's girl.  one of the main story lines of the show was the relationship between courtney and her "best friend" aka love of her life matt nordgren - a former ut quarterback and man about town.  the finale on monday night led us to believe that matt & courtney had FINALLY decided to give it a go after all these years, but watch what happen live with andy confirmed that matt was a D-A-W-G and screwed things up with courtney.  apparently he's hooking up with rh beverly hills housewife taylor armstrong?  weird.  though it is entirely none of my business and a little creepy that i care so much, i thought i'd offer my best advice to courtney:

Dear Courtney,


I grew to love watching you sashay through Uptown and ride the magic carpet of a pretty young Dallas socialite on Monday nights.  So many of your perils reminded me of myself and when you spoke of your longing to find a good man and that you truly believed he was out there somewhere, I resonated with that because I believed in that dream myself.  You had a certain indelible quality about yourself, a panache of sorts.  Your fearless fashion sense coupled with your mane of enviable locks made everyone take notice.  However, it was your grit and moxie that was most admirable.  You weren't just a dumb Dallas blonde looking for 15 minutes of fame, you were actually smart and sarcastic.  


Watching your relationship with Matt unfold was touching (and I really was rooting for you two), however most of the advice you doled out to others, you hardly took yourself.  It was blazingly obvious that you were madly in love with Matt.  From your jealous showdowns with his other women to your insistence that he was the man in your life, you weren't fooling anyone with the "just friends" rhetoric.  Come on Court, haven't you seen "When Harry Met Sally?!?!"  Men and women can't be "just friends."  Not if you're really close anyway.  The way I see it, Matt (like so many men who have come before him and will inevitably follow) wants to have his cake and eat it too.  He likes to keep you around because he genuinely enjoys your company and "loves" hanging out with you, but he isn't willing to give up his harem of women.  Yes, timing is everything and maybe "someday" you guys could work it out, but do you want to wait for someday?  What if someday never comes and you find yourself 42 years old still pining over Matt Nordgren when you passed up the opportunity for someone to come sweep you off your feet and treat you like a real man.  The problem is if Matt is always in the picture (as he has been for the last five years) you will never be able to make room in your heart for that man.  


Please don't think I'm scolding you or telling you what you should do, but in this situation, I know from which I speak. All you have to do is read this blog to figure that out.  Like you, I was an independent, educated gal loving life and having a great time, but I was always attracted to (and therefore relentlessly chasing) men who were really fun, energetic, ambitious (all good qualities) but alas completely emotionally unavailable.  I spent years trying to do the right thing and be the right person wondering why I wasn't good enough.  I then spent ANOTHER two years trying in earnest to convince a man who I was absolutely crazy about to love me.  Like you, I thought I could be the one woman to get him to settle down and be monogamous, but my attempts were futile.  I can't explain it, but one day I woke up and the world just looked a little different to me.  I looked at myself in the mirror and said, "What the sam hell are you doing?!?  You've got to stop wasting your time sitting around waiting on a man to change.  You have to love yourself and know that you're enough.  You have to believe that there is a man somewhere on this planet who will think you are the bee's knees and the only girl in the world."  I started to believe that message in my core, I got rid of the toxicity, and I started to live with the hope that all I had to do was be myself.  Literally, less than six months after making that decision, God delivered a man who fit every single one of my criteria, writes songs about me, tells me I'm gorgeous when I wake up in the morning, and works diligently to make all my dreams come true.  I didn't have to twist his arm or give him an ultimatum to marry me.  He asked me to marry him 118 days after the night that we met and when I asked him why he did it so soon, he replied, "Shannan, when a man really loves a woman he cannot bare the thought of her being with anybody else."  


So there you go Courtney.  I just think you're too wonderful and beautiful to be chasing some silly boy around with hopeless devotion in your eyes.  You're so much better than that and you've got to believe that! 


Hope to hear your love story one day,


Shannan

i've missed you darlings...

dearly! i'm sorry i haven't blogged in so terribly long. i took some time off to get hitched, set up house and the like, and just didn't seem to have the inspiration to write. it's not that there wasn't anything noteworthy to document, it's just that i didn't have it in me to write about it. i have noticed that my blogging is an adequate picture of my life - ebbs and flows, anti-social and extrovert, fast lane and country pastures - so i let this little blog get away from me a bit and everytime i thought about returning, i would think thoughts such as, "no one reads that anyway!, you've lost your touch!, and God knows you have more pressing items on your to do list!" but the truth is, i like blogging, i really do. i like writing and it's as therapeutic for me as playing the guitar is for my husband. i like being apart of the "blogging community" and i love reading all of the witty dialogue that all of you bloggers come up with every day. so yes, i think i will officially sit a spell and reconvene shannan's southern comfort.

to get reacquainted, i thought we'd play a fun little game of Q & A so that i could put all inquires to rest and catch up on the last few months.

1. how was the wedding and how's married life?

it's hard to do the wedding justice, it was just beyond. i still plan to do a wedding post, and i wanted to do it sometime ago, but i was waiting to get my pics back. finally have those, so no more excuses. me being a reasonable gal, i tried to have some level of expectation management with the wedding because i didn't want to be let down when my big day was just lovely and not blockbuster, blow-your-mind life changing. the honest to God truth is that it was better than anything i could have ever imagined. i was just so proud of my mom for pulling the whole thing together and i was (and am still) overwhelmed at the amount of love that was assembled that night. to have all of your friends and family at the same place at the same time is just fantastic. i am only regretful that i couldn't spend more time with everyone. being mrs. pfeifer (still not used to that) ain't a bad gig either. ha. my husband is truly wonderful and marrying him was the best decision i ever made. i didn't settle and i took to heart what carrie bradshaw said, "maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. maybe they just need to run free til they find someone just as wild to run with them." i loved that quote because it meant so much to me. i met my match and now we are navigating through this adventure together.

are you still teaching? if not, why not? and what's your day job?

no, i am no longer teaching 2nd grade at el dorado. i had already accepted the job before i even met theron so there's no way i could have predicted what would happen. when we became serious, we discussed the fact that i would probably need to find a job more flexible so that when my husband is home we could actually spend time together. for those who don't know, my husband is a merchant marine and works offshore in the oil business. he works even time which means he's off for a month, but is gone to trinidad and tobago for a month, which means he's gone 6 months out of the year. at the time, we were also fairly certain that we would be relocating to s. america for his job. thus, we made a joint decision that i would not go back for the 2011-2012 school year. though i loved my children and co-workers dearly, i'm not sure that i had the nervous system to be an elementary teacher. for those of you in the biz, you know what i'm talking about. i may go back someday, but it would have to be under different circumstances. now i'm in a transitional period trying to figure out what my life's calling is all about. in addition to his shipping job, my husband is also a musician, so i'm his manager and i handle the merchandising, booking, and general business of the operation. i'm working on a market research project for a private home builder that is about to do some awesome things at baylor university. and i'm trying to break into the free lance writing world. i'm also volunteering with the texas book festival, communities in schools, and san antonio rodeo - three things of which i am EXTREMELY passionate!

what's buzzworthy on your radar right now?

well...bravo tv is where it's at! i'm not sure there's another network that can compete in my world. hook-hook-hooked on all those brain zapping "real housewife" debacles. never quite succumbed to dc, miami, or atlanta but if beverly hills, orange county, ny, or new jersey is on, i'm there! i'm not proud of my taste in television. it is certainly not thought provoking, chic, or moving. it's trash! my husband abhors that i watch this stuff (i think he's frightened that in our dave ramsey household, i will start to covet houses in the hamptons and $25G sunglasses) but i have tried to explain to him the beauty of escapism. i'm also addicted to "most eligible dallas" which should aptly be named "most vapid reason i don't live in dallas." haha all in good fun dallas friends! but seriously, can you believe that finale? back to RH, anyone in the greater san antonio area who would like to join me for the new jersey reunion, come on over! i make special cocktails and themed food based on the show! in the literary world, i am subscribing to town+country, vanity fair, cowboys&indians and garden&gun currently. i am also reading "outliers" by malcom gladwell and "women food and God" by geneen roth. i am loving shopping for great deals at homegoods, nordstrom rack, and never paying full price for anything! i am having fun trying out new restaurants in my city and spending time with good girlfriends over a margarita! and i am cooking every conceivable recipe from my pioneer woman cookbook!

what are your goals for the future?

right now i'm dreaming of renovating my old 1800's farmhouse on my 20 acres of rolling hill country land. brushing a pretty palomino and running my fingers through his hair. chasing my raggedy, muddy children around in the yard. becoming a pretty
amazing cook. checking off my travel list. writing a book. meeting the authors i really admire. paying off all our debt and becoming financially solid. doing something good in this world, even if no one ever hears about it.

you must see "the help!"

i'm fairly certain that most of you, especially those of you belonging to the book-loving, southern variety, have already heard about this little phenomenon called "the help," but for those of you who haven't...get out from under your rock! i just saw this film tonight and it inspired me so much i just had to blog about it! it is truly the best movie i have seen in quite some time. and that is coming from an extremely harsh critic! like millions, i read this new york times best seller months ago and have had quite the inner-debate going on as to whether it could possibly match the literary sensation's standards - and it did! my only two other films in that category: gone with the wind and to kill a mockingbird. i couldn't believe how well the screenplay had been adapted. interesting little credit tidbit, i noticed that nate berkus - as in design guru discovered by oprah - was an executive producer. interesting.



anyway, the reason i found this movie so compelling was that it seamlessly brought to life the rich characters of kathryn stockett's novel in a way that was profound and moving. the attention to detail was immaculate, from the character's jackie kennedy/doris day wardrobes to the descriptive attention paid to southern cuisine, everything was dead-on accurate. although i'd like to identify most with the protagonist heroine "skeeter phelan" - we do have a few things in common: journalism degree, wistful hope of writing a book someday, beau who works offshore in the oil business, and although we routinely find ourselves in the company of sorority loyal, thank you note writing, junior leaguing, pearl adorning women; somehow we always feel like a complete impostor - my friends think otherwise!


the archetypical jackson woman at bridge club...let me tell you, that bryce dallas howard can play a real witch!

feeling all skeeter-like and ready to submit a feature story to the san antonio express news, my girlfriend who saw the movie with me exclaims, "ya know, you reminded me so much of celia foote!" celia foote? the white trash, nouveau riche blondie from sugar ditch, mississippi who is barred from all social events and can't keep house or cook to save her life?!? can't be...but then my mind flashed back to the scene a few night before when my in-laws came over for dinner and i had tried so hard to entertain. i stuffed all of my messes into the nearest closet, put out all of my finest wares from williams-sonoma and even picked out some flowers for a centerpiece. i set the table the best way i knew how (junior cotillion and robert spence were good for something!) and prayed that my mother-in-law (a true cosmopolitan woman from new york city) wouldn't grimace at the sight of all of it. ambitiously, i decided to make chicken fried steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and cobbler all from scratch! dear lord, you should have seen me double dipping my steaks and spreading flour all over the dang place, i probably used 20 bowls! meanwhile, standing in my "i kiss better than i cook" apron, my husband remarked, "can't we clean up while we cook and not create such a mess sweetheart?" with steam coming out of my nostrils and eyes turning red, i berated, "I WENT TO THE GROCERY STORE AND SPENT MY HARD EARNED MONEY ON THIS MEAL, I HAVE BEEN SLAVING AWAY IN THIS KITCHEN SINCE TWO, I AM SWEATING AND COVERED IN FLOUR...AND YOU EXPECT THE HOUSE TO BE PERFECT!/!?@#$!" so yes, i can see why the comparison came so effortlessly. i am utterly a mess at becoming a domestic diva. the way everybody has to make such a big deal about it when i cook, nodding, smiling, offering up encouraging words like "we're so proud of you" and "you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble" really does put me in the category of mrs. foote. but i will say that girl always has perfectly coifed hair and she's got spunk!


ecstatic upon hiring the only maid who will actually agree to work for mrs. celia

without giving too much away, the heart of this story is the relationship between the maids and the white children they look after their entire lives. it is a relationship that is far stronger than that of even the child and his own parents. i assure you that this uplifting movie will stir your heart and call into question the courage of your own life. enjoy!

my new little DIY project

for all of you crafty gals out there, you understand the need to work with mixed media, wear your covered-in-paint overalls, browse the aisles of hobby lobby in search of the supplies for your next masterpiece. i have been creating art my whole life and it is a passion of mine. i usually specialize in painting canvas and furniture, as well as faux finishing walls, but i also love to do design and i've recently gotten into calligraphy. i'm thinking about starting up my own etsy site, but haven't made a decision yet...we'll see what the future holds. anyway, something i've gotten into recently is making paper flowers. i had the idea to make them for a project i'm doing for the wedding and it has become very addicting!! it takes almost an hour to make each flower because it's a very intricate process. you have to cut each petal out separately and then attach each individual petal to the stem. it is very tedious, but i'm happy with the results so far:

how cute are they!

the duke & duchess of cambridge hit up the calgary stampede. can't get over these two. a little obsessed.