Since moving back to Jackson, where we live in a house and not a tiny shoebox, I have gotten really into decorating our home. I loved researching and dreaming and doing what little I could in Boston, but having walls that I can actually nail into and more than one bookshelf to squeeze our book collection onto ... it's great. And since we moved rental homes over the summer, we have even more room than at our previous house. We also have two bookshelves in the big main room. The first thing I really decorated in this house is one of these bookshelves.
I love this bookshelf. I lurve it. I flurve it.
Which is a good thing, because it directly faces our main sofa, it is next to our TV stand and it's the first thing most people see when they come through our front door. So it's a pretty visible shelf.
Everything on it makes me happy, but I picked a few things to point out.
1. I'm trying to tone down my obsession with having frames photos all over the place—Brian prefers a more toned-down look, so I'm trying to be more thoughtful about which photos I display and how. We only have two photos from our wedding up in the house, and this is one of them. It's of Brian's fraternity lifting him up and chanting at the reception. It's a perfect shot.
2. I'm working on a collection of globes for our house. This one, the first of three, has been in my family for at long as I can remember—it still says Soviet Union instead of Russia and things like that. My mom brought it all the way from Salt Lake City the last time she visited.
3. Another theme in our house: ampersands. I am veritably obsessed. This one is a bit hard to see in the photo. You can see it fine in real life. The yarn-wrapped bottles behind it are DIY table decorations from my wedding.
4. This shelf is mostly open. We stick laptops, Brian's med school books, phones, etc. on it. If I've learned one thing about myself, its that I need space to just put things sometimes. It looks (a little) less cluttered if I leave a specific space for that. The floral tray next to the laptop is a place to drop mail.
5. Seven matching baskets to hold DVDs might seem excessive, and it is. But damn do they look nice.
6. ZOMG YOU GUYS LET'S TALK ABOUT THESE BOOKS. I have wanted to make a book spectrum (a reading rainbow if you will? kudos to one of Brian's fraternity brothers for that one) for a while, and this shelf gave me the perfect opportunity. It's big enough but not crazy huge. I pull out boxes and boxes of books and picked the ones with nearly solid-colored spines, then just tweaked until I loved it. All the credit in the world to my husband for watching me painstakingly put this up without saying a word.
I'd like to share more of our home in the coming weeks, but I should probably clean a wee bit first. Maybe wash some dishes. Maybe.
Life lately has been hard. Although there certainly have been bright spots, overall I have really been struggling to find my footing as an adult—to juggle work, home, marriage, friends, responsibilities, health, pets... It's been hard and I often feel like I'm drowning in it. Of course, then I feel silly (and even worse) because I know, objectively, that I am a lucky person. But difficult emotions don't care about rational thought. They'll drag you under no matter what.
I need to get back to what makes me happy. Creating things. Being with my friends. Good food and wine. Joking with my husband.
So I am returning to this space once more. Sometimes it will just be so I can spill out all the things swirling in my head, in the hopes I can make sense of them. Sometimes it will be to share something creative that I'm excited about. Sometimes it will be to remind myself to be grateful for what I have. It's mostly for me, but if any readers out there get something out of my ramblings, all the better.
Whoa, a blog post! I've been feeling the itch lately to write. Or rather, to write in my blog voice rather than my fancy newspaper writer voice—because I do write. I write constantly. I write articles for the JFP and I write emails and I write notes and plans and some days I write until I never want to type another word—but other days I want to keep writing, only via an outlet that allows me to write with more of my own personality.
Eventually I'd like to write about the utter whirlwind that has been the past 10 months (Jackson! job! marriage! puppy! med school! grown-up life! so! many! things!), but for now I'm just going to jump in and write about the things on my brain.
I've never been very good at resolutions. Last year I set really vague "resolutions" in the hope that a general movement towards being a better person would be easier than trying for (and probably failing at) something very specific. Which, okay, was a fine thought. I did a lot, maybe even all the things on my list. But to what degree? Did I do them fully? What would fully even be?
This year I was inspired by one of my current favorite blogger, Elise Blaha, to do something different. Elise made it a goal to run (at least) a mile every day between Thanksgiving and New Year's, and kept up with it by instagramming photos each day. So I decided to take her idea and run with it on a slightly larger/adjusted scale.
For each month of 2013, I plan to focus on something different, and spend time EVERY DAY doing that thing. Run, clean, make, read, write, cook, stretch, think... I've got ideas but I think I'll decide at the beginning of each month what the new goal will be. In January I went with the most obvious: run at least a mile a day, just like Elise did. I wanted to take that on for a few reasons. One, oh my god I ate a bajillion things and drank at least a few barrels of wine while at my parents for the holidays, and getting into a running habit—even a simple one—couldn't hurt. Two, we now have a really, really large dog (more on that later) and we had gotten a bit out of the habit of taking him on adequate walks and runs once the weather turned bad. I wanted to get back in the habit of taking him out every day.
So how did I do?
I ran 29 times in the 31 days of January. I actually only logged 28 days (the last day I ran in the morning and again at night, to sneak another one in), and I actually only really, literally ran 27 days (one day it was wayyyyy too rainy and cold and miserable, so I did p90x). But I made an effort to be active 29 times and that's what I'm counting. I also use the term "ran" pretty loosely here. Since I took Teddy puppy along most of the time, my actually running was somewhat fragmented. As a large dog is wont to do, Teddy would often run a couple blocks and then stop to pee/sniff everything/look at other dogs/watch squirrels/whatever else dogs do. So we didn't exactly log a swift pace.
But part of the point of my new resolutions is that its about the effort. I'm not going to beat myself up over the three days I didn't go for a run (and I didn't at the time either) and I'm not going to worry that I didn't log any great times. I wanted to make running with Teddy a part of my daily habit, and I did. I've continued to go for runs and walks nearly every day after January ended.
I also really enjoyed taking and instagramming photos of the project. It became a creative outlet within the resolution, trying to make each photo a little bit different. It might make my instagram feed boring as hell, but I'll probably continue that aspect throughout the year. I'll take the motivation wherever I can find it.
My February project is #conquerclutter, which I am finding more difficult for several reasons. 1) I am so not a cleaner. 2) It's vaguer, as far as timeframe and goal (I'm trying to fix that by choosing specific areas to focus on going forward). and 3) The photos are less uniform, so its not as much fun to instagram—yes, this shouldn't be a factor, but it is. The creative miniproject aspect isn't quite as present on this one.
We'll see how the rest of 2013 goes. I'm proud of January's progress. No matter what happens going forward, this has been one of my most successful resolutions in years and years.
...has been INSANE. Here's what has happened since my last posting:
a) I had my bachelorette party (it was indeed the week I posted about it) and it was fabulous.
b) David came to Boston for St. Patrick's Day and it was ridiculous.
c) I flew to Jackson for a job interview, house hunting, Molly's birthday party and Founder's Day and it was chaotic but oh-so-wonderful.
The rest has been a flurry of emails, research, packing, cleaning, planning, worrying, sleeping, discussing, calligraphy-ing, crafting, exercising, organizing, addressing and hoping. Lots of hoping that in one month we will be in a new home that we both love and can afford. And hoping that in two months we will have a (housebroken!) puppy, celebrated a wonderful and beautiful wedding, I will be starting at a great new job and Brian will be enjoying his last bit of free time before med school. And hoping that in four months I love my job and Brian loves med school and we love Jackson... That part, at least, I know will be true. We will love Jackson. Visiting reminded me all over again how excited I am to be around our friends and back in that community again.
I read an article a couple weeks ago about appreciating things more and one of the writer's suggestions was to build anticipation by talking up an event before hand, preparing in advance, etc. If this theory proves true, I am going to have the BEST bachelorette party evah. But the funny thing is that the anticipation had been building more by not talking about it.
See, my maid of honor Tait (of Ode to a Taiter fame) and Brian and a myriad of other bridesmaids and friendys have been scheming to keep my bachelorette a secret from me for some months now. At first I didn't know where or when it would be or any details of what we might be doing. Then someone accidentally let it slip that it would be in New York City, which gave me just enough tantalizing detail to get even more excited. But I still don't know when it is, exactly who will be there and what is planned. Every conversation with Tait or Brian has become a tease of half-hints and false trails and the suspense is killing me, but it an awesome way.
Eventually I got another little tidbit - Brian booked me a 9 a.m. bus to NYC on a Friday. Which Friday remains unknown. At first he threatened to wake me up at four in the morning with a bullhorn. But since I don't exactly fancy having scramble to pack and rush out the door to make my bus (and because I threatened to kill him), he sweetly relented and promised to tell me Thursday night.
And then today I got my first official clue-slash-packing aid. Cue excitement ramping up even more (as well as the wondering - would they have planned to give me clues for a week? Two weeks?!?). I will have to wait until Thursday to find out for sure, but if the mystery bachelorette is finally upon us, I am reaaaaddyyyyyy to parrrtyyyyyyyyyyyy.
And so are all my friends, apparently. After all, since almost every female I know is on some kind of birth control – whether it be for health issues that give them extremely painful and miserable periods, irregular and unpredictable periods, or yes, to be able to have sex without getting pregnant – we must all be sluts.
What decade are we in? The last time I checked it was 2012. The TWENTY-FIRST century, y'all.
So can somebody tell me WHY THE HELL women are suddenly being attacked for taking a stand for themselves, their sexuality and their HEALTH?
Here's the thing. I get that birth control is (generally) not a life-saving drug that women absolutely must take to survive. So if you want to argue that one institution or another (be it the government or employers or health care or whoever) shouldn't have to pay to make it affordable for women, that's fine. But then you better be prepared to accept my argument that they shouldn't pay for any other - not ONE single other - medication that isn't 100% lifesaving. I'm betting that is an argument you won't like.
I can't with this thing too much or it will just turn into a rant. But if you want to read more about this issue, I sincerely encourage you to check out the links below, particularly the first by Donna Ladd, editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press in Mississippi.
He makes several good points, as always, but the best is, "To the people who are upset about their hard-earned tax money going to something they don't like... Welcome to the f***ing club. Everyone pays for sh** they don't want to all the time. Reimburse me for the Iraq war and oil subsidies and diaphragms are on me!"
It is the 19th Amendment that gives women the right to vote. Which means that 18 other amendments were put forth and ratified before the government seriously considered, "Hey, maybe we should extend this basic right to the other fully HALF of our population - to the ones that give us half of our genes, who carry us for nine months inside their bodies, who nurture and raise and teach us. Maybe we should let all people whom these laws affect have a voice in approving or denying them." YOU THINK?!
But, however late to the party it may have been, it is also the 19th Amendment that gives us the power to keep this shit out of the White House. All the ladies out there - all the sluts out there - let's stand up and show what we think of this issue.
So far I am loving my photo a day project. I'm already excited to compare the first month to the last and see the differences. New home, new city, new state, new pet (hopefully), new job (SERIOUSLY hopefully), new lifestyle... Plus we have a tentative plan to visit my parents over Brian's Christmas break, so it will be fun to compare that as well (the first six photos of January were taken in Utah visiting them). Their kittens will be so much bigger by that point!
Full confession time, two of these photos are NOT in the correct spot for their day. In January I managed to take a photo every day, but this month I forgot twice, so I pulled photos from days where I took several. The OCD part of me is twitching but I'm determined to not get crazy about this project.
It's also interesting to see the month (or two months) as a whole. I can immediately pick out trends and things I like or dislike. For one thing, there are hardly any people. Brian makes an appearance or two (which is just about all he will put up with anyway), and there are bits of me but nothing of my face. I'm kind of okay with that, because I feel like these photos are really taken from my point of view and show the things I notice and look at throughout the month. I do wish there was more variety. Part of this is because of the whole unemployment thing – I spend a ton of time in the apartment, and when I do leave I tend to do the same things (errands, jogging, groceries)... but even when we were in New York City for Brian's birthday spending time with some of our best friends, I didn't really remember to take more than still life-esque photos. Imma work on that for the next couple months.
There's also hardly any green, both because the instagram filters tend to play up every color except green and because I live in a concrete jungle where it is still (technically) winter so there's no grass or leaves on the trees. Guess I'll just have to wear my favorite coat every day until it gets too warm!
Since the time between completing my classes for grad school and moving away is only a few months, instead of finding a short-term job here in Boston I have been focusing on applying for jobs in Mississippi, finishing wedding planning and planning the move/house searching. Which all keeps me fairly busy but doesn't change the fact that when I have to fill out forms and list my employer, I have none.
Okay okay, technically I'm not unemployed because I am searching for work to begin at a specific time in the future, not at this very moment. But I like to say I am unemployed, mostly because it's the only time I'll be able to do so without being utterly terrified by the prospect.
Being unemployed has turned me into some kind of hybrid of a stay-at-home-mom, college dropout and crazy old lady. This is how I spend my days:
Cooking, cleaning, crafting – Heavy on the cooking and crafting and less so on the cleaning. Because cleaning sucks.
Never putting on real clothes – Although I haven't invested in a velour jumpsuit (you know, YET), I spend the majority of my days in plaid pajama pants, a large T and a sweatshirt I got at Disneyworld when we were caught in a sudden rainstorm. Sometimes I put on jeans. The upside of this is that I have much less laundry to do. The downside is that Brian usually comes home, sees what I have on and sighs. Not with lust.
Talking to Penny – Although I have been a card-carrying member of the crazy cat lady society since approximately birth and therefore no stranger to talking to my pets, I have recently begun to ask Penny legitimate questions as if she could give me an answer, like "What do you think of this shirt?" or "Should I do Kenpo or Plyometrics today?" It's an issue.
Internet research – This includes reading the news both national and Mississippian, poring through house listings on Craigslist and the most important research of all: Pinterest.
We are slowly checking things off the wedding to-do list. Tuxes, check. My shoes, check. Father/daughter dance song, check. DJ, check. But Brian and I still haven't chosen our first dance song. Although we have a new front-runner:
We're getting married in a fever and we're going to Jackson. Moving there! To live. And work. And go to school. And get a dog.
My resolve to blog more this year was sidetracked when I realized I wasn't sure how much of the big changes happening in our lives I should share. Brian made a decision on school and we chose to move a bit ago but he wanted to wait for the right time to tell his work that he was leaving. Brian has a good job downtown as a health care consultant and we didn't want to burn any bridges. But today he gave his letter of resignation and his bosses were great about it, which is a huge relief and really makes the move feel even more legit.
The big plan is to be out of here by May. Which means we are moving 1,422 miles and getting married all in the same month. Which means we might be a little bit insane. But I am SO excited.
So I can finally say that all I've been able to think about for the past two months is:
a) job apps/opportunities/cover letters/etc
b) sweet lil Jackson homes
c) what to put in our sweet lil Jackson home
d) a puppy to add to our sweet lil Jackson home
e) how Penny will interact with our future pup
f) moving logistics
g) wedding planning
h) wedding crafts
i) general crafts
j) how to make money while unemployed
k) the costs of moving, sweet lil Jackson homes, a wedding and a pup
Seriously though, if you stop me at any random moment, there's a 98% chance I'm thinking about one of these things.
I still really love Boston and I'm glad we've had our big city life the past two years. I don't intend to live in Jackson for the rest of my life. When Brian is done with school or residency we'll probably move again - maybe California this time. We really want to live abroad at some point - maybe Dublin. When we have more money we can definitely see ourselves back in a city - returning to Boston or going to NYC or D.C. But right now, Jackson has never felt more right.
8:30 – Here we go, y'all. Morgan Freeman's velvety voice is kicking things off.
8:33 – RE: The Biebs getting "the 18-24 demographic." Try the 10-18 demographic.
8:41 – So I didn't catch every word of the opening song, but was Jonah Hill the only one that got mocked? Ouch, dude. You just got called out by Billy Crystal.
8:42 – This Carl-the-Seat-Filler dude is awesome. I want his job.
8:43 – First award! The winner looks like Gandalf the Grey goes formal. We are off on the wrong foot, office-pool-wise.
8:50 – All these cracks at the theatre are really falling flat. Really, is Billy Crystal the only one they could get to host? Also, what is the point of this super random montage of movies?
8:54 – "A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to prove you're a lady." J. Lo, you are failing one of those criteria.
8:58 – We are getting back on track with the office pool, Brian picked the last three correctly! Of course, the big points are earned at the end. Since we haven't seen Hugo, The Artist OR The Iron Lady, the proceedings are a little wah-wah so far.
9:00 – This is cute, actors talking about movies from their childhood (if a little desperately saying, "You should pay money to go to the movies again!"). Although I'm suspicious that Brad Pitt's "Gargantua" movie is actually a hallucination he has when he was high. Also, Helen Mirren is fantastic. Also also, why is Adam Sandler involved?
9:03 – Apparently I missed a J. Lo nip slip. Isn't that just a regular Sunday night for her though?
9:05 – A friend texted, RE: the makeup win, "I'm confused how best makeup went to transforming a white lady into a white lady." This is a valid point.
9:09 – "A dark knight, an American psycho and a charismatic crackhead - you'll get to choose one on Super Tuesday." FINALLY, the first good joke of the night by Mr. Crystal.
9:10 – I loved both Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer in The Help. LOVED. Lurved. Luved.
9:12 – YES. First standing O! Also, every one of Octavia's speeches has been so heartfelt and hilarious and wonderful all awards season. LOVE HER.
9:14 – P.s. Expect more capslock attack as the wine bottle gets emptier.
9:20 – I'm just SO glad they rushed Octavia off the stage to do this (terrible) Wizard of Oz sketch. Grumble grumble.
9:25 – I kind of love how the film editing winners were just like, "Let's get out of here" after being a bit flustered and unprepared. It's refreshing.
9:26 – You KNOW they were so proud of that "Hugo," "No, hugo" joke.
9:38 – When I was in the seventh grade my family went to Las Vegas and saw Cirque du Soleil and it was magical, so although most people probably think this whole thing is gimmicky (and it might be a little), I kind of love it.
9:40 – Also, I've pretty much just stopped listening whenever Billy Crystal talks.
9:43 – Gwynnie seems so out of touch with the world with her whole GOOP thing, but I can't help but like her when she looks so good and when she and Robert Downey Jr. balance each other out to actually pretty funny results.
9:44 – The "get off the stage music" is MERCILESS this year.
9:51 – I'm so excited for Brave, and yes, it is 100% because the heroine is a redhead. Here's hoping this is Pixar's return to the good old days.
9:52 – Emma Stone's swanning around this introduction is hilarious. LOVE HER.
9:55 – I wanted to vote for Harry Potter in the office pool in this category (Visual Effects), but Brian vetoed me. Let's all hope I'm right so I can gloat for the rest of the night. But also, let's hope he's right so we can get 75 bucks. Conflict.
9:56 – NEITHER OF US GOT IT RIGHT. Lame.
10:01 – "You're only two years older than me, darling, where have you been all my life?" You are an adorable man, Christopher Plummer.
10:02 – Also I'm going to force Brian to dress exactly like him when we get old and his hair turns white. Velvet jacket, white mustache and little bow tie all the way. Also ALSO, that speech was perfect. Funny, classy, genuine and capped by thanking his lovely wife.
10:07 – Killer 'Revenge' promo.
10:09 – Okay, this "I know what you're thinking" sketch has some funny moments. The second laugh you've wrestled out of me, Billy.
10:13 – The best original score category has the best nominee montage of the night. Reminds me of how much I liked the screenplay one from last year.
10:16 – WTF Will Ferrell and Zach Galifinakis in white tails and smashing cymbals. Also, Zach mispronouncing his own name might well have been the hardest I've laughed all night.
10:20 – Apparently nine SNL cast members have been nominated for Oscars but none have won. Will Kristin Wiig be the first to take home the little golden man?!? Stay tuned my friends.
10:25 – Why the hell is Angelina Jolie sticking her leg out like that?
10:30 – Okay, seriously though, her arms look freakishly frail. Angie, eat a cheeseburger!!
10:31 – We are neck and neck with someone named "Chris" in the office pool. It is all riding on the short documentary category (we have all the same picks besides that category). The tension mounts.
10:39 – Oh, cast of Bridesmaids. I love you. Please come hang out with me. Please show up at my bachelorette party. I don't know when it is, but it's in NYC. Get in touch with Tait Kellogg and she'll give you the details.
10:41 – YES. They continued the "Scorcese" drinking game joke from the SAG Awards. Attention all friendys - this is our new drinking game.
10:50 – It's time for the big awards, and not a moment too soon. I'm going to run out of wine dangerously soon.
10:54 – This man's speech is adorable. As is his accent. As is how he thanked the dog. Best director yay!
10:55 – I love Meryl's lil glasses.
11:04 – That is AN AFRO.
11:05 – I'm assuming L'il Sebastian will be egregiously left out of this In Memorium as well.
11:09 – Like the caveman, wine and sleepiness have reduced me to single-though sentences. So close, only three awards to go...
11:14 – I enjoy that they gave Natalie Portman very Star Wars intro music. I don't know the first dude, I didn't see George Clooney in The Descendants, I also didn't see Jean Dujardin in The Artist, Natalie Portman keeps glancing back at the teleprompter and it's distracting, I DID see Gary Oldman in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and it was pretty good but not ahmahhhzing, I did also see Brad Pitt in Moneyball and it was also a'ight. So all in all (and particularly compared to my enthusiasm for COLIN FIRTH last year), my attitude toward this category is MEH.
11:19 – I really wish I had seen The Artist and/or could understand whatever that outburst at the end of Jean Dujardin's speech was.
11:24 – Hello Colin. Thank you for being here.
11:25 – I could listen to this man address nominees all day.
11:27 – "Meryl. Mamma Mia. We were in Greece. I was gay and we were happy." Yes.
11:29 – And it's Meryl. I'm disappointed that Viola didn't win, because I want The Help to win everything always, but it's Meryl effin' Streep and her speech is just great.
11:33 – Wait, why is Tom Cruise introducing the biggest event of the night?
11:37 – Seriously, why haven't I seen The Artist yet?! The director's address to his wife (and the star) Berenice Bejo was beautiful. Darn it, me!
11:40 – And that's the show. I have the hiccups, Penny is licking her tail and Brian is busily counting up the points on the ballots for his office pool (he's in charge this year). The end.
Dresses! Hair! Pretty people making tragic choices! The wine is poured, so here we go.
Once again, I have been tasked with grabbing food to sustain us through the ceremony (as a result of being the most fully dressed in non-pajama clothes), so Brian will be guest-blogging until I return triumphantly bearing tikka masala and nan.
Brian says:
some 11 year-old kid from the descendants. haven't seen the movie, but it seems depressing.
this commentator guy named ross is wearing a big red bowtie...and he sounds like a eunuch.
titanic 3d commercial. i saw that movie in theaters when i was in 5th grade...with my mom, sister, aunt, and great grandmother. awkward to say the least.
my favorite betting props for the oscars - will the winner for best actress cry (yes -145, no +100); and over/under for mentions of Rooney Mara's nipple piercing. i'm setting it at 1.5, and going with the over. betting can help increase interest in almost anything...the potential to win $80 in my office pool will have me locked in.
Aaaand I'm back. Penny is rolling around on the floor and we are rolling around in Indian food. (Story of our lives).
5:53 – Someone from The Artist is wearing something eco-friendly. Last year we had seen pretty much all of the major nominated movies, but this year we are sorely lacking, especially since The Artist is supposed to win everything and we haven't seen it. Womp.
5:55 – Brian just said George Clooney has already been mentioned like ten times. If only we had made a bet on that.
(commercial/food break)
6:00 – It looks like there are glittery pineapples coming out of Giuliana's boobs.
6:06 – Wolfgang Puck is explaining the 12 dishes served to the guests. I want to go to there. Also, it's a little bit ridiculous that there will be so much food and 90% of the women there won't be able to breathe, much less eat. If I ever make it to the Oscars, remind me to wear something comfy so I can eat that shiz.
6:09 – Rose Byrne is wearing something black and sparkly. She has a bob and semi-severe bangs, which, okay, she can pull anything off, but I miss her gorgeous long(er) locks. Also I have recently become obsessed with Damages, which she is fabulous in. Also, can we talk about how TINY her ears are? Seriously, look at anyone else's ears and then look at hers. MICROSCOPIC.
6:12 – Now several of the Bridesmaids ladies are making their way through. I want to be friends with them. Ellie Kemper is wearing a great copper color.
6:19 – Ahh, Clooney has been sighted. Expect Ryan and Giuliana to start manic name-dropping any minute now. Also, thank you Tom and Lorenzo, because I recognized what Clooney's gal pal Stacy Keibler was wearing without anyone saying anything.
6:21 – Ooooh! My other girlcrush Jessica Chastain is looking fabulous in something black and gold. Her lil red head looks so good.
6:22 – Shailene Woodley is apparently studying to be an herbalist. Huh?
6:36 – Took a quick break for a wedding-related call and I came back to people talking about flasks. Approve.
6:42 – Viola Davis is stunning (but her dress, despite it's gorgeous color, does not fit as well as it should). She just said, "Hair by Mae Alice Davis, my momma" and pointed to her au natural hair. Love it.
6:43 – Her voice sounds SO different from the voice she used as Abileen.
6:46 – Right now the camera is lingering on Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddy/Sean "Puffy" Combs and some dude who is vigorously lint-rolling his tux. I like to imagine it's because shortly before leaving he picked up his cat (who in my imagination is just like Penny) and gave her a thorough hug/petting. Note: I don't actually know if Diddy has a cat.
6:48 – More Kelly/Giuliana inanity.
6:49 – Also Giuliana just said that it is amazing that Rooney Mara is wearing white because she "never wears white." I beg to differ. [Insert smug sound here.]
6:54 – My Week with Marilyn is another movie I haven't seen yet, to my utter disappointment. I'm liking Michelle Williams so much this awards season. Not so much what she is wearing (although sometimes she can knock it out of the park) but just her grace and personality.
6:59 – Octavia Spencer! Mmmmhmmm. That is all.
7:00 – Okay, that's not all. She looks incredible.
7:02 – Wine. That is all.
7:04 – Maya Rudolph! She was hilarious hosting SNL last week. They are discussing the skit where she and my other other girlcrush Kristin Wiig just could NOT hold it together. It. Was. Glorious.
7:11 – Speaking of Kristin Wiig! She and co-writer Annie are pimping Bridesmaids with Ryan. Every time he asks a guest "are you excited?" or "how excited are you?" or some variation thereof, I die a little inside.
7:15 – Original girlcrush Emma Stone glimpsed in something red! Ooooh!
7:16 – Someone tweeted, RE: Sacha Baron Cohen in full Dictator costume and persona, "the Lady Gaga of film and TV." Truth.
7:17 – Ryan looks utterly pissed off after SBC dumped fake ash on him. I also love that Giuliana and Kelly adamantly refuse to let him go to break, which is clearly all he wants to do.
7:24 – This is going to make Ryan even MORE annoying for the rest of the night as he feels obligated to tell everyone what happened. Hi Tina Fey!
7:28 – Emma! I adore her raspy voice. "There was a lot of bourbon on the set... It hurt by 5:00." This is why I want to be friends with you.
7:39 – If I was playing a drinking game (with myself, since Brian abandoned me until the real show starts) where I took a sip every time I felt the urge to roll my eyes at something an E! correspondent said, I would be SLOSHED already.
7:40 – I switched over to ABC just in time to hear Tim Gunn and Tina Fey discussing Bossypants and Tina's past tendency to wear giant t-shirts and fanny packs. All these things are good.
7:42 – Some British lady is now interviewing Colin Firth. All these things are good. Note: We did actually see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy but of course its barely nominated for anything.
7:53 – I don't know who either of these people are, but this British chick and this grizzly white-haired man cannot understand a word of each other and it is absurd. (Update: Apparently it is Louise Roe and Nick Nolte?)
7:55 – Tim Gunn always sounds so upbeat and respectful. Also, the word "ravishing" should be used more.
8:00 – Cameron Diaz really should NOT have that haircut. It worked on her about ten years ago, but now she needs a little more length.
8:04 – Bradley Cooper is being interviewed. He is great usually but A) The Hangover 3 is a TERRIBLE idea, particularly after The Hangover 2 was so disappointing, and B) Limitless was THE WORST movie we saw all year. Seriously, it was SO BAD. SO, SO BAD.
8:07 – How awkwardly nerdy and nerdily awkward are the guys carrying in the briefcases containing the winners' envelopes? Adorbz.
(commercial/wine refill/Penny petting break)
8:12 – Ahhhh the immortal question, "What are you wearing?" My answer: tshirt by Hanes, pants by the acclaimed collaboration between Jansport and Millsaps College, puma socks (shoeless is the new stiletto) and jewelry by Brian*.
8:24 – This is the portion of the show where they fill random amounts of time with backstage tours and interviews with producers. Meh.
8:26 – Chris Rock was a super random last guest. That's it for the pre-show! Time to see who the big winners are! (In Brian's office pool, obviously. We could win 75 bucks!)
I love the camera in the iphone 4, y'all. I cannot get over the quality of the photos it takes. Since upgrading my phone before Christmas I rarely get out my real camera anymore. It's all iphone, all the time. And while in college it seemed like there was a new memory-making event to capture at least three times a week, life is a little slower these days. But I really want to capture this year, what with 2012 marking our wedding, my graduation and (as-yet-unfound) new job and several other big changes in our lives, so I'm taking a photo every day of 2012 with my phone and I plan to make a mini scrapbook out of them. Most days I take several, but every day I try to remember to take at least one. The majority end up being edited in Instagram (my new obsession), but not every single one, although they are all getting cropped to squares so they are matchy-matchy.
Where does the time go, y'all? I cannot believe it is 2012 and I especially cannot believe it is January 15th. I've been really wanting to get back into blogging, but it almost feels like I am starting over completely - what do I even write about? I can't remember. Since it is the beginning of the year and the beginning of a new surge in blogging, I guess the only natural thing is to talk about beginnings. And ends - you can't have beginnings without ends.
2011 was a hard year for me. There were a lot of really great moments, like getting engaged and having fun wedding planning and visiting friends (usually at more weddings) across the country. Those wonderful times are some of the best of my life and I will always cherish them. They also helped propel me through some of the hardest times of my life. In 2011 I was pretty much constantly burnt out on school. I missed my friends and Millsaps life. I got away from doing the things that make me happy - like making things and blogging and going out with people - and became very insular. I slept too much and did too little. I was stressed about everything.
I worried a lot. I worried about money until I was sick. I worried about school until I was miserable. My worrying affected my personal relationships and then I worried about that.
I don't know how much detail to go into, but it was a lot to handle.
I've been trying very hard in the past month to let a lot of that overwhelming stress go. To stop berating myself for not being perfect. I've worked really hard for nine and a half years through high school, college and now grad school. I know I will continue to work hard in the career I find myself in. If right now I need to take a few days or weeks and chill out for my mental health, I will.
So the "ends" part was pretty depressing. Let's get to the "new beginnings" part. In 2012, I want to be happy. That's it. Of course I want to be successful and find a great job and make money and all that, but that contributes to the "be happy" thing anyway, so it doesn't really need to be mentioned here.
I wrote out some reminders for 2011. Not necessarily resolutions, because that makes it seem like a failure if I don't do them perfectly, and that is exactly what I am trying to get away from. But things I want to work on and remember.
Sleep in less.
Stay organized.
Cook.
Take more photos.
Read more books.
Worry less.
Craft more.
Follow through on craft projects I start.
Be active.
Get art.
Make a home that feels like home.
Those are my personal goals, the ones just for me and my happiness. But since this year will mark the official transition from "I" to "we," I have some goals relating to life with Brian as well.
Listen more.
Overreact less.
Compromise.
Respect.
Support.
Love.
And get a puppy!
7:59 – Pinot in hand. It's a $9 bottle with a real cork so I'm feeling UNDERSTANDABLY fancy. Let's get to the show!
8:00 – All right, let's see if this opening sequence lives up to Lynch's promises... It starts out a bit weird. Jane Lynch does have a good singing voice though.
8:02 – Asian jokes!
8:04 – RON SWANSON. They really do have a ton of actors involved in this shindig.
8:06 – Okay the Mad Men bit was good. Also, "A world where high school students look 24."
8:09 – "Try doing that in triple Spanx." PREACH.
8:10 – Brian is immediately not amused by the singing intro sextet.
8:12 – I, however, really like the montage of comedy shows. Number 1, because they showed a bunch of 30 Rock and Number 2, because (nearly) ALL MONTAGES ARE AWESOME. Oooh two sips in and the mad caps are starting. This might get crazy.
8:16 – Jane Lynch said they were doing some things differently this year, and I guess the voiceover man providing interesting facts about the winner is an example of that? I hope that becomes awesome later if RON SWANSON wins.
8:19 – Can someone explain why no dude from 30 Rock or Parks and Recreation was nominated for supporting dude?!?
8:28 – I've been checking up on the tweets from the evening. Check out @TomandLorenzo for some great pictures of the dresses so far. Ricky Gervais was funny but since I don't watch Modern Family regularly, I'm bored of them sweeping the awards so far.
8:30 – WHAT. I think I must have missed Zoey Deschanel during one of the NFL breaks. She looks exactly like one of those Barbie doll cakes where its just a giant skirt with the doll shoved into it.
8:31 – Modern Family AGAIN what???
8:40 – Charlie Sheen shut up. God. EVERYONE in the world is over you.
8:43 – I'm glad someone who isn't on Modern Family won. Jim Parsons both seems and looks adorable (yes, those are distinctly different things) and he is rocking that tux despite his obvious nerdstyle.
8:45 – YES. Finally something hilarious is happening. You go Amy Poehler. Get your ass up on stage. I love how the other nominees are like, "Uhhhh, you know what, screw it, I'm getting on stage too."
8:46 – I'm loving how Amy is taking this to FULL ON Miss America levels with the hand-holding and fanning her face. This. Is. Awesome.
8:47 – AND THERE IS A CROWN. Where did that come from?!
Okay, even though yet another show I don't watch is winning, Melissa seems so genuinely thrilled and also was freaking hilarious in Bridesmaids, so yay. (Actually, I'm reading a bunch of tweets saying that the only reason Melissa won was Bridesmaids, which I'm actually totally fine with. It's not going to win an Oscar anytime soon, but Bridesmaids deserves some award love. It is a truly great comedy.)
9:00 – These pre-taped bits and montages are the best part of the show so far. They are seriously good. I loved Amy Poehler speaking in Dothraki on the Office spoof. She is the lady of the night, it seems.
9:01 – Ha. Fanny pack. You joke, Jane Lynch, but I love a good fanny pack.
9:05 – I love you Stephen Colbert. Yet another example of pre-taped stuff being the best part of the night. The intros to this category (which I didn't catch so I'm going to call it the Comedy News/Talk Show Writer Category) are QUALITY.
9:08 – This is the third time they've played the Dior "film." Still gold, still naked, still breathy.
9:13 – Lonely Island. YES.
9:14 – Michael Bolton and the Isle of Tortuga? "Freak Bill Macy"? Akon? This is all so absurd and I am loving it.
9:16 – How much money do you want to wager that Lea Michelle is hoping rumors start that she and Ian Somerhalder are secretly dating? I find her so hilariously out of touch with the world. She can deny the diva label all she wants, but it's useless when she poses and preens and is so intense about everything. (P.s. Yay SNL!)
9:25 – I love The Daily Show but I really hope Colbert wins it one of these days.
9:27 – Yeah those Emmy tones really weren't a good idea.
9:28 – The drama intro montage was less successful than the two previously, possibly because drama just inherently provides less montage-worthy moments but also possibly because they didn't use nearly enough Game of Thrones clips. That shit gets real.
9:30 – The presenter and voiceover dude pronounced the winner's name in completely different ways. Awk-ward. Also, since neither Mad Men nor Game of Thrones won, I'm uninterested.
9:34 – See previous statement.
9:42 – This countdown clock must be really intense, because almost every winner has mentioned it so far. I wonder what happens when the clock runs out? I hope a trapdoor opens up and the winner falls through... Or maybe a giant hook yanks them offstage like in old vaudeville shows. Or maybe Sue throws slushies at them.
9:44 – There's was a ton of red on the red carpet, but I think this is the best one so far. Who is this chick? I can't remember her name but she is smokin' and this sweetheart neckline sparkly red number is HOT. (Edited to add: Her name is Kerry Washington).
9:45 – Yay Peter Dinklage!! FINALLY a show I actually watch! Also, the voiceover just said, "Game of Thrones is filmed on location in Awesomeland." That sounds like something a 12 year old boy would say. The voiceover is getting increasingly lame. Don't ruin the first winner I actually care about, Emmys.
9:47 – I love that he thanked his dog sitter, because even if I was jetting off to Hollywood to win a fancy award, I would still totally be concerned about Penny's wellbeing.
9:48 – Brian and I watched the entirety of Game of Thrones while we hid out from Hurricane Irene, and it is awesome. While we were watching it I kind of hated it because so many terrible, terrible things kept happening and all the terrible, terrible people kept getting the upper hand over other obviously superior people, but every time an episode ended, I wanted to watch the next right away. And the ending was EPIC. I am now reading the books because I can't wait for the next season and because I like to do things nerdstyle.
9:52 – "Now 52% of all TV is set in Jersey... Sarah Palin's Alaska? JERSEY."
9:54 – I didn't understand why Katie Holmes was at the MTV Video Music Awards, and I don't understand why she's here. That is all.
9:59 – Brian walks in the room.
Brian: "What is this?"
Me: "Lead actor. Jon Hamm lost."
Brian: "Who won?!?!"
Me: "Someone from Friday Night Lights."
Brian: "Oh my god. This show is such a joke."
Brian walks out of the room.
10:02 – At this point in the night, I'm going to need more wine or more Ron Swanson. Also I just accidentally threw the remote across the room (it slipped). Also, there is an hour left according to my TV info button. What other genres are there?!
10:05 – HOLY SHIT.
Dear LL Cool J,
You have a good thing going with NCIS: LA. You DO NOT need to come back to your rap career, especially if it means sputtering this angry/confusing stuff about movies and queries. I say this as a friend.
Xoxo,
Kathleen
10:07 – I haven't seen ANY of the miniseries/movies. I have only heard of two. Cue the point in the show where I just drink and half pay attention and play on Pinterest.
10:08 – "You know, many people are curious as to why I'm a lesbian. Ladies and gentlemen, the cast of Entourage." HA.
10:12 – Professor McGonagall for the win!
10:17 – The accountants part of the shows always make me smile because my mom is an accountant and it's rarely such a glamorous profession. Hi mom!
10:20 – I know everybody is going to go after Amy Poehler for her sartorial choices, but I just love her so much that I can't. You wear whatever you want, you hilarious lady. And then you call me and we will hang out in sweatshirts and leggings and milk will probably come out of my nose.
10:22 – I just read what I wrote and I want to assure everyone, I have not had THAT much wine. I stand by what I said.
10:23 – Brian heard the music and called from the other room, "Is this the death montage?" Then he added, "I hope Lil Sebastian is on there." ME TOO.
10:25 – I don't know any of the people singing "Hallelujah," but damn do I love this song. (It's less mournful/beautiful as a quartet though.)
10:35 – Is this always the order they give the awards in? Why don't they do this first and save drama for the end? Everyone is asleep right now, Emmys. Just so you know.
10:45 – Jane Lynch is doing her best but this show is dying, fast.
10:48 – Time for the real shit. MAD MEN wins!! So deserved.
10:55 – I like how Gwenyth/Gwyneth walked up to the mike and basically said, "The prompter's down, I'm not going to embarrass myself so I'm going to say as little as possible, here are the nominees," and then everybody clapped like she delivered the Gettysburg Address.
10:57 – Clearly I need to watch Modern Family more. I've seen it and I know it's funny, but I've never committed to adding it to my life as something to watch every week. Maybe if I do that I won't be as bored/annoyed that they win everything next year. Actually if I do that, some other show that I don't watch will win everything next year.
10:58 – HA. (After talking about a gay couple thanking them for not only making people laugh but also making them more tolerant): "Yes, we're showing the world there is nothing wrong with an old man married to a hot young woman. And looking around the room, I see many of you agree." Okay, I think that line alone convinced me to add Modern Family to my TV lineup.
11:00 – That's it, y'all. I can't wait to see whose dressed get lauded and whose get ripped tomorrow. See you in February for the Oscars! (You know, unless you want to keep reading my blog until then, which I ENCOURAGE.)
Hello friends! It's award season again and I'm going to liveblog it! I'd say it's because I believe my opinions need to be heard on this vitally important matter... but really it's so I can have an excuse to drink mass quantities of wine and talk about pretty dresses. I'm decked out in my very best duds (red norts and a brand new large Hanes v-neck T, obviously) and ready to go!
I am running out to get sustenance for us, so Brian will be taking notes until my return. Here are his thoughts on the red carpet goings-on at E!:
Nina Dobrey(sp?) from the Vampire Diaries is ssssmokin’. She “owns nothing she is wearing”. Some sort of rumor about her and some guy – status = who knows. She “would be his arm candy” if she was walking with him. She’s dumb.
Pennycat looks like she’s been on a diet. That chica licks herself so much – no one else could pull that off in public…especially with such a fluffy figure.
Colby someone looks good in a blue dress according to Ozzie Osbourne’s daughter with spiky hair.
Kathleen looks super sexy tonight. She’s wearing Walt Disney’s “hottest new piece”, the Mickey Mouse classics sweatshirt. Looks super comfy. It just screams “I want to lounge around the house, yet I’m here to party”…a la the tuxedo t-shirt. Totes fab.
WHOA! I thought a woman was speaking... and then the lady’s voice was coming from a man in a tuxedo. No shit. Maybe someone is pitching that voice? Dubbing it in? Freaky. The guy is not Ryan Seacrest, because I just saw him and his voice sounded burly, comparatively.
6:17 – Aaaaaaaaand here I am, bearing Thai AND sushi – that's right, we don't skimp when it comes to award show food around here. Let's dive right in. Apparently I just missed Lea Michelle but saw something backless and red as they cut away. Now Sarah Hyland (who looks like the mini version of girlcrush Mila Kunis) is talking about some drama involving Lea Michelle? Apparently she was being interviewed by Joan Rivers and imitating how Lea poses and then Lea got all offended over it? I’m not sure. But I do know that Sarah Hyland is adorable and is so over the drama which makes me want to be her friend.
6:20 – Literally the second E! went to commercial Brian called, “Channel recall!” so it’s over to NFL for a few.
6:24 – Yay Jane Lynch! She is hilarious. And NOT wearing a lesbian power suit for once!! She looks good.
6:26 – Apparently the opening sequence will be “epic.” We’ll see, Lynch, we’ll see.
6:30 – Paula Abdul blah blah I really couldn't care less. Time to shove some edemame in my face.
6:35 – Kaley Cuoco just (sarcastically) said, "I'm just so chic, you don't know." And also her dad is her date. New girlcrush brewing? Possibly.
6:37 – Okay finally got Lea Michelle in the 360 cam. She really does pose so over-the-top with this shit. Okay now she really IS posing on the carpet like she's on ANTM. Girl. Also she is wearing Marchesa and Marchesa agreed that they would dress her and her alone for the Emmys and you KNOW she is eating that shit up.
I also got a peek at Nina Dobrev (see Brian's comments above), also in red. She is so pretty, y'all. And her dress is so pretty.
6:42 – Another commercial break = crab rangoon break. Brian just said, "When does the actual show start?" He can't believe there is another hour and 15 minutes of this.
6:42 – I'm not sure if I'm going to watch the new Charlie's Angels, but they are real pretty, so there's that. I like the blond one's sassy bob haircut.
6:46 – Julianna Margulies looks kind of like a skyscraper, but not in a bad way?
6:48 – Christina Hendricks!! Your boobs look normal for once!!! (I.e. not like this.) Also Jesus Christ what I would give to know the secrets of having that exact hair color. She's so hot. It pains me that she often dresses so unfortunately, but today she really does look beautiful.
6:50 – Time for some "exclusive 90 second film" by/about Dior? Whatevz.
(90 seconds later) I can sum up that "film" in three words: gold, naked, breathy. That's all you need to know.
6:53 – There is a "super new" show on E! called Dirty Soap. Yep, that sounds about right.
7:01 – Lots is happening, but I'm eating. I'll get back to you.
7:02 – Steve Carell and wife. Both look good. Let's get some trainwrecks up in here, huh?
7:03 – Joel McHale gets on my nerves in The Soup, which is why I never watch it, but I keep hearing how hilarious Community is. Also, he is wearing a white tuxedo jacket and looks somewhat like a fancy waiter, but he's definitely pulling it off.
7:08 – More things are happening, more people look good... blah blah blah. TRAINWRECKS, where are you?
7:10 – Oooooooh Elizabeth Moss says she is wearing Marchesa. I wonder if Lea Michelle is going to run up behind her and attack her for raining on her "I'm the only one wearing Marchesa" parade? That would be awesome.
7:20 – We went back to NFL for a bit, then came back to see Julie Bowen talking about her son projectile vomiting. We also got some shot of the woman that plays Robin on How I Met Your Mother in a really nice blue color and Naya Riviera wearing black. Sass.
7:27 – And now Will Arnett is interviewing Amy Poehler. "I heard [your dress is] made out of 100 dollar bills, is that true?"
7:29 – Aaaaaaand Gwyneth Paltrow – whose name I spell as "Gwenyth" literally EVERY single time – is wearing a belly shirt? Or maybe that's illusion netting? Also it's real sheer pretty much everywhere with lots of beading covering the bits. It... is almost a good look. But in the end, almost still = girl, WHAT. But I think your shoes are cute, G!
7:32 – I should take this moment to clarify that when I say I'm wearing norts, I mean Nike shorts... not the other thing urbandictionary defines "norts" as.
7:35 – Heidi is wearing a Christian Siriano dress with an awesome giant ballerina puff skirt (check out THOSE fashion buzzwords). I love that she wears Project Runway winners' stuff. She knows where her bread is buttered. I'm pretty sure I just butchered that phrase.
7:40 – Someone I don't recognize is wearing something in the best green color ever. More please.
7:41 – Diana Agron is wearing something blue with a very demure neckline. Her hair is very Jackie O. These interviews are always SO AWKWARD. She's doing that thing where she's trying to walk away but he says one more thing and she kind of fake laughs and talks as she's leaving. Awk.
7:42 – Ole Hammbone. Giuliana just said to Jon Hamm's wife longtime girlfriend, "Sorry Jennifer, we're going to pretend you're not here for a minute." You wish, G. YOU WISH.
P.s. Come back, Mad Men!
7:50 – Ryan and Giuliana are seriously fawning over Julianne Hough (did I spell that right?). She... doesn't look as good they are saying she is. Oh I think she and Ryan are dating... that makes more sense. But her dress washes her out, while also making me say, "meh" in a really bad way. "You look like an angel," Giuliana said. Oh God.
7:53 – Kristin Wiig as a palate cleanser thank God. She is brunette! And hot. And funny. I love her.
7:54 – They are heading to commercial with "more!" promised, but I need to pop open that wine (I can't believe I've waited this long), so I'm going to switch over to Fox to await the beginning.
7:55 – OF COURSE before I got to the remote they announced, "There are weddings. And then there are weddings of KARDASHIAN PROPORTIONS." Good lord. Peace out, E!
HAPPY ONE YEAR OF BEING OURS TO WEE LITTLE PENNYCAT!
We don't actually know Penny's real birthday, since she was born to be wi-i-ild in the wild in New Hampshire, but we estimate it is sometime in June based on what the vet told us. But we did kind of a shitty job celebrating then, so instead we are celebrating the day Penny came home to us.
Yes, one year ago today Brian drove back from NH with the tiniest little fluffbucket in the seat next to him. She was so scared and shy and I just wanted to LOVE HER OKAY. But eventually she decided we weren't so bad and now she pretty much runs things around here.
Here's a little retrospective of phone pictures:
These were the first pictures I ever saw of tiny Penny, when Brian was asking which kitten he should bring home. Look how pathetic she looks! I knew I had to have that tiny fuzzy being.
And here is the first time she was home and being sweet, as opposed to being home and hiding/trembling.
Looking back on these, she is SO TINY.
She fit in the windowsill!
Always resourceful, Penny figured out quickly how to keep warm when it got chilly.
Sleeping, boozing, sleeping – Penny also quickly discovered the secret to the perfect life.
Playing, napping.
Helping me study.
And this is about the time Penny considered a career as a professional model.
...But she quickly decided TV and naps were more important than worldwide fame.
Plus, quitting modeling gave her more time to get into (and onto) shit around the house.
And here is Penny's first trip outside of Boston - we took her home to Mississippi for Christmas!
We also got her spayed while in the South, which led to some hilarious moments while she was super high on kitty anesthesia – she wanted to jump onto my bed but couldn't make it so she kept jumping and falling and giving me heart attacks because I was afraid she was going to tear her stitches. So I put her on the bed and she immediately wanted to jump off, and then fell over drunk as soon as she landed. I should have videoed it. It would have been bigger than David After Dentist.
She also discovered stairs for the first time and LOVED them.
Back in Boston, there was snow! And Penny watched it from the window for hours. Look how much bigger here than the first picture in the window!
I've never had a cat that loves to be upside down as much as Penny. She often sleeps upside down, and then when she wakes up and jumps off the bed she can usually only make it a few steps before she decides she is too sleepy to make it any further, falls over and rolls onto her back. Then she looks at us and demands to be loved.
Sleepy, sleepy, face, put your hands up.
She also loves to get in boxes/bags/suitcases whenever they are available to her.
And although she doesn't fit into the windowsill quite like when she was a kitten, she still loves it.
Brian is probably going to kill me for including this picture but it cracks me up so much. Penny really has us wrapped around her little paw, to the point where I woke up one day to see her literally asleep on Brian's head.
All in a day's work.
And here she is, in her full fluff glory these days. We love you Pennycat. I'm so glad you're ours.
After getting another parking ticket the other day (we don't get these extremely often, but I'm always so mad at myself when we do) and accidentally waiting to buy some plane tickets to the point that they were VERY expensive and checking my bank account to find out I had a whopping $11 in it, I was feeling really down today about how I've been handling my fiscal and life-cal responsibilities.
I told Brian, "I'm terrible at being an adult."
He responded with, "No, people who abandon their children, who deal drugs and/or purposefully park in handicap zones suck at being adults. We, on the other hand, are just beginners."
As I mentioned in another post, I'm in Salt Lake City, Utah (or I was when I wrote this - I was waiting on the pictures to post it and here they are, yay!).
Near the beginning of the visit, we held a little dinner get-together for the friends that I have kept in touch with and their families. I have to admit, I was nervous about seeing my childhood best friends after so many years, but I shouldn't have been worried. We clicked back together like I had never left. We laughed about how awkward and young and WEIRD we were in middle school – seriously, we were so strange. And awkward. Proof?
This was my last night in Utah before moving to Mississippi.
I really REALLY hope they don't hate me forever for putting that picture on the internet. We really were that awk though - fourteen was an unforgiving age. Luckily I can say that we have all grown into this:
God I never thought I'd be so happy to be in my 20s. Seeing my old friends was the best experience. I love that even though we are all totally different people than we were as kids, we still really connect and have so much fun. So many memories with these ladies.
Other things from the trip:
A couple of days ago I went back to visit my elementary school, which was a crazy trip. I attended that school for an entire decade, from Pre-Kindergarten to 8th grade. Up until recently that made up over half of my whole life (and the fact that it doesn't anymore makes me feel super old). Some things had changed – they stopped manufacturing the plaid of our uniforms, so all the kids wear new colors. They've built new art, science and music rooms down at one end, which is great because in my day the teachers of those classes had to cart around their gear from room to room. I'm sure I'll have more to explore on this topic later (including some awesomely terrible pictures of adolescent me in uniform).
Today myself and two of my cousins all tried on our mothers' wedding dress* (it's the same dress - our mothers, who are sisters, both wore their mother's wedding dress, so there is a great tradition involved with the dress). More on that later, too!
It's amazing how different it feels to be a guest in my parent's home rather than coming home to stay in my old bedroom. This is a wonderful house (holy shit their kitchen is amazing), but it's my parents' home and not mine – I really am an adult, with my own home. It's sad and exciting all at the same time.
* I swear I occasionally do things other than think, talk and blog about weddings, even if it doesn't seem like it lately.
