This weekend I’m heading to Florida for a few days for my cousin’s wedding. True, I haven’t actually talked to this cousin face-to-face or on the phone, well, in 15 years or so, but his mom is a loyal reader of this blog (Hi Aunt Sandy!) and one of my favorite people so off Darling and I go for a few days of family, fun and sun. A mini family reunion of sorts.
It’s also a rarity that I’m not somehow involved in this wedding in a way other than attending since I’m pretty much a perma-bridesmaid. Or if not a bridesmaid I tend to be the executive bride’s helper as was the case with the last few weddings Irish & I attended.
I thought that just for fun I’d take you through the last few weddings I’ve been in.
My college roommate’s wedding, circa 2005 (worst tan line known to man…):
My childhood friend’s wedding, circa 2007, in St. Thomas (most beautiful setting ever):
My (other) college roommate’s wedding, circa New Year’s Eve 2007 (complete with chipmunk cheeks):
My best friend from high school’s wedding, April 2008 (I’m on the far left, in case you couldn’t tell):
and most recently, my best college friend’s wedding in September 2008* (probably my favorite dress out of all of them and I have seven dresses total as we had two dresses for the one above!):
(I was in my cousin’s wedding in 2000 but that was pre-digital camera and I can’t readily find a photo to post so you’ll have to do without.)
If you know of anyone who needs a professional bridesmaid feel free to pass my name along. It’s been a whole year since I’ve been in a wedding and I’m actually itching to be in one which is rather shocking!
Current Book(s): Work in Progress: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, Haruki Murakami;
Finished: Dead as a Doornail, Charlain Harris (I’m in a bit of a reading slump still! I blame work.)
Current Music:
Bon Jovi
Journey
Pretty much anything from the 80s
Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure:
Homemade chocolate chip & oatmeal cookies
Current Colors:
Purple
Current Obsessions: Rediscovering my Domestic Diva
Raking leaves; odd, I know but the green of the grass is much prettier than the dead, brown leaves all over the lawn
Current Drink:
Water
Peppermint Tea
Current Songs:
I honestly can’t think of a single song right now that’s my favorie or that I’m listening to over and over again. Unusual for me!
Current Movie: The Last Kiss
Casablanca
Current TV Show:
Color Splash, HGTV
Dawson’s Creek (I’m rewatching them because, well, I feel like it)
Current Wish-List:
Less pain and suffering amongst my friends; there’s been too much of it lately
Current Needs:
Clarity
Current Triumph(s):
Well it hasn’t happened yet but I’m taking a whole week off of work this month and will be disconnecting my work email from Blackberry. First time in three years I’ve done NO work on a vacation so if I can pull it off, it will be huge for me.
Current Bane(s) of my Existence:
I signed up for NaBloPoMo but no idea if I’ll make it
House Hunters on HGTV because the demographic of people on that show bothers me. First homes that cost $350,000? Seriously? And don’t get me started on House Hunters International; I wish I could have a second home in Italy!
Current Goal(s):
Three more pounds to go to reach my weight loss goal
Pull off NaBloPoMo this month so I can improve my writing
Current Indulgence:
Target shopping trips
Afternoon naps on the weekends
Current Blessing:
Each day is a blessing. I know, corny, but lately, it’s so very true.
Current Slang or Saying:
I’ve been dropping the F-Bomb a lot as of late. Terrible, I know.
Current (Fav) Outfit:
Comfort is what I’m going for lately, at work, at home, at the gym
Current Excitement:
Trip to Florida this month for my cousin’s wedding
Thanksgiving & lots of family time
(First of all, I’ve been scouring the darn interwebs for an embeddable version of this video and I just can’t find it, so you’ll have to click through. Really. You should.)
I think I mentioned that last weekend I watched the Saturday Night Live Halloween Special which was maybe 90 minutes of absolute hilarity considering most of the skits were pre-1998 meaning they were really flippin’ funny.
One of my favorites? The LandShark. You can view it here. (Sorry, couldn’t find an embeddable one!) I don’t know why but it cracks me up every time.
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I have no idea why I remember this but one year my best friend and I decided to audition for the school talent show by doing a dance/lip synching routine to The Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Actually, I have no idea why we thought that was a good idea. (Confession: I’ve never seen the entire film, either.)
Could you picture me doing any of this?
I don’t think we actually made it to the audition once our parents realized what we had chosen to do. Ah, to be young and innocent!
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So it’s Halloween tomorrow which means I have to be on my guard because, um, well I’m terrified of people in masks. It’s amazing to me how a mask can transform someone you know and love into a scary, freaky specimen of a person that you suddenly don’t recognize. The maintenance man at our building scares me every year (yes, every year, even though I know it’s him) by creeping up to my desk in one of his freaky masks. Uncool.
I think it all started when I was in high school, driving home from a Halloween party and a masked/face painted dude showed up out of NOWHERE and jumped onto my car and just stared at me. My friend and I screamed and just stared at the guy. He disappeared just as quickly as he showed up. My nerves were rattled for a few hours!
Here’s hoping that the kids who come to the house don’t scare me!
Do you have a Halloween fear/phobia or conversely are you the type of person who enjoys scaring the crap out of the rest of us?
It’s raining. It’s pouring. I wish I was snoring. This means I’m going to participate in Ten on Thursday which I found courtesy of the lovely Lisa D and evidently it was started by Chelsea.
1. What are you going to be for Halloween?
A girl from the TV Show Laugh-in, a la Goldie Hawn. Sort of and only because I already have the costume with pink go-go boots hanging in my closet.
2. Have you ever been on television?
I was in high school when I protested for Free Speech. I was in the Journalism program at my high school and one of our papers was published with some fairly controversial topics on the cover (forgive me but I can’t remember what it was). The principal pulled the paper immediately and so we all rallied outside the school with signs, posters and picketed our high school for infringing on our right to free speech. We were basically told that when we are on school grounds we didn’t have the right to free speech and that just added fuel to the fire. TV crews came out and so I was on the news as part of the protesting group.
3. Do you have a toilet paper preference? I don’t like the scratchy kind if that’s what you mean. But other than that, no, I don’t really care if it’s up, down or sideways so long as it’s there when I need it.
4. When you’re pregnant, will you find out the sex of the baby? (Or if you’ve already had babies, did you find out the sex?) Why or why not? Hmmmm. I am inclined to say yes because I’m an over-planner so how could I have a baby and not know the sex of the baby? That gives me hives just thinking about it.
5. What are three items that every kitchen must have?
The fixings to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch, an Ove Glove and ample room to spread out and create.
6. Do you enjoy Christmas shopping? Yes! It’s one of my favorite things to do. I’m already starting to plot and plan what I’m going to get for everyone. I love wrapping presents, I love giving presents and I love the joy that surrounds my house during the holidays.
7. What is your go-to recipe? (The thing you cook more than anything else because it’s easy and mindless.) Please share the recipe. It’s what Irish calls spicy chicken & big rice. Basically I season a few chicken breasts with some spicy spices and bake until done. In the meantime, I make big rice (aka risotto) which is simply risotto, 3 cups of chicken/vegetable broth, parmesan cheese and parsley to taste. I always serve with a side of broccoli. It’s pretty delicious.
8. Do you sleep on your back, belly, or side?
I fall asleep on my side but wind up on my belly by the morning. I am a frantic sleeper in that I move A LOT, thrash and kick. I’m told it has something to do with when I was in the womb and managed to entangle myself with the darn umbilical cord around my neck & knee resulting in me nearly killing myself. Fun, huh?
9. How do you feel about Tom Cruise?
Ick. I used to have a crush on him when I was in middle school. Top Gun was the soundtrack to our sleepovers. And then it was Jerry Maguire. And Cocktail. But now? He kind of freaks me out.
10. What books are in your “books to read” stack?
How much time do you have? (Sorry I don’t have complete titles/authors. I’m not in front of my bookshelves.)
Sookie Stackhouse Book # 6
Two Jane Green Books (Dune Road & Second Chances)
Vampirates (go ahead, laugh)
Kingdom Keepers
Ellen Burstyn’s Memoirs
An Anita Shreve Book
My Japanese Challenge book, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
Persuasion, Jane Austen
The Bridges of Madison County
Catching Fire
…. and many, many more.
Your turn! Answer in the comments or post this on your own to all, some or none if you like.
As corny as it sounds, I believe John Lennon. It seems to be that way for me: I make plans and somehow at the end of the year, I look back and only a few of the things I’ve hoped to accomplish have come to fruition. It’s not for lack of trying or setting my mind to it but as is true with life, other things come up that need my attention or that challenge me and I try to never back down from a challenge. I’ve learned to go with the flow more, the importance of not having every moment of my day scheduled. But I often wonder, how in the world I will actually do all the things I’ve dreamed of accomplishing?
After reading Nilsa’s post on Life Goals, I realized that I am more of a small picture person which I like to think makes me more present in the now and perhaps explains why I like the Lennon quote so much. (Not to say I don’t think about my future because I do, but I want to enjoy the here and now and then enjoy later when I get to it.) Rather than making a Bucket List, I came up with a list of things I’d like to do to make my 26th year another great one. Some are life changes, other personal challenges and others are things that I’m amazed I haven’t yet tried.
Here they are, in no particular order:
* Run one 5k Race a month, preferably ones for a charity. (The hope is that I could work up to “bigger,” races as the year goes on.)
* Read at least seven books. One must be a memoir. Another historical non-fiction.
* Get down to my goal weight and stay there!
* Go fishing. Learn to bait a hook.
* Meet two more bloggy buddies.
* Start a real pen & paper journal.
* Volunteer 60 hours at the Rescue Ranch. I can’t wait to get started even though I know I’ll be working through bitter cold and sweltering heat.
* Cook one new dish and bake one new recipe a month. Ideally the bulk of the recipes would come from the old school cookbooks I’ve inherited from my Gram and the Martha Stewart Cupcake book.
* Take piano lessons (again).
* Travel to another baseball stadium, preferably the New York Yankees.
* Learn how to knit, courtesy of my Gram. First project: afghan.
* Finish that darn Masters of mine and leave formal schooling behind for good.
* Get back to nannying/babysitting. (I used to babysit all the time and lately I miss it.)
* Catch up on my scrapbooking/photo printing, sending pictures to the appropriate friends and family.
* Start Yoga and become a regular. This goes hand-in-hand with learning to meditate and getting to my goal weight and staying there.
Any recommendations for things that absolutely must be included in my list?
This past weekend turned out to be one of the best birthday celebration weekends I’ve had in a long time. I didn’t spend it drunk and hungover but instead very in the moment.
My brother came into town to surprise me (one of the best surprises ever!), I made some style changes to my bedroom meaning it’s almsot the way I want it to be, had beer with my favorite three men in the world (Irish, my brother, my dad), received ah-mazing presents from my long distance friends, Irish and my family as well as scoring tickets to a Deluxe Suite at the StL Cardinal’s last game.
Originally I had four tickets to sit in the nosebleeds which is really one of the best ways to see a Cardinals game but then Irish’s dad had tickets to a Deluxe Suite and I had to refrain from screaming “HELL YES!” into the phone.
On Sunday five of us piled into the car to start the adventure that would entail seats behind homeplate, unlimited free food, beer, wine and soda, as well as fantastically comfortable seats, great people watching and one of the best baseball experiences I’ve had to date.
Our view from the box:
With the always handsome Irish:
With the best brother in the world:
And we saw Albert Pujols break an old record/earn a new record:
With regular season out of the way we can now focus on post-season and hopefully make it to the World Series…
Current Book(s): Work in Progress: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, Haruki Murakami;
Finished: Club Dead, Charlain Harris (I’m in a bit of a reading slump currently)
Current Music:
The Beatles
The Supremes
Marvin Gaye
Stevie Wonder
Current Colors:
Sunflower yellow is quickly growing on me
Current Obsessions:
Cleaning/organizing
Baking
Reading cooking magazines
Thinking up crafty projects
Current Drink:
Water.
100 calorie Coca-Cola if I need one
Slim Fast
Current Songs:
A Little Less Conversation, Elvis Presley
Current Movie: Duplicity.
Can’t wait to see Away We Go
Current TV Show:
Sons of Anarchy
Current Wish-List:
I’d like my hair to grow faster and stop growing gray hairs
Believe it or not, more hours in the work day
Current Needs:
Sleep, always sleep.
To plan my week long vacation at the end of October
Current Triumph(s):
Slaying work projects left and right.
Conquering new dishes in the kitchen.
Staying in better touch with friends and family.
Current Bane(s) of my Existence:
Not enough time in the day to read books, catch up on blogs
Current Goal(s):
Lose five pounds by December (I’ve lost a few in the last two months)
Read a memoir by one of my favorite political figures or actors/actresses by end of the year
Current Indulgence:
Homemade chocolate chip cookies
Current Blessing:
It’s fall!
Current Slang or Saying:
I’m not sure what I’ve been saying a lot of lately.
Current (Fav) Outfit:
I’m digging the preppy look: black pants, white blouse, argyle sweater/vest and lots of fun jewelry to go with it
Current Excitement:
Birthday celebration with the family this weekend.
A fun, graphic desinger wedding to attend in two weeks
Visiting my BFF and her husband in three weekends for winery trips, a pumpkin patch & corn maze excursion and lots of relaxing
I admit I wasn’t organized enough to find a photo of myself as a young girl for today’s post so a photo of me from my 21st birthday will have to do:
I’m 26 today (and the end to the birthday-blogging theme)! The last year has been one of the best years in my twenties and I’ve enjoyed every moment, new opportunity, my new and old friendships, my fantastic family, my amazing dog (who I’m convinced is a Border Collie mix after much discussion this past weekend), Irish, this blog, my readers, and the many new experiences I enjoyed.
A quick, down n’ dirty list of things I’ve learned over the years:
* You can’t go wrong with hugs.
* Baking is therapeutic.
* Sex & The City relates to my life more than I would have thought (or cared to admit).
* Sleeping in until noon is rejuvenating.
* Love is worth the fall.
* Getting a Blackberry will change your life, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
* After a long day there’s nothing like a hug from your man and smooch from your dog.
* It’s true: if you pluck one white hair, at least three more grow in its place.
* Sweatpants are fabulous.
Birthday request time! If you’re a reader but rarely comment, please, let me know who you are. If you’re a regular reader/commenter please share your words to live by or favorite life advice for me to add to my arsenal.
It’s Monday already? I really don’t know how the weekends fly by so quickly.
* One of our co-workers had emergency surgery late last night so the whole office is in a tizzy trying to figure out how to cover his work the next week or two. Which means I’ll be working a few more hours this week. Which means blogging may be light. Which means I may be like the Tazmanian Devil, running around in a cloud of my own dust.
* Many of you know that we (meaning me, Irish, and Jack) went to visit Nilsa, Sweets & SoMi this weekend. In a word: INCREDIBLE. In many words: please go read Nilsa’s blog for now until I have more time to write about what an amazing trip it was because seriously it was the perfect little getaway. I can’t wait to return to Chicago for more visits with Nilsa and the other fabulous Chicago bloggers I didn’t get to catch-up with.
* I’m struggling to wrap my brain around the fact that tomorrow I’m turning 26, which I know is no big deal, but I can’t believe it’s really tomorrow. I’ll be celebrating in a low-key fashion with my family and Irish around me for a Mexican dinner. That’s about as celebratory as I get these days and I’m more than okay with it.
* All you need is LOVE. Congratulations to EP on her engagement! And Mel on her upcoming nuptials. And two of my near and dear friends on their one-year wedding anniversary (Miss Kyla and my BFF MelO). All the excitement has me singing the “Love Is all Around Us…” song from Love Actually in my head non-stop.
