A friend from high school recently decided to begin making and selling jewelry on etsy.com (only the coolest site ever…but veer far away if you are living on a budget). As you can see below that I have purchased several of her pieces and I love each of them. I can’t help myself. I’m starting to really enjoy the action of accessorizing. I’m kind of in love with scarves and sunglasses…but up until recently that’s pretty much where it ended. Now look at me. I’m unstoppable force to be reckoned with.
Other things I have been in love with lately:
1) autumn leaves….they are beginning to crunch under my flat brown canvas sneakers.
2. PBS. life without cable can be educational. for instance, i have no idea what is currently happening in the lives of john and kate but i did just watch an entire documentary on the internet bubble. i always thought it was an actual bubble where the internet was kept cool and secure. who knew that wasn’t accurate?
3. chicken nuggets. because. just because.
5. diet cherry pepsi in a foam cup with crushed ice. first the ice, then the cherry, then the diet pepsi. in that order, with those elements….can change your day from dull to I’M FEELING SO GOOD TODAY I MAY BE BILINGUAL! i have no idea how that works.
There are few things that I wouldn’t do for the happiness of my husband. Unfortunately there are few things that make him happy which don’t require a higher credit limit from Visa. Most recently he has been asking for a new phone, which I will admit he needs desperately as his has stopped retaining a battery charge for longer than 3 to no minutes. I have way too many ridiculous things to tell him in the middle of the day that require him to be accessible at all hours. That being said, under normal circumstances, I would have no problem investing in this particular need of his. Unfortunately all the phones he just ‘must have’ require that we upgrade our current phone plan to a data package, thus significantly increasing our monthly bill.
As we are approaching a time in which we should really be buckling down on our monthly spending with the prospect of him returning to finish his collegiate degree, I simply could not justify this increase without real reason. Because I’m cheap, but not a complete dictator, I told my husband that if he could list 5 legitimate reasons for this ‘need’ we would find a way to make it work. The following was his list of reasons for needing access to the world wide web via his cellular device:
1. I’m in charge of planning mens fellowship nights in our small group….what if I need to quickly throw together another game board night on a moments notice, but have no immediate access to a computer?
2. Someday when I get a job that requires I be accessible via email I will need my phone to allow this function….I should be preparing myself for that day to come now.
3. …….
4. ………….
5. ………………….
Convincing argument huh? It was tough to argue. So I didn’t. This morning I added web access to our package, and this evening he will be picking out his new phone. This means several things….one is that my husband is capable of many things, but debate is not his strong suite. Second….I’m a huge huge pushover who thinks his idea of debate is nothing short of adorable.
Good for us.
Because my brother in law Scott felt left out…he just sent us a last minute video entry as an anniversary present for us. Love it! 
We’re going skiing over Thanksgiving. For our first anniversary we thought we’d skip the traditional gift of paper (what the heck?) and went with goggles instead.
We should send this into their marketing department for their next catalog.
This.Is.Epic.
Even Syd got in on the fun.
Ever fall in love with a song and have no idea what it means, only to find out later that basically every word of it stands for the very opposite of what you are? It’s possibly the most disheartening thing that can happen to a girl like me. Music is kind of my thing. I love me some tunes.
Strangely, there are two very different parts of me when it comes to music. There is the part of me that loves the lyrical value of a song. There is this moment when I lyrically connect to a song that I legitimately feel as if I know myself a little bit better because of the artists words. It’s this revelation that at one point or another, this person has felt an emotion or lived through a situation, was given the ability to convey their message in the most natural and raw form, and I feel as if it’s possible I feel exactly what they feel (no I’m not a huge Frampton fan).
Then there is this part of me that LOVES the chorus of that song when it gets all poppy and fast, not because I necessarily agree that you wish your girlfriend was hot like me, but only because it makes me kind of want to move around in a gyrating fashion until the song has played so many times that itunes gets tired and goes home. This is the part of my brain that forces me to own music by Miley Cyrus and Shakira. Out of respect for the shuffle button on my iPod, I truly wish I could say that I didn’t own them, but sometimes I just can’t wait for Z1077 to roll that song around again for the 3rd time in one hour. I need it 16 times in one hour. And I need it loud.
Unfortunately, it is because of this cheap thrill section of my brain that I often find some of the music I truly love, sometimes does not align itself so well with my value or belief system. For instance, for the past….oh I don’t know…..5 years or so, I’ve had the song The Seed (2.0) by The Roots on repeat. Do yourself a favor….even if you don’t think you’ll like it…just listen to it. I dare you not to bob your head even a little.
Here’s what you shouldn’t do. Do NOT google for the lyrics. Why did it take me 5 years or more to do this? I have no idea. Why did I not even bother to try to hear what he was saying? Mainly because I was too busy drumming the dashboard and practicing my robot to even try to listen that closely. Who needs lyrics when the music just feels so good to my soul?
So here is what I say…sometimes you have to love music that is good for your soul and not your ears. Sometimes you have to just allow yourself to drum on the dashboard so loudly you miss out on the lawlessness of the lyrics. Sometimes….you have to enjoy the sound of an artists depravity and just chalk it up to your own genetic disposition to love bad music. Or is it good music? That part I’m still not clear on.
Today was officially ‘DAY DATE DAY’ as appointed by my husband. I honestly had no idea what a ‘DAY DATE DAY’ was until about 9 hours ago. It apparently mostly just entails making no plan whatsoever outside of creating guidelines for what time we can go back home. Today our goal was to not arrive hone until after 7pm. Whatever we did up until that point was fair game. We could have gone cow tipping and it still would have been called a ‘DAY DATE’. We did not cow tip. We did however randomly drive up to a movie theater to see what entertainment they could offer us after an unsuccessful attempt to go shopping. And can I just say that from now on I will never pay money to see a movie again unless I receive 3D glasses and the promise of a slight case of motion sickness!?
I freaking saw stuff in 3D! Lest I remind you that I have zero depth perception? I live life in a 1D world. Life moves by me as if it were drawn on paper. I am shallow in character and in sight. No joke. This dumb movie about falling meatballs and BLT’s was so full of depth that I nearly teared up. It was like a deaf person hearing their mothers voice for the first time. Truly miraculous people. Truly miraculous.
We seriously did have a good time today. I felt bad after arriving home last night from an overnight women’s retreat, Chris really wanted to take me out for a nice seafood dinner. I convinced him to give me an hour to watch some Hulu and relax a bit before we left. 7 hours later I was still clinging to my comforter and begging for 15 more minutes of sleep. There is something about a weekend women’s retreat that can seriously be so exhausting. I wish I could tell you what it is…but there is nary an explanation. Perhaps I was secretly drugged. Perhaps I was oxygen deprived from talking too much. Perhaps even it was on account of the hairy spider nest nestled 13″ above my pillow thus preventing sleep from lasting any longer than 12 minutes at a time before I remembered my face could at any moment be chewed apart by a swarm of common household arachnids. I suppose it could have been any one of those things (but probably not the being secretly drugged part).
The point of all this being….I may sometimes sleep with spiders in my hair, and I may even go cow tipping on a Sunday afternoon as a romantic gesture to my husband, but above all I can now say that I have seen the beauty of 3D….and nothing can take that away from me.
i love those few moments before bed,
after the showers,
when you get cozy
and laugh
and talk about dumb things.
it’s my favorite.
Christmas list 2009:
1) I will get a hammock this year. I don’t even care how many people have to go in on it together….I need it. Come on guys. I’ve seriously been asking for this for years…..YEARS. Just give me what I want. Freestanding hammock. Make my outdoor dreams come true.
2) Rollerblades. Sounds gay right? Well it’s not. I’ve never had better calf muscles than I did in 6th grade. It was the only transportation I had available. I’m gonna get there again…with the help of my new rollerblades. Chris says I sound stupid…but I could just go around and around in our parking lot. All the kids will be jealous.
3) An ESV bible. Not one of those tiny “I might need a stronger lens prescription to read this” bibles that everyone seems to find so trendy these days. I want something floppy. Approximately 6″ x 8″. Leatherbound. A true show of affection would also include my name embossed in gold lettering. Feel free to call for the correct spelling of my middle name.
4) Anything HERE. That stuff will sell fast….so buy early. I also update it almost daily…so you can keep checking back.
5) Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker. It smells delicious. Not like the delicious scent I currently wear. Chris says I smell like a piece of hard candy. That wasn’t exactly what I was going for.
6) Books by David Sedaris, such as:
- Me Talk Pretty One Day
- Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
- When You Are Engulfed in Flames
- Holidays on Ice: Stories
7) Donald Millers newest book: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life (Hardcover). I really like his voice in his writing. Confession time…I never finished Blue Like Jazz. Got close. I’ve read everything else he’s written…including his blog. But his most famous work….eh. Call me quirky. I’d also really like the autobiography of Julia Childs. My SIL Kelli has it and she has said she’ll let me borrow it…but I kind of think I might be in love with Julia Childs and I think I might want to own it.
8 ) I’d really like to have all available seasons of LOST on DVD. I know this is ridiculous considering they are like $50 a piece…but look into….search your heart….really evaluate our relationship and your dedication to my true happiness.
9) Further adding to the ridiculousness….I’d really love a kick butt camera. SLR. Digital. I have a nice point and shoot…but it’d be really rad if I had something to learn to take really good pics that don’t have to be overly doctored. I’m spending an inordinate amount of time photoshopping. I would like to dedicate more time learning to cook.
10) Blankets. I love blankets. I keep one at my desk. On the couch. In the bathroom. Even on my bed. I love them. I hate cold. Please no Snuggies. I will ONLY use the Snuggie if it is accompanied by a pair of roller blades so I can glide along my apartment complex dressed as a Jedi Knight. How incredibly awesome would that be? Is anyone counting how many nerdy Star Wars references I make? I’ve only recently noticed that I do it…but seriously….I kind of heart the original trilogy. If you can find it without the digital remastering you can add it to the list. No VHS please. This isn’t 1991.
Okay…that about wraps it up for 2009. I have high hopes that this recession will create a huge need for the retail market to provide you with many opportunities for sale and clearance shopping. Have at it.
Can I get a ‘wha wha’ from all my hulu.com lovers out there? Regularly scheduled programming has returned people! This summer I have kept myself superbly busy without the reward of online streaming goodness. No House. No Liz Lemon. Not even one awkward Michael moment. It’s been a rough season. But officially we are back on track and ready to roll.
In fact, today…immediately following a quick update on my blog world, I found my way to the new episode The Office and Community (which I am exceedingly excited about). The giddiness created from this hour of new and entertaining time wasting, could only be expressed properly through a game of turkey bowling with my husband at our local grocery. He also somehow talked me into the miniature cartons of ice cream for $1 a piece. What can I say? I was baked off season premier heroine.
So as you could tell from my previous post, we had a pretty rad weekend last week. I mean really rad. You can expect me to write more about that in a few weeks. But I will tell you that while we were away we stayed in an awesome condo on the lake. In the garage we were given access to markers and pens so as to write something inspirational about our time spent in the home. However I…..well I just felt the need to define the phrase “shameless promotion”. From there some friends just rolled with it. Just another testament to the powers of word of mouth marketing. My stats are way up.
