They're changing all the rules on me!

Apparently the two spaces after a period between sentences has been thrown out the window. See?! We're down to one space. I like two spaces!!!

All the grammar rules are changing. And even the science knowledge I learned in elementary school has been deemed untrue. I thought I had a good education! Now look at the things that they're teaching now:
- Pluto's not a planet
- Brontosaurus isn't real
- Only one space between sentences
- The comma after the second to last item and before the ‘and’ in a list is thrown out

Are they next going to tell me 1+1 = 3??? Why do they have to go and change all the rules on me?

P.S. I always used two spaces between sentences and will continue to do so. Even knowing that the rules have changed. Hrmph!

A good question

Spotted on W 23rd... Too amusing!

Rant on Plaid.

You heard right. I am ranting about plaid. You know, that pattern that has recently started coming back in fashion after the last bout in the early 90's.

Why has it come back!? Does no one remember how awful people dressed in the early 90s with all that plaid flannel? "Hick trucker" comes to mind when I see it.... Is it just me that thinks this? I challenge you to prove me wrong.....

I love the analogy

“Lately I feel like somebody made a big mess and I’ve got my mop and I’m mopping the floor and the folks who made the mess are there (saying) ‘you’re not mopping fast enough. You’re not mopping the right way. It’s a socialist mop.’” President Obama via Reuters

He makes sense....

How Halloween costume ideas lead to manicures:

I never know what to be for Halloween. On the list of possibilities this year are:

Deal or No Deal Girl
Substitute Teacher
Orbit Gum Girl

They’re all relatively easy… the last is probably the one I wish I could do the most, but I haven’t found the great hat she wears yet. So Orbit Girl will likely be out. And I’m not so sure which of the other two I like more. I think it depends on how appropriate my new glasses are when I get them on Tuesday! Hmmm….

I think a mani-pedi will help the thought process. Good excuse for pretty nails, right?

*Sigh*

The title of this video should be called "Where Jim raises expectations to unrealistic levels". I melt watching this.

Proud Aunt

I adore these kids

Randomness

Do people actually check voicemail still? i cannot imagine having to actually check it after 3 years of having them delivered via text. i always question whether to leave a vm now because i just assume they don't get checked.

I have a cold. it sucks, but at least i have really super-soft tissues. Hopefully this is the last of the illnesses/injuries for me in 2009. I have had enough!!! On another note, love the boyfriend for bringing me cold meds that work!!!

I have a slight (read: massive) obsession with scrabble. Cannot get enough of it.

I figured out why people stopping on the sidewalk in NYC annoys me unlike anywhere else. It is my street. My primary method of transportation. If someone slammed on their brakes in front of you on the highway, you would be annoyed. Maybe even say a few choice words. That is how I feel when you stop in front of me on the sidewalk.

Things I have learned to do sufficiently well one-handed (and lefty) in the last month:
- use chopsticks!
- signatures (not text, mind you, but I have the signature down pat)
- type one-handed relatively quick
- open child-proof containers (i still cannot get them closed again, though)
- put deodorant on (you would be surprised how difficult this is!)

Things I cannot do well one-handed (and that are a major annoyance!):
- open glass jars
- get child-proof containers closed
- write
- put my hair up - at all!!!

Sex and the City II

They've been filming on my block!!!!! AAhhhh!!!! :)

I feel like Humpty Dumpty

I am falling to pieces.
Earlier this year I messed up my knee. It is still not healed and I am supposed to start a series of injections to help this week.
Last Wednesday I decided I still had the ability to tumble. Yes, gymnastics. Apparently I missed the memo advising that those within 4 months of their 30th birthday should have quit these sports (for good) years ago. I walked away with a broken right hand and spent all day Thursday in the ER.
Very soon I expect to be held together by screws and super-glue.

The good news is that my parents were scheduled to visit Thursday through Sunday, so I had some help learning to do things with my right hand. Really appreciative and glad to have seen them.

Best Email Ever

My sister's mother-in-law sent me some pictures this morning, primarily because I beg for any kind of access to my nieces that I can get... even if that just means pictures and the occasional phone call with the elder of the two for the time being. Evelyn sent over the picture below, and let me tell you, this completely made my morning. :-)
Isn't Riley cute!?!

I hate to say this....

Bronson Arroyo, former Red Sox pitcher, made a comment the other day:

"People don't own teams to lose money. If you ask any owner whether they would rather make $20 million and come in last place or lose $20 million and win a World Series, there's only one guy who honestly would take that championship: George Steinbrenner. Nobody else."

It saddens me... If only Steinbrenner would make this decision, who really loves the game itself anymore other than the fans? I can only sigh a breath of relief that Georgie isn't still running the Yanks. I can continue rooting for the Sox comforted in the knowledge that even Hank and Hal would go the way of the cash...

New Yorkers live longer than the average American

Its true!

"... it’s the way we walk that has a surprising spillover effect on life spans. Researchers have long known that people here walked fast—far faster than anyone else in the country. Indeed, the easiest way to tell a New Yorker from an out-of-towner is by walking speed: The natives blast down the sidewalk at blitzkrieg pace, and the visitors mosey along like pack mules."

I love that the tourists are compared to pack mules. Ha!

http://nymag.com/news/features/35815/index1.html

Cooking and cupcakes

Lately I've been eating out a lot. I cleaned out my fridge and defrosted my freezer last week though and have decided to cook at home for most of the next 3 weeks... since I head on vacation after that!!! I sat down tonight and have put together a grocery list, top of the list being ingredients for Mojito Cupcakes, yum! I feel so productive. Just thought I'd share. Now, who wants a cupcake?!

20 Things a Woman Should Do Before Getting Married

Just about there....

1. Live by herself for at least a year.
2. Live with someone else for at least a year.
3. Recover from a broken heart.
4. Have a vacation fling.
5. Take a road-trip with a group of girlfriends.
6. Relish sleeping in a queen-sized bed by herself.
7. Get her finances in order.
8. Learn to love her body.
9. Have sex with at least one person she’d never want to marry (or introduce to mom).
10. Find reliable birth control.
11. Pay off as much credit card debt and student loans as possible.
12. Spend way too much on a something frivolous.
13. Exorcise all past relationship demons.
14. Travel somewhere exotic.
15. Establish a strong circle of friends.
16. Forgive her parents for not being perfect.
17. Have at least one night she can’t quite remember.
18. Experience some really bad first dates.
19. Find hobbies that fulfill her.
20. Celebrate her 25th birthday.

4th of July

My sister’s engaged. I haven’t had too much time to spend in getting to know Keith, but the time I have had, I have been impressed. Keith and Emily have a 9 week old daughter now and I spent the long Independence Day weekend at my parents house with them and a bunch of friends. Keith showed himself to have endless amounts of patience and adoration with both Riley (the 9 week old) and my sister’s older daughter, Gwen. He’s caring and firm, and I cannot imagine a better father for the two little girls, or a better husband for my sister. I’m just so happy for the four of them.

The weekend otherwise was amazing – sunny and warm (the way I like it), with family and friends in abundance. I’m so lucky to have parents that not only are OK with me bringing gaggles of friends to their house for 3 days, but that enjoy it! I loved having the time with them cooking dinner, playing on the boats, and refilling that cavity in your soul that only time with your family can fill. I love that they got to meet those friends that are close to me, and I’m happy that my friends got a peek at the people that made me who I am.

This is the type of relaxing weekend that just makes me feel so fortunate to have all the people in my life. Many pictures were taken over the weekend…. I’ll add some as soon as the photographers decide to let me see the pictures. (HINT, HINT, my lovely photographer friends that joined me in VA).

Next up? Sonoma with some Virginia friends this weekend, then a self-made bike tour of the Long Island wineries the weekend after, and perhaps a beach day or Six Flags day the following weekend. I have a full few weekends coming up!

From Literally, Genevieve Clare...

This is so completely me....

Wherein we stumble upon a movie set in Washington Square Park...

• Me: Hey, can we stop and watch??
• Boyfriend: Oh that's nice of you to pretend that I have an option.
• Me: [Getting giddy and jumping up and down a little bit] What do you think it is?
• Bystander #1: Harrison Ford is in town filming a movie. Maybe it's that.
• Bystander #2: Gossip Girl has been filming downtown all day.
• Me: [surveying the scene] Oh my God.
• Boyfriend: What!?
• Me: OH MY GOD!!!!!
• Bystanders #1 and #2: What? Who is it??
• Me: That is Adam Sevani.
• Boyfriend: Who is that??
• Me: THEY ARE FILMING MOTHEREFFING STEP UP 3!!!
• [Bystanders #1 and #2 leave immediately.]
• Me: Babe, I'll die if they do a dance sequence. I will fall on the pavement and DIE. This is the best thing that's ever happened to me.
• Boyfriend: Oh sweet Jesus.

4th of July with my kitties!

I'm so very excited! My favorite holiday, and I'll be spending it with great family and friends playing down at my parents house.

My kittens are coming with me this time... I'm curious how they will deal with the trip. 7 hours in a car... Any suggestions?!

Amassing a Navy or Learning to Sail

I called my Dad today to whine about having to get knee injections (still trying to heal the destroyed knee), and he cheered me up telling me he is "amassing a small navy"... buying another boat.
The new boat is a sail boat, though, not a power boat! So now I get to learn to sail this summer! How exciting is that?! I think I'm heading there for July 4 weekend to lay on the boats, waterski, learn to sail, and watch fireworks from the water. Yay!!!

If you're thinking about birthday presents...

If presents for my birthday have been on your mind, might I suggest the following if you can find it:

Cameras and Shoes

I have a handful of new pairs of shoes of which I'd like to take a picture.
I'm still in the process of figuring out how many new shoes it takes to make a heart stop hurting... And I think documenting the process would be a helpful reminder of how many to start with next time.

Do you realize how much a picture of the newbies would make this post oh-so-much prettier!?

I really need a digital camera to manage this. The phone just isn't cutting it these days... Any suggestions?

Something to remember...

“I must learn to love the fool in me—the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool.” - Theodore I. Rubin, MD

My sister's engaged!

Congrats to my little sister, Emily, and her fiancé, Keith!

Tell me where one might wear these...

Please... I cannot come up with a situation in which I'd think, "Yes, I must wear those socks tonight." And yet, American Apparel is selling them (along with scrunchies... is it 1987 again?)

July 4th is coming!

It is my favorite holiday by leaps and bounds. Really, what is left out of a July 4th weekend?: warm summer days, sparklers, fireworks, hot dogs, water games, watermelon, friends and family, no pressure to buy gifts and wrap them... It is a holiday that for me can just be summed up with smiles and laughter.

One more month... I can't wait!
Just have to figure out where I'll be for the festivus that is July 4th.

Wanted: certainty

The last few years, I've felt happy and comfortable about where I am in life. I like my job. I like my personal life. I have a good relationship with my family and close friends that are dear to me. Its not often I feel lost or unsure of what I want - in fact, I feel quite sure of what I do want and what I do not want. Don't misunderstand - I don't have everything I want (who does?), but being able to specifically identify my goals for the next 5 years both personally and professionally allows me a certainty I wouldn't likely have otherwise.

Recently though, I do feel lost.
Not without hope, just without certainty.
At one of those interminable junctures that is a decision point without being one; where by not making a decision you effectively have made a decision. Why can't life be more like poker games - when its time to make a decision, you have a few options and play doesn't move on until you decide the way you want to go?

5 Things...

I am grateful for:
- Good neighbors... the kind that are welcoming, friendly, and warm.
- My life... I have a good one. Remember that.
- My health... I could be less fortunate.
- I feel... I could be ignorant of love and life and emotion.
- Rest... I could be unable to sleep. I have been there before. Sleep helps manage the rest.

Today this was hard. I need to remember these things right now.

Gravity

Gravity, Sara Bareilles

Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long
No matter what I say or do
I still feel you here, ‘til the moment I’m gone
…
You hold me without touch
You keep me without chains
I never wanted anything so much
Than to drown in your love and not feel your rain
…
Set me free, leave me be
I don’t wanna fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
I’m just the way I’m supposed to be
But you’re on to me and all over me
…
But you’re neither friend nor foe
Though I can’t seem to let you go
The one thing that I still know
Is that you’re keeping me down, you’re keeping me down

A Happy Weekend

The perfect day:

Wake up early-ish, read a book in the warm sun with an egg sandwich for breakfast

Ice tea and Mexican for lunch with sopapillas as dessert with wonderful friends

Nap time after lunch

More time in the sun reading

Late-ish light dinner with friends

Drinks after dinner and off to bed by 1am and getting a good night's sleep.

 

So far, this has been my perfect day and I'm already up to the after-lunch nap.  The rest of my day is looking perfect as well.  How wonderful to have these days every once in a while!  It makes me happy.  Happy makes me love my life.  Loving my life makes me grateful for the people in it, to the extent that I think they believe I'm a little off my rocker.  Its okay though.  Hearing that you're important to someone is never a bad thing, whether or not they think I'm nuts. 

I am totally enjoying this weekend.  

Being here is exactly what I needed right now.  Calm.  Quiet (the lack of city noise is nearly disturbing).  Relaxing.  Sunny.  Warm, but not hot.  And for the first weekend in a really long while, I truly feel like I don't have to think about or do anything I don't want to.  

Hopefully being out here for the weekend keeps this smile plastered on my face in place for a while.  

New Nieces

How come they are just so much fun to hold!?

Weekend with the family and new baby!

My little sister had a baby girl on Thursday, just in time for mother's day! Riley Noelle is her name... perfectly healthy and adorably cute! Pictures will be coming...

I went down this past weekend to meet Riley and see my family. Its always such a breath of fresh air to see them. I had a glorious weekend - tromping through the woods around my parents house, playing yoga games with my older niece, cuddling the younger one, cooking for Momma and Poppa, and generally just relaxing. I'm so lucky to have not only great parents, but ones that I am friends with too.

Catch & Release

What a difficult movie to watch.... it legitimately is my nightmare.

May is the best month ever

True story.
A few examples for you:

1. Boston has beaten the Yanks every game so far.
2. My 2nd niece is due to be born this weekend. This means I have a new (and valid) reason to shop!
3. I get to go to Albuquerque for a weekend. This means I get some much-desired sopapillas, spicy food, green chile chicken soup, and other tasty, true-mexican food. It also means I get to meet my college roommate's daughter, see my college roommate, along with a number of other wonderful friends too.
4. Memorial Day weekend = 3 day weekend! How could one argue with that kind of goodness?!
5. I get to cook in my Momma's kitchen. As mine rivals the size of a shoebox, its always wonderful to cook where there's room. AND where the groceries are purchased by someone else. Heehee!
6. No more crutches! I spent all of April on crutches and being free of them is lovely!

Fortunate accidents

I love the word "serendipity" and its meaning, a fortunate accident. It defines how I experience life. Not that you aren't in control of and responsible for the decisions you make, but in my case, things tend to work out best when I accept the serendipitous events and go along with them. Maybe you can argue that this is being easy-going, and that in and of itself creates a less stressful environment. I can't believe that though... I really think things happen for a reason.
For instance, that 90 degree weekend 2 weeks ago.... definitely nature's way of avoiding a cold-weather melt down by me (and probably 90% of all New Yorkers), even if we had to go back to Spring for a while after the two 90 degree days. It was fortunate for all those around me that we had some warm weather to keep me sane for a bit longer until summer comes. :)

Older than the Docs

I had to start physical therapy a few weeks ago after tearing up my knee playing dodgeball (of all things)! Its been an interesting thrice weekly event for me... First of all, the docs (can you call them that?) are really pretty cool. They laugh with me, and on one occasion even drew everyone in the office into a debate with me on which celebrities had nose jobs... while massaging my leg, of course. I'm getting better slowly too, so the overall experience has been positive, despite the pain.

The one thing I haven't yet been able to get over has been the fact that the two physical therapists that I see are younger than me. Both of them. This is the first time I've gone to see someone to 'fix' me and they've not even been my age. I understand this is inevitable. I'm getting older, and students are continually graduating with fancy degrees allowing them to work in these professions. This is the first time this has happened though, and I find the it extremely discomforting. Maybe the second time this happens will be easier. Or maybe the feeling never goes away. I find myself thinking "I could have been a doctor by now"... if only I'd enjoyed chemistry. I'm successful and happy where I'm at, but the positive stigma of being a doctor still sticks with me. Knowing I could have done that already in my life irks me. I suppose I just have to take a deep breath, realize I'll be dealing with this the rest of my life now, or start a mission to find old doctors. Haha!

Thankfully I have good and amusing doctors.

Its been a while...

So it has... I think I've had too much going on to focus on writing. I'm working on grad school applications (scary!), the associated personal statements, taking care of my cats, traveling for work, breaking myself playing dodgeball, etc. And now I should have the time to write since I'm down and out with a bum knee, but I find I'm just exhausted and frustrated continually since I really can't jump up and run around the block or walk down the street to the park or simply get out easily.

The thing is, life is good right now. Yeah, there are bumps and twists, but overall, the past 2 years have been the most enjoyable two straight years I've had in memory. I feel like I'm complaining unnecessarily because all the bumps and twists are temporary and even still, good things are happening.

I went to my sister's baby shower last weekend - she's having a girl in 3 weeks! I'm so baffled by the different paths our lives have taken, though Em does seem happy, which is a good thing. Her boyfriend is a darling too, which is fabulous! I'm convinced the child will be born with a southern accent... I'll just have to take up for NYC visits to cure it. ;)

Kitties!

I (finally!) got my new kitties a week ago! They arrived by delivery (of course… I live in NYC… everything is delivery here). They are the cutest little kitties possible. Before they came to live with me, they were named Bitz and Sadie. Then it was found that Sadie was a boy. I was going to name them Bits and Pieces at the urging of a few people around me, but when they arrived at my house, Pieces was simply a Tucker.

So my kitties, Bitsy and Tuck, are now the huge focus of my attention. When they’re not being cute and cuddly, they’re chasing anything that moves across the TV, dumping their food to play with the bowl, climbing up my shower curtain, and stealing rolls of toilet paper. Who knew that taking care of 2 kitties required this much attention!? Certainly not me, but I am enjoying it. Bitsy was the runt of the litter, so she is the smaller of the two. The funny thing about her is her squeak. She can’t quite meow, though she definitely has mouthing it down. What ends up coming out is only ever a high pitched squeak though! Tuck has a little belly, on top of being about double Bitsy’s size (they’re the same age!), and looks more cat-like now than his kitten-like sister. But they’re both still super-adorable. Here they are:

The New Year's Post

I have always hated the idea of making New Years resolutions that you never intend to keep. There is absolutely no point to it! I do believe in making a small number of resolutions to provide some goals to attain. It’s a good reason to write down the goals that are floating around in my head anyhow, right?! So here are my 2009 New Years resolutions:

• Increase my fluency in Spanish (and go somewhere to use it!)
• Hide some money (i.e. Find and use a good income tax shelter) – buy a house, increase my 401k, etc.
• Stop eating at the same places! Limit myself to dining at a particular restaurant no more than once a month. (i.e. stop going to Bella Vita and Supermac so often – this will be hard!)
• Apply to (and get into) grad school. And find a good student loan where interest doesn’t begin accruing until after you’re out.

Last New Years I made a list of events and realizations I made throughout the previous year and found it refreshing to hash through what I’d learned over the course of a year. This past year has been far less eventful, but there have definitely been some realizations and subsequent changes made.

I vowed not to work more than 60(ish) hours a week last New Years

+ I learned that some resolutions are worth working on

+ I succeeded on this one for the most part

+ I’m happier with the balance in my life

I left town for every major holiday in NYC (New Years, 4^th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas)

+ I realized that once is enough for each of the big holidays in NYC

I took some friends and hung out at my parents house mid-summer

+ I savored the fact that I have fantastic parents

+ I realized having a place on the water to vacation is a fantastic luxury

+ I thought about how nice it would be to own a river house with a boat, a dock, and a rope-swing

I moved into my own apartment

+ I found relief and peace in coming home to a quiet spot all my own

+ I realized how much stuff I actually have (and that I could not fit into a studio apartment)

+ I have re-learned how much I appreciate living on my own

+ I found that I love hosting game nights

+ I got lucky with what has thus far been a great landlord

+ I did forget to take pictures of my apartment before I moved in again (D’oh!)

I paid off my car and all credit cards

+ I realized how relieving it is to know you have no debt.

+ I thought about how much debt buying a house would incur

I went to South America on vacation

+ I learned how fascinating socio-political setting and economic development is to me

+ I realized you need more than a week to really understand a country

+ I remembered more Spanish than I thought I did

+ I found a new love in the beautiful butterflies of Iguazu, Argentina

+ I learned to keep a better eye on valuables while traveling (my iPod is gone…)

+ I realized a vacation from your vacation is necessary after spending it all on adventures

+ I learned if you declare everything in customs, you can bring back lots of good wine

I moved my office into my apartment

+ I figured out how much I could save myself and my company by not having an office

+ I realized the dedication needed for taking showers and getting dressed in the morning

More friends got married, had kids, or bought houses

+ I am continually baffled by how all this growing up happens…

I ended the year in Vermont with a boy and good friends

+ I realized I only like to sleep in rooms with people I know

+ I realized how long ago college seems now

+ I thought about how nice it would be to own a ski chalet

And I am still keeping track of that balloon ride I won in 2007 that someone still owes me.