Wednesday, December 29, 2004

shoes

ok, so i am thinking about fashion again. i have not been thinking about it much in the past year and a half--getting laid off makes you think VERY fucking differently about spending monney. but dude--mama needs some new clothes. i am trying to wait until i drop some weight before i do any serious spending, but i am SUCH a clothes horse that it is almost impossible for me to make it through a whole season with only 2 or 3 purchases to tide me over. i have missed entire trends.

and the SHOES!!! i realized that i have not bought a single pair of shoes in over a year! THE HORROR!!! what have i missed while hibernating away from the shoes? and how much of this is due to my lack of travel to the places with the good shoes? places like new york, and boston, and dallas, and san francisco. but i can tell you right now--i am going to boston in february, and i will most definitely be looking for shoes.

all this is egged on by the discovery of a favorite new blog, manolo's shoe blog, one of the more refreshing things i have come across in a WHILE. the manolo is not only amusing, but also right, and he offers temptations i have no will to resist. peruse him at will, as will i.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

today's mood: grumpy but hopeful

work is dead. and samantha has rudely deserted me, so i am forced to come up with other ways to make myself useful kill time till five o'clock when i can go home.

christmas is in two days, and i will not be ready. i am ALMOST ready, but not quite. and the problem with not having enough to do at work is that i have TOO much to do at home, but i can't get to any of it right now. there are days (read: every day) when i miss being unemployed. if it weren't for that money thing...

and don't get me wrong, i love my boss, and my job is mostly fine, i just wish we were independently wealthy so that we could just work on our own stuff. i have PLENTY to keep me busy--always. stupid money. *grumble*

and my head hurts.

ok--enough bitching. on a more cheerful note, tomorrow is christmas eve, which we will spend with friends eating the fabulous italian feast i will make for us. here, for your drooling pleasure, is the menu:

  • an antipasto platter featuring olives, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes marinated in olive oil and thyme, sauteed baby portabellas, fresh mozerella, sopressata, roasted yellow peppers, and pepperoncini

  • caesar salad (made by betsy)

  • bruchetta with tomato and basil

  • rosemary sourdough bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

  • 3-cheese tortelloni with priciutto and alfredo sauce

  • baked asparagus with parmesan and butter

  • herb roasted chicken

  • dark chocolate pudding

  • a non-chocolate dessert made or purchased by jenn

voilá.

the cooking doesn't scare me--it's all the knitting and wrapping i need to finish!!! god, christmas came fast this year!

Monday, December 20, 2004

elf work is hard work

man, i always forget how long it takes to wrap present after present after present. and yes--this would again go faster if i could resist martha-stewart-ing them up. but y'all should know by now--i just can't. no matter how pressed for time i am (and DAMN am i pressed for time this year!), i just HAVE to tie the cute little bows with the organdy ribbon, and stack the presents just so, yadda yadda yadda.

sometimes i wish i could bring myself to just slap it all together.

and well--the simple fact is that some of my gifts are not going to make it in time this year. i just can't help it--time has run away from me.

meanwhile, time crunch or not, i have had to stop a minute, as my back is about to kill me from sitting in the floor wrapping presents for hours on end. and there is more to do, but dude--sometimes you just gotta stop. when i can face it again, i will go pack everything that needs to be mailed so that it can all be shipped away tomorrow. that outta be fun. the post office HOW many days before christmas??? i MUST be insane.

thank you baby jesus for priority mail.

Friday, December 17, 2004

can't...breathe...

let's talk about this plague i have been carrying for like the last 3 weeks. the hippie came home from california with it and gave it to me! we have both been sick off and on over almost the whole last month. but now, the damned thing seems to be mutating: i can't breathe.

i really can't breathe.

and when i can't breathe through my nose, my lips get all dry, and then i can't keep my lipstick on because i lick my lips too much and end up eating it all off, so i end up switching to lip balm, which tingles nicely but lasts not much longer than the lipstick, and well--it just sucks.

and yes, i know that was a run-on sentence, but i don't really give a shit.

geek moment: cassini

i don't always talk a lot about physics and astronomy and planetary science anymore now that i am no longer immersed in these things on a daily basis. but man, there are times when i wish i had kept going and gotten that PhD so that i could have been involved with all the awesome planetary research going on these days.

as planets go, mars is closest to my heart, but today, it's saturn drawing my attention. even if you are not geeky, take a look at the work going on by the cassini imaging team. this probe is getting some of the coolest pictures of saturn EVER. just beautiful. not to mention the research...

*sigh*

sometimes you are forced by circumstance to look back and wonder what your life would be like now if you had made different decisions. but like david sedaris said in his fabulous and hilarious short story, you can't kill the rooster, "the past is dead, hoss..." no regrets, and no going back for me.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

made me spit out my iced tea!

ok--this is just one of the funniest things i have seen on the internet in a long time. thanks to jenn for sending me a great and badly needed laugh!

i am unbelievably thankful that my cats have no interest in the christmas tree. fergus IS burying the occasional recently killed fake mouse in the tree skirt, but that i can handle.

and while i am on the subject of Bad Cat humor on the internet, i have to point out a hilarious series of sinfest cartoons, clearly about fergus, starting with this one, and running through the one from 12/13. enjoy!

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

advil rocks

thank you baby jesus for advil. when the cramps are upon you and your head throbs, is there anything better? advil, some tea, a nap with a kitty on your lap.

and then some good chinese food and chocolate. maybe an episode or two of alias.

surefire cures for PMS, by jacqueline s. jones...

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

starbucks

i remember seeing a movie once where meg ryan's character said something along the lines of--starbucks is a place where people who can never make decisions like to go because they can then make 20 decisions in 5 seconds. or something like that.

i think of this every time i go to starbucks with the hippie when he orders his venti triple skim no whip mocha (ie, a 20 oz. mocha made with 3 shots of espresso, skim milk, and with no whipped cream on top). and here i am all simple, ordering my grande awake tea with both bags in, please...

funny place, starbucks.

and i think we have now memorized the location of every starbucks near the highway from our house all the way up to jason's mother's house in PA. it's like this yuppie beacon of civilation to us. caffeine--it's what's for breakfast. and lunch. and snacks. and dinner...

Thursday, December 09, 2004

sushi!!! new pants!!!

an excellent evening awaits me. tonight i am dragging the hippie to a great yarn store, which just happens to be across the street from some excellent sushi. YUM!

and then, wonder of wonders, i found a gap that actually has the pants i was going to order online but really want to wear this weekend IN STOCK! both pairs! i can't believe it! yeah--i know--it's the gap and all that. but man, i LOVE their pants--i admit it. now if only both pairs fit! cross your fingers for me, people.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

christmastime already?

thank goodness the illness is seeping slowly out of my body. i have been down with the plague and can only assume i have infected the hippie's entire family with it, as we were at their house in PA for the weekend. in spite of my being something of a dud and coughing out my lungs every 5 minutes, the weekend was good--good to see the family and be out on the farm for a bit.

and of course, on the way home, we spent too much money at IKEA!!! we now have bookshelves with which to line the hallways, if we ever get the put together. we seem to buy bookshelves a lot. but then--we buy books a lot too, so i guess this makes sense. IKEA rocks, by the way. we also got some shelving for the kitchen and some organizational stuff. they just have the best small space solutions of anyone.

and dude! it's like christmas and shit already!!! when did that happen??? when i was not looking, obviously. man, i have a lot to get done in the next 2 weeks! i have not even bought cards yet, but i will remedy that situation tonight: i am going on a whirlwind shopping extravaganza after work. and then i will go home and knit till my fingers fall off. time has just gotten away from me this year. i did at least sit down last night and make a list, so i already feel like i am getting things done. this is good. if only i didn't have a compulsion to MAKE things for everyone! but i do, and that is that. my big puzzle now is when in the hell we can get to the farmer's market to get the tree and put it up! i am hoping for sunday, when we get back fro maryland.

yes--we are leaving town again this weekend--this makes 3 weekends in a row! but this weekend it's for a big old party at our friends ralph and mary's house--one of the highlights of the season. assuming we make it... my boss is having a party here, too, which i hate to miss. too many choices. the holidays end up over-booked pretty quickly for us. i am not complaining, though--i love all this hustle and bustle and stuff to do. this is one of my favorite times of year. i even thrive under the pressure i think. yay for christmas!