College Kitten

Pomp and Circumstance: The Final Blog.

2010-06-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

I graduated this morning!

My friends and I, assembled in our finery, bedecked in white tassels and black polyester caps and gowns, sweat our way through an hour and a half of impersonal speeches, perched in the middle of Spanos Stadium. But at last the moment came--we were free! We had graduated! On time!

We turned our tassels to the left and sauntered smugly off the football field to join our fellow English majors at the private English commencement. It was much better (though I am glad that I attended both), and much more personal. "To wombats!" we cried (some of us crying actual tears), shook our professors' hands, and posed for thousands of pictures.

Of course, it still hasn't sunk in. (This might have something to do with the fact that I haven't quite finished all my homework.)

***

I want to thank all my friends and family for supporting me throughout these four magical years, especially my parents and my sister--you are my best friends and allies! In particular, I'd like to thank Lala for following my blog as if it were top news, for keeping me up to date on home events, and for being such a loving and constant presence in my life. I love you!

Now that I'm a "grown-up," or at least a grad, this blog is at its end. But my blogging isn't! You can find my new blog here: InnessFree

The last blog before I GRADUATE.

2010-06-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is it! I can't believe that I have finally made it to this point. I am about to don my cap and gown and march down the aisle into adulthood (sort of). But before I do, here's one last blog before I graduate, and I am "College Kitten" no more.

The past four years have been a blur. I applied to Cal Poly on a whim; I never guessed that I'd end up here at this polytechnic, largely engineering- and agriculture-based school--but I'm so glad that I did. I've made some great friends and amazing memories, fallen in love, learned important lessons, discovered myself, and all the rest of the things that people say in their graduation speeches. There are a lot of things that I'm happy to have experienced, and a few things that I wish I'd done, but overall, I wouldn't really change a thing. I'm still have only the vaguest idea of what one does with a B.A. in English, but I'm figuring it out. I am equal parts excited and terrified, but I have high hopes for the future (I'm still in that post-grad optimism phase).

***

And now, for something altogether too familiar: a recap blog.

On May 31st, Joel and I went to The House of Bread to get free whole wheat cinnamon rolls. Then we went to Linnaea's to study and to eat delicious, freshly-made vegetarian food. At five o'clock, we went to a five hour Take it SLO rehearsal. We still had a lot to do to prepare for our spring concert at that point. Luckily, it was very productive and we learned all our choreography.

On Tuesday, we didn't do much until 8 p.m., when we attended a free movie in the newly remodeled University Union. The movie that night was "Alice in Wonderland," the most recent version. The best part about the movie was the free popcorn. The actual movie was terrible. Tim Burton used to be a great director, but now he must be stopped.

On Wednesday, Take it SLO had a three hour rehearsal.

On Thursday, I took my psychology final (which I aced; I got an A in the course overall). Then I went home to clean my house so that it would be nice for Taite and Mom. Then I went back to campus to attend Lavender Commencement, a little graduation ceremony for LGBTQ students and their allies. I got a certificate and a rainbow tassel for my cap, so now I have two tassels!

After Lavender Commencement, I went to my friend Ivan's house for wine and cheese and to watch people play a very heated game of "Egyptian Rat Screw." Then, since it was the first Thursday of the month, we went to Bike Night! The theme was "prom." For a few of my English major girlfriends, it was their first time at Bike Night. We all took so long getting bikes together and dressing up that we missed Bike Night and ended up doing the laps in our own little group. It was a fun anyway.

On Friday, Take it SLO had a dress rehearsal to make sure that everything was ready, and everything was!

At 2 a.m. in the morning, Mom and Taite arrived, laden with duffel bags and pastries from Andersen's Bakery in Santa Barbara. Eight hours later, Joel and I went to yet another Take it SLO dress rehearsal. Then at 4:30 we had a sound check--and an hour later, the doors opened for our annual spring show! The spring show went very well, and we recorded everything. You can see my solo, "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us," by Sufjan Stevens, here:

On Sunday, TitS performed one last time, at a "June Jubilee." The theme was "beach boardwalk."

On Monday, I had my last final, in Engineering 302: Manufacturing and Transportation. I'm pretty sure I passed!

On Tuesday morning, to celebrate our freedom from finals, my English major girlfriends and I had mimosas and pancakes.

On Wednesday, I went to Tahoe Joe's for happy hour with my creative writing class. I had a delicious margarita. Later that night I went to a bonfire with Take it SLO and we made s'mores.

On Thursday, I turned in my senior project. Later that day, Joel fired up the barbecue and we cooked all the meat that we'd horded in the freezer and fed it to Take it SLO. Then my English majors came over, and we made more s'mores and Taite ate three chicken breasts with her hands in front of the open fridge. It was awesome.

Today, Taite, Joel, and I went to Pismo Beach to have breakfast with Dad and Annie at the Honeymoon Cafe. Afterward, Taite and Mom and I went to Santa Barbara for a nice day of shopping. We also had a tasty lunch at Andersen's Bakery.

And you know what happens tomorrow!

A small adventure in Arroyo Grande.

2010-05-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Although Joel and I spent most of the day doing absolutely nothing, we managed to turn that around in the afternoon and go to Arroyo Grande for the Strawberry Festival. We also went to take a peek at the (many) antique stores there, and to get ice cream at Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab.

It was a lovely warm day, a welcome change from all of the chilly and rainy weather we had all through May. Memorial Day weekend really does seem like a "hello, summer!" kind of weekend.

I love how labyrinthine antique stores can be, and those we visited today were no exception. They were also piled to the brim with neat things, including some very fabulous hats. I bought a simple black velvet hat with a rhinestone pin on its brim; it fit my head perfectly so I couldn't just leave it. No sooner had I bought that hat, however, than I wandered into another store, which had a treasure trove of outlandish and brilliant hats. One was saffron gold silk with a matching plume of ostrich feathers, and I wanted it just so I could look at it every day and be happy about owning it. It was a low enough price that such a thing wouldn't have been financially ridiculous, but my policy is that unless I truly have a use for something and/or I am in love with the thing, I leave it for some other lucky person to find.

After we had exhausted the antiques, Joel and I wandered through the Strawberry Festival booths and bought some overpriced, greasy, delicious booth food. Then we had merlot/raspberry and marzipan ice cream at Doc Burnstein's, and took home a pint of Mandarin chocolate.

And now, some outfit pictures.

2010-05-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Because I know you really miss those.

I wore this (including the shoes Dad got me for my birthday--thanks, Dad!) to get a drink downtown with a couple of friends. I was in the mood for a quiet, sophisticated bar and a quiet, sophisticated drink, but instead we went to Mother's Tavern and watched people grind all over each other. I still tried to order a Prohibition-era drink like I wanted, but the bartenders in SLO are used to mixing Jack and Coke and concocting bright blue monstrosities, not real drinks. My Sidecar tasted awful.

I wore this for the Take it SLO photo shoot. We were supposed to wear something that was "Urban Outfitters catalog in spring." I tried to make my hair very big and curly, because fashion hair = bird's nest. This is the airiest, springiest dress I own (thank you, Martz family!) and it is very fun to pose in.

There's not a lot to say about this outfit, except that I was wearing old-fashioned shapewear underneath and it required stockings. I don't like stockings when I have to wear them. The dress was a Christmas present (thanks, Dad!). Also, I wear those shoes a lot, don't I? (Thanks, Lala & Grandpa!) Oh, and I had straightened my hair and attempted to do a mock victory roll on one side, but it ended up just being some bobby pinned hair. I was proud of it anyway.

This outfit (and my face) looked way better in person. Some days just aren't good for pictures.

I wore this to the ImprovApella (Fermata Nowhere/Smile and Nod) show. Those shoes were $9 at Target and completely white. I colored them in with black permanent marker so I could have saddle shoes. Those glasses, as always, are fake. This was one of my proudest hair moments of the year.

I wore this on my birthday. I also wore that polka dotted black dress on my 18th birthday! But it was new then.

The dress is from the 1950s, and I always feel kind of nervous when I wear it. The purse is also vintage, likely 1950s or 60s. Everything else is modern.

Past three weeks, last two weeks!

2010-05-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

When we last saw our heroine, she was looking forward to a combined improv comedy and a capella show on the evening of Friday, May 7th.

Take It SLO hosted Cal Poly's Smile and Nod and 2009 ICCA champions, Fermata Nowhere. We had two shows and they were a blast! Afterward, I hosted a altogether too large and too drunk party at my house. It was fun for everyone else, but I could not relax because I do not like large, drunk crowds of people. But I do like pizza, and we had ten pizzas.

The next day, after Joel, Lisa, Aaron, and I breakfasted at Bon Temps, the only Creole-based restaurant in SLO, TitS took Fermata Nowhere to the beach. Joel and Aaron made a giant chessboard in the sand and used rocks as pawns. It was very impressive. Later, we went to one of Smile and Nod's last shows of the year. As always, they were in top comedic form. After that, there was another party. I was quickly partied out.

The next week was very busy, as I had a psychology group debate to craft. The topic was "Are girls bigger bullies than boys?" My team was the "Yes" side. Apparently we were very persuasive (and very lucky that our class is almost completely composed of girls, who are well aware of how cruel other girls can be), because we won.

It was also Pride Week, and I attended an Ally workshop titled "Transgender 101" on Thursday, which was both fascinating and baffling. After school, I went to my TitS friend Inbal's house. She is a vegan, and we planned to make vegan key lime pie. We did, and it was delicious and so easy to make! Next we want to make chocolate ganache pie. Later that night we went to the second annual Dollhouse Drag Show at Downtown Brew. Fierce!

On Friday, TitS assembled at my house to make a Take it SLO banner and t-shirts for Relay for Life. On Saturday, our entire group did Relay! As in the past, it was ridiculously fun. This year, however, I was the Captain, so I felt especially proud that it went well. Our group even won Most Spirited!

The next week wasn't that exciting. On Monday evening I took Joel to his first ever drive-in double feature. We saw "Iron Man 2" (eh) and "How to Train Your Dragon" (surprisingly wonderful).

On Friday evening, Take it SLO performed as "background music." It was sort of awkward, but we got free wine and hors d'oeuvres, as well as $300.00. The next day, we did something similar, this time at Embassy Suites, and again we were paid. It is especially weird to be background music when there aren't sufficient microphones for the background to even be heard.

Last week was even more uneventful. Joel and I went to a free showing of "Shutter Island" on campus, and it was pretty good. Take it SLO had a photo shoot on Wednesday before rehearsal. I finally tried a "White Gummy Bear" at Jamba Juice (it's one of the secret flavors). Last night, a few members of TitS had a game night. We played Taboo and "Task Jenga," where every block has a command on it (which we'd written in advance), such as "Speak in a foreign accent for the next round." It's an entertaining game.

Today Joel and I might visit Arroyo Grande to peek at the Strawberry Festival and to visit the Antique Mart.

I have my tassel, cap, gown, and tickets. I have one real week left, then one week of finals (although I only have one final, on Monday). And then I graduate. Before this week, I vacillated between extreme terror and extreme excitement. Now I just feel very anxious. There's so much more that I want to do, but no time.

And I didn't swing dance once this whole quarter.

Twenty-one to twenty-two.

2010-05-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

The week before and of my birthday:

Tuesday, April 27th: I attended Open Mic Night at Outspoken Beverage Bistro, a neat little cafe that I had never before patronized. I drank free coffee and listened to random people step up to the mic to read poetry, play guitar, and/or sing. I was going to put my name on the list, but I chickened out because I had nothing prepared.

Wednesday, April 28th: After school and rehearsal I went to Yogurt Creations.

Thursday, April 29th: I went on a "guerilla singing" spree with Take It SLO to advertise our upcoming show. Afterward, I went to the Women in Athletics forum hosted by the Women's Center. There were two or three female Cal Poly coaches and at least two female Cal Poly athletes (volleyball and softball). They talked about the effects of Title IX and their experiences in sports at Cal Poly. It was pretty interesting!

Friday, April 30th: I carpooled with Joel and our fellow TitS member and friend, Nicole, to Lake San Antonio, the location of Wildflower. Wildflower is a huge, world-famous triathlon, and we had signed up to volunteer for the weekend. On Friday we set up our tents next to the lake in Beach City, ate some dinner (pasta...we would very soon tire of pasta...), and watched everyone get drunk. Wildflower is an equally huge party.

Saturday, May 1st: I woke up at 5:00 a.m., wishing that I had gone to bed earlier than eleven, to a cacophony of alarms. About five police cars all turned on their sirens at the same time, and the din was awful. It was impossible to sleep through it, which I suppose was the point. I got up, very crabbily ate a bagel, and walked with my group the mile to Wildflower. We were instantly put to work, but it was fun work: we did "body-marking," where we wrote each athlete's number on his or her shoulders, hands, and thighs with a big black marker. I got to touch a lot of very muscular male thighs. It was a pretty good job. Then we stood at the end of the first section of the race (swimming) to direct the athletes through the transition to cycling. After we'd done that for a while, we were split up into groups of two and ferried across the lake to three separate docks. Joel and I got North Shore. Our job was to pull the pontoon boats close to the dock so people could get on and off. It was a pretty lazy job; most of the time we just sunned ourselves and dangled our feet in the water. After about seven hours of work without a break or lunch, we were finally relieved to go and get...pasta. (At least it was free.) Then we went back to Beach City. I was smarter that night; I went to bed at 9:30p while the party raged around my tent.

Sunday, May 2nd: Since the second day's race started later, we were allowed to sleep in a whole half hour. Since I had gone to bed so early, I felt pretty good waking up. I felt even better the rest of the day, when we shirked our volunteer duties and napped in the sun, listening to a swing band play. Around three we went back to Beach City, and by four-thirty we were back on the road to SLO and TitS practice.

Monday, May 3rd was uneventful.

Tuesday, May 4th: Joel and I were planning to go to the beach after our only (morning) classes, but that plan was derailed by BEES. A colony of honey bees had swarmed Joel's car while he was in class. He had to climb into his car through the trunk. We spent the afternoon trying to track down a beekeeper who never answered our calls. The last time we inspected the bees, however, there was a young woman--my neighbor down the street--with a spatula, spooning huge clumps of bees into a box. We gleefully watched the docile swarm transfer to its new (albeit temporary) home. The lady said that she had wanted to keep bees in her yard for a while, and we were only too happy to let her take ours. Maybe we'll get honey now!

Wednesday, May 5th: My 22nd birthday! Twenty-two feels weird. I'm not sure how much I like it yet. I didn't do a lot during the day, because Joel had class and so did I (or I was supposed to...haha). Then I went to Take It SLO rehearsal and Nicole had brought chips and salsa, Joel had brought rhubarb pie, Inbal had made vegan banana dream pie, and Jacob had made peach dump cake. Then they sang "Happy Birthday" to me in horrible minor tones. It was great. After practice, Joel and I went to happy hour at Applebee's (don't judge!) for a quesadilla and a three-dollar margarita. And that's how I celebrated my birthday.

Thursday, May 6th: Birthday celebration, part two! Joel and I drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea after class to have lunch at Little Napoli, a very tasty Italian restaurant. We had gnocchi in gorgonzola and sage sauce, tasty salads, far too much bread, and tartufo di limoncello and panna cotta for dessert. Then we drove back to SLO, stopping at Target (yay!) along the way.

Tonight is Take It SLO's concert with Smile and Nod and Fermata Nowhere. It should be a lot of fun.

Thank you, Lala & Grandpa, for the beautiful and classic Shabby Apple Nantucket dress!
Thank you, Dad, for the comfortable and cute Anthropologie Coated Rouge shoes!
Thank you, Nana, for the nice card (et cetera)!
Thank you, Grandma Sue & Papa Thor, for the sweet card (et cetera)!
Thank you, Martz family, for the funny card!
Thank you, Mom, for the neat Whitman card and the Midas-touched Born Adele ballet flat in gold!
Thank you, Taite, for the charming Gabriella Rocha Ginger shoes in turquoise!
Thank you, Joel, for the travel-inspired Anthropologie "Air Mail" skirt!

Thank you to all of my family and friends for being so wonderful and for loving me! I love you, too.

Shabby Apple discount!

2010-04-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

You can get 10% off the Shabby Apple dresses in my wish list with this code: purple10off

Good until May 1st.

I know what you're thinking.

2010-04-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

"A new post, so soon? Is she bedridden?" Happily, no.

When last I wrote, it was a Thursday, and Take It SLO was set to perform at SLO's weekly Farmer's Market. This Farmer's Market was very special, because it was stuffed to the brim with prospective students and their parents visiting for Open House. Despite only having two boom mics and one solo mic, our set went rather well. And we were able to wear our brand new t-shirts for the first time. Afterward I strolled around with fellow soprano Lisa, trying to choose dinner from one of the many deliciously-scented booths.

The next morning I got up early, not to sing the National Anthem with Take It SLO as I have done for the past four years, but to wait in line at Old Navy, hoping to be one of the first fifty to enter the store and thus receive 50% off. I was successful in my endeavor, and it paid off. It was glorious to see a tab of $200 dwindle down to half that (of course, I was reimbursed by people for whom I bought items, as well).

Triumphant, I went back to campus and sang the second National Anthem with TitS. Later that day, we performed a surprise set for the College of Liberal Arts. We sat, spread out from each other, in the audience with the future CLA students. When we were cued, we each popped up at the moment we started to sing--and since we sang "I Want You Back," that was at different times for each part. Then we made our way up to the stage and sang our Journey medley as well. It was great.

Friday night, Joel went to sit in a lab until six in the morning, and I went to an English major poetry and wine (and brie and bread and cake) night. I've been abstaining from alcohol of any sort for the past month or so, because I decided that it wasn't worth the money or the calories. However, poetry and wine night is only half as fun without half the ingredients, so I indulged a little.

A little too much. I spent the next day wretchedly hung over, which served me right but was also very disappointing because it was the last Open House I would attend and I didn't get to enjoy it at all. I was, however, obligated to sing a forty-five minute set with Take It SLO. Luckily that distracted me enough from my head and my stomach, until it was over, to be a lot of fun.

On Sunday I was back to my normal self, so Joel and I went to TJ Maxx, which just opened in SLO. It was very exciting. I found nude Franco Sarto pumps. I went a little overboard.

This past week was pretty boring. I did some laundry and I had a psychology exam. I also watched my sunflower seeds sprout! They went from itty bitty little green curls to this in about three days:

I'm very excited. Soon they will be big enough to move from their tin to the backyard. Hopefully I won't kill them before then, but so far they seem to be happy and healthy.

The end.

Weed defeater!

2010-04-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

Today I did something I've never done before: I mowed a lawn! My back yard lawn, specifically. With a push mower.

And then I weeded of my own volition. I'm preparing a portion of the garden for sunflowers, which I'm growing in a little container in the house until they get big enough to transplant.

In other news, not much. Joel and I have been living off these breakfast burritos that we made in bulk and froze. Take It SLO sings at Farmer's Market tonight, and CP Open House tomorrow and Saturday.

Also, tomorrow I have to go to Old Navy and wait until it opens so I can get 50% off.

22!? Eeegads!

2010-04-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

We're just about halfway through April, so I might as well do this now. Am I even allowed to make a wish list for a 22nd birthday? It seems somehow wrong. But here I go, anyway.

You can see my entire ongoing wish list here if you wish. :P

Measurements:

Bust: 36
Waist: 30
Hips: 39

General sizing:

Small in shirts, coats
Small-medium in skirts, dresses
4-6 in dresses/skirts with stretch
6-8 in dresses/skirts without stretch
6.5 in shoes; 6 in sandals; 6.5 -7 in boots

Clothing

Trashy Diva Ashley Dress in Green Mums*
MyBabyJo Substitute circle skirt dress
A high-waisted black cotton pencil skirt*, like this or this
Art Deco Bella Top
Anthropologie Beda dress
"" Traced Twirls dress
"" Air Mail skirt
Jessica wiggle dress
Slice and Dice dress
Vivien of Holloway 1950s halterneck black gingham dress

Swim

Classic Sheath Two-Piece in red
J.Crew Jersey Lomellina retro bandeau tank**
Parisian Holiday Retro Chic bandeau front swimsuit in black**
Retro Floral Swim Cap in pink
Betsey Johnson Cabaret banded halter top
"" Cabaret skirted hipster bottom**

Accessories

Vintage Repro Luggage
Steamline Luggage (Editor Series, Pink)***
Corso Como "Rachel II" tall boot in Caramel Burnished Leather
Enzo Angiolini "Kart" flat in taupe and black
Chocolate Blu "Maggie" flat in off white/black
Seychelles Women's Bobby Loafer in Whiskey
Fred Flare Carrie sunglasses*
TOMS Classic slip on in silver glitter
ModCloth Pythagorean Pretty Shoe
"" Petal Pusher Wedge
"" Formal Fascinator
Sperry Angelfish Top-Sider in linen/oat
Comfortable, chic, mid-calf motorcycle boots, like Lucky Brand Astrid
Naturalizer Vamoose t-strap pump in black or beige
Etienne Aigner Vivica slingback in spring sand
Saddle shoes like this or this
Vintage black peep toes

Et Cetera

The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping book
Audio Chi W7 headphones in gold
Introduction to Burlesquercise DVD
Sewing lessons (now that I have the machine!)
Burlesque classes here or here

Annnnd a month later...

2010-04-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

She is risen! To blog again! Darn it, another recap blog.

When last I blogged, there was only ONE DAY until Mom and Taite showed up. They arrived on Saturday, bearing pastries from Andersen's of Santa Barbara. They also brought me an adorable little vintage purse. It was nice and sunny when they visited, so Joel and I took them to Avila Beach. We also sunbathed in the back yard and moseyed around downtown.

It was finals week for Joel and me (I ended up with three As and one A-), but the only finals I had were on Monday so I had the rest of the week to enjoy my family's company. On Wednesday, Saint Patrick's Day, we did not indulge in corned beef or green beer; instead, Taite and Mom and I drove up to the Bay Area. We visited Sausalito briefly, then checked in to our hotel in Berkeley and explored the area a little bit. Mom was there because she was involved in a conference that related to her grad program, so Taite and I were left to our own devices during the day. We went shopping in Berkeley and tried to find Korean BBQ for Taite. There wasn't any, so we had Thai food instead.

I had also promised Taite that we could go to San Francisco, so on Thursday we braved the B.A.R.T. and had an amazing day downtown. We hiked all over the north end, from Union Square, through China Town (where we watched a dragon bless each store with firecrackers in its wake), a nearly vertical hike to Telegraph Hill (and Coit Tower), and back down to Fisherman's Wharf to peek at the sea lions and tourist fare. We hitched a very welcome ride, after all that walking, on a cable car up to the cable car museum and ritzy Nob Hill. We tried to find lunch, but nothing looked good except one place that was unfortunately playing smooth jazz (and I can't eat if I have to listen to smooth jazz). By then it was getting pretty late in the afternoon, so we ambled back in the direction of Union Square and had a bite to eat at 'WichCraft, an adorable sandwich (et cetera) cafe. Afterward we got back on the B.A.R.T., Bay Area Rapid Transit experts at that point, and returned to Berkeley to have dinner with Mom.

On Friday, Joel finished his finals and drove up to stay with us. We all went to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner and for once I didn't yell at Joel for using his fingers to eat.

On Saturday, we spent the morning and a portion of the afternoon with Mom before we headed back to San Francisco to meet up with my old roommate, Kyle, and a couple of his friends in the Mission District. We found him at Dolores Park, where we feasted on bread and cheese and played a game that Joel and Taite invented, called "True or False." Never mind that. Then we had ice cream at the Bi-Rite Creamery even though there was a line around the block, because I was craving something sweet and because Kyle insisted on it. The ice cream selection there is outlandish, similar to Seattle's Molly Moon's. I had an "Afternoon Snack": roasted banana ice cream, house-made crumbled graham cracker, caramel sauce, and whipped cream. Ridiculously delicious, but I had to split it with Joel because it was so rich.

Our visit to San Francisco was unfortunately cut short because we wanted to see Mom again before she caught her flight. We returned to Berkeley only to receive a message from her that she was at the Loehmann's in South SF (because the one in our town closed..NOOOOO). So we drove to the airport, hoping to intercept her before she left. No dice. Taite's flight wasn't until later, so we went and had sushi until it was time to take her back to the airport. Then Joel and I drove the forty-five minutes down to Campbell, where Kyle lives, to stay with him.

We were almost there when Taite texted: "Please come back." I called her and it turned out that evil, despicable, inept American Airlines had no record of her and the flight was fully booked. She didn't have her flight confirmation with her, so they made her get out of line. When she finally got her number by calling our grandmother (thanks, Lala!) because Mom was still on the plane back to Washington, American Airlines representatives snapped at her that it was wrong and forced her out of line again. They made her cry. Her flight left without her. She went outside to wait for us and that's where we found her, teary-eyed and scared. We took her back to Kyle's place to sleep and Mom booked her a new flight for the next afternoon.

In the morning we took our time getting ready and then we all went to get breakfast near the airport. We had forgotten that it was a Sunday morning, and all the breakfast places were packed. We were able to get seats at the bar of one restaurant, which was great because I now know how they manage to churn out so many breakfasts at once. (They have a pancake batter doo-dad; it's pretty awesome.) We waited and waited for our breakfasts, getting more nervous as the deadline for check-in approached. Finally the arrived and we got them boxed and booked it to the airport. At least Taite was able to get something to eat before her (successful) five hour flight.

Afterward, Kyle took us to a neat little shopping/eating center in San Jose and we drank bubble tea and watched children play (sort of) life-sized chess. Later that night, Kyle and his roommate went to Cirque du Soleil and Joel and I treated ourselves to a very luxe dinner at Olio in downtown Campbell. We had the special prix fixe Sunday dinner. We ate mountains of perfect bread, with various amazing dips, in addition to our three courses: pita with hummus for me, steamed mussels for Joel; garlic soup for both of us; to-die-for chicken with creamy polenta and greens for me, and something equally delicious for Joel that I can't remember now. For dessert, one of the best things I have ever tasted: banana brioche bread pudding. I can't even describe it; suffice to say that when we returned to Campbell at the end of spring break, Joel and I took Kyle back to Olio and we split TWO of them. And we could have eaten more.

Anyway, after that Joel and I drove to Fairfield to pick up Joel's brother, Aaron, and head up to Tahoe where I spent the week with their family in their timeshare in South Lake Tahoe, NV. There was snow and it was beautiful. We romped around in it (in our jeans because none of us had waterproof pants), took a lot of pictures, and played a lot of cards. On Wednesday we had margaritas and played UNO (I think we played something like thirty rounds of UNO the whole week; I eventually emerged as overall champion). Occasionally Joel and I braved the wind and snow in our bathing suits to reach the jacuzzi. On Friday we went on a snowmobile tour, which was a blast.

On Saturday, Joel and Aaron and I returned to Fairfield and Joel and I drove back to Campbell. On Sunday we drove back down to SLO, and stopped in Carmel along the way for lunch.

On Monday we began a new quarter. I'm taking my technology GE this quarter (Manufacturing and Transportation), creative writing, and psychology of adolescence. It's a pretty lazy quarter, which is great because...it's my last.

But I don't want to talk about that. Instead, I'll talk about how I'm joining the Women's Leadership Council this quarter, and how I plan to learn swing and blues dance with Joel. I'll talk about how we met Joel's family in Solvang on Easter and I had Andersen's pea soup.

I'll talk about last Thursday night, when Joel and I went to our fellow Take it SLO member's house to celebrate nothing other than Thursday night; or last Friday, when I went with the Women's Leadership Council to our day of service at the North County Women's shelter. I helped build furniture for women at the shelter who are ready to spread their wings. I built a display unit and a desk! The desk was tricky, but I got to hammer at the end so it was worth it.

That night, Joel got to use my back yard barbecue for the first time. He made delicious BBQ pork ribs and I made Greek salad and Rice-a-Roni to eat with them. Joel also baked an angel food cake, but that didn't last very long.

On Saturday, Joel and I went to the thrift stores and to a garage sale. I got some kitchen stuff that I needed, and Joel got a fancy wine bottle opener and a glass chess/checkers/backgammon set. On Sunday we did laundry at the laundromat and I learned to play checkers and to lose at chess. Also on Sunday I brought a portion of my (twelve pounds of) strawberries to Take it SLO rehearsal. They were/are delicious.

Last night I went to an English Club meeting. Today I planted sunflower seeds in a small container. When they sprout I will plant them in the back yard. Tonight Joel and I went with my fellow English majors to see "To Kill a Mockingbird" on the big screen at the historic Fremont Theater downtown.

This week will be busy, because it's Cal Poly's Open House Thursday through Saturday. I can't wait!

Bist Du Bei Mir.

2010-03-12T23:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, you can finally see our duet now! I hope you enjoy it.

Chronically Vintage Giveaway!

2010-03-11T17:36:00.001-08:00

I just entered Chronically Vintage's LA Vintage giveaway, and you can, too!

Aw shoot, I did it again.

2010-03-05T00:30:00.001-08:00

I got behind in my blog posts and now this one's going to be leeeengthyyyy. Oh well.

The first interesting things that happened after the Valentine weekend were on the 18th of February. I attended "Lover's Speak," a love-themed poetry reading performed by several members of Cal Poly English staff. Afterward I went to my English major friend Amy's house, where she hosted a potluck dinner. When the crowd thinned, a small group of us played "King's Cup Jenga"--every block had a command written on it, ranging from the serious to the absurd. One merely said, "You're a cat."

On the 19th, I piled into a car with three other Take it SLO girls, and we drove up to Berkeley, where we met the rest of the TitS, for the ICCAs. Saturday was a flurry of activity as we painted our nails, curled our hair, and applied fake eyelashes.

Saturday night, we waited in a classroom until we were called to the green room. We were second to perform. Finally, all our hard work from the past few months would pay off.

We opened with "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr. (solo by Jacob).

Our second song was "Don't Speak" by No Doubt (solo by me). Not my best work--I was so nervous!

Our final song, which had a small hitch near the end--but was otherwise good--was last: "Happy Ending" by Mika (solo by Amy L.).

Our set finished, we filed off the stage, energized and elated (despite not being allowed to watch the other groups perform without paying for tickets). We knew we had done our best and we thought the audience had responded well. We had high hopes.

Unfortunately, we did not proceed to the semifinals. And we decided that competitions that seem more suited for show choirs than for a capella groups aren't really for us. But we had a great time, we bonded, and after the competition we sang together at a nearby coffee shop, which thrilled our fellow patrons.

The next week everything was back to normal. I got a delicious free lunch of soup and baked potato on Tuesday at "Soup and Substance" (a weekly treat that features interesting lectures on activism and such) and I listened to Career Services talk about "alternative careers."

My group presentation on Chicano/Latino culture in ethnic studies class was very successful.

I bought some groceries and I mopped the floor, and then I battled Indian meal moths (I had to throw away all my infested grains!).

And I registered for my final quarter (fingers crossed, because registration is always a pain and this was no exception) at Cal Poly.

On Wednesday I went to Salon Lux downtown, because I needed a change and I'd never gone blonde. Janelle was my colorist and she was very sweet. She did a beautiful job giving me light and golden blonde highlights over my natural color.

This is what it looked like.

I ended up going back this week because it was not dramatic enough--Joel didn't even notice until ten other people pointed it out!--and Janelle was very accommodating. (I still want something a little more drastic, however...)

See? Still not really blonde (though it looks more so in person).

On Friday I went to the YMCA to try to catch a poetry reading. Instead, I watched a PowerPoint by a young woman who had returned from two years working for the Peace Corps in Swaziland (inspiring!) and saw my friend Karolin (an art major) present her gorgeous artwork.

On Saturday I went to Change the Status Quo at Cal Poly. It's an annual conference that "encourages participants to challenge stereotypes, demand solutions, and use education to make lasting changes." It was amazing! I wish I'd gone before! There were a bunch of different workshops to attend with many different themes, all equally intriguing, but the four I went to were "Naturally High" (nutrition), "Plastic Pollution," "Your Waste, My Treasure" (where we made upside down hanging planters out of plastic soda liters), and "ALLY Training" (supporting the LGBTQIA community). We also received an organic breakfast and lunch and a bunch of cool swag including a t-shirt and reusable bag. I left feeling totally blissful and invigorated, partly because I was inspired to find a non-profit job after I graduate. (Which is a relief...do you know how difficult it is to search for an interesting, entry-level job for a English major grad who isn't even in her future state of residence?)

Later that night I hosted a dinner, poetry, and wine night at my house with my English majors. I made jerk pork chops, Beth brought salad, and everyone had some wine. For dessert I popped the leftover Harry & David pears (thanks, Lala and Grandpa!) into the oven with some butter, sugar, and cinnamon, then topped them with vanilla bean ice cream when they were done.

Sunday was a scary day because it was my friend Bruno's senior music minor recital and I was to sing the encore with him. We sang "Bist Du Bei Mir"--if you've ever seen the movie "Joyeux Noel," that's where we found it. Joel was kind enough to record the song, but Blogger isn't behaving at present so I'll post it later.

After the recital, Joel, my friend Aaron, and I drove to Arroyo Grande to hear a poetry recital at the SLO Down Pub. Michael McLaughlin read, and I took notes so I could write an essay for my advanced poetry class. Then we went to TitS rehearsal.

On Tuesday I went to another "Soup and Substance," and this time the subject was "bad women of history." It was very interesting. They served a rich tomato soup and pasta with kalamata olives in it.

Yesterday evening I stood in line with friends for two and a half hours because we wanted free burritos from the new Chipotle that opened in town. Was it worth it? Maybe. There were onions in my salsa, so I don't know. The burrito was tasty, though.

Today I had no class, so I attended LunaFEST, a series of short films about/for women, on campus. Then tonight, since I've been riding my bike every day (whoo!) and I now feel comfortable biking on the street, I went to Bike Night for the first time ever. Bike Night occurs on the first Thursday of the month immediately after Farmer's Market. It was crazy--the streets were choked with bikers wearing "Green Eggs and Ham"-themed costumes. I loved it.

Now I'm headed to bed. This weekend I hope to hit some estate sales and go thrift shopping, because I've got it into my head that I want Joel to wear trousers with suspenders and he is open to it except, he says, he hasn't got any suspenders. We'll have to remedy that.

One week until Mom and Taite visit!

Alles Liebe zum Valentinstag!

2010-02-16T23:57:00.000-08:00

I had the best Valentine's Day--the best Valentine's weekend--ever!

On Friday I convinced Joel to play hooky, and we went shopping downtown. We had a special lunch at Linnaea's (a local cafe with a delicious, ever-changing vegetarian menu) which included a chocolate cake heart with ganache icing.

On Saturday, the members of Take it SLO who didn't leave town acted as (prepaid) valentines; we sang surprise serenades to people around town. Afterward, Joel and I drove north to a couple of yard sales and one barn sale. We came away with an antique "cabinet-thing" (in Joel's words) for only $2 and several pairs of vintage gloves that fit me perfectly. Then we drove to Paso Robles, where we snacked on hors d'oeuvres at We Olive and had lunch at Thomas Hill Organics. Then we went home and had a bottle of wine--well, I had a glass or so, and Joel had the rest.

On Sunday we got up at 5:30 to drive to Montana de Oro to take photographs at sunrise. Afterward, we went back to SLO and had waffles for breakfast. Then we went back to sleep for a few hours. Then we visited our friend Robert, who lives near the top of a very high hill. At 3p, we attended a wind concert at church in Cambria (Joel is required to attend certain musical events for his Music Theory 101 course). It was very nice, but the pews were too comfortable and I fell asleep until they started to play selections from "West Side Story," which woke me up.

After the concert, Joel surprised me by driving to a lookout above the beach. He had a bottle of Italian merlot and a box of salted chocolate caramels (three different varieties!), which we enjoyed while we watched the sun set. It was very romantic.

Back at home, I banished him while I prepared his valentine. I spent about an hour and a half putting individually-wrapped raspberry-chocolate hearts, and notes describing what I love about him, inside thirty pearly-white balloons. After I finished blowing them up, my cheeks and fingers ached. Then I handed Joel a pair of scissors and watched him gleefully destroy all my hard work (but it was fun). The last balloon instructed him to look inside my closet, where a basket of goodies was hidden. He was surprised and delighted.

On Monday, which was a holiday, I slept in. Then Joel and I watched the episodes of "American Idol" that we had missed. Then, since it was a nice day, we rescued my bike from his house (which means that I can ride it now! hooray!). Then Joel finished spray-painting my mustache key holder gold, put hooks in it, and hanged it on the wall. It greets me every time I walk in the front door, now.

In the evening I joined the other Take it SLO ladies to bake valentine treats for our menfolk. They were very well-received at our extended rehearsal.

The gentlemen, in turn, surprised us with a valentine ditty (composed and arranged by my boyfriend!) that they had finished learning just that day. Then we had a ridiculously loooooooooong, hard rehearsal, but we got a lot out of it.

I wore this, which included my fake glasses.

Today I went to class, had singing practice with Bruno and the pianist for his recital, had a meeting about Take it SLO's planned performance at Cal Poly's Open House in April, and went downtown with Joel to finish shopping for turquoise, since Take it SLO will don a mixture of turquoise, black, and gray for our performance on Saturday at the ICCAs. It was very demoralizing. Then we went to see "The Road" (based on Cormac McCarthy's intense post-apocalyptic novel) at the indie Palm Theater; it was every bit as depressing as the book.

But I still had a wonderful, wonderful weekend. Now I must go to sleep. XOXO.

I lean and chicken loaf at my ease...

2010-02-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was very exciting because my dear friend Aaron, ex-TitS member and CP graduate, visited! He arrived on Friday, just in time to see Take it SLO perform on campus at one of the dining halls. It was a sweethearts-themed evening, which apparently meant pink balloons, a really atrocious karaoke machine, and heart-shaped sugar cookies. Take it SLO performed at the dinner hour, and although we had no sound equipment and only a small, captive audience, it was a lot of fun. For compensation we received free dinner.

Later that night, a few TitS members assembled at my house to hang out. We heard some drunk people calling to us from a couple of houses down, so in the spirit of adventure we decided to go over to meet them. They were very intoxicated, but very nice. When we told them that we were a singing group, they demanded that we sing something for them. We sang what little we could with few tenors and only one soprano and one alto. Our audience was very appreciative and it was quite the ego boost.

On Saturday morning I made the mistake of going to a gym class with my English major friend, Elise. We believed that we were going to a dance cardio class, but it turned out to be a "Total Body Conditioning" class instead--a.k.a. extremely painful, bootcamp-esque workout. For the rest of the weekend, every one of my muscles ached.

Saturday night, Aaron and Joel made two different types of chicken for a dinner that we shared with a few friends.

It was delicious and we were in high spirits for some time afterward. We were going to attend a free blues dancing class, but that ended up not happening. On Sunday, Aaron and Joel and I went to an estate sale in Paso Robles. Joel bought a very small saw and I bought a set of shelves for books or curio items. It fits nicely into my room and I'm happy to have extra storage.

I wore this!

On Monday it was my mother's birthday, so I called her and we chatted. Then I had rehearsal with my friend Bruno, and afterward I went to Pilates with Elise, Amy, and Bobby. Baaaaaaaad idea. Due to all the damage my poor abs suffered from both Saturday and Monday, I have been unable to stand up straight or even roll over in bed without screaming until today.

Yesterday I went to a career-themed lunch and I heard people talk about professionalism. By their standards, and compared to their examples of my so-called "millennial generation," I am extremely professional. And old-fashioned.

I discovered that I got 100% on my ethnic studies class paper, so that made me very cheerful. I have another one due on Thursday.

When I got home after school I walked to the grocery store to pick up bread crumbs and chicken broth so I could make chicken loaf for Joel's dinner. I got the recipe from the "Charming Vintage Recipe" blog.

It says "Serves 6-8" but we ate the whole thing. Oops.

After dinner I had to go to a Relay for Life captain meeting, and I was dreading it because my abs hurt so much...but then they gave us cupcakes so all was well. (Click on the link and donate to my team!)

Today I found that I scored 90% on my last "Psychology of Women" test. Hooray!

Later I will attend an English club meeting, and then a Take it SLO practice. We will learn more choreography for our competition next Saturday. Yippee.

Domestic bliss: pork chops!

2010-02-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

On Mondays, Joel gets out of school around dinner time. Since I am home by then, I often try to make him something to eat by the time he comes around. When I last went grocery shopping, I planned ahead for meals based on what was on sale. That all came together tonight, when I made Jerk Pork Chops (out of Better Homes and Gardens: Anyone Can Cook). They were sooo tasty!

At first I thought that dinner was doomed, because the pork chops had not thawed by 5:00 p.m. and they were all stuck together. I had to run them under hot water to get them to come apart before I could defrost them in the microwave. After that, it was mostly smooth sailing (except that I, in my germophobe paranoia, washed my hands maybe twenty times). I paired the chops with mashed sweet potatoes. I would have done a green vegetable--maybe green beans?--if I had had the time. Or the green beans.

Joel made yummy sounds the whole time he was eating. Dinner success! I thought everything was very good, too; well worth the small effort it took to make it. I made an extra chop, too, so Joel will have a lunch tomorrow. I am such a thoughtful wife. Haha.

For dessert I made lemon poppy-seed cupcakes. They were supposed to have vanilla icing on top but they were super sweet on their own, so I didn't do that.

Los Angeles A Capella Festival!

2010-02-01T00:14:00.000-08:00

This weekend Take It SLO went on the road! We drove down to UCLA to participate in the Los Angeles A Capella Festival (LA-AF). We spent the day in a series of workshops, with themes such as "Advanced Beat-Boxing" and "Arranging 101." I enjoyed "Group Improv," "Group Performance," and "Sing to WIN!" best of all the classes I attended. "Sing to WIN!" was especially useful because Take It SLO will compete in the ICCA semifinals on February 20th, at Berkeley.

During the day we were privileged enough to see some other groups perform, and they were all great! At night, after dinner, we saw UCLA Bruin Harmony, Sonos, and m-pact in concert. There was a lot of talent packed onto one stage!

We came back to SLO exhausted and inspired. I can't wait to see how our final set will turn out!

Here is my outfit today.

I am jumping for joy, having finished my psychology homework and eaten a meatball.

Cacoethes scribendi.

2010-01-27T13:48:00.000-08:00

This past week/end was rather fun. On Thursday I had a poetry workshop with a group from my class. Later that day, I performed with TitS at a Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration on campus. There were free brownies.

On Friday I went on a date with Joel. I wore this.

Those stockings are held up by garters from Victoria's Secret. They kept popping off. Evidently Victoria's Secret is meant to be taken off, not worn. Very annoying.

We went to a new-ish bistro called "Granada." It's an itty bitty little place, with couches and plush chairs and tables kind of squished together. The atmosphere is very European, but comfortable. The food was simple, but with high-end ingredients. I had a vegetable soup and a roasted beet, candied walnut, and goat cheese salad, all with a nice Sauvignon Blanc. Even the water was tasty, as it was flavored with cucumber. I swooned. For dessert, we had locally-made chocolate Merlot cupcakes that Granada buys from Amy Bakes Cupcakes. Yummy! Unfortunately the restaurant is doomed, because the building it's in (originally the Granada Hotel) will be demolished in July of this year.

After dinner, I took Joel to a movie ("Sherlock Holmes." Pretty good movie, excellent score.), per Mom's request. It was part of his Christmas gift from her, but it came with strings attached.

He had to wear the other half of his Christmas gift while he watched the movie.

On Saturday I was supposed to go to an English major speed networking event, but I missed out because of roommate issues. Oh well. Instead, Joel and I tried to recreate the chocolate Merlot cupcakes we'd had the night before.

The recipe we had called for chocolate Merlot ganache icing, and oh my goodness..it was fabulous. The recipe made a lot of extra icing, so we have some to put on ice cream now.

The cupcakes, which we made from scratch as well, were a little dense, so we need to play with that recipe some more. Suggestions? Maybe I could use a moist chocolate cake mix and add some Merlot to that.

Saturday night, Joel and I attended a Spanish Baroque concert at the Mission. Cal Poly's Early Music Ensemble sang, and it was very pleasant. Afterward, Joel went to a Take It SLO party and I went to a Poetry & Wine get-together with my English major friends. We read modernist poetry (like the epic "Howl" by Ginsberg) and original poetry out loud and ate brie with bread and honey.

This is what I wore. Bobby pins kind of elude me, but this hat stayed on until I deliberately took it off, so I must have done something right. Also, I am wearing a retro-style girdle underneath my dress. It was surprisingly comfortable and extremely effective. I sat up straight all night.

Sunday (and pretty much every other day before or since) it rained and we did nothing, not even swing class.

On Monday I went to school, of course. Afterward I rehearsed with my friend Bruno, who is a music minor. His senior recital is coming up in February and I was invited to duet with him for his encore.

After that, I went to Pilates with my English major friend, Amy. I'd never gone to the Monday Pilates class and the instructor is craaazy. She talks a mile a minute. To her credit, the workout was difficult. I'm still very sore today.

This upcoming weekend, Take It SLO is going to LA for the Los Angeles A Capella Festival. Whee!

Film noir and some jumping.

2010-01-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here are the outfit pictures, as promised:

New trench coat (BR Petites)--thank you, Mom!

Under the coat: new skirt (Leifsdottir)--thanks again, Mom; shirt from high school's uniform days (Old Navy).

Trench coat remixed! '20s/equestrian-inspired hat (H&M); leggings (Old Navy); flats (Clarks).

Under the coat: Firefly Wrap Dress (ModCloth)--thank you, Aunt Holly & Co.!

And now, some truly bizarre jumping pictures:

My face looks really weird.

Fail jump.

Much more successful jump.

Gosh, I'm white.

Yesterday I did next to nothing. I woke up very late and ate a doughnut for breakfast. I watched "A Clockwork Orange" with Joel (very strange movie). I took a shower. I got a fish taco from my favorite fish taco place. I went to a long TitS rehearsal. I went grocery shopping. I did homework. I sneezed and coughed a lot and generally felt sorry for myself. My nice boyfriend got me Vick's for my cold and rubbed Bengay on my calf, which was sore from dancing. I smelled like church. Then I went to sleep.

This morning I got up early to perform with Take It SLO at Backstage Pizza on Cal Poly's campus as part of the "Sounds of SLO" thing they have going on. It went pretty well. Then I went back to bed, sick...and that's where I am now.

Edit: Later that evening, Joel and I attended a "Diversity Dinner" at the Performing Arts Center on campus. It was a totally free four course meal and it was delicious.

Broken resolution(s).

2010-01-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

I went to the grocery store and I intend to do it again! But I mostly have been surviving off of food I already had. Very few healthy meals accomplished, however.

So much for blogging at least once a week. Bad blogger, bad! So I'll have to do one of those recap posts that I'm so fond of and then re-resolve to blog more often. Here goes:

I flew back to southern California early on the 3rd. Joel and his brother picked me up, and we drove straight up to San Luis Obispo. We stopped in Buellton for Andersen's pea soup, which delighted Joel because he could use the joke my mother taught him:

"What'd you have for breakfast?"
"Pea soup."
"What did you have for lunch?"
"Pea soup."
"What'd you have for dinner?"
"Pea soup."
"What'd you do all day?"
"Pee soup!"

Thanks, Mom.

We got back to SLO mid-afternoon and I took a nap until it was time for Take It SLO rehearsal.

The first week of school was pretty uneventful. I dropped a class so I could fit in a Pilates class at the gym instead (resolution underway! yes!). My English major friends and I had another clothes swapping party, and I walked away with a pistachio-colored cardigan and a chunky purple sweater dress. And I found out that another of my roommates intended to move out, so I interviewed potential roommate candidates. The winner will move in some time this week. I hope she sticks, because I'm a little tired of this routine.

On Saturday, I hosted a Take It SLO retreat at my house. We have a lot of things to accomplish this quarter, so we had an extended, eight hour rehearsal. It was actually pretty fun. Afterward, we had a party at my house, which was also enjoyable and no one threw up! I deemed the party a success, therefore.

I started Pilates last week, and so far it's fun. I'm not as flexible as I thought I was. I cannot "banana" (lift both my upper body and lower body at the same time, while on my side) without rolling about. My core clearly needs work.

I received a lovely, classic black trench coat in the mail mid-week, from my wonderful mother. It's really cute and flattering. I wear it every day, especially now that it's begun to rain here.

Oh! That reminds me! I have outfit pictures. I'll post them later.

Friday was the start of a four day weekend for Joel and me, and the only day that we were truly productive. We went to Bed Bath & Beyond to find storage/shelves to help me better organize my room, and we went to Home Depot to get primer, spray paint, and hooks. Someone put chairs (my chairs! that I paid for, with money!) outside over the break, and in the cold and the rain, the stain on them was cracked and peeling. I was worried about the wood underneath eventually succumbing to rot, so Joel offered to sand them down and re-paint them. We chose a glossy red paint for them, so they'll end up being cuter than they were before, anyway. The hooks and the rest of the paint (metallic gold) is for a mustache-shaped key hook (like this!). I asked Joel to make one for me for Christmas and he actually did it. That's why I love him.

Yesterday, I had to get up early to take the "graduate writing requirement" test, which was silly. Afterward, Joel and I went to Paso Robles to find an antique fair, because we are a cute little old person couple. I got two matching cast iron trivets that remind me of the heart book I used to make my grandmother "read" with me, a small barometer, and several pictures of people I don't know, who are now probably dead, to send to Taite so she can frame them and put them in her living room in Boston.

Yesterday evening I went with Bert and Joel to an art reception, where wine and cheese were served. The reception had been advertised as free, but the wine and cheese was $10! And it was meager fare. So instead, we went to Trader Joe's and bought four different kinds of cheese, three kinds of wine, and several types of crackers, and we had our own wine and cheese "flight" at Bert's house. It was much more fun, very satisfying, and very fattening. We ate an entire phyllo dough-wrapped, cranberry/apricot/walnut-stuffed wheel of brie, and nearly all of two logs of chevre (one herb, one cranberry), and a little bit of gouda with apples and pears.

Today I didn't do much of anything. I convinced Joel to take a swing dancing class with me this quarter, and we went to our first lesson today. It was fun! Then we went to dinner. Then we went back to my place and took my cool roommate, Sergio, to the 24-hour doughnut place down the road and got a dozen doughnuts. I will regret this in the days to come.

So that's it--my two weeks of school in a nutshell. Stay tuned for pictures of me wearing a hat and jumping.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

I spent New Year's Eve with my family, and it was wonderful! I hope your night was full of fun and sparkle, and I wish you a happy and prosperous 2010.

New Year's resolutions, already?

2009-12-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's much too early in the game, but I have a few New Year's resolutions, just the same:

No trips to the grocery store (except for fresh produce and milk) in January--eat only what I already have in the pantry/freezer.
Blog at least once a week.
Learn to plan healthy meals for myself on a weekly basis.
Learn to sew.
Finish knitting that darn scarf.
Start swimming, Pilates, or dancing or a regular basis.
Bike and walk more often.
Pay off credit card completely and "freeze" it (maybe literally).
Pad savings account substantially and learn to budget better.
Look for a job.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

I hope that you have a warm, cozy Christmas and you feel loved and happy.

Take It SLO holiday and new hair...?

2009-12-04T15:03:00.001-08:00

Take It SLO's holiday concert on Wednesday night was a HUGE success, if I may say so. Hopefully I will have a recording of it to share with you soon.

In other news, I'm bored with my hair (again..maybe it's a December thing?). I was going to wait until after graduation to cut it shorter, but maybe now is the time!

I already know what I want it to look like. Either this, which I really like:

It looks like this curly:

Or this, which is slightly longer:

Either way, I could still play with styles like this:

Or this:

Or this:

What do you think? Should I take the plunge or should I stay with my longer hair until after graduation? It's more versatile, but it's also a pain. I know what the boys would say. I also have an idea of what my great grandmother might say.

All this gobbling has turned me into a turkey!

2009-11-27T20:17:00.001-08:00

It all began a week ago, when my roommate and I threw a pre-Thanksgiving potluck party. We took care of the gravy and the turkey (they were both verrry tasty), and Sam, who is a member of Take It SLO, graciously offered to host the shindig at his much larger house. Everyone piled into the house around 7:30 p.m. with their pans and tureens and such. We had mashed potatoes, corn casserole, rosemary sweet potatoes, stuffing, salad, cranberry sauce, green beans, and mountains of pie. At first I was a little panicked, thinking that there wasn't enough food to go around (there were thirty people there!), but everyone was stuffed by the end of the evening. After-dinner entertainment consisted of Take It SLO fumbling through a few holiday-themed songs. We have our concert this upcoming Wednesday, and thus we also have an extended rehearsal on Sunday. Hopefully all goes to plan.

This past Tuesday I drove with Joel to his family's house in SoCal, where we met the new family dog, Molly. She's a sweet little thing and soooo soft. She looks like a lamb, with dark eyes and a very expressive tail that curls up when she's happy. She's half poodle, half something else...maybe bichon frise. A bichoodle. Most of the time she's very well-behaved, but this evening I caught her on the kitchen table, her head in a pie box.

Joel's parents hosted Thanksgiving at their house and it was a little overwhelming to meet so many new people. I did miss my family, but I was thankful that I wasn't spending the holiday alone, and thankful for all the wonderful food! I heard that there might not be cranberry sauce or sweet potatoes/yams at the dinner, so the night before I made both! They got pretty good reviews.

Today Joel and I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to go to a 7 a.m. estate sale. It turned out that the home had belonged to a woman who went to Joel's church, and Joel's pastor's wife was in charge of things. I went hoping to find some vintage clothes, and I did find beautiful furs, but I decided I'd leave those to someone else. I was also tempted by a heap of cute fabrics, but I didn't know if I'd ever use them or whether there was enough to make anything substantial. Joel is currently obsessed with turning a green wine bottle into a candle holder (like the kind you see at Italian restaurants), and we found some red taper candles for him, plus a HUGE goblet-like vase of matches that caught his fancy. The woman had apparently been a world-traveler--there were maps in her sewing room with pins in them to show where she'd been, and there were a lot of pins--and she'd collected matchbooks from all sorts of places. It was nice to explore a strangers' life so intimately. Tomorrow we're going to some more estate sales!

Also, tomorrow is Joel's 22nd birthday. I already gave him his gift. All he wanted was a magic wallet, and he tried to get me to buy him the cheapest one available, but I went behind his back and bought a decent leather one instead. He spends a lot of time flipping it this way and that, and I have to admit that it is pretty cool. I also renewed his subscription to Esquire and got him a new subscription, GQ.

Joel's parents told him that they would buy him a suit if he could find one he liked for a decent price. Joel and his mother and I went looking for one on Wednesday. We went to Nordstrom Rack, Burlington Coat Factory, and Men's Wearhouse. There were some good suits at all three, and we were almost set on one at the Coat Factory, but we popped over to the Wearhouse at the last minute and there we found Joel's new suit. It's Perry Ellis and very dapper: slim-fit, charcoal, light-weight wool. Classic. We'll pick it up tomorrow and then I can take pictures of him wearing it--although he does not yet have elegant shoes to go with it, nor have I been able to convince him to shave since he saw a male model in Esquire sporting a slight scruff.

Oh well. Baby steps.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you!

Urban Outfitters BDG leggings on sale!

2009-11-21T15:37:00.000-08:00

The leggings in my wish list are on sale, two for $15--about half price.

Wavy/curly hair products I need to try...

2009-11-19T16:29:00.000-08:00

DevaCurl Try Me Travel Kit
Ouidad Curl Essentials Starter Kit
Frederic Fekkai Luscious Curls Shampoo and Conditioner
Aveda Be Curly Shampoo and Conditioner

I'm sick of my hair. It's never happy. And I'm still not sure whether it's curly or wavy or something in between.

30% off outerwear at Banana Republic!

2009-11-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

And free shipping over $50!

Ahem. (size small)

New skirt! New solo! Cupcakes!

2009-11-16T15:39:00.000-08:00

Here is my outfit from yesterday. The shirt is from ROSS, the cardigan (tied over the shoulders) is from Target, and the skirt I got at a consignment store in SLO a couple days ago for $6.50--except I have an account with them where I get 30% of the selling price for any clothes they accept from me, so it didn't actually cost anything! I'm in love with it.

Yesterday morning Joel and I got up early to go to the flea market that's held every Sunday at the Sunset Drive-In. He got a sword (he's big on swords), and I got a mink, a very old cast iron train set, and some rare-ish blue Ball mason jars. I haggled quite well, if I do say so myself.

Last night we had solo auditions at TitS practice, and I got the female solo for "Baby, It's Cold Outside." It's one of my favorite wintertime songs and I'm thrilled to sing it. We have a holiday concert on the 2nd of December and we're frantically trying to learn and polish every song.

Right now I'm at school waiting for poetry class to begin. After class I have English club--it's game night.

Tomorrow I register (eeek!) for winter quarter classes. The hold is finally off my account.

Oh, and I made cupcakes. Yippee!

Shabby Apple (List Additions)

2009-11-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

Shabby Apple is offering FREE SHIPPING until December 25th, and you can get an extra 10% off with this coupon code: StyleClutzBlog

I love Shabby Apple dresses, these in particular:

What I wore today.

2009-11-13T19:41:00.001-08:00

I made Joel a sandwich with mayonnaise when he asked for it.

But I didn't have to like it.

New jingles and old chestnuts.

2009-11-12T22:33:00.001-08:00

Psssst...I just made a turkey. It is DELICIOUS.

Recent outfits and holiday cuteness.

2009-11-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

I wore this to an Indian buffet lunch.

I wore this to a friend's birthday party at California Pizza Kitchen.

This is what I wore today.

And this is Joel as a holiday chef, and me as a Christmas tree!

Chicken stock and other stuff.

2009-11-12T13:09:00.001-08:00

My fingers smell like onions. This is one of my least favorite things, usually. Surprisingly, today I feel very Susie Homemaker. There's laundry in the washer (and yes, it includes sheets). I have a twelve pound turkey thawing in a sink full of cold water (it's practice for a twenty pound turkey that my roommate and I will serve at next week's Thanksgiving: The Prequel potluck dinner), I'm thinking of baking cookies so I can use up the frosting I have, and I have a simmering pot of chicken bones and veggies on the stove.

A week ago today was the anniversary of the first day Joel and I met each other, so he made us a roast chicken. It was delicious. Now its bones are going toward chicken stock.

I'm not entirely sure what one can do with chicken stock. Hopefully turkey noodle soup, because that's what I plan to make with some of the practice turkey.

All I want for Christmas: wish list remix.

2009-11-05T12:03:00.001-08:00

This is the list you might feel more comfortable working with. Stars indicate items of special preference.

Measurements:

Bust: 36
Waist: 29.5
Hips: 38.5

General sizing:

Small in shirts, coats
Small-medium in skirts, dresses
4-6 in dresses/skirts with stretch
6-8 in dresses/skirts without stretch
6.5 in shoes; 6.5 -7 in boots

Experiences

Sewing classes (sewing machine?)***

Clothes

BR petite classic trench in khaki***
Jet Setter Suit**
Zip front coat/dress
Jolt 'Pick Me Up' Stretch Denim Leggings
~~ModCloth Saffron Sophisticate Skirt~~
~~"" Firefly Wrap Dress~~*
Trashy Diva Ashley Dress in Green Mums*
Shabby Apple Dresses*
ModCloth Soda Fountain Dress in Ginger
~~Petticoat (for under skirts) like this* (this) or this* or this~~
Urban Outfitters BDG High Rise Leggings
ModCloth Satine Tights
"" Teal Peacock Feather Tights
"" White Poise Gloves
"" Case in Pointelle Cardigan
~~"" Kate Cardigan in Merry*or Happy~~
"" Mystic Seaport Dress*
"" Garden Club Dress
"" In the Red Dress*
BR petite classic dark wash skinny jean* (6 or 8)
~~High-waist skinny black pants or capris, like this*** or this or this or this or this or this~~
Bernie Dexter Siren capri pants in stretch denim
"" high waist black pencil skirt
MyBabyJo Substitute circle skirt dress
Big Beautiful Barbara Brown 40s Sweetheart Dress in Emerald Plaid
Tara Starlet High Waisted Sailor Shorts in Navy Blue or Black
"" Sailor Slacks in Gray with Black Buttons
BDG High Rise Cigarette Jeans in Indigo
"" Ankle Jean in Midnight
"" Ankle Grazer Jean in Indigo
Silence & Noise High-Rise 2-Button Jeans in Blue
Fluevog Sencha Heels in Cherry
Classiques Entier Mingled Weave Skirt
~~"" Distinct Weave Skirt~~
"" Urban Boucle Skirt

Accessories

Vintage Repro Luggage***
Steamline Luggage (Editor Series Carry-on & Stowaway, Pink)***
Nordstrom Ruched Suede Gloves, Purple (or similar)
Estate Earrings (Pale Lilac or Deep Sea or Peridot or Lemon Drop or Emerald)*
Vintage (or vintage-inspired) Sweater Clip/Guard (like this or this)
Aigle Jumping Boot* or J.Crew Aigle boot
Flat, classic cognac or chocolate brown boots, like this or this* or this or this
~~Minnetonka fringed tall boot~~
~~Scaffolding Mary Janes in beige~~**
Gabriella Rocha Ginger shoes in turquoise*
Soft pebbled red leather shoulder purse, like this

Beauty

Maybelline New York Expert Wear Eyeshadow Singles in Vanilla
~~MAC lip pencil in Cherry~~
~~MAC lipstick in Russian Red~~
Target or Sephora gift cards so I can get new makeup
Besame Cosmetics Vintage Boudoir Rouge in Sweet Pink
Besame Cosmetics Voluptuous Lip Color Set in Red Velvet
Satin pillowcases
~~Heat-free rollers like this* or this or this or this (plus satin sleep cap)~~

Et Cetera

Netbook: Samsung N120-12GBK (Win XP) or Toshiba Mini NB205-N210, in black + upgraded RAM (links are to Consumer Reports)*******
Audio Chi W7 headphones in gold*
The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping book
Orange fabric checkbook cover with birds
Tokyo Milk Parfum: Honey & the Moon
~~"": Gin & Rosewater~~
Tokyo Milk Fragrance: I Want Candy
"": Poe's Tobacco
Urban Outfitters Peacock Rug*
~~Hungry Girl: 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories~~ ~~cookbook~~

Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale!

2009-11-05T11:40:00.001-08:00

It has a couple of things I've had my eye on:

BCBGMAXAZRIA "Monica" Herringbone Pencil Skirt (M)
kate spade "kayla" tweed pencil skirt (8)
Classiques Entier "Urban Boucle" Skirt (8)

Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize.

2009-11-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Halloween was pretty fun. I knew exactly what I wanted to be at least two weeks in advance (a slightly mauled lion tamer), so I had time to go to different stores and find what I needed.

Thrift store:

red jacket, The Limited, $3.00
white pants, H&M, $2
fake cobwebs (for house decor), $1.00

Costume shop:

satin top hat, $16.00
"Indiana Jones" bullwhip, $7.00

Craft store:

gold fringe for epaulets, $2.00
gold braid for jacket front, $2.00

Exorbitantly-priced costume shop:

makeup kit, complete with two types of fake blood, $20.00
latex gash kit, $10.00

My closet:

black satin corset with red lace, Fredericks of Hollywood
black high-heeled boots, Aerosoles

All in all I paid about $63.00 for my costume, which isn't exactly thrifty, but I also really liked the costume and it got a lot of compliments, so I felt that it was worth it.

The jacket was originally just a normal woman's jacket; I cut it up and sewed it (!!!) into a modified tailcoat. The makeup I did myself. I had a Halloween party with delicious snacks on the day of Halloween. Then Take It SLO performed a couple of songs as the "special guest" for Smile & Nod, Cal Poly's improv comedy group. I went back to my house and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters. Then I had some English majors over to my house before we went downtown. Downtown was crazy and it made me crabby.

I have already begun to listen to Christmas carols.

Goodbye Pickles.

2009-10-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

He died.

Is it too early for a wishlist?

2009-10-16T15:53:00.001-07:00

Just sticking it here for my reference. Be warned: this is far from a final draft. (That means things will be both deleted, and added.)

Nordstrom Ruched Suede Gloves, Purple
Estate Earrings (Pale Lilac or Deep Sea or Peridot or Lemon Drop or Emerald)
Red 60s Wiggle Dress
Mod Houndstooth Skirt
80s Orange Tweed Skirt
Vintage Sweater Clip/Guard (like this or this)
Zip front coat/dress (medium)
Orange fabric checkbook cover with birds
Orange Marmalade Tube Scarf
Flat Iron Travel Case: Sorbet
Martin + Osa Start Riding Boot OR Aigle Jumping Boot
Jolt 'Pick Me Up' Stretch Denim Leggings
Rich & Skinny 'Legacy' Stretch Denim Leggings, Vintage Beauty Wash
CJ by Cookie Johnson 'Joy' Legging Style Jeans, Dark Rinse
James Jeans, Dry Aged Denim, Twiggy 5 Pocket Leggings Jeans
ModCloth Saffron Sophisticate Skirt
"" Firefly Wrap Dress
Fluevog Libby Smith boot in black and beige
Walcoal "Center Stage" bra in black (36B)
Reproduction 1950s Open Bottom Gartered Shaper Black/Pink Trim
Lucy B. Black Power Net Repro Girdle with 6 Garter Straps
Vintage Repro 1950s Black Satin/White Lace Garter Belt with 6 Straps
Jessica Wiggle Dress in Houndstooth
Tokyo Milk Parfum: Honey & the Moon
"": Gin & Rosewater
Tokyo Milk Fragrance: I Want Candy
"": Poe's Tobacco
Maybelline New York Expert Wear Eyeshadow Singles in Vanilla
Wet N Wild Mega Eyes Shadow Pot in Naked
MAC lip pencil in Cherry
MAC lipstick in Russian Red
Vintage Repro Luggage
Steamline Luggage (Editor Series Carry-on & Stowaway, Pink)
Hey Day Green Mary Dress
Stop Staring Nadja Dress
1928 Vintage-Inspired Pen Necklace
Trashy Diva Ashley Dress in Green Mums
Classiques Entier High Waist Stretch Wool Pencil Skirt
"" Mingled Weave Skirt
"" Distinct Weave Skirt
"" Speckled Tweed Skirt
"" Urban Boucle Skirt
Urban Outfitters Peacock Rug

Micros'mores! A tribute.

2009-10-16T15:19:00.001-07:00

I received a package from Lala the other day (thank you, Lala!) full of highly useful things. It contained a really good-smelling air freshening device, a jack-o-lantern nightlight that is now grinning in a kitchen outlet, peppermint gum that is lining the window sill to keep ants away, and---best of all---A MICROSMORE MAKER.

What is this futuristic device?, you may wonder. It's an amazing little doodad that makes the perfect s'more in a microwave. Although apparently the TV designed it ("As seen on TV!"), it looks kind of like something the seventies may have produced, which makes it all the more awesome. Can't picture it? Well, it's your lucky day, because I took pictures of the entire process. And also a video. It's magnificent.

First, place the graham cracker in the center of the "Microsmore."

Add chocolate, preferably Hershey's.

Place a marshmallow atop the chocolate.

Sandwich it all together with a second microwave, and place the lid of the "Microsmore" over the pre-s'more.

Ready for the microwave.

Watch as, after 10 seconds of microwaving, the pressing apparatus squishes the s'more together perfectly.

The miraculous final product.

As the LOLcats would say, Om nom nom nom.

Something soothing.

2009-10-13T13:22:00.001-07:00

"Gimme Sympathy," by Metric. Acoustic version.

It's raining hard today. I like it.

A couple additional pictures.

2009-10-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

My room (clean!).

The spare room, which we turned into an office.

The living room (needs work).

The back yard.

Some house pictures.

2009-10-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

Very few, more to come eventually.

The outside of the house. My room before I cleaned it. It has a Persian-style rug on the floor now, too.

The kitchen.

Our new dining table.

Eight days later...

2009-10-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

I wish I were writing under happier circumstances, but unfortunately that is not the case.

After a brief sickness, our sweet baby guinea pig, Ragamuffin, passed away around 1 a.m. this morning. It feels like I've lost my own child, though I know he was "only" a guinea pig.

When we brought Ragamuffin (or Muffin, for short) home from Petco just two weeks ago, it was with the hope that he and Pickles would bond and keep each other company. They seemed to get along well and whenever we would take only one from the cage, they would squeak back and forth to each other until they were reunited.

But a few days ago, Joel and I noticed that our guinea pigs were more lethargic than usual, and prone to sneezing. We weren't too worried until Wednesday night, when we saw that both Pickles and Ragamuffin had crusty eyes and noses. One of Muffin's eyes was sealed shut by the goo, and he was huddled in a corner of the cage, breathing quickly and making small, snuffly crying sounds with every breath.

On Thursday I took them both to the vet, who confirmed that at the very least they both had upper respiratory congestion.

Pickles, the healthier of the two, had his nails clipped and was given a chewable antibiotic, which he spit out several times until it was mixed with water and delivered by syringe. Muffin, who had not been eating well and was very thin, was given the same antibiotic as well as a subcutaneous fluid injection, since he wasn't drinking either and was dehydrated as a result. We had to hold him down and slowly inject the fluid, and he made high, piercing squeaks the whole time. Afterward he looked like a miserable little hunchback and sat sniffling and crying to himself.

The vet said that his condition had progressed to pneumonia; his lips and feet were tinged with blue because he was having a hard time getting oxygen. The vet warned me that he might not make it because he was so young. They gave me the antibiotics and the fluid, with needles and syringe, to take home. I cried all the way back to the house, then the rest of the day as I cuddled them both. Sometimes I tried to get Ragamuffin to eat, putting bits of cucumber in his mouth so he would know to chew. It reminded me of the scene in "Babe," where Farmer Hoggett nurses the title character, who also had pneumonia. Like Hoggett, I sang:

If I had words to make a day for you
I'd sing you a morning, golden and true
I would make this day last for all time
Then fill the night deep with moonshine

When Joel got back from school, we went to the store and bought them chewable vitamin C tablets, a heating pad, probiotics, and hand-feeding syringes so we could get Muffin to eat and drink. Muffin accepted our ministrations docilely, and for a while it looked like he might be feeling better. Joel and I stayed up to watch over him together, holding him and petting him and trying to get him to eat pellets and cucumber on his own, giving him a pellet broth and vitamin C-infused water when he would not. Around 12:30 a.m. we put him back in his cage, feeling optimistic, and I tried to get some rest while Joel stayed up to do homework.

Forty-five minutes later, Joel picked him back up and tried to get him to eat...and Muffin's little body went limp in his hands, at once so light and so heavy. He was gone, after all we had done to try to save him, and there was nothing we could do. He wasn't hurting anymore, but we were. We stayed up, crying and stroking his soft fur until his muscles stiffened. Then we wrapped him in a soft t-shirt and put him in a box. He's still in the box, awaiting his funeral service this evening. And I still can't believe he's dead, and I can't believe it hurts this much.

RIP Ragamuffin. We love you.

Edit: We buried Ragamuffin on Friday evening in Joel's backyard. Pouring dirt over him was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

Funny thing I could have mentioned.

2009-10-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last year I edited two papers for Joel's little brother, who goes to Cal Poly as well. He had to take an introductory English class and, well, I'm an English major. The first I edited, he rejected because he didn't have time to read over it and was worried that it wouldn't sound like his "voice." It didn't get a very good grade. The second paper I edited, he was happy to turn in.

It got an A. His teacher praised him, saying, "You should get an English minor!" Then she published it in a school anthology and he won a gift card.

(I didn't even get a "thank you," but whatever.)

This year the introductory English class had to read "his" paper as an example of an excellent student essay.

I'm a friggin' Cyrano de Bergerac. And next time*, I'm charging for my services.

*There won't be a next time, because that's the only English class he ever needs to take!

Also, we have a new guinea pig. He's a baby boy, black and tan mostly, with the same whirly hair as Pickles. Joel named him Ragamuffin because he looks so disheveled. He and Pickles get along pretty well.

Last night Take It SLO had callbacks that went much better than expected--it was fast, for one, and we got some talented men! After we chose all the newbies (always a difficult process, because we sang with so many great people), we went to Bali's Frozen Yogurt, per tradition.

Today is the first day of my weekend. I need to mail some books, clean my room, and buy a dining table.

Oh hey. Long time no see.

2009-09-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

What's up, Blogger? Have you missed the melodious ticky-tack of my laptop keys?

I have very little to report about my first week of school. It was...school-y. I went to a Rosh Hashanah party and ate challah bread with honey. I moved into my new house, which is very pleasant (no ants! no stifling heat! no slanted bedroom ceiling! an amazing landlord!). Pictures to come, but it's not charming enough. Yet. I see removable wallpaper and a kitchen table in my future, but at present I see limited funds.

...I only have school two days a week.

This past..Friday? Saturday? I went to some beer and wine place called Spike's, where I watched beer drinkers drink beer. Then I attempted to eat a burrito the size of an infant. Then I gave half a burrito to a homeless man. He was chill.

Then I found a passed out drunk guy sleeping on the sidewalk. His name was Brendan. I called Brendan's friend Dave, who came to pick him up. Brendan rolled a few feet along the sidewalk, toward Dave's truck. My friend and I picked Brendan up, brushed him off at his request, and stuffed him into the car.

I've lost approximately five different dinner tables to craigslist.com patrons with faster reflexes and bigger cars than I.

And I found sea salt dark chocolate at World Market.

All in all I've had a decent time of it in SLO so far, and tonight I was requested to read a poem at English club.

Etsy love and extra Picasa!

2009-08-03T15:56:00.001-07:00

So you know, the link to my oft-updated wish list is in my profile now, just in case you ever have occasion to buy me something. Ha ha...

I haven't updated in a while and I don't think that's going to change until I get back to school. In the meantime, I've been uploading a lot of pictures from Picasa, so you can busy yourself with those. Enjoy!

First, a big batch of photos from my London/Scotland visit last summer.

London, in general.
More London.
The Bloody Tower.
Museum of Natural History.
Richmond, where Taite once thought she wanted to attend university. The campus turned out to be too small for her tastes, though the town was very cute.
Our hotel outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the area nearby.
Beautiful Edinburgh.
St. Andrews and its golf course.
Scone Castle, crowning place of kings.
William Wallace's memorial.
The bonny banks of Loch Lomond.
Culzean ("Cullane") Castle.
Caerlaverock, my favorite castle.

And in more recent times,

An early springtime visit to Joel's hometown, San Gabriel, and the arboretum nearby.
Montaña de Oro, a beautiful beach near SLO.
Take It SLO's participation in the June Jubilee resulted in one of my favorite photo shoots.
Dad, Annie, and Taite's visit to SLO in May included trips to Cayucos and Cal Poly's arboretum. It was the first time I used my new SLR camera. I quite like it!
I took Kyle to Kerry Park during his visit to Seattle.
Taite, Taite's friend Mimi, and I took part in the Fremont Zombie Walk in early July.
And then we went to Whidbey for Independence Day.
Our new cat, Junebug, and one of my outfits.

It's been a while!

2009-07-08T19:43:00.001-07:00

So I thought I'd update you on something new: I now have a Picasa account! That means that I can upload photos to the web directly from my hard drive, which makes it much easier to share them with YOU!

Enjoy my outfit from today.

Sock Hop.

2009-06-07T18:24:00.001-07:00

Today Take It SLO performed at the "June Jubilee," a '50s-themed early dinner for those residents of SLO who would remember the 1950s. It was really cute--they were all seated at little tables with milkshake glasses filled with carnations and straws, with pink and white balloons attached, as centerpieces. They were served by waiters and waitresses on roller skates and they were entertained by dancers, singers, a costume contest, and us. We received $300 to perform three songs, and after our set we got to eat the extra food (chicken cordon bleu, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and chocolate glasses with mint whipped cream).

We were asked to dress '50s-ish, so Joel wore jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. He also put half a bottle of gel in his hair and slicked it back.

I wore my jean pedal pushers rolled up, a white collared shirt, a pink neck scarf, and red pumps. I also did my hair in a retro style and wore red lipstick and black eyeliner.

Here's the tutorial I followed for the hair:

More pictures!

Now I have to write another 10-page paper.

Uh oh.

2009-05-24T20:24:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning and my hair was still straight, but as soon as I hopped in the shower my hair regained its natural curls. This was a good thing and a bad thing: good, because I love my curls, and bad, because I had to figure out how to tackle my bangs.

I spritzed them with thermal protection spray, then blow dried them using my round bristle brush. It was a little frizzy until I used both some styling wax and smoothing cream. Then I realized that I had forgotten to style the rest of my hair, so I spritzed it with my "Curl Goddess" spray from AVON and scrunched. Everything got kind of frizzy at that point, but finally I ended up with something approximating the hairstyle I wanted, so I hairsprayed my bangs and tucked them behind my ear.

Why is it that whenever I try to straighten my hair (without a flat iron), it curls, and when I try to curl it (without rollers), it gets all frizzy and limp? So now I have bangs with a flippy curl at the end. It actually looks pretty cute, but some more experimentation is in order.

The nice thing is that Joel purchased a flat iron for me for my birthday that can also curl hair, so once it arrives things should be easier (I hope). So far I am still happy with the cut. It's definitely a new and more playful/sultry look.

Maybe this stuff will help me:

Wish me luck!

Spring is for swapping!

2009-05-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

The clothes swap today was quite successful! I came home with a LOT of new tops, one new skirt, and a pair of ankle-length long and lean jeans from the Gap. Not too shabby. Everyone else seemed pretty happy with their old-but-new swag too, and all our closets are renewed! Very recession-friendly. Redistribution of fab and all that. Anyway, here are my takings. Be gentle with your criticism, as the harsh glare of flash photography is not kind. (In other words, they all look better on me in person.)

Pink shirt (thanks Elise!) and jeans (thanks Amy!).

Close-up of my new bangs (!).

Pink/cream/brown skirt (thanks Amy!).

Blue/brown empire-waist top (thanks Elise!).

Gray/black/white empire-waist top (thanks Amy!).

Olive green tank top/mock turtleneck (thanks Amy!). Don't worry, I have a convertible bra I can wear with it.

Victorian-y gray top (thanks Amy!). Pay no attention to the bra behind the curtain.

Gray hoodie sweater (thanks Amy!).

I donated a tight jean pencil skirt, a black mini skirt, a very large mock croc black belt, a pair of jeans, and many shirts, and I still have quite a few items for Goodwill/Ebay/consignment left over (there were only five of us at the swap). It was so much fun. We got all the benefits of retail therapy without spending a cent.

...which is good, because I accidentally spent $80.00 at the drugstore today. Oops.

My new scarf goes to a senior recital.

2009-05-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

I went to Urban Outfitters the other day and bought a spring/summer scarf. It is lightweight, with blue, black, grey, white, and silver stripes. I wore it last night along with my BR Outlet LBD, my new Target high heeled sandals, and my silver leaf earrings, to KChoi's (of TitS) senior recital. Beforehand a bunch of the TitS guys and I went to dinner at Thai-riffic, my favorite Thai place in SLO. It was delicious.

After the recital (which was beautiful), those same boys and I went to my house and watched Ratatouille, and then stayed up until 3:30 a.m. talking about silly things. (And for that I missed a fun English major night. Oh well.)

The real point of this post is to show you my outfit, or at least what can be seen of my outfit from the pictures I took myself at arm's length.

People seemed to like it. I looked "very womanly," like a "goddess," and "chic," according to them. Not to brag or anything.

Today is my hair cut at Hep Kat (pictures to come, of course) at 2 p.m., and tonight is a clothes swapping party with my girlfriends!

Sexy hair!

2009-05-21T00:27:00.000-07:00

I found this on one of the fashion/beauty blogs I habit:

I was surprised and thrilled to see a SLO salon listed, and I wasted no time in scheduling an appointment for this evening at Shift Hair downtown, where Annette took me under her wing.

I received a Kerastase Oleo Fusion treatment, which was meant to restore shine and hydration to my dry, lackluster hair. Annette washed my hair as the chair I sat in gently massaged my back, then added some product to it, then washed it again. It was a very soothing process. Then she dried my hair, brushing it straight, while we chatted about Germany (her birth place), my sister, my "triangle head" short hair cut from 10th grade, and whether I would look good with sideswept bangs (her verdict: yes). When my hair was dry she curled with a small-barreled iron, and I ended up with sexy, shiny, wavy hair. For an impermanent (and free!) styling, it was amazing. I tipped her as much as I would have if I had paid the full amount (usually $65) and went to rehearsal, very happy. I got a lot of compliments and questions about what I did to look so goood. (If only cameras could truly capture how amazing my hair is on rare occasions.)

I'd like to go back to Annette and get that hair cut (and maybe some highlights), but I don't think I can afford the salon. It's too ritzy, what with its high-tech leather massage chairs and complimentary glasses of wine. I think I might go to Hep Kat salon this weekend instead...we'll see.

Here I am modeling my new black jeans and sandal heels. If I were on America's Next Top Model they would make fun of my left arm. It looks all stunted and randomly attached, like that of an awkward mannequin with mismatched limbs. But in real life this pose is fierce. So there, Tyra!

Contest update.

2009-05-19T11:30:00.001-07:00

I didn't win the ModLife contest, but the three winners made really cool outfits and their recipes look so tasty!

Check it out.

What do you think of this dress?

2009-05-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to buy it. Or at least I want to. I wish it came in petite sizes.

Pub crawl and karaoke.

2009-05-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

I have become a bit of a lush. (I think the effects of my 21st birthday are temporary, though. I hope.)

This past Saturday my roommate Kyle, who is a graphics communication (GRC) major, invited Joel and I to the GRC Pub Crawl. It began at around 4 p.m. and lasted until closing time. Joel and I had to sing with TitS at Relay for Life at 4, and afterward I was so tired that I went to sleep until 8. After that, we got dressed and went downtown to Mother's, where I found out what an "Adios, Motherf*cker" is (essentially a Long Island, only bright blue!) and a "Blueberry Collins" (fizzy, delicious). We hopped from bar to bar and got progressively drunker (The Library: nothing, just dancing; Native: 2 White Gummy Bear shots; Buffalo: 1 Chocolate Cake shot). It was a joyous occasion.

Sunday morning was not. Ugh, my head. To try to soothe my hangover, I went to yoga with Amy. It was all I hoped it would be and the instructor was a cheerful, very pretty older lady with perfectly white hair. It didn't get rid of my headache, though, nor did the Hangover Cure Kyle got me from Jamba Juice. Nothing worked but an extensive nap.

Last night Take It SLO went to the bars for Brenna's 22nd birthday. She was already a little tipsy from the gigantic birthday margarita she had downed at Vallarta's (it comes in a pitcher and it's almost straight tequila) when we picked her up, so it was bound to be a fun night.

We went to Mother's for karaoke, which the bar hosts every Monday. So fun! I sang three group songs and one song on my own. TitS kind of cheated in general because we preferred songs we had sung as a group, and we kicked karaoke butt.

This is my sultry singing face.

Other things: On Saturday I went shopping with Joel and I got a cute ruffly black skirt, a preppy blazer 1/2 off, and skinny black jeans. Last night we made dinner together: tilapia with a garlicky/lemony sauce, Rice-a-Roni, and asparagus. It was yummy. Also, I roasted three beets and ate almost all of them yesterday, so my pee has been bright pink! TMI perhaps, but it amused me to no end when I was tipsy.

A drag show, in SLO?

2009-05-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hardly believable, but there it was on Thursday night in Downtown Brew: Delta Lambda Phi's 1st Annual Drag Show.

The advertising on campus featured this model, who was Joel's roommate last year and once a member of TitS.

My roommate is a member of the gay-based fraternity that hosted this event, which raised money for the AIDS Support Network, so a couple of hours before the show began he and his frat brothers were in my living room, pulling on hose, hobbling around in stilettos, and applying lipstick by the pound. They all looked fabulous, particularly Chiquita Banana and Cleopatra. "Hannah Rexia" stood next to me in the bathroom as I applied my own makeup, adjusting his blonde wig and laughing about the leg hair that poked out of his cowboy boots.

My roomie.

Chiquita and Cleo.

Joel, Kyle, Kyle's boyfriend Franz, and I all went to swanky Native for happy hour--the only time that Native could be considered a good deal--beforehand, and had fancy little ahi tacos, pork nachos, white truffle oil parmigiano fries, and pita with hummus, feta, and baba ghanoush, as well as some truly delicious drinks (White Gummy Bear, mojito, margarita with extra salt).

When we got to Downtown Brew there was a long line outside and tickets were completely sold out. Luckily we had bought our own in advance, so there was nothing to do but wait and watch the amateur drag queens lope long-leggedly around in their glittery thrifted polyester dresses and fake eyelashes.

We finally got in and had more cocktails (Washington Apple, Slutty Barbie--flavored Malibu, Triple Sec, and Sour Cranberry) before the show began. There were drag queens from Vegas, Sacramento, and even one from SLO, and they were all very fierce. Larger than life, big of wig and even bigger of mouth, they strutted around on that stage loving every inch of their curvacious, fully feminine bodies, rocking their awe-inspiringly atrocious get-ups, and lip-syncing better than Britney Spears (and to her music).

Drag queens are dirty-mouthed, oversexed divas. It was great. I can't wait for next year's show!

My "special" weekend.

2009-05-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention the most important part about my birthday: Joel made me rhubarb bars and they were perfect. I still have some in the fridge and that knowledge fills me with glee.

This weekend Joel and I were supposed to celebrate my birthday by going out of town, possibly to Monterey/Carmel. That didn't pan out for various reasons, which was kind of a bummer but I thought maybe something else exciting would happen. The verdict? Kinda sorta.

I'm not going to lie, I spent most of this weekend slightly intoxicated, which is both unprecedented and impressive for me. It's not really my style, but it was fun to do it at least once.

On Friday Joel and I went to the 20th birthday party of a mutual friend, and then to the 21st birthday bash of another friend, who is a member of TitS. The party was so good that it got broken up by the neighborhood watch, so we moved downtown to celebrate in the bars. Before that, though, Joel, who had not had anything to drink, drove three of our TitS friends home. One of them got a little over-excited when he saw a cop car and started screaming out the open window. The cop did a U-turn and we were pulled over. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life sitting in the car while J was given several tests. Finally he blew a .01 on the breathalyzer and we were free to go.

Since I wore casual, comfortable clothes on Tuesday for my own bar crawl, I did the opposite this time around and wore a tight sexy dress and stilettos. If I was aiming to look attractive, it was very effective; if my goal was to get around easily and be able to dance, not so much. I spent most of the night either in line for the restroom or resting my sore feet. Hot.

We stayed at the bars until closing time and then a different DD drove us home, because Joel was no longer sober. He likes Long Island iced teas. I used to think gin and tonic was my drink of choice, but that was before I had a Washington Apple. Yum.

On Saturday Joel and I went to Target where I returned some shorts and bought a new sleeping bag to keep in SLO...and some really hot shoes. I was looking for pretty sandals/flats that I could wear to the bars and still look cute, but somehow I came home with another pair of high heels:

Technically they are sandals.

After Target we went to Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab in Arroyo Grande, which has a bunch of interesting flavors. I had a mandarin chocolate shake and Joel had a rainbow sherbet shake, and he bought me a pint of Mexican chocolate ice cream to take home.

When we got home we decided it was time for my first happy hour. My roommate Kyle went with us to Tahoe Joe's, where we ordered just about every appetizer (they were all $1.99-2.99) and I had a truly delicious margarita. We thought about going to the 21st birthday of another friend, but instead we went downtown to Taste, a wine-tasting store. We sampled a couple of different wines before going to see "Star Trek," which was pretty good.

On Sunday morning Joel and I went to mimosa brunch at Marti's, a sports bar downtown. The mimosas were very light on orange juice, and I drank almost two carafes...before I knew it, I was drunk yet again.

Even though I had told the TitS that I would be out of town, and so I did not intend to show up to a small concert held in the Poly Canyon (an on-campus housing village) Jamba Juice, our brunch ended up going a little late and I went with Joel so I wouldn't make him miss the concert, and because I actually was in town.

I got there and it turned out that three people were missing who had said they would attend, so everyone was very frustrated. This frustration was projected onto me, and I got really overwhelmed and sad and sobered up enough to sing. I felt that I had been unfairly attacked and that everyone was mad at me (although in reality only a couple of people were actually mean about it), so I went home and cried afterward. Then I got a hangover and spent the rest of the day sulking until it was time for rehearsal, which did not thrill me.

And that was pretty much my weekend. Now it's a new week and I am no longer special.

Halibut piccata...oh, and my birthday.

2009-05-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight Joel and I made another delicious dinner. This time it was wild rice and halibut piccata, plus slices of watermelon for dessert.

But maybe you're less interested in my dinner than in my birthday, hmm?

The day's events weren't all that exciting. I watched episodes of The L Word (addictive) and studied, then took a midterm. After the test I went to a lecture on "Art History's Bad Girls" at the public library with a couple of girlfriends; we learned about courtesans. Post-lecture we got boba and bought different flavors (coconut, vanilla, chocolate mint, plum, peach, and pomegranate) of tobacco for hookah.

I very rarely smoke hookah, but some of my English major friends requested it so I figured we would have an "Affected Ex-Pat Modernist Authors" evening, complete with absinthe, at my house before I went to the bars. It was a lot of fun!

At about 11:30 p.m. I walked downtown with a smaller group. We visited four bars. The first was called Black Sheep. I was thrilled to have my ID checked for the first time, but then I freaked out when it was time to actually drink. My friends had told me that although boys are given nasty things for their birthday drinks (Bull Spit, for example), girls are given "sexy" drinks. I was terrified that I'd have to take a Blowjob (chocolate-y shot that you have to take without using your hands) or a Wet Pussy (you lean with your back against the bar and tilt your head up so the bartender can pour a drink into your mouth and down your shirt), because I didn't want a lot of attention. Happily, when my friend Alicia told the bartender it was my birthday he just nodded and quickly mixed me something orange and delicious. It was kind of like liquid Fruity Pebbles.

Next up was Native, a fancy, expensive yuppie bar (there is an outdoor lounge with couches, and indoors everything is white and smooth and a waterfall changes colors as it runs down some glass). My least favorite drink was from this bar. From the ingredients (Jagermeister, some other stuff, Goldschlager, cream) my friend Aaron could tell that it was an Oatmeal Cookie. It was very strong and the Jager made my throat scratchy. I don't particularly care for Jager.

The third bar was Frog and Peach, SLO's British bar. Unbeknownst to me until it was too late, my friends challenged the Irish barkeep to a Guinness race. He promised me that he would pay my bar tab for the whole week ("Even if you rack up a $1000 tab") if I beat him. I knew I was doomed. Toast, tap, glug glug glug, tap, and he was done. Toast, tap, sip sip sip spill choke sip sip, tap, and it was over. I lost, but I got a wink for my trouble.

The fourth and final bar was Downtown Brew, where a nice stranger bought me a Redheaded Slut (something creamy with something like raspberry jam). I joked to him that I owed him sexual favors, but luckily he said his girlfriend was getting mad and she pulled him away. Then my friend Bobby told me I should dance on a table. I wasn't drunk but I obliged him anyway until a burly and ominously silent security guy made me get down. Alicia got footage of this event, so I can relive the embarrassment again and again!

We went downstairs where it was a little less crowded. Another friend, Kevin, bought me a Georgia Peach, and then Aaron bought me a Washington Apple (because I'm from Washington!). It was DELICIOUS. And then, suddenly, I was drunk. Six drinks, as I learned last Friday, is my magic number.

It was last call so we left the bar and walked back to my place. I could not shut up the whole way there. Mostly I waxed poetic about my terribly full bladder ("I need to touch every part of my anatomy so I don't urinate"). We got to Jack in the Box and I told everyone that they could get the fattiest, most onion-laden things there if I could use the restroom. After that we all sat down and I was very, very chatty. I remember using the word "pandering." At least my drunken conversations are scholarly enough to include decent vocabulary.

Finally I got back to my house, managed to get up the stairs to my bedroom, and collapsed into bed. I was out almost instantly. When I woke up I was still sort of drunk.

And that's the story of my 21st birthday!

...Albertson's still doesn't care if I'm 21, though. I was rejected from buying a bottle of white wine today because I had an out-of-state license (!?). I just wanted something to go with the halibut! Sigh.

Perfect Pairings Cooking Contest.

2009-05-06T16:43:00.001-07:00

Hosted by ModLife:

Make an outfit. Find a recipe that goes with it.

Here's mine!

Afternoon Tea In the Rose Garden

Outfit:

Bestest Buds Earrings in Creme
Rose Around the Ring
Everything Nice Dress in Sugar
The Shy Cardigan in Peony
Pretty Pretty Princess Headband
Golden Floribunda Necklace
White Angle Slingbacks

Recipes:

Tea: Rose Petal Tea

1-1/2 cups rose petals
3 cups water
honey to taste
Choose fresh rose petals. Strip the flower gently under running water then place the petals in a saucepan. Cover with the water and boil for 5 minutes, or until the petals become discolored. Strain into teacups and add honey to taste. Serves 4.

—

Sandwich: Rose Petal Sandwiches

1 half sized baguette
large leaf of curly romaine
10 rose petals (well washed)
goat cheese
walnuts or pine nuts
roseberry dressing (1/2 cup raspberry yogurt and 1/2 teaspoon rose water)

Cut baguette in half and toast lightly. Rinse romaine and rose petals well and pat dry. Place one romaine leaf on 1/2 toasted baguette. Layer rose petals, goat cheese and walnuts. Top with roseberry dressing. Place the second romaine leaf on the other flute. Serve open faced.

—-

Scone: Rose Petal Drop Scones

2 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/3 cup unsalted pistachio nuts, coarsely ground
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon rose water
2 tablespoons edible rose petals, cleaned and finely shredded
Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon Beach Plum Jelly
2 teaspoons rose water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
Cut in the butter and mix until coarse crumbs.
Stir in the pistachios.
In a separate bowl, combine the cream and the rose water. Stir in the shredded rose petals.
Add the cream-rose mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until a soft dough forms.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 2 dozen.

Prepare the icing:
In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, rose water, and the beach plum jelly.
Whisk until smooth.
Add another teaspoon of rose water if the icing is too thick.
Drizzle over warm scones.
Arrange on platter and garnish with fresh roses or sprinkle with shredded beach rose petals.

—

Tea Cake: Rose Petal Pound Cake

1 cup butter, softened
1 2/3 cups white sugar
5 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 ounces finely chopped almonds
1 teaspoon rosewater
2 drops red food coloring
fresh rose petals
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 inch tube pan.
2 Cream butter well. In a separate bowl beat sugar and eggs together until doubled in volume. Add sifted flour and salt gradually. Fold in creamed butter thoroughly.
3 Divide batter into two equal parts. Into one part add the almond extract and the ground almonds. To the other part add the rosewater and the red food coloring. Spoon batters alternately into the prepared pan.
4 Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 60 minutes. Let cake cool then remove from pan and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Garnish by placing rose petals around base of cake. Serve with Rose Petal Syrup.*

Rose Petal Syrup
4 cups rose petals
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
red food colouring (optional)
Simmer rose petals with water and sugar for one hour. Add drops of red food colouring to get desired colour. Strain through a fine sieve. Bring back to the boil and put in hot sterilised bottles.

'Cause you gotta have faith-a-faith-a-faith-ahh..

2009-05-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

So there has been a lot of chatter online (I sometimes habit fashion blogs) about Target and Forever 21's new plus-size lines. Forever 21's is called "Faith 21." The chatter is (sometimes) about how cute the new lines are, but a lot of it is mean-spirited b.s. about how making cute clothes for plus-size women will encourage them to be "fat."

First of all, what should they wear? Gunny sacks?

Secondly, plus-sized, according to the fashion industry, is any woman over size 10. Apparently the majority of women in America are size 14 and up. It's simply good business to cater to the MAJORITY, because they have the money. Easy math.

Thirdly, being plus-sized doesn't mean you aren't healthy and gorgeous, and even if your diet and exercise habits might need some tweaking (and many skinny girls are terribly unhealthy and many plus-sized girls are quite fit), you still deserve to look and feel beautiful and sexy. It doesn't seem right to force someone to adhere to our stupid beauty standards by giving them no alternative but to be skinny or miserable (or both).

On a lighter note, look how hot these clothes are!

I totally want them. I wonder if they're made in my size, too.

There isn't much else right now, but it just started so I look forward to seeing many more happy, beautiful plus-sized girls in the future. Rock your curves!

A-camping we will go!

2009-05-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

Last night Take It SLO sang at Farmer's Market to benefit SAFER, a program that fights violence against women. We only had one microphone, so the soloists (except for me) didn't get it; Joel (the beat boxer) did. Still, it worked out pretty well and I got to debut my solo, "Don't Speak." It felt nice to finally perform it for an audience.

Today I'm taking it easy because this week was kind of stressful. Luckily the TitS are going CAMPING together. Where are we going camping? Morro Bay, 20 minutes away. And it's going to rain. Gee.

I predict some time spent in a tent on the beach (wtf? camping is so much better in the woods) doing homework, and then calling it quits and running back to town for some soup, except when we get back to SLO it will be sunny, and I'll forget all about the soup.

So that's what's happening this weekend.

This upcoming Tuesday I will be 21. A few English majors and I are having a little hookah and absinthe "party" at my house; we're calling it the "Affected Ex-Pat Modernist Authors Evening." Afterward, I am hitting the bars to see how many free drinks I can get. Other people are much more excited about this part than I am, but it seems to be a rite of passage and what if I look back and say, "I sure wish I had blacked out that night"?

Just kidding, I will take it easy. I'm not much for the drink, I'm just after the novelty.

Oh! And I found out what happened with the textbook I was waiting on. Apparently it got stolen. So I'm getting a refund. Lame sauce.

Blah week.

2009-04-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

I'm in the midst of midterms and I have yet to receive a textbook (that I ordered 22 days ago). It was supposed to be here two weeks ago. I need it to study, but I also need it because I keep failing quizzes and I have a paper due on Thursday.

In other news, this purse (BR flatiron shoulder bag in ribbon royal) is adorable:

Looking at it soothes me.

Next week is my birthday and I want nothing but my darn textbook. Sigh.

A week and two days..

2009-04-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

..until my 21st birthday! Wow!

I don't know what I'm doing for my actual birthday, or the weekend after, but I DO know that I am going camping this upcoming weekend.

In other news, I went to an English major BBQ today and had a veggie hot dog because I am practicing temporary vegetarianism until summer. Well, technically I'm a pescetarian because I still eat fish.

Why yes, I did disappear from the face of the Earth..

2009-04-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

But I have returned! My, it's nice to be back on terra firma.

Now where were we...

Ah, yes. I had just finished finals (turns out I did rather well last quarter and ended up on the Dean's List again), and jetted off to Boston to visit my darling sister.

Boston is very beautiful, and very cold. Luckily I had over-packed as usual so I didn't want for coats and sweaters.

I stayed in the Omni Parker House, one of Boston's oldest hotels. It was only a few blocks from T's apartment, which is adorable, and right next to Boston Common, homeland of tourists and pigeons.

During my visit T and I did such entertaining things as:

pay her utilities
eat chocolate croissants at Au Bon Pain
watch WKUK incessantly
getting accused of being rude just about everywhere we went

But seriously, we had a really good time. On the first night, we stuffed ourselves with amazing Indian food. The next day I saw Copley Square and the Boston Public Library, and other various castles (or "churches," I suppose). T took me to the Italian-flavored North End, where she'll live next year, for marzipan sheep and raspberry macaroons. We went on a pilgrimage to the Flour Bakery and sampled hazelnut cookies, then sauntered through the Prudential Center. We visited Harvard, where I felt much less intimidated than I thought I would; I volunteered with her at an independent movie theater there, where I got to see a sneak preview of "Adventureland" (I liked it) and snacked on free popcorn. Afterward, we had our last dinner, an epic Indian feast--bringing our meal odyssey full circle--of almost entirely white foods. Needless to say, our distended bellies post-indulgence were still far smaller than our eyes had been.

On my last day there, T was in class, so I visited some other places on my own through the magic of my newly-learned T-line skills. I managed to find Acorn Street, a charming little cobblestone alley on Beacon Hill, and I also stumbled across Robert Frost's house by accident. Fancy.

When T got out of class we went to the Union Oyster House (T claims that Benjamin Franklin made its neon sign: "You can still see the keys dangling from it"), and I insisted that I was sitting in the same booth where Paul Revere and George Washington had once drunkenly arm-wrestled. We had clam chowder (of course) and crab cakes and I forced T to take the leftovers home, because I'm pretty sure she doesn't eat.

Then we saw the Holocaust Memorial, and on that happy note we departed for the airport. Soon she'll visit ME. Yay!

When I got back to L.A. I did nothing. Well, I did play croquet and visit the arboretum with Joel.

Then we went back to school. This quarter I'm taking a class on Milton, a class on modern literature, intro to women's studies, and "Nature of Modern Math" (a.k.a. "math for poets"). I quite like them all.

For Easter I went back to L.A. with Joel. His family celebrates Easter by getting up at dawn and shivering in blankets in front of a cross just so they can see some doves. Or at least that's how I understood it (kidding). Then we gorged ourselves, because Christ is all about ham (apart from being Jewish).

The best part of it was that LENT WAS FINALLY OVER!

I very swiftly took advantage of that by purchasing this, and a smooth t-shirt bra, because my old one broke.

This past weekend Mom visited! It was also Cal Poly's Open House, so I was a little bit busy singing the National Anthem. Somewhere in there we fit pedicures, shopping, and beach time. Plus, I decided to become a temporary vegetarian (technically pescetarian).

So now you're all caught up.

Mimicry.

2009-03-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

In the wild, many harmless animals mimic their fiercer counterparts in order to fool predators. For example, the kingsnake looks a lot like the coral snake, a highly venomous serpent. Both are striped red, yellow, and black. To tell them apart, recall the rhyme, "Red against black, you're okay, Jack; red against yellow, you're a dead fellow."

In fashion, you find something similar: many cheaper items mimic more expensive fashion, thus you can avoid the sting of shelling out more money for something you could get for much less. For example, I've been coveting this Banana Republic belt:

Today I found a very similar and equally attractive belt at LuLu's, for a fraction of the price:

It's not an exact match, but the style is about the same and the colors are nicely neutral. Plus, it doesn't look cheap. Great find!

So Blair.

2009-03-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

Gossip Girl starts up again Monday evening. I swear I haven't been looking forward to it THAT much.

Okay, I have. But only for the clothes. I love Blair's style; I hate Blair herself.

And even though it's spring(ish) now, I still want this fall look:

The blazer she's wearing is just a normal blazer with striped ribbon sewn on...but I can't sew, so here's the next best thing (and I've been waiting for it to go on sale):

I wish it weren't fleece. Guess I'll have to learn to sew, after all.

I am under duress, due to essays.

2009-03-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

So it's a darn good thing that Gap.com is holding out on me, because their hip slung black capris are exactly the thing I'm looking for. Alas, my size is all sold out. Gap, couldn't you have set just ONE pair aside for me? I promise I would have bought them full price after Easter.

I might have to visit my local Gap, and I can't promise that I won't cheat if they're in stock and fit me well.

In the mean time, you can at least be proud that I'm resisting J.Crew's Cate shoe (that pretty pink one I coveted around Valentine's Day), even though it's marked down from $198 to $99. I think the only reason I'm able to hold off is because it's final sale, and shoes are too iffy to leave up to chance like that. I wish J.Crew had more of a Nordstrom's mentality--I mean, they're pricey enough to accept returns, don't you think?

In other news, the Gap dress that got away last spring is posted on Ebay for 1/6th of the original price. Curses!

Joel, a.k.a. "IMDB"

2009-03-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

Have you got a question about a film? Want to know who acted in the most recent Zorro, for example?

Just ask Joel!

Him: What's that one movie starring that guy and that girl? Sean Connery and...
Me: --Catherine Zeta Jones? (I only knew to ask this because he had mentioned the pairing once before.)
Him: Yea! Her.
Me: I don't think they've ever starred together.
Him: I can name two movies off the top of my head that star them both.
Me: Oh, can you?
Him: There's Zorro--
Me: She was in that, but Sean Connery wasn't. Are you confusing him with Anthony Hopkins?
Him: ...maybe. Okay, but that other one, where they get married and there are prenups and stuff--
Me: You mean George Clooney there, don't you.
Him: No! Well, they both have grey hair! It's easy to confuse them!
Me: You just substitute Sean Connery for any male lead with grey hair--or maybe it's EVERY male lead you can't remember. "Who's that guy who stars opposite Jackie Chan in Rush Hour? Oh, it's Sean Connery!"
Him: No, him I'd make Samuel L. Jackson or Michael Jordan. And every Hispanic guy is Anthony Hopkins.
Me: But Anthony Hopkins is Welsh.
Him: No! He's in Zorro! He IS Zorro!
Me: Well, "Hopkins" is not a Hispanic name. Neither is "Anthony." Wouldn't it be "Antonio"--oh. OH. Hahahahahahaha, you're thinking of Antonio Banderas, who played the new Zorro.
Him: Shut up!

National Women's Day.

2009-03-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was National Women's Day, and I celebrated by taking a lengthy nap. I am coming to realize my womanhood more and more, though, as I daily feel more connected to women and their struggles the world over. It's making me reevaluate what I want to do with my life. It'd be nice to be a champion of something other than filing.

Saturday night I did some pretty woman-y things. My friend Amy and I attended LunaFest in the library downtown. LunaFest is a traveling film festival organized by women for women, and I really enjoyed it (and not only because they offered complimentary Luna bars, popcorn, cookies, and spicy chai tea). If it comes to your town, I highly recommend going (the one in Seattle is on March 22nd, and in Boston it shows on both April 15th and 16th). The films they showed were:

Big Girl
Fim-de-Semana
Sarah in the Dark
Red Wednesday
Grappling Girls
34x25x36
Kaden
My First Crush
The Ladies
Kuna Ni Nanang

I liked "Big Girl" and "Sarah in the Dark" best, but they were all great.

After LunaFest Amy, Elise, and I forced our boyfriends to watch the most recent Little Women with us. Predictably, Joel fell asleep.

Last night, TitS had an unusual practice. Instead of being held in the music building, we had it at one of our houses, and we had a Mexican feast! One of the members brought venison that he'd shot and prepared himself. I brought salsa that I bought at the store myself.

Today we tried social dances in my Survey of Indigenous Cultures class. It was fun!

Green!

2009-03-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

I love the way some colors just pop out at you and say, "Hey, guess what...IT'S SPRING IT'S SPRING IT'S SPRING!"

A fresh green does that beautifully. Banana Republic has a lot of really pretty greens in its wardrobe this spring season:

The safari shirtdress in shamrock. Perfect for St. Patrick's Day.

Silk ruffle blouse. The draping of this shirt is so pretty!

Silk pleated dress--my favorite of the bunch. The details remind me of woven grass baskets. Also, the flattering empire waistline and A-line skirt, similar to this Shabby Apple ballerina dress in plum, suggest that it might look good on me!

The beach glass fringe necklace is an understated, elegant piece; so simple and lovely.

And...this isn't green, it's coral--but that bright pop of color makes me look forward to warmer weather.

Sleeveless pleated dress.

The patriarchy claims another one.

2009-03-06T16:52:00.000-08:00

I heard about this from lemondrop.com:

"Teen Commits Suicide--Is Sexting to Blame?

"We're saddened by today's story about a teen who hanged herself in her bedroom after an ex-boyfriend disseminated a nude cell-phone photo of her around their Ohio high school. Jessica Logan, 18, was harassed daily by girls calling her "slut" and "whore" and throwing objects at her.

The "Today" show has an "Internet security expert" on hand to warn of the dangers of "sexting" and urge parents to check their kids' cell phones, but isn't the real problem old-fashioned high-school cruelty? "Sexting" may be new, but girls tormenting other girls over their alleged promiscuity has been around forever.

Is this sad story just another angle on the "slut"-bashing that has gone on for far too long?"

The story makes me absolutely sick, and furious (although lemondrop has the right idea), especially after reading the comments, which COMPLETELY MISS THE POINT:

"this is why my kids do not have cell phones" and "ITS HER OWN DAM FAULT...where are the morals and respect for yourself."

One might ask the same of the ex who spread the pictures around--where are his morals, his sense of honor, his respect for someone he was once intimately involved with? Where is his self-respect? Because no real man would do something so heinous, and he will have to live with the taint of her death on his soul.

What about their peers? Why do teenagers still act like packs of feral dogs that, sensing weakness, tear their victims to pieces? Why do women--young women, old women, all women--still lack a sense of community? Why do we always seem to turn against our sisters, especially when they need our support the most?

And the media--how can it spin this story as anything other than a tragedy? The lesson we gain from this horrible event isn't that we need to govern our children more strictly, to raise them within a police state, always under surveillance. That breeds rebellion, and dislike for their captors. In other words, taking cell phones away, or checking cell phones for nude pics--which will only teach your children not to trust you, and to be more vigilant about deleting their histories, not to stop taking naked pictures--isn't the answer.

The answer is to teach our children to comport themselves with dignity, to treat others with respect and love, to dissent when the mob is abusing a target. The answer is giving equal responsibility to consenting partners when something goes wrong. The answer is abandoning the "just-world" hypothesis that blames the victim for her suffering. The answer is standing up to the patriarchy and rejecting the idea that women--and women alone!--should be shamed for being sexual creatures.

This is a tragedy, and should be responded to with sympathy, with horror, and most importantly, with CHANGE.

Oh Jessica...I wish I had been by your side. I wish someone--anyone--had been.

Get over yourself, America.

Today I got punched in the nose.

2009-03-03T23:15:00.000-08:00

We were sparring in kickboxing and the girl with pink gloves--who has a really excellent hook, I must say--got me right in my "baby Jew nose." I got her back, though. Noses are such fragile creatures.

I gave a presentation on Little Women in my fun English class today, and it reaffirmed my faith in my "English rock star"-ness.

Unfortunately the ten page paper that's due for that class will likely send my stock plummeting once more.

It's a shame I can't buy anything, because there are a lot of pretty, bright spring colors on the market right now. Happily I have some yellow underpants that might tide me over until Easter. Maybe. They'd match these AK Anne Klein Poodle flats so well...

..which would look charming with these classic pin-up girl shorts.

I love the bright blue of this draped dress,

and the coral pink blush color of the Icarus scarf (I can't wait until the ban's off and I can get this!).

These purple patent flats--Gabriella Rocha Myls--are adorable and remind me of grape popsicles.

I'm getting a little superstitious about mentioning things that I like, because they always seem to be sold out soon after I talk about them. Obviously I have great taste and secret watchers stalk my blog, hoping I'll clue them in on some more fantastic fashiony finds.

I think the word "Grecian" is my kryptonite, dress-wise. I'm powerless to resist.

I can't wait until my lead-in on Yeats in my core English class. I'm going to read the hell out of "The Lake Isle of Innisfree."

I had perfect hair on Sunday, and when it was time to go to bed I cried because I knew I'd never look that good again, and there wasn't any decent photographic evidence.

Here I am pouting about it. You can ALMOST tell that my hair is amazing.

Tomorrow night is my friend's last TitS rehearsal. This group picture, taken on Sunday, will always make me sad.

Only three weeks until I get to see Taite and Boston!

I need new books to read.

Last night.

2009-02-28T15:17:00.000-08:00

The Vagina Monologues were great. I only ended up going with one person--everyone else bowed out--and "girly night" didn't happen. I watched 'Strictly Ballroom' with Kyle instead. A little disappointing, since I went out and bought nail polish and facial masks and silly girly drinks, but at least I got the opportunity to wear pink tights.

Dress, Forever 21; fake pearls, Forever 21; shoes, Guess (from Marshalls); tights, Old Navy.

Pay no attention to the messy room you see.

Joel is in L.A. for the weekend so I am doing the things I'm usually too distracted to do, like eat grapefruit, clean my room, and weed out clothes I'll never wear again.

I drank the last of my favorite wine, the discontinued Il Circo Il Giocoliere Moscato D'Asti, today. It was the sweetest sparkling moscato. I think I'll cry a little.

I should probably save this for Pi day.

2009-02-28T11:43:00.001-08:00

But it's too cute!

Banana Republic, you're a big jerk.

2009-02-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

You just had to go and mark all your spiffy new spring pants down 30% today, didn't you? Plus that one coral cardigan I really like.

We're not friends anymore.

Things I'm abstaining from buying today:

Petite martin sailor wide-leg pant in navy
Petite cigarette stretch pant in black
Petite cotton crewneck cardigan in Leon coral
Belts galore!

On the plus side I convinced Joel to give up shopping for Lent as well, so now I won't suffer alone. On the other hand, I won't be able to cheat and ask him to buy me things, either.

Tonight I'm going to see "Vagina Monologues" with my girlfriends from the English department, and afterward we are having a "girly night" at my house. I'm not sure what that entails. Chick flicks? Facial masks? Petit fours? Too bad I'm purchase-free until Easter.

...is it Easter yet?

In honor of Lala.

2009-02-26T16:45:00.001-08:00

A little YouTube ditty that reminded me of her.

I'm not even Catholic, so why am I doing this?

2009-02-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

It's Lent. I haven't "celebrated" Lent since...middle school. (I gave up sweets. It was an epic fail.)

Buuuut I'm in the mood for a challenge, so here it goes.

I could give up taro boba (it's purple, it tastes like Mother's circus animal cookies--gone forever!--and it is fearfully addictive). However, I have a feeling that I'll need it once finals week gets here. I still need to stop buying it every day, so note to self on that one.

If I wanted to make myself miserable, I could give up sugar..or chocolate. But I know that would last maybe a day, tops.

I'd like to go on some rigorous diet, like Atkins, for Lent, because it would be good for me. The problem is, I don't have the funds or the willpower to do that. PLUS, as a college student I basically live on pasta...nixing carbs would starve me.

There is one thing I could feasibly give up that would hurt, but that I could stick to. And that is..shopping (for unnecessary items, like clothes and shoes). My Mint.com account DID tell me I was a little bit over my shopping budget for the month...

During spring break all bets are off (because I'm going to Boston), but other than that, NO IMPULSE BUYING. I will wear all the clothes in my closet if it kills me. It's a good thing I recently bought new shoes.

Just to make this even more difficult, I will list some things that I'm currently itching to buy.

High-waist bow skirt in red, $28.50
Blair preppy cardigan, $24.99 (was $44.50)
Maybe Baby perfume by Benefit, $48.00
Michael Kors cropped pants, $89.50
Ralph Lauren classic midcalf twill pants, $59.50
Clarks December in black, $200
Shabby Apple purple ballerina dress, $62.00
Flip MinoHD (mini camcorder), Spring in Bloom style, $229.99
J.Crew Cate patent high heel slingbacks in soft seashell, $168.00 (were $198.00)
Milly red 3/4 sleeve coat, $173.75 (was $695)
A ceramic ion flat iron, $70-$200
Nanette Lepore "Joy Hunt" jacket, $294.00 (was $495)

Look at all the money I'm saving by NOT buying this stuff!

....

Lent is going to suck.

My hero!

2009-02-25T16:18:00.001-08:00

www.marriedtothesea.com

Oscar night!

2009-02-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

Last night, Take It SLO teamed up with Brandeis VoiceMale (from Massachussetts) for an a cappella concert to benefit the Wheelchair Foundation. We each sang about six songs at the Clubhouse restaurant. There were a lot of people there and the event was great! Plus afterward I got to eat a really tasty sandwich.

I was up until three, and then I got up at eight, but you needn't assume that I got anything done. Nope, I pretty much just watched a Netflix and then went back to sleep until it was time for TitS practice, where I wore rhinestone earrings and a sequin pencil skirt in honor of Oscar night.

I bought the skirt at Express a couple of weeks ago. It was marked down from $90 to $30. Score!

I have a busy week ahead of me...it's that time of the quarter when ESSAYS are due. Drat.

A note to my mother.

2009-02-20T02:29:00.000-08:00

Remember when I was younger, and A Little Princess was one of my favorite books?

It taught me the value of an imagination, and that rats can make good friends in dire circumstances, and that a loving attitude and good manners eventually convince aging millionaires to make all your wildest dreams come true (and that those dreams need not involve breast implants).

It also convinced me that one of the best games ever was moving all of the furniture out of my room so that I only had a bed. Sitting on the floor doing nothing but imagining or nibbling at crackers for long periods of time was pretty much the most romantic and comfortable existence possible, and I much preferred it to the excess of dressers and actual meals that I could have had.

It occurs to me, many years later, in the midst of an apocalyptic economic recession, that you, Mom, are a genius.

Because that "game," even as a potential reality, still seems like it could be a little bit fun. And I know that even if I get to the point where saltines are a luxury, at heart I'd still be a princess.

That millionaire thing is going to be tough to swing without implants, though.

Save sexuality studies!

2009-02-20T01:57:00.000-08:00

Since I am contemplating grad work in sexuality studies, this is especially important to me.

Dr. Charlie Glickman, who has a doctorate in Adult Sexuality Education and works for Good Vibrations in San Francisco, has this to say:

"We all know that we’re in tough economic times. Unfortunately, some reactionary lawmakers are using it as an opportunity to attack sexuality studies. Here’s a clip from Georgia State Rep Charlice Byrd. Note- contains moral outrage.

I’m especially intrigued by this statement:

“The universities in this state are to provide the opportunities for a higher education, not studies on controversial behaviors.”

Funny, I thought that one of the purposes of college was to help people explore controversial topics and develop the critical thinking and self-reflection skills they need to find their own perspectives. But then, if you want everyone to agree with you, critical thinking isn’t going to be your cup of tea.

There’s also this one:

“I am sure many of you share my disgust and outrage at how taxpayer’s dollars are being spent by universities. We need to protect the taxpayers’ dollars from such a gross misuse and stop universities from offering such offensive classes on taxpayer’s dollar.”

Notice how she took her disgust and outrage about sex and turned it into an economic moral high ground. I’m also impressed with how she talked about “protecting” the dollar. Because we all know how our bank accounts get scared when we talk about sex.

Whoever wrote this is really good at twisting the truth. They managed to conflate queer theory (a well-recognized theoretical approach to gender studies), male prostitution and oral sex. Not to mention that they make it sound like the professors are teaching people how to become prostitutes or have oral sex, rather than studying behaviors that people engage in from, say, a sociological perspective.

The National Sexuality Resource Center has created an online petition to save sexuality studies."

What the petition says:

"Departments, research and courses in sexuality and gender studies are under attack--and what we stand to lose is the important contributions that research and scientific inquiry make to sexuality related policies, programs and interventions. Lawmakers in Georgia and Florida are using 'budget cuts' as an excuse for a witchhunt--targeting sexuality, queer and women's studies courses and cloaking a moral agenda as a fiscal decision. At Florida Atlantic University, the administration is trying to suspend the Women's Studies degree and Master's program. In Georgia, legislators Charlice Byrd and Calvin Hill inaccurately implied that "disgusting" courses were being taught on oral sex and male prostitution at Georgia State University. In fact, these were faculty research topics, contributing critical science-based data to shape health promotion and intervention--including reducing child prostitution. Any researcher, program or class across the country could be next.

We need to act now to protect the integrity of scientific research and the importance of sexuality and gender studies--including those who do sexuality work in complementary programs like anthropology, gerontology, sociology and ethnic studies.The work of these researchers and academics contributes greatly to a healthier sexuality for all of us, preventing disease, addressing stigma and promoting lifelong sexual literacy with accurate, science-based evidence.

Science and research must trump opinion. We must defend the pursuit of knowledge and scholarly inquiry--the purpose of which is to have a better understanding of humanity and our world in order to work for change for the betterment of humankind. Controversial and innovative research topics are at the very heart of academic and philosophical debate that drive the classrooms and laboratories of faculty, staff, and students to finding solutions to society's biggest problems.

We, the National Sexuality Resource Center, and the partners and signers to this petition, demand the continued support of sexuality and gender-related courses and research across the country--starting with Georgia State University and Florida Atlantic University. We insist that lawmakers, legislators and administrators do not use the current economic crisis as an excuse to attack intellectual and academic freedom, or to de-emphasize the role of accurate, rigorous and scientific studies in shaping sexuality policy, health promotion and intervention. "

My two cents:

"Open communication about and joyous research of sexuality are imperative to the psychological and physical health of our nation. Do NOT discount something so intrinsically human as mere filth--it is an important and endlessly fascinating topic, and to veil it on the basis of false morality would be a terrible error.

Sex is central to human existence, and the unexamined life, as Socrates would say, is not worth living. Do not allow our knowledge to stagnate, lest we breed reptiles of the mind, rather than enlightened individuals."

Shoe nostalgia.

2009-02-20T01:06:00.000-08:00

I finally wore my faithful Minnetonka moccasins out and now I need new ones. They are a spring (and fall, and winter--in SLO--and summer) necessity, especially since I'm technically not supposed to wear flip flops.

Like that's even possible. I live in California.

But I'm trying, so until I find alternative sandals, flats and moccasins it is. While I was looking for the best deal, I remembered those perfect white moccasins my mom used to buy for me, from Shoe Zoo, when I was a little girl.

They took forever to break in, but they taught me that good things come to those who wait and suffer blisters. They were beautiful, so pristine and smooth, and had rhinestones over the toes. I wish they made them in my size now, but women don't get rhinestones. We get beaded eagles. I suppose that's almost as good.

...I bet you're wondering about Valentine's Day, huh. It was nice! Joel wrote me a really sweet poem that reminded me of our earlier courtship, when everything I did seemed to amaze him, and every outing turned into an adventure. Then he helped me make dinner. I made ratatouille and shrimp paella, and for dessert we had angel food cake and strawberries with sour cream/brown sugar dip.

I ran out of strawberries and drank some of that dip because it was too good to waste. I'm not proud of that.

It was a three day weekend and we spent almost all of it snuggling and watching Sex and the City and eating fattening foods in excess. Essentially, it was perfect.