Redecorating

I suddenly got tired of my room and decided it needed to change. I got rid of a small desk and chair and acquired a new overstuffed chair and ottoman. One thing I had not anticipated getting was a new bookcase, but when I went to move the old one, it practically fell apart on me. As in I could breathe on it and it would wobble two feet each way. Deciding that I did not want to put really any weight on it (see the amount of books I have in the pictures) I went to IKEA with Jess and purchased a new one. Note to self: have a strapping young lad on retainer to do all the heavy lifting next time. Or maybe two. We nearly broke our backs trying to get it in our place.

The following are just some unedited pictures I took today at the request of my friend Lucy. She's in the process of redecorating her place right now and wanted to see what I had done. As a side note, it has always been a dream of hers to be blogged about and now I have done it twice! I bet you anything that she is reading this and nearly falling off her chair with excitement while eating her breakfast. The following comments are more for her than anything, so you can skip if you like.

Chair from the Old Cannery in Sumner. Bookcase & lamp from IKEA. Photographs on wall I took. Whore house lamp on nightstand as usual (don't ask).


Paintings on wall by me. Curtains are years old but still curtainey. Note IKEA wastebasket. Um, I am realizing that I shop at IKEA way more than I thought.


Detail on tiny plant stand that I set by my chair as a small table for holding my ubiquitous glass of water. [(Do you like it? I love it. I got it at Ross.) (Please tell me that you just sang that in your head too)]


Detail on fun lampshade from IKEA. You can't really tell, but those splotches are a bunch of different colors.


Well Lucy, I hope that your curiosity has been satisfied. This one was for you.

Better Seats Than Bill Gates

Sorry friends for taking so long to tell you about the Swell Season concert. I've been busy. And tired. And now sick. As in sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, burning eyes, achey joints, and a fever. My head is about ready to explode, my kidneys are trying to process all of the vitamins & meds I've been taking, and I can't hear out of one ear. My one consolation is that it's raining right now. There is nothing worse than being sick on a nice sunny day. At least with the rain I have an excuse to stay inside on my couch all day, watching the movie that brings me joy every time I feel under the weather: You've Got Mail. I absolutely HAVE to watch it with every cold. The scene where she is sick out of her mind and he comes to bring her daises makes me swoon a little bit each time. Sigh.

Anyway, on to the concert... If you haven't heard of the Swell Season, I urge you to watch the movie Once and fall in love with the music like I did. Then you need to run right out and buy their album. Or see them in concert. They were funny, magical, and brilliant live. All the things you could possibly want from an artist.

After the opening act, we were all standing up and stretching because the chairs at The Moore have got to be the most uncomfortable I have ever sat on. All of a sudden Rachael starts tapping me furiously on the arm. I look around frantically, trying to see what the fuss was. She waits until a man passes by behind us before turning to me and exclaiming that Bill Gates just walked by. Sure enough, it was him and we watched as he had to take the last remaining seats in the very back of the balcony. Our seats sucked, but at least we had the satisfaction of knowing that they were better than the 3rd richest man in the world. Yes, it was a great concert.

P.S. I stole the following pictures from Rachael

Me, Adam, Rachael, Stephen

The Swell Season

Homeowner? Check Yes or No

Do you have those people who you don't always answer your phone for? Of course there are the ones who can be put into the stalker category, but that's another story. I'm talking about the friend living far away who you don't get to talk to as much as you would like but every time you do, their words are a balm to your soul. The friend who you have to wait to talk to until you have time to sit down and devote every ounce of your being to the conversation because you don't want to lose a single moment in your everyday multitasking. The friend who you know will dish juicy gossip about mutual acquaintances and expect the same in return from you. The friend who you can tell that you need to be left alone and they understand exactly what you mean. The friend who will patiently wait to share their stories until you have run out of breath telling yours. In short, a great friend.

One such friend called me tonight to chat and it was wonderful. Soothing. Beautiful. The type of conversation that makes me bring my shoulders to my ears and squeeze my eyes shut in bliss at the memory of it. We didn't talk about anything in particular. Just life. Hers. Mine.

If there is anything predictable about our conversations, it is the inevitable question, "So, any boys right now?" Just as predictable is the obligatory "no". We end up talking about our near misses, our prospects, and who we are eyeing at the moment. Never significant, never reality based, always the "wouldn't it be fun if..." type of thoughts. Tonight we joked around and came to the conclusion that at the ripe old age of 25 & 26, some things were starting to look pretty tempting. Namely, older men. As in, we will marry you because you own a house. An added bonus: your maturity level is higher. Sure, you may have a few kids and/or divorces under your belt. Sure, you may be closer to drinking Ensure than drinking games. Sure, your medicine cabinet looks like you could sell on the street corner to become wealthy. Sure, you think that socks with sandals are perfectly acceptable.

But really now, about that house...

Love, 8th Grade Style

As much as I adore making fun of myself for writing absolutely inane things in junior high, there were some entries in my 8th grade journal that weren't that weren't too terribly far off the mark. I'm not feeling particularly funny or quick or witty today, so I'm taking a break from the usual heavily mocking entry style and am instead giving you my young view on love & boys. You can see my mildly mocking comments interspersed.



January 24, 1996 Boy-Girl Relationships

I think that the boy-girl relationships in our school are being overblown by some people. [If I recall correctly, there was some big hoopla in school at that time about how awful the guys were being. We might have even had class meetings about it or a chapel announcement or something along those lines. It was a big deal at the time.] I am quite satisfied at how I am being treated. Some girls may not feel the same way as I do, but I think that most do. I know plenty of guys who are nice. I have to admit, there is some exceptions. The popular group of guys are the ones who are being mean and degrating. I think that the "in" guys are nicer to the unpopular girls [I fell into the this crowd, although by no means did I really care because my friends were awesome! Shout out to Jules & Ems!] more than the popular girls because they have a respect for us that I don't see going towards the "in" girls. [Looking back on it, I would say that they just didn't care about us. Definitely don't think there was more respect going on.] I have no idea why this is, but I do know that all some girls want is respect. I know I don't talk to the (as some people call the popular guys) "herd" much, but when I do, they don't act mean and selfish like w/ the popular girls. [That actually was true. When I did get the courage to talk to the "herd", they weren't all that bad to me. A little full of themselves, but not unkind.]


May 1, 1996 Love

Some people say that there is love at first sight, but I don't believe so. Love is a gradual process that takes time. To have a good relationship with someone of the opposite sex, you have to be good friends first. If you jump headlong into dating or marriage, you won't know that person or their morals well. I also believe that you need to have your parents' permission before you date or marry a person [maybe back in 8th grade this was true]. If your parents don't approve of the guy, he's probably not the one for you [still true today]. Your parents need to be an active part in your relationships [um, no thanks]. For people who think that love at first sight happens, it is more like like at first sight. True love is not based on looks or brains. True love consists of knowing how they will react before they do. The heart and soul make up true love. [I can tell you with utter conviction that when I was writing those last two sentences, I wasn't paying attention to what I was writing. That style of sentence is highly indicative of me writing without thinking. I've been known to type entire papers in college like that... however, my quality of thoughtless writing had vastly improved by then.]

The Joy of Advertising

Even though we don't have cable and don't have much of a chance to watch commercials, there are some that have managed to get through to me-- the UK Sony ads. The colors are vivid, the movement mesmerizing, and the scenes enchanting. I can't say enough how much I LOVE color. I could stare at big gigantic swaths of color all day. Sometimes I have to remind myself to breathe when I first catch sight of blues or reds or browns or yellows that look so rich that you could take a spoon and dig in, coming away with a mound of decadently dense and frothy color that tastes on the tongue like it looks. So it is with anticipation that I have been waiting for the latest Sony ad to be done and can finally present you with the advertisement that makes me want to launch myself at my computer screen in an attempt to plop myself in the middle of it. I want to call up the powers that be and beg and plead and cry to be at the next one they make. Because you know it's going to be just as unbelievable.




Here are the links to the other Sony ads that are just as sigh inducing:

Bouncy Balls (Breathtaking! All time favorite)
Paint
Bunnies
Pyramid

Clumsy

I don't understand what's going on. I have hurt myself repeatedly over the last week. Just yesterday alone I managed to scrape a knuckle, burn a finger, get my thumb caught in my scissors as I was snipping and somehow drew copious amounts of blood. The coup de grace was stubbing my pinkie toe and having to bandage it to my 4th toe as a splint so that I could actually walk. I don't get it. Next thing I know I'll be throwing myself to the floor and breaking bones. I get like this sometimes when I have something on my mind, but right now there's nothing in my head. Nothing. As in no heavy thoughts or consuming life situations. My basic brain functions are happening but that's about it. Seriously people, what is happening?

Glamour Girls

I have to say that I am quite pleased with myself. I threw a fun & successful party that produced some fantastic photos. If you want to get a feel for how pleased I am, hold your hand in a semi-fist, huff on your fingernails a little, and then buff them on your shirt while having a s**t-eating grin. Yes people, that pleased. (I would also like to say for the record that "s**t-eating grin" is not really in my vocab but just flew out of my fingers at that moment. It's apt, so I'm keeping it.)

The real reason I have any party is to have a reason to cook extravagant food. Because nothing really is as much fun to me as planning a menu and then executing it to perfection. So I spent the entire weekend baking and chopping and broiling, while having to take into account some of my guests' dietary needs. It was pure joy. Completely relaxing and inducing a zen-like state.

Unfortunately, for this party I was unable to just sit back and enjoy my guests. Since this was a glamor shots party, I had to take pictures of everyone. I didn't have a chance to actually be in the party since I was the party. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but for our next get-together I will definitely be doing one with less involvement. Um, and I would also say for the record that I am a wee bit sick of editing pictures. I started with 400 and whittled the end product to 60. I really don't want to open photoshop again for a loooooong time.

Regardless, the pictures were a smashing success. And HOLY CRAP, Bekah was smokin! All the girls were gorgeous, but I think she was born with some model gene in her. You can check out the pictures of her and everyone else by clicking on the picture below. Now I just have to figure out what I'm doing for the next party...