A few of my favorite things

It's cold out - 31 degrees!!!

I'm loving....

1. my firplace

2. snuggly sweaters and warm socks

3. hot tea

4. The Hangover

5. Udi's Gluten Free bread - it makes an excellent grilled cheese!

6. Bath and Body works Handibac lotion - anti-bacterial and moisture in one!

7. Scoutmob's ever expanding deals

8. Atlanta

9. my car - its fixed :)

10. The Black Keys Brothers album

Dailies

My understanding of infinity goes something like this: evey 100 years a sparrow flies to the top of a large mountain, and cleans its beak by scraping it on the highest rock. By the time the mountain has been scraped away to a pile of dust, that would be the equivalent of the first second of infinity.


-
Charles Saatchi (1943-)
My Name is Charles Saatchi and I'm an Artoholic
2009

Waiting Room Etiquette

Attn: People who have problems being a normal considerate member of the human race

Do not bring your children into a Doctor's office and feed them cookies or donuts or any other messy food or spillable drink.
Do not bring your own food into a waiting room and eat it either.

There are other patients who may be here because they don't feel good, and the smell of your nasty food is going to make them sicker.
There are people who don't enjoy getting hit by a spray of your child's crumbs as they spew it from their mouths.
And guess what - someone has to clean up after you, and its me. And its disgusting.
So... stop it.

Dailies

They looked on as theirs,

impalas and onigers,

the wild ostrich herd

with hard feet and bird

necks rearing back in the

dust like a serpent preparing to strike, cranes,

mongooses, storks, anoas, Nile geese;

and there were gardens for these--

combining planes, dates,

limes, and pomegranites,

in avenues-- with square

pools of pink flowers, tame fish, and small frogs.

-

Marianne Moore (1887-1972)

The Jerboa

1932

A few of my favorite things

Here's what I'm loving so far this month:

1. Mangoes

2. Harry Potter

3. trying new flavors of chewing gum

4. Ice cream, gelato, sorbet.. all things frozen basically

5. Hamburgers

6. Turner field

7. mini-breaks- visiting friends and having friends visit

8. the Dutch soccer team - one more win till the cup is ours!

9. talking to my best friend on the phone and hearing her 2 year old in the background say "is that aunt Nikki?!?" Seriously, my heart goes to mush.

10. Airconditioning

PBI-ATL

Fried peach pie, point Georgia

Current tally:

Georgia 4

Florida 3

PBI-ATL

Is it possible to be completely in love with your new home while simultaneously missing your howntown like crazy?
Let's see shall we?

Georgia has fireflies.
Florida has the sea breeze.
Georgia has the Braves.
Florida has a wonderful lack of dead deer on the side of the road.
Georgia has Atlanta (which is full of all kinds of neat stuff and culturally interesting events)
Florida has... well, no awesome cities, but it does have the beach

Current tally 3-3

A few of my favorite things

Stuff I'm loving the month of June

1. Shorts (I used to hate them, but Atlanta is even hotter than South Florida. Seriously.)

2. Firefly Iced Tea Vodka

3. Kino sandals

4. My phone - we're totally co-dependant.

5. East Bound and Down - season 2 premieres this Sunday

6. All things Star Wars - Screen on the Green, Star Wars pancake molds, and Darth Vader on Twitter

7. Bright nail polish

8. Open toed heels and breezy dresses

9. Daytime drinking (it just seems bizarre in winter)

10. Salads

Carriers

Just watched Carriers, another bio-contamination zombie apocalypse movie.

Chris Pine and Piper Perabo, I thought, hey, two people I like (one of them, a lot, I'm pretty sure you can guess which one, ahem, Chris Pine, ahem)

Sadly, its just like every other psychological thriller out there.. what will we as humans become when the survival instinct kicks in. Deterioration of even our most intimate of relationships and most cherished morals, as well as the threat of rape and cruelty to survive.

Just like 28 Days Later, just like The Descent.

They did do the sick people really well, I have to say, no scary monsters, these sick people were simply sick and very very contagious. On the down side, no scary monsters :(

Bored now, I think I'll go watch Star Trek again. That way I'm guaranteed at least one scene with a shirtless Chris Pine..

Dailies

Lady Beware. Fan not the harmless glow

Of admiration into ardent love,

Lean not with red curled smiling lips above

The flickering spark of sinless flame, and blow,

Lest in the sudden waking of desire

Thou, like the child, shalt perish in the fire.

-

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1850-1919

A Warning

Carrying (on?)

Fenton, I miss you.
Grieving for you is, in true "you" fashion, unique.
It's not like losing Euro. He had cancer, I held his hand during chemo, it was something I dealt with long before he left us. I was angry with cancer, I had somehwere to put my grief, it could be contained.
It's not like losing Philip. He died in a car crash. It was easy to be angry with him, he'd been drinking. It made sense. It wasn't easy, but it was something that made sense. You drink, you drive, you die. I could put that in a little box in my brain, you know?
My Dad's dad died of Alzheimer's last year. Again, easy to put that somehwere. He was old, he hurt, his death was a repreive, its easy to compartmentalize that and make sense of it and accept it.
But with Fenton, I just don't know how to make sense of it, I don't know where to put my grief, so I carry it around with me, if you will. I can't put it in a little box and put it on the shelf. It doesn't fit in a box, its like an oddly shaped xmas gift that is just impossible to wrap. What do you do with it?And how are you supposed to process it when it hits you unexpectedly out of nowhere? Like when you're driving down the highway and you brain wanders into that corner of your mind where you're carrying the grief?
What do you do? I just don't know.

Birth Control

JEEZUS,

this shit is getting expensive. But its still cheaper than a baby, and less messy too.

so... yay for that!

Cutie Patootie

Funny story from the storytale that is my best friend's world:

This morning Mommy is lifting baby (2 years) into the car, looks down and says: Oh no, baby, your diaper leaked a little and now there's pee on me!
Baby says (deadpan): Gosh Doggit!

This is what happens when...

Has anyone ever tried to eat pizza while in the shower?

No seriously, its not easy, but it is doable. Nevertheless, it was ridiculous and silly but seemed like a good idea at the time. And this is what happens when I drink alone. With no one around to keep my wired spontaneous impulses in check.

Gremlins

Disclaimer: Part rant, part venting, part comedic relief (But then again isn't that what every blog post is, anyway?)

My grandparents are visiting.
For a week.
Add a handle of Jim Beam (for my Grandfather), a case of red wine (for my Grandmother), a lock on the door (for me), and we've got ourselves a party!

Its like gremlins are in the house. Or a poltergeist, whatever.

I go to the fridge, where's my OJ? I don't know, but I'll take a sip of this other OJ that's in here. Oops, no wait, its fish flavored (that nasty Omega3 heart healthy junk)
I'm walking down the hallway, boom, there's my grandmother sock-surfing into a dark corner, and into me. (Seriously, besides it just being annoying, its dangerous. She's 86, she could break a hip. I almost did and I'm not 86...)
I'm waiting for my coffee pot to beep, telling me my delicious morning nectar is ready and I'm waiting, I'm waiting... Oh, no wonder it isn't ready... Someone shut it off before it was finished brewing...
I'm getting ready to go to work and taking a shower, and oops, I'm out of hot water, because someone apparently couldn't wait 20 minutes to get showered and dressed in a hurry to sit on the couch and do nothing all day.
I'm stepping out of the shower, and onto.. cold tile? Wait, what? Why's my BATH mat over by the toilet?

Is someone messing with me? I feel like the grocer in Amelie. Everything is just off enough for it to freak me out. Friday, please hurry up so I can have my life back!

Ooooh!

I want one so bad!
http://twelvesouth.com/products/bookbook/

A computer cover that looks like an old book - gorgeous!

Fun blog

http://popupcity.net/

so much fun!

RIP Mirimax 1.28.10

Thanks Disney, for killing the only good thing you had going for you. For those of you unfamiliar with Mirimax, they produced and released "art house independent films." All of Julian Schnabel's films, Amelie, Chocolat, a bunch of Quentin Tarantino's work, No Country for Old Men, There will be Blood, The Piano, The Queen, Hero, Garden State, Valentin, My Life So Far, Shakespeare in Love, Life is Beautiful, Trainspotting, The English Patient.... and the list goes on. Sadly, not only are some of these my very favorites, but Oscar winners and critically acclaimed films! Seriously Disney, good luck winning Oscars with Tinkerbell and her slutty forest friends 5 or whatever crap you're presenting as original and groundbreaking film these days.

Sunday

What is it about Sunday that makes me want to crawl in bed with the covers pulled up to my chin so I can watch movies from the warm cushy comfort of my squishy bed?

Also, I want pancakes. And a milky way bar. Great. Now I'm wondering how pancakes would taste with melted Milky Way bars drizzled over the top of them instead of syrup.

Dailies

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us; and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

-

John Keats 1795-1821

Endymion

Something I didn't plan for

When I made the move from Georgia to Florida, something I didn't anticipate was the budget adjustment I would have to make regarding my sock to lingerie purchasing ratio.

I tallied it up. This winter, I've spent close to $100 in socks. Warm socks. Deliciously soft and cushy wool socks. But still, socks.

That takes $100 out of my lingerie budget, sadly. No new awesome bra set or pjs from VS for me (or the boy) this month :(

Clearly, something must be done about this. Poor people and old people get aid from the state for heating costs. I wonder if they'd accept a "keep Nikki's feet warm but not at the expense of her knickers drawer" aid request.....

I give up

What to wear when you've really and truly given up? Available here.

What to watch when you've given up and you're wearing your Adult onesie?

Try this or this.

And you know? while you're at it, why don't you suck on this, since you're clearly too busy to be bothered by experiencing anything good.

Wow

Swix Mountain Women gloves. For when the camel-toe your uber tight ski pants give you doesn't quite express how clueless you are. Or maybe you are such a hard core trekkie, you can't bear the thought of your mittens cramping your style in the winter. I don't know.

The ties that bind

A lot of awkward questioning by friends and family about the state of my love life, along with two quirky boy meets girl movies, and a tragedy have really got me thinking about relationships, their purpose, why I would want want, their bonuses, their downfalls, and all that nonsense.

1. The questioning: stop it. I'm happy, he's happy (I think) and that should be enough. Why should I have to be the annoying girl who wants to have "the talk" when I'm perfectly happy the way things are? So that I can give you a definition of my relationship with this person? no. It's not happening.

2. Paper Heart: Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera. Awkward and kinda cute. She's a super pessimist who doesn't believe in love or something even though he wants her to, because they are so cute together in their uber nerdiness. Hmmm. Wonder if that's why they broke up in real life? She asks all kinds of weird questions to all kinds of weird people, and we learn a lot about love, mainly that there is no one definition, and everyone pretty much has their own. So, what is this "love" stuff anyway? How can we be foolish as to presume to understand someone else, when people can change, and their words and actions aren't necessarily a true reflection of who they are, what they want, or what their intentions are? How can you be so brave as to tell someone you love them or even that you want love when you're too afraid they'll run like hell if you do (and is that why Yi "doesn't believe in love")?

3. About a month ago, a very dear friend of mine died in a work accident. It was sudden, it was tragic, and it happened 2 weeks before his 1 year wedding anniversary. At a time we should have been celebrating, we were mourning. and still are. and always will be.

So these magical bonds of love, what purpose do they serve? Do they lift us up and protect us from all the bad that's in the world? I used to think so. But now, I find myself doubting. I'm angry and I'm hurting, and more than anything, I'm afraid to let people in because if it can hurt this much to lose Fenton, I'm not sure I can take the chance to lose anyone else. Wow, I know. It's like a step away from locking myself in my house and never leaving again, but that's how it feels. And I know that it won't always feel that way, but I look at my friend Shannon, who lost her husband of nearly a year, and I realize that that declaration of love, those wedding vows that should have lasted another 50 some odd years wasn't enough to protect them from being separated. Is anything?

4. (500) Days of Summer: A movie (finally!!!) gets it right! I laughed hard, I cried hard. Just like a real relationship. It might be my new favorite.

Is there such a thing as destiny? What is a soul mate? Can someone be "the One" if you aren't theirs? And for that matter, can you even really be in love with someone if they aren't also in love with you? Or are we all just in love with a projected image of that person within our heads? Are we in love with the idea of the person? Are we in love with the memories of a shared history? Are we in love with the feeling of flattery that comes along with someone sharing our sense of humor, or tastes, someone showing interest? Are we in love with the idea of love?

I know, I know, all very trite, but since I don't have the answers, (and probably no one does) these questions are spinning in my mind.

2010

Happy New Year!

I'm usually the last person to make new years resolutions, but lately I've had a little time to take stock, and I think I'm ready for some resolutions. Not things that must be done/changed/started/stopped/etc. all in one year, but more like goals for my life that can begin now. Or later. (Hmmm, stop procrastinating wasn't on my list but I should probably think about adding that...)

1. Be more patient.
2. Worry less, play more.
3. Take advantage of opportunities that come my way (this includes living in the now)
4. Unapologetically cultivate my curious nature.
5. Learn my boundaries and say no when someone asks me for a favor that I don't want to do.
6. Drink more champagne (and celebrate life's little victories)
7. Be a busy bee (make more with my hands, write more, photograph more...)
8. Live clutter free (emotionally and physically)
9. Stop missing the life I had and start loving the one I have.
10. Don't fight the current so much, it's exhausting.

(in no particular order of importance)