I moved the birds to the top.
For inspiration.
And cause they're so dang cute.
1-2-3 AWWWW
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Pot or The Kettle?
I love my dad. A bajillion times ten. He's my buddy and has been since I was little.
BUT
There is one thing about his personality that drives all of us girls INSANE -one second he's on a high, and you say one thing to topple him the teensiest bit, one joke that went too far or was misinterpreted, one comment that came out sounding a bit too harsh and he plummets to rock bottom. My sister and I were bemoaning this fact over dishes last night. "What set him off?" we wondered. "Why does he do this?" "It pisses me off!!" I said..
THEN
Later that night I'm talking to Jam. Haven't talked to him in over a day, which considering we email at least once a day and talk once a night, is a lot for us. We exchange pleasantries, I get all excited about the 15th months til our wedding, ready to tell him about the progress I made yesterday on churches, invites, decorating ideas and even a rehearsal lunch/dinner when he says "Oh yeah, that website, by the way, my family will not want their names on it."
Huh?
My sister has been designing a fantastic wedding website mock-ups. It's nowhere on the internet, just for clarification, and she asked for his family's last names in an email. Now as someone who gets privacy and the internets, I know that we can really limit the people who see this site - and seriously, will the guests not know Jam's family's last names? On the other hand, I guess I "get" it. I guess they want privacy. I am still kind of mystified who/what they want privacy from but then again, I air my laundry out on a somewhat anonymous but detail-oriented blog, so how am I to know/judge. I tell my sister, she takes care of it. Even though this thing is still in its infant stages. But may as well nip it in the bud before there's drama, because one of the 'maids might've freaked too. Basically we didn't think about this, Jam called us out. FINE.
What bothered me so much was the high I was on was completely destroyed. Gone. I didn't even want to talk to him anymore. Was it because he asked me to change that stuff? No. It was because I barely got a word in edgewise before something critical came out of his mouth. It kind of makes you not want to discuss your other plans, you know? Plus Jamaal is at a point in school where I feel as though he'll snap if I mention one more wedding thing. Hell, I get sick of talking about it sometimes. I want it to be simple, but I also want it to go smoothly and enjoy the day, thus this planning ahead. I feel like I'm doing it entirely alone though (as opposed to with my fiance - my friends and family are awesome helpers, but it would be nice to have the FI involved) and when I do this stuff all I can think is that Jamaal doesn't really care at all and that I shouldn't even bother. But then I think "no, I'm doing this for me, for my own satisfaction because I want things to be beautiful and memorable" which is entirely true. It just sucks that I get negative feedback without any positive and that any wedding-oriented discussion seems like a burden.
Oh well.
After we hung up, I started to cry.
THEN I realized - I AM my Dad. Like the spitting freakin' image.
I groaned at the thought of this, because it was so true. F*ck.
Then I got over it and went to sleep. At this point nothing is worth that much feeling.
10 months down the road and we find ourselves at this point, THEN we need to have a discussion about whether this is even worth it. Hopefully it won't come to that. Because if I have to listen to anymore "This is why we eloped" or "this is why we did xyz at our wedding" or "I knew this would happen to you" I will FLIP OUT! I am doing what I want and liking it - I just have to get the other half on board. Boo effing hoo.
UGH.
BUT
There is one thing about his personality that drives all of us girls INSANE -one second he's on a high, and you say one thing to topple him the teensiest bit, one joke that went too far or was misinterpreted, one comment that came out sounding a bit too harsh and he plummets to rock bottom. My sister and I were bemoaning this fact over dishes last night. "What set him off?" we wondered. "Why does he do this?" "It pisses me off!!" I said..
THEN
Later that night I'm talking to Jam. Haven't talked to him in over a day, which considering we email at least once a day and talk once a night, is a lot for us. We exchange pleasantries, I get all excited about the 15th months til our wedding, ready to tell him about the progress I made yesterday on churches, invites, decorating ideas and even a rehearsal lunch/dinner when he says "Oh yeah, that website, by the way, my family will not want their names on it."
Huh?
My sister has been designing a fantastic wedding website mock-ups. It's nowhere on the internet, just for clarification, and she asked for his family's last names in an email. Now as someone who gets privacy and the internets, I know that we can really limit the people who see this site - and seriously, will the guests not know Jam's family's last names? On the other hand, I guess I "get" it. I guess they want privacy. I am still kind of mystified who/what they want privacy from but then again, I air my laundry out on a somewhat anonymous but detail-oriented blog, so how am I to know/judge. I tell my sister, she takes care of it. Even though this thing is still in its infant stages. But may as well nip it in the bud before there's drama, because one of the 'maids might've freaked too. Basically we didn't think about this, Jam called us out. FINE.
What bothered me so much was the high I was on was completely destroyed. Gone. I didn't even want to talk to him anymore. Was it because he asked me to change that stuff? No. It was because I barely got a word in edgewise before something critical came out of his mouth. It kind of makes you not want to discuss your other plans, you know? Plus Jamaal is at a point in school where I feel as though he'll snap if I mention one more wedding thing. Hell, I get sick of talking about it sometimes. I want it to be simple, but I also want it to go smoothly and enjoy the day, thus this planning ahead. I feel like I'm doing it entirely alone though (as opposed to with my fiance - my friends and family are awesome helpers, but it would be nice to have the FI involved) and when I do this stuff all I can think is that Jamaal doesn't really care at all and that I shouldn't even bother. But then I think "no, I'm doing this for me, for my own satisfaction because I want things to be beautiful and memorable" which is entirely true. It just sucks that I get negative feedback without any positive and that any wedding-oriented discussion seems like a burden.
Oh well.
After we hung up, I started to cry.
THEN I realized - I AM my Dad. Like the spitting freakin' image.
I groaned at the thought of this, because it was so true. F*ck.
Then I got over it and went to sleep. At this point nothing is worth that much feeling.
10 months down the road and we find ourselves at this point, THEN we need to have a discussion about whether this is even worth it. Hopefully it won't come to that. Because if I have to listen to anymore "This is why we eloped" or "this is why we did xyz at our wedding" or "I knew this would happen to you" I will FLIP OUT! I am doing what I want and liking it - I just have to get the other half on board. Boo effing hoo.
UGH.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Wedding Counter Thingamabob
I added a wedding ticker to the bottom of my blog!
Too bad the only reasons I'm so excited about it is the fact that it's colorful and has birds.
Oh well. LOL.
Back to work I go!
Too bad the only reasons I'm so excited about it is the fact that it's colorful and has birds.
Oh well. LOL.
Back to work I go!
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Books again
I'm flying through books these days.
I guess because I gave myself a break from the ridiculously intense non-fiction I had out from the library. It really was a bit much!
I finished The Julie/Julia Project. I am in awe of Julie Powell and her commitment to "the project." If only I had known about her blog when it was happening! Of course those were the days filled with piping plover monitoring and sanctuary keeping, and I was stuck in my only little world of intense happiness and intense reverse-homesickness, so it probably wouldn't have been as striking as reading the book now.
When I got to the end, the part where Julie talks about getting a phone call from her mom, telling her Julia Child passed away, I sort of had the same reaction. Julie says something to the effect of "I didn't know her personally, etc" and then "I sat down at my desk and cried" I read that sentence and thought "well of course, you had lived with this woman's recipes for a whole year, of course there would be an emotional pull." I sat on the green line and contemplated for a second, then felt myself filling up (what is up with the emotions these days? Someone said "Dude you're pregnant." Not to overshare or anything, but I said "Dude, not humanly possible, lady business happening right now." LOL. Nevermind the lack of sexytime in my life!) ANYWHO I felt myself filling up because at that moment I realized I DID have a sort of loose connection to Julia. I'd met her! Plus Rachel and I had lived in one alleged, maybe even TWO of her dorm rooms at Hubbard House, via my calculation based upon the old room numbers listed on the circuit breaker box (which I opened with a knife stolen from the kitchen) and the various archives/historical presentations on Smith's website. Of course anything historically Smith seems embedded in rumor (ie location of Sylvia Plath's dorm room, why Helen Hills Hills Chapel has two Hills....no she didn't marry her cousin, it was random and weird coincidence she married another Hills). But we do know she lived in Hubbard for sure. Oh and the time I met her, I waited in long line in the President's garden, with nothing for her to sign. All I wanted to do was to tell her I lived in her old room at the Hub. I waited with a fellow member of the improv comedy group the SIKOS and just as it was our turn to greet the much-celebrated alum, she grumbled "no more, I have to go." I think we all sank a little. Then as she stood, leaning heavily on a cane, she reached out and touched my friend's shirt, right on the boob and said "Oh. Your shrit says Liberty Cafe. Is that still in Philadelphia?!" How Alyson managed to close her mouth and reopen it to give a coherent answer with Julia Child's hand resting on her left bosom is BEYOND me, but it is something I will never EVER forget. As Julia walked one way (towards King-Scales no doubt, where she always ate on campus, shafting her Hubbard roots, which I can't understand, since I once saw our cook grease a cookie sheet for chicken with an entire pound of butter, very Julia-esque) and we departed towards center campus, we were all silent, until Alyson shrieked "JULIA CHILD TOUCHED MY BOOB! AHHHH!" "That was awesome," I concluded. Oh it was.
Next up in book discussions is Life List, a fantastic biography of Phoebe Snetsinger. Snetsinger, at the time of her death, had seen more birds than any person in the world. It was an obsession for her, and one that, in my personal opinion (well and factually I think) led her to encounter some terribly dangerous situations - the death of her birding friend due to altitude sickness, her attack and rape in Papua New Guinea, and ultimately her death in Madagascar. I thought I would complete this book and think "what a crazy insane lady" but I finished it feeling much much more sympathetic and understanding. Would it be my choice? No, absolutely not. But do I love birds enough to understand her drive? Yes, I really do. Were I a single lady, or say, in her situation, a 50's housewife, highly educated and intelligent yet expected to stay home with 4 kids, would I have pursued a similar path? Maybe. Maybe that's why I turned out sympathetic instead of judgey.
I don't keep a life list, like Phoebe. And I don't go to places hell-bent on seeing certain birds. I do buy field guides to any new destination though. I do read through them ahead of time and try and learn as many birds as I can. I did go to Kenya hoping to see a turaco, and lord knows however many other birds. I probably missed some (though the turaco erases the ones I missed with its shear awesomeness). I did go to Costa Rica praying, quite literally, to see a quetzal, a mot-mot, and a trogon. I saw only the quetzal, but did that sighting, as well as a hummingbird sitting on my hand to feed completely undo the failed other sightings? Hells yes. So in that I am very un-Phoebe, though I still can't sufficiently express my admiration for her drive and determination, and also, her efforts in conservation. Sort of in her honor, I am going to start a life list. Luckily I mark all the birds I've seen, with dates and locations, in my field guides, so that won't be too hard. I don't know whether I've seen 200 birds or 500 birds in my lifetime, but I know that when I leave this world, I won't be leaving with the regret of never having seen a shoebill. I realized that in my reading of Life List, and I have to admit that coming to that realization was only a good thing.
Finally Commencement. Oh where do I start. I tried to go into this with no expectations. Now this is the book written by a Smith alum, set in part on the Smith campus. Hmmm. I noticed an error on the first page, and that seemed an ominous sign. The Alumnae Quarterly never ever ever ever publishes engagements and never announces births or weddings until AFTER they've taken place, for reasons you can well imagine. I thought "really, this big of a flaw, on the first page?" Then I had to tell myself to let it the f*ck go because 99% of the people reading the book did not go to Smith and out of the 1% of people who did .99 of them do not give a crackling sh*t about stuff like that. So I shook it off and read on. I love love LOVE the connection J. Courtney Sullivan creates between her characters, the close bond they feel as students. I hate hate HATE the stereotypes she creates and emphasizes in the book. I'm guessing the author was a delicate "Quad Bunny" when she refers to Green Street as the "vegan/lesbian/armpit hair" area of campus. I kind of freaked the f*ck out when I read that....I'm not sure why I felt the level of anger I did, because usually I'm great at shaking off Smith stereotypes (ie tons of lesbians, gay for four years, never meet a guy, no one shaves, everyone is "radical" blah blah blah). I guess coming from an internal source it pissed me the hell off. Why? Because I knew people who were none, one, two, or all three of those things, and that was just in my house. And I knew people who were none, one, two or three of those things who lived all over campus. I am none, and out of my three closest Hubbard friends, the other two are none, and one is one of those things. So where the f*ck does she get off perpetuating that stereotype? Furthermore, there was and is something super-catty about some of the stereotypes she talks about. I think the author does a great job with some of the issues, such as the character who comes to Smith engaged and graduates with a girlfriend, she measures the reactions of friends and family and deals with what it's like on "the outside" but some of her snarky reference annoy me. Not because they're not true (ok except the vegan/lesbian/armpit hair thing. I know I'm dwelling but that went riiight up my butt) but it's the snide way they're delivered like "she didn't want to become one of those girls watching TV with their pant unbuttoned oblivious to the rolls of fat..." and referring the the house president as a girl that looked like a middle-aged man with her belly hanging over her pants, sticking out from her white undershirt. Snark snark snark. Sorry Quad Bunny, your book was almost fantastic....
oh snap! lol. some lines are utterly perfect though and I'll share later, when I'm not at work!
I guess because I gave myself a break from the ridiculously intense non-fiction I had out from the library. It really was a bit much!
I finished The Julie/Julia Project. I am in awe of Julie Powell and her commitment to "the project." If only I had known about her blog when it was happening! Of course those were the days filled with piping plover monitoring and sanctuary keeping, and I was stuck in my only little world of intense happiness and intense reverse-homesickness, so it probably wouldn't have been as striking as reading the book now.
When I got to the end, the part where Julie talks about getting a phone call from her mom, telling her Julia Child passed away, I sort of had the same reaction. Julie says something to the effect of "I didn't know her personally, etc" and then "I sat down at my desk and cried" I read that sentence and thought "well of course, you had lived with this woman's recipes for a whole year, of course there would be an emotional pull." I sat on the green line and contemplated for a second, then felt myself filling up (what is up with the emotions these days? Someone said "Dude you're pregnant." Not to overshare or anything, but I said "Dude, not humanly possible, lady business happening right now." LOL. Nevermind the lack of sexytime in my life!) ANYWHO I felt myself filling up because at that moment I realized I DID have a sort of loose connection to Julia. I'd met her! Plus Rachel and I had lived in one alleged, maybe even TWO of her dorm rooms at Hubbard House, via my calculation based upon the old room numbers listed on the circuit breaker box (which I opened with a knife stolen from the kitchen) and the various archives/historical presentations on Smith's website. Of course anything historically Smith seems embedded in rumor (ie location of Sylvia Plath's dorm room, why Helen Hills Hills Chapel has two Hills....no she didn't marry her cousin, it was random and weird coincidence she married another Hills). But we do know she lived in Hubbard for sure. Oh and the time I met her, I waited in long line in the President's garden, with nothing for her to sign. All I wanted to do was to tell her I lived in her old room at the Hub. I waited with a fellow member of the improv comedy group the SIKOS and just as it was our turn to greet the much-celebrated alum, she grumbled "no more, I have to go." I think we all sank a little. Then as she stood, leaning heavily on a cane, she reached out and touched my friend's shirt, right on the boob and said "Oh. Your shrit says Liberty Cafe. Is that still in Philadelphia?!" How Alyson managed to close her mouth and reopen it to give a coherent answer with Julia Child's hand resting on her left bosom is BEYOND me, but it is something I will never EVER forget. As Julia walked one way (towards King-Scales no doubt, where she always ate on campus, shafting her Hubbard roots, which I can't understand, since I once saw our cook grease a cookie sheet for chicken with an entire pound of butter, very Julia-esque) and we departed towards center campus, we were all silent, until Alyson shrieked "JULIA CHILD TOUCHED MY BOOB! AHHHH!" "That was awesome," I concluded. Oh it was.
Next up in book discussions is Life List, a fantastic biography of Phoebe Snetsinger. Snetsinger, at the time of her death, had seen more birds than any person in the world. It was an obsession for her, and one that, in my personal opinion (well and factually I think) led her to encounter some terribly dangerous situations - the death of her birding friend due to altitude sickness, her attack and rape in Papua New Guinea, and ultimately her death in Madagascar. I thought I would complete this book and think "what a crazy insane lady" but I finished it feeling much much more sympathetic and understanding. Would it be my choice? No, absolutely not. But do I love birds enough to understand her drive? Yes, I really do. Were I a single lady, or say, in her situation, a 50's housewife, highly educated and intelligent yet expected to stay home with 4 kids, would I have pursued a similar path? Maybe. Maybe that's why I turned out sympathetic instead of judgey.
I don't keep a life list, like Phoebe. And I don't go to places hell-bent on seeing certain birds. I do buy field guides to any new destination though. I do read through them ahead of time and try and learn as many birds as I can. I did go to Kenya hoping to see a turaco, and lord knows however many other birds. I probably missed some (though the turaco erases the ones I missed with its shear awesomeness). I did go to Costa Rica praying, quite literally, to see a quetzal, a mot-mot, and a trogon. I saw only the quetzal, but did that sighting, as well as a hummingbird sitting on my hand to feed completely undo the failed other sightings? Hells yes. So in that I am very un-Phoebe, though I still can't sufficiently express my admiration for her drive and determination, and also, her efforts in conservation. Sort of in her honor, I am going to start a life list. Luckily I mark all the birds I've seen, with dates and locations, in my field guides, so that won't be too hard. I don't know whether I've seen 200 birds or 500 birds in my lifetime, but I know that when I leave this world, I won't be leaving with the regret of never having seen a shoebill. I realized that in my reading of Life List, and I have to admit that coming to that realization was only a good thing.
Finally Commencement. Oh where do I start. I tried to go into this with no expectations. Now this is the book written by a Smith alum, set in part on the Smith campus. Hmmm. I noticed an error on the first page, and that seemed an ominous sign. The Alumnae Quarterly never ever ever ever publishes engagements and never announces births or weddings until AFTER they've taken place, for reasons you can well imagine. I thought "really, this big of a flaw, on the first page?" Then I had to tell myself to let it the f*ck go because 99% of the people reading the book did not go to Smith and out of the 1% of people who did .99 of them do not give a crackling sh*t about stuff like that. So I shook it off and read on. I love love LOVE the connection J. Courtney Sullivan creates between her characters, the close bond they feel as students. I hate hate HATE the stereotypes she creates and emphasizes in the book. I'm guessing the author was a delicate "Quad Bunny" when she refers to Green Street as the "vegan/lesbian/armpit hair" area of campus. I kind of freaked the f*ck out when I read that....I'm not sure why I felt the level of anger I did, because usually I'm great at shaking off Smith stereotypes (ie tons of lesbians, gay for four years, never meet a guy, no one shaves, everyone is "radical" blah blah blah). I guess coming from an internal source it pissed me the hell off. Why? Because I knew people who were none, one, two, or all three of those things, and that was just in my house. And I knew people who were none, one, two or three of those things who lived all over campus. I am none, and out of my three closest Hubbard friends, the other two are none, and one is one of those things. So where the f*ck does she get off perpetuating that stereotype? Furthermore, there was and is something super-catty about some of the stereotypes she talks about. I think the author does a great job with some of the issues, such as the character who comes to Smith engaged and graduates with a girlfriend, she measures the reactions of friends and family and deals with what it's like on "the outside" but some of her snarky reference annoy me. Not because they're not true (ok except the vegan/lesbian/armpit hair thing. I know I'm dwelling but that went riiight up my butt) but it's the snide way they're delivered like "she didn't want to become one of those girls watching TV with their pant unbuttoned oblivious to the rolls of fat..." and referring the the house president as a girl that looked like a middle-aged man with her belly hanging over her pants, sticking out from her white undershirt. Snark snark snark. Sorry Quad Bunny, your book was almost fantastic....
oh snap! lol. some lines are utterly perfect though and I'll share later, when I'm not at work!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Julie and Julia
This weekend was filled with fantasticness:
Friday:
-yarn at the Wool Basket
-buffalo chicken wrap and naked juice with local strawberries from Foodies
-encounter (due to wearing of Smith shirt) of fellow '04 Smithie's younger brother. Yes I did restrain myself and did not say what I wanted to which was "Of COURSE I remember you sister! We attended an admissions event where she not only rubbed in my face the fact that she was from a wealthy town but also that she got accepted early decision! But then I had to stop hating her pretty pretty long hair and pearls and twinsets when she got to Smith, shaved her head and walked around in beaters and army fatigues and became a, what was it "lug" (lesbian until graduation). I hear she's married now to a man in the MILITARY and has two kids!!"
Instead I was nice and reserved and said "Of course I knew M, she was very close to one of my housemates. What a small world!" ahahahahah
-sleep in the car, to compensate for only 3 hours sleep previous night, therefore sleeping from Boston to NH border
-weird NH liquor store encounter to buy "closet alcoholic size" bottle of Captain Morgan. Employees ceased all activity and watched me like a hawk, as if I was going to stash the pint in my capris and make a run for it....and as if the man in the back of the store in a loose fitting tanktop that showed off his large and colorful chest tattoo who kept picking up very very expensive bottles of Belvedere and Ketel One was NOT sketchier than three of me put together. WTF?
-BALD EAGLE SIGHTING. It was a semi-religious experience, and for risk of seeming totally lame I will NOT go into detail here. ahem.
-Loon sighting (also amazing)
-Book reading
-Boboli
-Sleeping on the porch
Saturday nice too:
-Naked juice again
-lying on the dock sleeping and reading Admission (good stuff)
-knitting baby booties and hat
-baby snake
-Agony
-steak
Sunday. Well Sunday was weird.
Sunday
-the weather did not cooperate.
-I went birdwatching in the woods (eagle nest searching) only to be joined by Bigfoot, aka my dad, who uncharacteristically complained a lot and went the bathroom in the woods no less than 3 times. Um. What? He hates that we "Sit around and do nothing" in NH, and I think he was acting out or something, lol. I did see a Red-breasted Nuthatch, which was nice, but had to cut my quest for a mystery bird short by father's presence (he lacks the patience necessary).
-Got "lost" in woods, was sweaty and bug-bitten
-Had to go home, sans kayaking. Not one solitary paddle. Dang it.
-BUT I found a copy of Commencement *hurrah*
and started Julie and Julia.
And it's fantastic and hilariously entertaining. And I kind of want to do something similar, but NOT, good lord, NOT with Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Though Potage Parmentier suddenly sounds worth the effot, I will say.
No the book made me think of how happy I am while baking, even when it's a task, like it was last week for the FP yard and bake sale. I love it. It's ordered and measured. and sooo tasty.
That led me to think that I should quit my job and become a baker.
Ok I thought that for five minutes before I realized it to be a supremely bad idea.
I will say this though - last night I planned to make a strawberry-rhubarb crisp for the familia.
My dad said "WHY" and I thought in my head "why do you always question and does there have to be a reason for baked goodness?" but said instead "Oh because I have to use the local strawberries I bought at Foodies" When saying baking is necessary to use up ingredients that are about to "go bad" it is always always justified.
Now my family and I are stawberry rhubarb connoisseurs and have found two particularly awesome crisp recipes, one belonging to Food and Wine and one from Emeril. I'll have to gauge our mood but tonight I am feeling F&W, as Emeril's use of Grand Marnier is totally amazing and decadent, but maybe too rich for a Monday night!
Anywho, the whole point is: the weekend was great, I have a secret fantasy to do a Julie/Julia Project of baking, and despite some of their weird quirks (peeing in the woods!) I love my family. A ton.
Friday:
-yarn at the Wool Basket
-buffalo chicken wrap and naked juice with local strawberries from Foodies
-encounter (due to wearing of Smith shirt) of fellow '04 Smithie's younger brother. Yes I did restrain myself and did not say what I wanted to which was "Of COURSE I remember you sister! We attended an admissions event where she not only rubbed in my face the fact that she was from a wealthy town but also that she got accepted early decision! But then I had to stop hating her pretty pretty long hair and pearls and twinsets when she got to Smith, shaved her head and walked around in beaters and army fatigues and became a, what was it "lug" (lesbian until graduation). I hear she's married now to a man in the MILITARY and has two kids!!"
Instead I was nice and reserved and said "Of course I knew M, she was very close to one of my housemates. What a small world!" ahahahahah
-sleep in the car, to compensate for only 3 hours sleep previous night, therefore sleeping from Boston to NH border
-weird NH liquor store encounter to buy "closet alcoholic size" bottle of Captain Morgan. Employees ceased all activity and watched me like a hawk, as if I was going to stash the pint in my capris and make a run for it....and as if the man in the back of the store in a loose fitting tanktop that showed off his large and colorful chest tattoo who kept picking up very very expensive bottles of Belvedere and Ketel One was NOT sketchier than three of me put together. WTF?
-BALD EAGLE SIGHTING. It was a semi-religious experience, and for risk of seeming totally lame I will NOT go into detail here. ahem.
-Loon sighting (also amazing)
-Book reading
-Boboli
-Sleeping on the porch
Saturday nice too:
-Naked juice again
-lying on the dock sleeping and reading Admission (good stuff)
-knitting baby booties and hat
-baby snake
-Agony
-steak
Sunday. Well Sunday was weird.
Sunday
-the weather did not cooperate.
-I went birdwatching in the woods (eagle nest searching) only to be joined by Bigfoot, aka my dad, who uncharacteristically complained a lot and went the bathroom in the woods no less than 3 times. Um. What? He hates that we "Sit around and do nothing" in NH, and I think he was acting out or something, lol. I did see a Red-breasted Nuthatch, which was nice, but had to cut my quest for a mystery bird short by father's presence (he lacks the patience necessary).
-Got "lost" in woods, was sweaty and bug-bitten
-Had to go home, sans kayaking. Not one solitary paddle. Dang it.
-BUT I found a copy of Commencement *hurrah*
and started Julie and Julia.
And it's fantastic and hilariously entertaining. And I kind of want to do something similar, but NOT, good lord, NOT with Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Though Potage Parmentier suddenly sounds worth the effot, I will say.
No the book made me think of how happy I am while baking, even when it's a task, like it was last week for the FP yard and bake sale. I love it. It's ordered and measured. and sooo tasty.
That led me to think that I should quit my job and become a baker.
Ok I thought that for five minutes before I realized it to be a supremely bad idea.
I will say this though - last night I planned to make a strawberry-rhubarb crisp for the familia.
My dad said "WHY" and I thought in my head "why do you always question and does there have to be a reason for baked goodness?" but said instead "Oh because I have to use the local strawberries I bought at Foodies" When saying baking is necessary to use up ingredients that are about to "go bad" it is always always justified.
Now my family and I are stawberry rhubarb connoisseurs and have found two particularly awesome crisp recipes, one belonging to Food and Wine and one from Emeril. I'll have to gauge our mood but tonight I am feeling F&W, as Emeril's use of Grand Marnier is totally amazing and decadent, but maybe too rich for a Monday night!
Anywho, the whole point is: the weekend was great, I have a secret fantasy to do a Julie/Julia Project of baking, and despite some of their weird quirks (peeing in the woods!) I love my family. A ton.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Realization
My wedding stress does not come from
1.disorganization
2. money
3. opinions of others
It comes from the hundreds and thousands of fantastical wonderful ideas in the world and my ability to not use them all....and the stress of having to choose just some.
Jamaal and I talked it out on the phone last night and we came to this conclusion. Which is actually not really a bad thing, since it comes from excitement. Whoooo.
Ugh, now back to work (boo).
1.disorganization
2. money
3. opinions of others
It comes from the hundreds and thousands of fantastical wonderful ideas in the world and my ability to not use them all....and the stress of having to choose just some.
Jamaal and I talked it out on the phone last night and we came to this conclusion. Which is actually not really a bad thing, since it comes from excitement. Whoooo.
Ugh, now back to work (boo).
Monday, June 22, 2009
Green Thinking
So today I entered a contest on Style Me Pretty for some awesome invites.
There eco-friendly too, zero-carbon in production, vegetable-based inks, recyclable, etc. So awesome.
You had to write a comment to enter, and I wrote the following:
Allison says:
There eco-friendly too, zero-carbon in production, vegetable-based inks, recyclable, etc. So awesome.
You had to write a comment to enter, and I wrote the following:
Allison says:
I’m in love with these invites for so many reasons! I love that these are so environmentally responsible AND completely gorgeous and elegant. The deco is my particular favorite as it would fit in with our wedding so well; we’re getting married in 2010 at a barn in Connecticut, so we’re aiming to have a simple affair, nothing too fussy to interfere with the barn’s natural beauty, but with an elegant twist. The simple circular design of the deco invitation and the repeating motif fits the bill perfectly, plus it would play off the lace in my dress. Aesthetics aside, it does my heart good to see more and more ecologically conscious choices for brides, as well as green and female entrepreneurship!! I graduated a year ago with a MS in biology, concentrating on conservation and the environment, and one of my main reservations about having a wedding was not the expense, but the waste, both pre- and post-wedding. Invitations from WedVert, as well as the wedding website and favors, would be additional ways to add to our goal of having a “responsible” wedding, as well as a subtle (not to mention *gorgeous* way) to bring the issues of recycling, green and carbon zero product choices to our guest’s minds. Thanks!!
I was then wracked with guilt that our wedding wasn't "green" enough to be worthy of these invitations. Typical for someone with an overactive guilt complex, right, EE?!!
Then I started thinking of the plans I've been mulling over since we secured The Barns and realized that we're not doing too badly (though these invites would probably improve our wedidng LEEDS score, if they had such a thing!)
1. We're using 150 mason jar led lanterns from a friend's wedding (they're in storage!) so we have some repurposed decorations
2. No flowers on the tables. It's wasteful - very very beautiful, but I cringe at the wastefulness! Instead I'm thinking of votives and seasonal decorations, such as gourds and mini pumpkins. None of these things will be thrown away. Jam and I will probably want some of the votives and such, but gourds and decorations can be taken by guests and used for their own homes and then put in the compost pile (or as we do, throw them in the woods and let the squirrels have a field day). Plus these will all be bought locally, thus reducing the amount of fuel spent transporting these from wherever. Flowers I'm carrying and my ladies are carrying will be in season (fine because if I see another rose or hydrangea I might vomit lol) Dahlias are cool and edgy and a fall flower....just an idea...
3. No SUV limos. No no nein no.
4. Lighting: candles and LED lights. Not extraordinary, but LEDs are a better more efficient choice.
5. Homemade favors (no plastic! no made in China!)
6. Other decorations: will be kept, maybe passed on (really just lights and lanterns, we're keeping it simple....but elegant ;)
7. placecards: prob mini pumpkins. Again local, paperless, reusable/biodegradable.
8. Bridesmaid dresses: chain store bought, but hopefully rewearable, and if not, donate-able
9. Venue: no climate control. Risky, but doors/windows are opened/closed as needed to control temp of the interior. This will be noted on the website for guests so they can bring shawls/wear sleeveless as needed depending on weather.
10. Wedding website: hopefully to cut down on paper! and to preserve our sanity of course.
Places where we're sucking re: eco-consciousness:
1. Everyone has to travel, though at least very few will actually have to fly. In the end everyone travels about 2 hours. If we had it in either city, half the guests would've had to travel four hours. In the end, this equals out I guess.
2. Food: prepared by the reception venue, but unsure of how much local stuff is used. Could find this out though.
3. Transportation: not getting married at reception venue. Though getting married at church in same town.
I know there's more. The cool thing is that WedVert has a site full of tips I'm going to sort through. Knowing the possibilities makes me determined to have an even MORE eco-responsible wedding. YAY!
PS: Have fallen in love with this: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=292026&CategoryID=44022#reviews
What are my chances that Jam will love it? Not care? I'll take not care! Oooh just love love it.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Today
I made a "To Do" list with a perfect proportions, about 3/4 dedicated to work, 1/4 dedicated to personal life that can be completed during lunch and after work.
Have I started any of it?
NO
Have I wasted time looking at faery weddings?
YES
In other news:
I am pleased to announce that I summoned the tech savvy brain cells that are few and far between to come together in a moment of brilliance to restore my 5,000 missing pictures.
I restored all 24,000 files in my recycle bin.
Hells yeah. I have spent the last 4 or 5 days (a blur) picking through the tens of thousands of files to fetch my pic files and burn them on to disc. It's freaking tedious as hell but glorious getting them back.
Here's the uber weird thing: All kinds of sh*t is on there...except something I'm looking for in particular. Now I know enough to know that when you delete something, it's still on your drive but basically marked as available for overwriting. My instinct is to say "f*ck it, these files were overwritten by something else" but what makes no sense is that I have every file in and around the date on which these pics were taken and nothing. I don't even have the pics I deleted from the original pic upload, the ones I deleted before making a folder. How weird is that? It's not a huge big tragic deal that they're gone, it's no one's wedding or anything, but I am missing stuff like this:
and this:
and this little chicken:
So you see, nothing major or significant, but stuff I'd love to have back.
I'll try again tonight, but then might have to write it all off. Ohhhh well.
Off to tackle the to do list...
Have I started any of it?
NO
Have I wasted time looking at faery weddings?
YES
In other news:
I am pleased to announce that I summoned the tech savvy brain cells that are few and far between to come together in a moment of brilliance to restore my 5,000 missing pictures.
I restored all 24,000 files in my recycle bin.
Hells yeah. I have spent the last 4 or 5 days (a blur) picking through the tens of thousands of files to fetch my pic files and burn them on to disc. It's freaking tedious as hell but glorious getting them back.
Here's the uber weird thing: All kinds of sh*t is on there...except something I'm looking for in particular. Now I know enough to know that when you delete something, it's still on your drive but basically marked as available for overwriting. My instinct is to say "f*ck it, these files were overwritten by something else" but what makes no sense is that I have every file in and around the date on which these pics were taken and nothing. I don't even have the pics I deleted from the original pic upload, the ones I deleted before making a folder. How weird is that? It's not a huge big tragic deal that they're gone, it's no one's wedding or anything, but I am missing stuff like this:
and this:
and this little chicken:
So you see, nothing major or significant, but stuff I'd love to have back.
I'll try again tonight, but then might have to write it all off. Ohhhh well.
Off to tackle the to do list...
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