2008

A new year, everyone! Hope it's wonderful and you're having lots of fun!

Much love from O-town!

Tis better...

Tomorrow night there will be a smallish party to celebrate the coming of a new year at my house. I like to play hostess, but at the moment all I can think is that I really hope there is too much food and drink and not too little...

Because an all night party means you gotta pace your drinks and stuff...but not everyone thinks about that.

Happy New Year, make it a good one...just pace yourself.

And so this is Christmas...

It's Christmas Eve for another fifteen minutes, actually.

Today the candy canes finally got hung on the tree after sitting on the counter for about a week or so. That even waited until the end of the day, when I started straightening some things up a bit because people were coming over and I didn't want them thinking we're total procrastinators.

I also got my presents wrapped today. Four beautiful works of art underneath the tree that I know will be completely destroyed tomorrow. Should have taken pictures, I know, but when you wait until Christmas Eve to put together the perfect presentation of gifts it doesn't find time to get documented in good light (I mean, if I had a fancy camera I might go attempt some artsy pictures with the lights on the tree and everything...).

And Rodie has come to stay with us while his mom and dad go out of town for New Year's! Hopefully he will enjoy his stay at our humble pet bed and breakfast. I think he was just a little sad to watch mom and dad leave, but he's all snuggled up in bed now.

As for me, I think I'm going to go snuggle up in bed myself. Here I come sugarplum faeries!
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The mood is right,
The spirits up,
We're here tonight,
And that's enough,
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time...
Simply having a wonderful Christmas time...
- My favourite Christmas song, "A Wonderful Christmas Time," by Sir Paul McCartney

Loyalty & Blood

I got a Christmas gift from Becka and her hubby today and I couldn't be more excited!

Why?

Because she got me the Filigree Bird necklace by Loyalty & Blood that was on my wishlist! It's just as beautiful in real life and I love it. I put it on and left it on all day. Tomorrow it will probably be back around my neck...

Remember when I said my love language is getting gifts? I love you too, Becks!

To Whom It May Concern

Dear Johnny Depp,

I have long been an admirer of your work. It has actually been a goal of mine for quite a while to own all of your movies and have a "Depp section" on my movie shelf (or shelves). I think it is safe to say that you are a master of your art.

Tonight I got to see Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and fell in love with your talent all over again. I feel that this is a pattern with your movies (although, I must admit the Pirates sequels disappointed me a little bit). Your performance was awesome and I have decided that I must express my gratitude. Thank you for putting so much into your work, this most recent adaptation is prime example that cinema would not be the same if it were not for such dedication to making really good movies. And really good movies are important.

And yes, every time you work with Tim Burton something magical happens.

I would give so much to be able to work with you and learn from you. I'm pretty sure it would make my life. I'm sure you have a lot of girls coming at you all "You're so hot and I love you," but my angle is more of artistic appreciation. You're pretty much one of the greatest actors of our time, and all I would want is to be your student. Yes, that does sound a bit odd but I don't really care because it's how I feel.

You're also super-cool.

Sincerely,
Alexis


Dear Tim Burton,

Thanks for using Johnny Depp in your movies. The collaboration between the two of you, with the addition of the lovely Helena Bonham Carter, is unmatched. Also, congratulations on the new baby.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was awesome, to say the least. I love how you managed to make the film campy, but masterfully artful. Which, is not necessarily a new aspect of your work. I wish I knew how you do it. I also wish I could find better words to express how great the Sweeney Todd experience was.

In the end, I suppose I could say that after seeing The Golden Compass, I really needed something to restore my faith in film. Sweeney Todd was the miracle cure I was looking for. I couldn't wait to see it and I didn't get my hopes up for nothing. It exceeded my expectations.

Thank you for your movie-cal gift.

Sincerely,
Alexis
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Lift your razor high!
Sweeney!
Hear it singing!
Yes!
Stick it in the rosy skin of righteousness!
His voice was soft, his manner mild,
He seldom laughed, but he often smiled,
He'd seen how civilised men behaved,
He never forgot, and he never forgave.
Not Sweeney...
Not Sweeney Todd...
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street!

Concerning a possible trip to London:

Mom: What if you get the new job?

Me: That's why I looked at end of August/early September. If I get it, I'll have been there long enough that it will be acceptable for me to take a little vacation. Plus, it gives us time to save up and plan for it. Plus, David Tennant is going to be in Love's Labour's Lost with the Royal Shakespeare Company during that time and we can go see that. Plus, it would be a nice time of the year to be there. See, I'm a thinker.

Mom: You're not a thinker, you're a schemer.
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Note: Anybody know how to get the best deal on a vacation package to London? Two adults, about ten days...for a mother-daughter bonding trip...

Here comes the...

...bridal consultant.

I have a job interview for that position at an incredible bridal shop and I want it so bad I slip off into daydreams about it. Really, it would be a great job for me and I hope all of you will say a few prayers that I get it...because I'm totally getting my hopes up.

I'm still not sure how I would feel about leaving the babies. We have so much fun and I love them all dearly, it would hurt a bit to say good-bye. I suppose I can always visit, or even try and stay on and come in just once a week. Or just work something out, I might just be grasping for a way to make sure they don't forget all about me. It's amazing to think about how much they've grown just since I've been there. They've all gotten so big...

My interview is on Thursday and I am hoping that it all goes incredibly well. How could they not see how fabulous I am and not want me, right?

A little wishlist action:

I was on the phone with my brother and he asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Now, when I'm out and about I can point to probably a million little things that I would love to call my own. Probably a lot of big things too, you know how us greedy little people can be. But as soon as my brother asked me, I couldn't think of anything. I could think of all the stores I like and the type of stuff I'm into...but he already knows all that. He didn't want to make any mistakes and basically buy me a trip to the mall for Christmas by getting me something I would just have to return or a gift card (which actually, is not that bad for me except that I would probably end up spending more of my own money that I shouldn't while there). So I created this little list of stuff under $40 (the limit he gave me, which is oh-so-generous, I think) and thought I'd share it with you, 'cause it's a good one.

From Anthropologie:


- Deviled Egg Halter Apron, I've always loved these aprons and had a bit of trouble picking my favourite. In the end, this one definitely won out, I love the colors and mod-like print. Plus, the halter style is just too cute. You know you want to look sexy in the kitchen.

- Meditation Hourglass, Clear, the name says a lot. It comes in bright colours as well, but I just love the simplicity of this one. It measures one half hour and is just perfect for "me" time. Oh yeah, and it's beautiful.

- I also love the Dots & Jots Journals. They come in a set of four and each has fifty pages with a pretty printed cover. They are nice and small so you can stash one in a few different places and grab one when you think an important thought and want to remember it.

- Letter Hooks, iron hooks in a serif font. I never have a place to hang things, I think I curse the lack of hooks in my room daily. I always end up hanging stuff on the doorknob and that is not effective because whatever you put on it just falls off. These are really pretty, and I love things that have an "A" for Alexis...or anything that uses initials. Actually, monogramming is best...but I think you get the picture.

From Urban Outfitters:

- Filigree Bird Necklace by Loyalty & Blood, because it's so pretty! Most know I love vintage (or just vintage inspired) things, so this isn't a surprising choice. I love the bird charm that dangles and the pretty pattern. Asymmetry is sweet.

- Tea for One, because um, I'm usually the only one having tea. And how wonderful is that peacock print? There's a second print, but, well, I like this one better. I've seen these before with the teapot and single cup that stack together and thought, "Hey, that's a really good idea...I just don't like the pattern/color/design all that much." So I was ever-so-delighted to find this one that I find just perfect. Tea for me? Yes, thank you.

- Set of 6 Cappuccino Cups, that stack together, y'all! I must have a thing for stuff that stacks together, a love of streamlining if you will? I like that the pattern is combined on all six. They come with a chrome caddy, which I'm not sure of it's purpose but that's nifty, right? I've been wanting mugs, but was torn between not wanting them to all be the same and not wanting to have to "put together" my own set. So yeah, these are a happy little medium for that...


From Etsy:

- Apparently, I have a thing for necklaces right now, because I kept getting drawn in by them when I was looking around. And who wouldn't be with choices like the wood tree pendant and dandelion pendant from Garnish Home available? These are made of such pretty wood and the cuts are so cute I couldn't decide between the two of them. I also like that the artist offers them on a 20" chain if you so choose, and they have complimentary gift wrapping (excellent option for men/boys that usually opt for the gift bag). I just think it's awesome that they are artsy and chic at the same time...which I think is often attempted but not always achieved.

- Then there are those notched hoops that I mentioned in a previous post (Maggie J's). I still love them...

And the ones that go to a good cause...

From To Write Love on Her Arms:

That link is for the store, to get familiar with the cause (which is near and dear to my heart) go here. The shirts are hard for me to pick from, but my three fav's are these:

- Girls Paramore Title, very cool. They printed some of Paramore's awesome song lyrics in this one, and the printed colors in the title are perfection.
- Title Deon, White - I really like my black deon and I've been wanting a white one. They are so comfy...
- Girls All-Blaque Title - Um, this one's just neat-o.

(I'll take those in medium, thanks)

From Invisible Children:

The green grace bracelet. The bracelets are made by the children and the money goes towards helping them. There are three other bracelets and each comes with a story of an individual child. You can get them all together, pay a little less, and have four gifts for one bang (or three gifts and one for yourself).

I suppose that's quite the list, but once I started looking around a bit I just kept finding all these fabulous little things. Enjoy!

Between me and the kid at the Apple store:

Me, holding the Nike thing that has your shoes and iPod communicate: So, does this only work with the Nano?

Him: Yeah, unfortunately...

Me: Because...Nike's stupid?

Him: Pretty much.

Me: I like my regular iPod...

Him, as I nod in agreement: I use my classic to run too, because I have more than five albums and one of them isn't the Rocky soundtrack. They really didn't think that through, plus it doesn't actually tell you how far you've gone. If you wanted to know your power song though, which if you run regularly with music you probably already know it...

Me: Well that's lame, definitely won't be getting those shoes...

Him: I wouldn't.

I love honesty.

more, more, more...

...about me! Just so you know, I am completely aware of my quirkiness and oddness (I just happen to think those are some of the things that make me so darn cute).

Numbers 31-40

31. I still sleep with the teddy bear my dad got me when I was about two years old. I call him "Bear," which may not sound all that creative but...OK, maybe it's not. I cried for my mom to get it for me in the store, she said "no," and walked away. Imagine her surprise when my dad and I come out of the store and I'm ripping my stuffed treasure out of the package. Dad's response to her accusatory reaction? "What? She was crying..."
32. I'm a Friends trivia genius. Part of this has to do with how often I watch(ed) the show. Part of it has to do with how well I remember random stuff/everything.
33. I actually love trivia in general. Trivial Pursuit was my favourite board game even as a kid.
34. I hate Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. I don't have a really good reason for this, but it is the one song in their catalogue I truly can't stand listening to. What's even worse is that people don't take me seriously when I say this and continue to play it (really loud) or sing it. That's really not nice to do when it's making someone die inside, just so you know.
35. I love playing hostess. I'm always really disappointed if I can't manage to serve them good food and make them breakfast if they stay over, I want it all to be perfect. I'm also really sad if people can't come over at all. It's probably all part of that acts of service thing I like to do.
36. I don't get along with my dad. We have our moments, but for the most part we really, really annoy each other (and that's probably putting it very nicely).
37. I could probably quote you The Emperor's New Groove in it's entirety. That movie is freakin' hilarious and I don't care what anybody says.
38. I have a very irrational fear of leeches. Scream-and-run-far-away-if-I-see-one-on-T.V. kind of fear.
39. I also freak out when it's time for the blood pressure cuff at the doctor's office. I'm convinced that my blood pressure is actually quite low but comes out looking normal because it gets raised when I have a mini panic attack every time they put that thing on me.
40. Do you remember the movie Rock-a-doodle? I love, love, loved that movie when I was a kid. It was super cool, seriously.
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"Well, my daddy taught me how to sing
And that's why this voice means everything

Sun do shine, you better shine
(You better shine)
Well, the sun do shine, you better shine
(You better shine)
You better shine
(You better shine)"
- Rock-A-Doodle

life from the couch

I'm not a fan of how December is starting off...I mean this month should be packed full of way more excitement than this. There's not much I can do about it being all pathetically sick on the sofa yesterday, today, and what looks like one more for the home stretch tomorrow.

But, my Mandarin Cashmere candle from Arbonne came in the mail today and made my day so much better. It's like heaven in it's simplicity and oh-so-lovely scent. I just adore it. Please excuse the shameless plug for my business, but this is why I love it so much (because the products are so incredibly amazing).

Plus, I don't know if I've told you, but our stuff is vegan so I don't have to worry about that.

Oh, hurray for the little happy things!
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"I don't know what to say, so I'll just say what's in my heart: baboom, baboom, baboom." - Mel Brooks

no title

Dear Last Year's Me:

Congratulations, you're graduating. You worked your ass off and you struggled with school like no one else you know so that you could get here. For you it is indeed one of your biggest accomplishments, because, Miss Bi-polar-depressive-cutter, you didn't completely give up. You're finishing, not necessarily with honors or a super G.P.A., but you made it. Today, you are still proud of yourself and grateful for the people that helped you get there. Don't worry, we won't ever stop thanking them for that.

I won't lie though, we don't have a killer job, a boyfriend, our own apartment, or even our own car right now. The job we have doesn't even use that degree we worked so hard to bring home.

But it's OK.

It's OK because of who we are. It doesn't look like we have a lot to show for it but we have become one of those truly awesome people that others really like.

No, really, people like us and we don't have to try that hard. They like us for who we are and what we've become. And you wanna know a secret? They always did. Why else would all those awesome people stick with us through all those crazy times and help however they could?

You are going to grow so much this year, and this time it's not even going to hurt that much. Sure, there will be bad stuff. There were moments I thought we wouldn't get back up. We did though, and easier than ever before. We aren't so fearful or confused about who we are now. We've embraced our independence and realized, for real this time, what makes us so very special.

And you know the Ex? The one that made you cry so much? You cut him out of your life shortly after you graduated and moved back home. Deleted his phone number and everything. We don't regret it, we were relieved and it may have been one of the best decisions we ever made. I wouldn't be here talking to you like this if we hadn't done it. I fully believe that. He called the other night after calling a couple different people to get our number. That he called was surprising, why he called was not. But this time, we really didn't feel sorry for him and we didn't do anything but listen and catch up. That night, we went to bed easily without crying and slept really well. Crazy, huh? Turns out the whole time you were the needed, not the needy. I don't know how everyone (including you) had you convinced it was the other way around for so long. Apparently, mom always knew how independent and strong-willed we are, how incredibly strong we are, but I guess we had to figure that out on our own.

You made good decisions, and I'm proud of you. Right down to the choice to wear red shoes to that graduation ceremony mom and dad made you attend. Don't begrudge them that, don't deny yourself that sense of accomplishment or feel cheesy for partaking in it. So many friends and professors watched you and knew that it was more than what it was for some other graduates, and you knew it too. We all knew that it hadn't been an easy ride, that you put blood and tears (literally) into that degree, that you truly earned it. Maybe the only way you use it is posting to your blog on a regular basis, but we love our blog so that's OK too.

We have an exciting future ahead of us. We don' t know the things we want to, like how soon we'll be in love and getting married or what we want to do about work, apartments, and such but we're going to keep moving forward.

I love you. I love us. Thanks for being so awesome.

Love,
This Year's Me

hack hack cough...augh...

I woke up this morning and thought I might be dying.

Alright, alright, that's a bit over dramatic. But I did (and do) feel awful, what with the swollen feeling in the very bottom of my throat and pressure in my chest, the scratchy throat (above the swollen feeling part) and the painfully dry cough reaching all the way from the bottom of my lungs.

Yeah, yuck, right?

So I called the substitute to see if she could work for me today and naturally she was already going in for someone else. Because why would we get sick at different times? That would make things too easy. Then I called the other girl that works in the daycare on the days I don't and was able to leave a pathetic sounding, "Wanted to see if you could go in today..." kind of voice mail. Now, since I couldn't get someone to go in for me I felt in would be irresponsible to just not show up, so I put myself together and headed off to the school hoping they would send me home.

They did and I am so grateful. I stayed for a little bit while they got everything straightened out and felt like a very bad caregiver indeed. Poor kids, I wasn't exactly being very nurturing but they only had to put up with me for about an hour and then one of the teachers came in and took over for me. Oh, the relief!

Now I am trying to continually remind myself why I am at home today: I need rest to get over this yuckiness. I keep thinking of all these little things I could get done with my "day off." However, the sensible, body-knows-what-it-needs side is doing a really good job of telling the busy, so-much-to-do-so-little-time side to keep its butt in this recliner and get better. I think it's doing such a good job because it's had plenty of practice. My body always reacts with the upper respiratory junk when I don't let it rest properly or get all stressed out. It happened so often in college I thought I might have TB. Ok, not really...but I did stop bothering to go to the doctor because I had the "diagnosis" and treatment memorized.

Blog quality will go up soon, promise.

Christmas spirit is here

Right here. Right now.

I was having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Usually as soon as the decorations and wrapping papers and bows start popping up in the Target aisles I get so excited and will just linger among them for as long as possible. But this year, I wasn't feeling it as much and was holding out hope that once we started decorating, or put up the tree, or I started baking holiday cupcakes for everyone, I would just start bursting with carols and good cheer.

Or, I thought, something magical would happen and I would wake up, float out of bed, and be dancing the Nutcracker Suite on December first. That didn't happen, but once I got over being upset since I didn't get to sleep in and my mom and I starting pulling out boxes to decorate I was getting into it.

We got out the fake tree and put it together, it's one of the ones with lights already on it. Plugged it all in and the top half wouldn't light up. I stood there for twenty minutes or so going through each little light trying to figure out what was wrong, grumbling the whole time that we should just got get a real tree because fake trees are the bane of Christmas. I've been complaining about the fake tree ever since the first year we defaulted to one. I've been begging to go get a real tree for approximately seven years (maybe more? I've lost count).

Guess what? Right now, in our sitting room there is a REAL TREE! It's soft and full and smells so good. I was hopping around Lowe's and the guy helping us with it laughed at me. We got it home and little ol' me grabbed it and brought it into the house all by myself. There are even two little real pine cones on the REAL TREE.

And now, I am very much feeling that Christmas spirit. I love Christmas trees. I love Christmas.

Note: I would have pictures but I seem to have misplaced the cord for my camera, sorry.

Well that plan fell through

Couldn't chill out the way I wanted to today, but perhaps I'll end up in bed early tonight to make up for all the sleep I missed out on this week.

Right now I'm trying to convince my parents that we should go get a REAL Christmas tree. Our fake one isn't lighting and ever since we got it I've been whining about not having a real one. I feel that after six years with a fake and with this one being busted it's the right year to go back to the real thing.

Maybe this year I'm at least getting us closer to getting a real one eventually...