"Without the MacGuffin, I will not go near this thing."

It is articles like this that make me want to subscribe to Vanity Fair. But then I remember all the advertisements, and the wasted paper, and that I receive too much paper in the mail anyway...and I realize I can just read it online. Does my not paying for a subscription hurt the magazine? I don't think so, or they wouldn't have it available for free online. And I can just ignore the ads online...shhhh.

New Year's Resolutions, Short and Sweet.

I am going to try to make this short and sweet for a few reasons, mainly because I am a list-fanatic and will end up with a list of 150 resolutions if I don't. So, here we go...

1. Eat less, exercise more. I think that's pretty self-explanatory, but I'd like to exercise more frequently than my usual maybe-once-a-week-if-I'm-lucky. Like everyone this time of year, I'm wishing I was more toned and less flabby in certain areas, but I'd also like to just feel healthier in general. I eat pretty well, but I sometimes forget that just because food is healthy doesn't mean you should eat 10 servings. I hear exercising also gives you more energy, and that's always a good thing too. Overall, I think I will be a healthier, happier person (not that I'm not happy) if I can just suck it up and go to the gym. Goal: 30-45 minutes, 3 times a week.
2. Spend more time with my girlfriends. I have a pretty great group of girlfriends up here, and I don't see them nearly as much as I'd like to. And as much as I love lounging around with The Boy, I think it's important for me to remember my friendships outside our relationship, and not to let a month go by without seeing my friend's beautiful baby girl, or without indulging in a little silly movies/pedicures/gossip session. I love these girls, and I don't want to grow apart because we don't see each other enough. Goal: at least one girl-time day/night a month.
   
3. Organize a bi-weekly craft night. This kind of goes along with number 2. I have been talking to a few friends at work about organizing a craft night, where we meet at someone's house for snacks and chatting while we work on whatever craft we like, be it knitting or beading or scrapbooking, etc. I used to go to a monthly-ish knitting night when I worked at the theatre, but it kind of fizzled out, and I don't work there anymore anyway. I'd like to get the girls from the knitting night together with the girls from work, and anyone else who'd like to join in and make it a solid thing, every other week. I'm thinking a Friday night. I'm picturing cheesy movies, celebrity gossip, yummy snacks, and finally finishing my scrapbook from two years ago. And start some new knitting projects. Goal: every other Friday night, craft night with the girls.
4. Keep my apartment clean. I think that if I'm having people over every other week, I'll have a built-in motivator, but in general, I'd like to implement a regular cleaning schedule so that the bathroom sink doesn't get to that "oh my god I have to clean this" place, or so that I don't notice small clusters of dust bunnies in corners. Hopefully my new Kone will help with the little day-to-day maintenance. :-) Goal: have an apartment that is always clean enough for a surprise guest.

So, those are my New Year's Resolutions for 2008. They're not as abstract as resolutions in the past have been ("do my best to live day-to-day rather than obsessively planning for the future" and all that), which I think I like. I think having more concrete goals will help me to achieve them, and these are all things that I really do want to do in the next year.

Best wishes with whatever resolutions and goals you are setting for yourself, if you are setting any at all. Happy 2008!

I love someecards!

I KNEW this was the dress!

Sorry, sorry, I know I haven't posted pictures of me in the dress yet...but here is further proof that this was a good purchase. If Mindy Kaling and Oprah (and my gut instinct) were right, I should have known Real Simple Magazine would be right too. Nothing like a little affirmation to close out the year!

Happy New Year! Entry about skiing and New Year's resolutions forthcoming...

Lightbulbs of Fire

Call it what you will, this morning (it woke me up at 6am) I had the following dream:

I was in the passenger seat of a small car, driving up the freeway, presumably home from work. The driver was driving a little faster and a little closer to other cars as I'd have liked. Up in the sky off to our left, I saw this bright orange flashing, smoky light, kind of like a fire. Suddenly there was a loud noise and a giant (like, the size of an 18-wheeler) lightbulb came careening down through the sky, burning bright orange. There were those big billowy fire clouds all around it, like what you see when a car explodes in a movie or something, and the lightbulb crashed not far behind our car. We kept driving, and the car spun out, as bits of glass and fire crashed all around us -- I think at some point we drove through those fire-clouds. I woke up and was really hot. Like, really hot, and my heart was beating super fast.

I went back to sleep, cuddled up to The Boy, cause, well, you know...dreams are scary. But when I woke up about an hour later, I suddenly had the perfect gift idea! Was the glowing, burning lightbulb a premonition? Coincidence? YOU Decide!

Seemingly (and mostly) Unrelated Paragraphs

I had lunch today with the fabulous Andrea, a friend I've known since our Once Upon A Mattress days in high school, who just happens to work about 15 minutes away from Google. I just love lunch with her; it's like the best combination of blast-from-the-past and gabbing-with-a-girlfriend and I was looking forward to it all morning. And then at lunch she confessed that she reads this here blog (total readership: 9?), and I figured I'd throw in a little shout out. So, HI ANDREA! I WANT TO EAT LUNCH WITH YOU EVERY DAY!

It was raining this morning, and I wore my rainboots (or Wellies, as some fabulous people [cough cough Andrea cough cough] call them. I am not cool enough to call them Wellies.) for the first time all year. My rainboots are awesome. I got them a few years ago from Land's End, and they look like this, except they're light blue with a grayish darker blue trim. Also, they're not for kids. Or ARE THEY??? I also kind of love these kids ones, because who doesn't want their feet to look like strawberries?? Oh come on, you know I do. Let it be known that I love these (b&w AND "multi"), these (love me some watermelon!), and these (I could SO rock the pink argyle!). I think these are the ugliest things ever (from the "old lady loves to garden" collection, I suppose. color = vegetable???), and I detest these for some reason (though I'm sure they're both very popular). And I can't decide if this pair is cute or atrocious. Kind of like a child's scribbling gone bad.

My friend Dina posted about this in her blog, and I had to re-post here because it is so fabulously awesome. It belongs to the category of things I think are SNL sketches until I find out they're real. Ladies and Gents, please check out Business Bib at your earliest convenience. Warning: the pictures in their flickr photoset are kind of freaky. Either way, I kind of want to forward it to all of my managers. And, um, scratch that, I just did. And, um, also? I just clicked on a random piece in the "showroom" to look at (I thought the name was funny), and it was this one. Spooky...

I love the way the "mom" character on that vacuum commercial (how vague can I be?) says "spooky." It makes me giggle every time.

The videos on this Gmail Blog post made me a little smiley inside. I'm not having kids for a long time, but when I do, I kind of want to steal this guy's email journal idea.

I don't read Jon Carroll in the SF Gate all that much, but I frequently like what I do read. For example, this post about money and how we use it and how weird and silly it all is. I tend to have thoughts like this a lot, about how we're all movin' along in our little world, taking care of our day to day schleppings (just made up that word, oh YEAH i did!) and not thinking about things like how silly it is, for example, that we hear a strangely distorted version of a popular song, press a button on a plastic device, and have a conversation with our friends in the Netherlands from our sofas in Berkeley. Or how we open our laptops and click "print," and our managers receive boarding passes printed to their desks in another state. Technology sometimes freaks me out.

Our holiday bonuses have been announced, and that means I will soon be the proud owner of TiVo. I can't freaking wait. If I had TiVo yesterday, I could have logged on to my TiVo account and set it to record the channel 5 news yesterday evening, and I wouldn't have missed seeing a .1412412135 second clip of me wrapping presents for underprivileged children. Glory! It shall be mine! (more on those kids later)

Also, with my bonus, I might just have to purchase THIS GLORIOUS PIECE OF WORK. I fell in love with it here when I saw it on dooce, and I fell in love with it again when it was a decoration at the Google Holiday Party, and I am just so in love with it that I feel like it already belongs in my home, and I am just going to be disappointed each time I look at the empty space on my wall where it will someday hang. My god, I love it so much, and it would be so perfect on the wall above my TV. Also, this piece (which I also saw on dooce) is on sale, and thus, I might have to get both. But we'll see. Let's not go crazy, here.

I bought a tent from a guy at work today for $15. I figure it's a good investment, since I wished I had one this past summer, and I definitely plan on taking multiple weekend camping trips once it gets warm outside again (ha! It's mid-December and I'm already thinking about summer!)

So, yesterday I spent 2 hours at a warehouse in Milpitas, CA checking and wrapping gifts as a volunteer project with Family Giving Tree. Google sent a bunch of us over there, and I'm really glad they did. This is really a worthy project, and if you have a second, you should take a look at their website. It started as a school project at San Jose State, and has blossomed into a truly fabulous organization that provides gifts to over 75,000 kids each year. I'm proud to have been a volunteer elf here this year, and I hope to be able to do it again (and maybe for more than 2 hours, which just wasn't enough time!!!) next year.

This weekend, I will attempt to ski for the first time with The Boy's family (for the first time, ever, not just with his family. just to clarify.). It should be interesting, and fun, and all that, and I'm excited to finally become a big girl and strap on a pair, but mostly, I'm excited for SNOW. We don't have snow back where I come from (oh, Los Angeles, with your 1 inch of snow every 25 years, maybe), and I'm SO STOKED to experience winter. And we're doing it at Timberline Lodge which just looks like the perfect place to do it. As The Boy said, it will be a "good introduction to winter." I never knew people actually needed to be introduced to winter, but hey, you learn something new every day I guess. So, I'm very excited, especially since, as this is a 4-day work week for me, the week is almost over! The downside? I still haven't unpacked from my 5-day excursion home last week, so between tonight and Thursday night, I have to unpack, put away laundry, wrap presents, re-pack for snow, and clean my apartment (it was a disaster zone when I came home late Sunday night, and I do NOT want to experience that again).

Only a few hours left of work, and then I'm off to Project Get Ready For Vacation, Part II! YEAH!

Rockin' the ALL CAPS,
Kim

A Champion List-Maker

So, as you probably know if you've read a few of these blog entries, I like to make lists. I don't just like it, I love it. I excel at it. I could probably win a list-making competition. I rule at lists. Something to be proud of? Probably not. But here's another list, because that is the way I like to organize my thoughts.

1. I have to go to Target and possibly IKEA for work today (to buy Legos and pillows and other such decorative items for the new lounge I set up). I am way too excited about this.
2. I have been feeling a little guilty lately because my most recent blogs have basically been me posting videos and saying "go watch this" without any explanation. I always get annoyed when bloggers do this, because sometimes I am at work while I am reading and can't watch a video. Sometimes I can only read quietly. But here I am, having posted far too many "check out this video" posts...mostly out of laziness. I am too lazy. New Year's Resolution: Don't Be Lazy!
3. I have made approximately 3 different holiday gift lists. These are not wish lists, these are lists of each person I am getting a holiday gift for and what I am getting them, including different colors for whether or not the gift has been purchased. I am so damn organized I annoy myself. Why the multiple lists, you ask? Well, since you're so interested, I'll tell you. The first was online, using Google Docs, because I was thinking about it while at work, and wanted to be able to access the list even if I couldn't find the piece of paper it was written on. The second was on a piece of paper, because I realized I couldn't take the online list shopping with me unless I printed it out, which I was too lazy to do because I was curled up on the couch (there happened to be paper and pen nearby) and my printer is in the bedroom. The third was on paper at work, because I had left my original paper one at home and wanted to see if I could remember everything to know how much Google Schwag to order online. The fourth I am thinking about making right now, because nothing says Holiday Season like a list. Also, I am anal and want to make sure I haven't forgotten anyone/thing before I make my work-related Target run...you know...since I'll be there anyway.
4. I don't know what I would do if I found out that Target had bad employee practices or something.
5. Same goes for Bed, Bath and Beyond.
6. And IKEA.
7. I am going home for post-Chanukkah tomorrow. The next few weeks look like this: Los Angeles (5 days), work (4 days), Oregon/Washington (8 days), Berkeley/New Year's/no work (4 days). Basically, in the next 3 weeks, I am working for 4 days. And only using 6 of my vacation days. I love the holidays.
8. One of my co-workers brought in a huge tin of holiday cookies from her dad. I will be eating them soon. I have also been eating a ton of holiday cookies that I made in a cooking class at work. I love cookies.
9. My BFF Reed makes really nice hats, and I have been wearing the ones she has made me almost every day, and getting tons of compliments. She should feel free to make me as many hats as she wants to.
10. My cube at work looks like the holidays vomited all over it. I need to take pictures, but I left my camera at home. It's a crappy camera anyway. When I get back next week, I'll be sure to post pictures. I think.

Well, the list has 10 items, and I'm anxious to go to Laura's cube and fill my mouth with cookies, so that will have to suffice for now. Oh, and the holiday party dress? Totally a success. Thank you, Oprah and Mindy Kaling (aka Kelly Kapoor).

A Funny Video

Wednesday. That is all.

I have been having a crazy week, and today is no exception. I have a brief moment to pause and reflect while I anxiously (seriously, though) await my delivery from IKEA. This has been one of the greater hassles of my life, and all I can say is my co-workers better appreciate the deluxe new lounge I am setting up! The delivery is supposed to arrive "between noon and 4pm," and it is currently 3:20pm. There's not much in this world that is more frustrating than waiting for a delivery. Why do they always come at the end? And why do I have a meeting that starts at 4pm? And why do I have a sick feeling that this isn't going to be easy?

In other news, here are two videos for you to watch. They are funny. You should watch them.

1. Give the Jew Girl Toys. I do love Sarah Silverman, and this video is just more reason to.
2. Here Comes Another Bubble. A Cappella meets Dot Com. I thought it was pretty funny.

Also, my new party dress (in "mauve," which is the burgundy one) just arrived today. I tried it on in the bathroom at work (couldn't wait to get home!!!), and was a little underwhelmed. Sad. Sad. Sad. But that's what happens when you get your expectations up too high. It's really quite pretty, and I think once I practice and learn to tie it right, and wear heels (instead of my jeans pushed down around my ankles because I was too hurried to take them off), it will actually look nice. Of course, now that I ordered it, it's on sale for $30 less than I bought it for (which, admittedly was $70 less than the original price), so that's a little annoying, but oh well. I needed it ASAP, for the holiday party at work this weekend.

I want to go home and try it on and look fabulous and indulge my girlieness! I do! Also, I kind of want to curl up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate and knit while I watch HGTV. Ah, it's looking to be quite an evening.

Happy Chanukkah, All!

Holiday Bonus?

If/when I get a holiday bonus this year (apparently all full-time employees do), I want to buy:

• a new digital camera (not sure what kind yet)
• TiVo

Whatever I don't spend, I will save in my "fun stuff" cash box, which I have not put anything into in a while. This box is basically my keep-some-spare-cash-around box, so when I want to splurge on a little something (or an unexpected need for a gift arises), I don't have to tap into my checking account.

Holiday bonus, come now! I am impatient! :-)

The holidays put me in a mood that is simultaneously nostalgic and consumerist. I think they're supposed to do that, according to "the man" anyway. You feel all warm and fuzzy and festive, and you want to buy things to make you feel that way all the time. Like pumpkin-spice candles, and soon apple-cinnamon candles, and warm sweaters, and new shoes, and and and and and....I'm not usually this stuff-driven, I swear. But sometimes it's fun to indulge.

I feel so spoiled and, well, American. But at least I'm aware of it, right?

A Night at the Opera

I love pleasant surprises, I really do. So when my friend Stephanie called me yesterday afternoon asking if I wanted a free ticket to the San Francisco Opera that night, I was very excited. There was a bit of confusion -- I thought she said La Racine, then I thought it was La Rondine (Puccini), and it turned out to be The Rake's Progress (Stravinsky). Needless to say, I was totally surprised when I showed up. But very pleasantly so.

The opera itself wasn't really my thing. Too Faustian, not enough making sense...and I feel like there was a lot that I just flat-out didn't get. But oh well. The performers were great, and I liked the music (good thing I'm into atonal Stravinsky). The real star of the show, though, was the set. So, So, So, So, SO COOL. It had all these hydraulic parts, with parts of the floor opening up, things coming up from underneath, and just really remarkable transformation capability in general. I can't talk about it very well for some reason, maybe I'm tired, but the design was really very good.

Here is an example: the swimming pool. The lights made it look like the water was rippling, and they had it set up so there was an open space (unseen by the audience) so that people could dive into it - they even had a small water splash happen whenever someone did. It was really, really fun.

And best of all? The whole night was free (shuttle from work to SF, free ticket, ride home from Steph)! Heck yes.

If you're having a bad day...

...like I am, check out these two things.

One: A really, really gross photo explanation of how to make a "turducken"

Two: A really, really cool website that tells you what recipes you can make from what you have in your house

I can't guarantee it will make your day any better, but it will distract you for a few minutes.

Sometimes, I Am Totally a Girl

Ok, so sometimes I go into what I call Girl Mode, which is less of a Mode and more of a Mood (maybe?). When I go into Girl Mode, I want to Go Shopping. Let's get one thing straight before I go into this: I am not a shopper. I do not like the mall, I don't like spending money, and I hate crowds. But sometimes, on occasion, I want...I need...to wander around with a girlfriend and just look at pretty things. Sometimes, if the mood strikes, I buy a pretty thing. And then I feel all girlish and giggly and embarrassed but really sort of giddy all over. It's terrible, really. But a part of life, I believe.

So. This Sunday, I got together with the lovely Emika, and after a delightful lunch at Venus (always a long wait, so worth it -- though I'm sticking to me tried and true eggs benedict next time; my veggie nest was too much like a salad), I decided to take her to Bay Street. Now, Bay Street is nothing special, but it is the perfect solution to my "mall bad, shopping good" Girl Mode. It basically has all the stores I love (with the exception of Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond, but that would just be dangerous), in a simple, easy to access strip, but it's not a strip mall. I'm not good at describing things, apparently, so just check out the website if you're interested.

We wandered through H&M, thinking nothing was too special (but then, that's H&M for ya, isn't it? Really good if you know what you want and they happen to have it, not so good for inspirational). But then, oh then, we decided to go to Banana Republic. This store has always been the "when I have a real job, I can go in here and look around" store for me. Not that I can justify, or afford, a $98 cap sleeve shirt, but now I can totally look around and see if there is anything beautiful on sale. Like these shoes:

which I totally purchased. They were originally $68, but I got them at 30% off, so they were under $50. For a beautiful pair of yellow/gold pleated satin ballet flats, I'd say that's pretty darn good. I've been trying to spend more than $20 on a pair of shoes lately--I've come to a point in my life where comfort reigns over cost where shoes are concerned, thanks to one Payless Shoes blister too many. Honestly, on shoes, it's worth it to spend a little more. And it's not like I'm spending $200; $50 on shoes is actually considered average-to-cheap. Who knew? Now I'm just trying to resist buying them in plum (or Brinjal Purple), which apparently is my new favorite color.

Speaking of plum-colored satin, Emika bought this amazing purse. It was only $35 on sale, and it is SO not a $35 purse. It's beautiful and glorious and I can't believe I'm talking about a purse like this but if you could only see it in person you would understand oh my god. It is lovely. Here is a picture that does not do it any justice whatsoever:

My god, it is so perfect, I am more than considering buying it in teal. Or "artisan blue." Whatever, it's teal. And for $35, I might have to treat myself. Again. Damn you, 3-paycheck November!

I think I can justify it because it looks like I'm getting a free flight to Washington for Christmas with The Boy's family. Thank you, Southwest Rapid Rewards! So, that saves me about $350...most of which I will put in savings, spend on other people's gifts, etc....but what's $35 for a truly exceptional handbag? It also comes in the beautiful yellow (which they call "kayak yellow" -- gross) of my ballet flats, but I'm not so crazy as to go all matchy-matchy here.

I am currently on a mission to find the perfect party dress...which I wanted to find in a luscious plum, teal, navy or hunter green satin, but I don't know if that is going to happen, really. But now that I have yellow satin flats, and the potential teal satin handbag (maybe I'll visit Banana Republic on the day after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday, aka Am I Crazy??? Maybe just a little), I should really find a dress so I can feel all pretty this holiday season.

Oh god, I am being silly. I'm stopping. Now.

Checking your address on Google Maps

I'm in another video -- and this feature is really cool! Check it out! For more info, go to: http://maps.google.com/help/maps/edit/promo.html

PS - it's about 30 seconds long.

PPS - I am the token girl.

A Two Hour Nap, A Two Hour Nap

I just woke up from a two hour nap. What? I haven't taken a nap on a Saturday afternoon in I can't remember how long! Now I'm feeling sleepy and lethargic, and am just waiting around for my second wind.

Funny note: I just started watching Bridget Jones's Diary, and have noticed something funny. Shirley Henderson's character Jude is described as spending most of her days at work locked in the women's bathroom, crying about her boyfriend/husband. Shirley Henderson also plays Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies (which came out one year after Bridget Jones). In case you don't know, Moaning Myrtle is a ghost who spends all of her time crying in the girls' bathroom. Coincidence? I think not! :-) Also interesting...I had no idea she was not a young adult (around the age of the rest of the kids in HP) -- she was born in 1965!

I went to IKEA today and used about half of the $80 gift card I received when I purchased my couch to buy the kind of almost-frivolous home decor I would probably not use my own money for...things like candle dishes, baskets to organize my linen closet, and a spring-form cake pan. And a garlic press, and an egg slicer, and a bread basket, and some super cute candle holders. I love having "free money" at IKEA. I am such a nerd.

Now I am on a hunt for some pretty looking and pretty smelling block candles. It's easy to find the Christmas or "holiday" smelling ones (and actually, I already have an apple cinnamon candle ready in the linen closet...I bring it out every year for a month or so), but I'm having a hard time finding something pumpkin-y. We were at The Boy's cousin's house the other night, and they had these gorgeous orange candles that were almost mosaic-like, and they smelled deliciously like fall. Not like pumpkin pie, but definitely pumpkin. I would love to find some of these! Any ideas in/near Berkeley? The scented candles at Walgreens and IKEA are just not doing it for me.

Ok, now for a list of links I've been saving up for far too long:

• Barack Obama came to work last week. The line to get in was intense. It was standing room only. And I thought he was a very very good speaker. The link will take you to information about the visit, as well as to a video of his speech/Q&A.
• This puzzle floor is way cool. Way cool.
• Not that I need another tote-type bag, but check this out. I really, really like it. And now that it was just payday (in 3-paycheck November!), I'm having a very hard time resisting...
• GradGirl wrote about her recent transition into being the boss at her work. One thing she doesn't like is the loss of that feeling of employee camaraderie. Now, I'm not going to say that there's no manager-employee boundary at Google, or that there isn't a definite difference between employees and their superiors, but it's definitely different from most places. It's a very odd sort of non-hierarchy here, especially in the engineering departments. I mean, there are different levels of employees and managers, but it's just a very open communication line. There is a lot of freedom, and a lot of this sort of trust, I guess. Also, the managers of my team came with us on our recent off-site trip to Sky High Sports, where even the "higher up" engineering directors played Extreme Dodgeball, getting really into it when we ended up playing "grown ups vs. kids" against a very talented group of 10 year old boys who had the day off school.
  
• If you want to know about some really cool new Gmail features, click here. It's actually a very nice and friendly explanation of the features.
• An article about my friend Peter.

My downstairs neighbors have been playing very loud music for the last hour and a half (maybe more, since I was asleep). Le sigh. Time to be productive.

Rainy Saturday

Today is Saturday, and it is raining. The Boy and I slept in until a glorious 10:00am, and then went to buy me a little $25 bookshelf that I found on Craigslist. We went to a drizzly Berkeley Farmer's Market, stocked up on approximately $45 worth of fresh produce, cheese and bread (between the two of us), and I drove him to his tailgate. Now I am curled up on my comfy couch, after having eaten some yummy deviled eggs (from already hard boiled eggs I took from work on my way home on Friday -- they're just going to go bad anyway, right?), watching the U$C/Cal game and being generally pleased.

My only complaint is that my apartment is a bit chilly. The windows are really old, and I don't think they keep the cold out very well. Additionally, I haven't quite solved the rug situation, so my hardwood floors are bare and not absorbing any of the heat, or cold, or whatever carpet/rugs are supposed to do to make your house warmer. Do any of you readers out there (hellooo? I know you're out there somewhere!) have any low-cost, renter-friendly suggestions for keeping the cold out and the warm in? I have a rather old space/wall heater, and I'm going to have to give in eventually and make my landlord get it to operate, but it's probably expensive to run, and I'm sure it doesn't work all that well anyway.

Help!

Other than that, things are business as usual at Chez Kim. I haven't gotten as much cleaning done today as I would have liked, but I did pay my bills (and there are still two more paychecks coming this month! Granted, the second will go almost entirely to December's rent, but still...Wahoo!) Time to start thinking about holiday shopping...? It is November, after all.

Hopefully this rain will ease up a bit. For now, I'm going to turn on my mini-dorm-sized-space-heater (seriously, it's like 6"x6"), put on some slippers and curl up on the couch with some hot chocolate and my knitting. Go Bears.

The Writers' Guild Strike

A writer friend sent me this video, and I thought I would share. Simple and informative. Check it out.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Man, vacation was a good idea. We started down the coast to Santa Cruz, to visit my little sister and take her out to a nice lunch. She was very appreciative--and we certainly remembered what it's like to have just started college...and how nice it was to be taken out to a good meal every once in a while! We ate on the pier, and saw tons of seals. A great way to start out the trip!

We stayed at the Lighthouse Lodge (my yelp review), which turned out to be great. The photo below is of the lovely vaulted ceilings.

The main attraction of this vacation was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. So much fun. Photos below:

adorable otter

I loved these jellies!

These too...

Oh, and these...

I'm wild about otters!!!

We also ate at the amazing Passionfish restaurant (my review here). This was our big splurge meal ($100 total for the two of us), though really, considering the fact that we had a 1/2 bottle of wine, 2 salads, 2 entrees and dessert, that's really not too bad. I wish we had eaten here a second time instead of spending almost as much at Blue Moon (my review here), which I'm not even going to link to because it was so unpleasant. BUT, Blue Moon was the only unpleasant thing about the vacation. And I wish we could go back right. now. It was really fun to do a "grown-up" thing like taking a vacation. Ah, having a job :-)

Project Clean My Apartment is going pretty well. I need to do a good Swiffering and there are still things here and there that need to be put away, and there's a big load of cardboard (boxes from the couch) that need to be flattened and folded for recycling...but overall, it's ok. Hopefully it will be clean enough to take pictures of tomorrow. I'm sitting on my new couch right now, and it's just so nice!!!

Real World: IKEA

Ok, so I know I REALLY haven't posted in a long time, but I was on vacation. And I will post pictures of adorable otters soon. And of my new couch. Maybe even tomorrow. But for now, check out this video:



I think it's a funny concept; kind of reminds me of a combination of flash mobs and improv. I'm bummed that the one girl basically has no character, but if someone like Jessie* had been involved, it would have been way funnier. In the world of comedy, if you are a female, you have to work a little bit harder to be taken seriously. Or funnily, I guess.

Blogger says that funnily is a word. Ha. Ha. Ha.

*if you type in www.seriouslyjazzed.blogpsot.com instead of www.seriouslyjazzed.blogspot.com, you get a scary bible website. Try it. It's very fun. (not really)

Post Number 100 - Sara's New Video

Sara's new video was just released (if that's what you call it) online, and I thought I would share it with you in honor of my 100th post. Or something. Here it is. It's really fun, super cute, and pretty fun to watch. Plus, there are some pretty sweet dance moves from a man with glasses.

Enjoy!

More Videos

Having Just Returned from LA

The sun was setting so nicely over the green-brown hills, touching them with a simultaneously spectacular and soothing golden haze. But then I realized that the reason I could take advantage of this stunning view was that I was on the 405 South, stuck in traffic. And perched on top of those otherwise rolling hills are the McMansions of the stupidly rich.

Such is Los Angeles: at once breathtakingly lovely and terrifyingly unnatural.


Being in LA stresses me out; there are just too many people trying to get to too many places too fast. And they all seem to be angry. There's a sort of understood violent subtext in the air, where if you let your guard down for even one second, you will be cut off, nearly killed, or at the very least scowled at. And that's just merging from the 405 to the 101. Oy.

The weather was (and generally is) lovely...until the Santa Ana winds picked up (at one point, they were blowing at 83 mph!) started a few really bad fires through Malibu, Castaic and other areas of the coast. Last night I heard there were upwards of 700 firefighters working on the coast, and Pepperdine was being evacuated. They lost the big Presbyterian church and Castle Kashan which had always been driving-to-the-beach landmarks (for me anyway), schools are closed, you can smell the smoke from miles away. Driving back up the 101 N yesterday afternoon, we drove through thick clouds of yellow-brown smoke for at least an hour.

Nothing too out of the ordinary for October in LA, but every year fire season surprises me anyway.

In happier news, my friend Sterling just booked a 4-year contract with All My Children. His character's name is Dre, and apparently he is in a garage band. I want to get TiVo just so I can watch it. You may also recognize Sterling from Disney 365, when he was with High School Musical the stage show (on tour). So funny.

Things I Think

1. I think it is interesting that when I am upset, anxious, or out of balance in general, I engage in Retail Therapy. Now, Retail Therapy is common among women (so it's not too interesting I guess), I'm told, but my particular form of this activity involves a one Bed, Bath and Beyond. It has also been known to involve the kitchen/tupperware aisle of Walgreens. Or baking supplies. Or other home-related things. I know a lot of women buy shoes or purses or clothes or makeup or jewelry etc etc etc...but buying an oven thermometer and a silicon baking mat are my comfort foods of shopping. There's just something about walking into that haven that is the floor-to-ceiling racks of kitchenware that brings me to a more peaceful place. Maybe I'll bake some cupcakes tonight.
2. I think that eventually, someday, when I get married, I will have a simple wedding. Very, very simple. Of course, I say that now, right? Yesterday I helped with my friends' wedding, and it was just so crazy that I can't imagine going through that again. And it wasn't even a terribly elaborate event! It was an absolutely beautiful wedding, and the party was totally fun, but it sort of reminded me of being backstage at opening night...even once the curtain goes up, there are a million things to do! I was sort of acting as the P.A. of the day, carrying purses, glasses, makeup, shoes, shawls, programs, cameras, bobby pins, wine glasses...ushering people to the dining room, finding people for pictures, directing an RV to the freeway, decorating tables, not to mention the eating/drinking/dancing...whew! Oh, and did I mention that the bride's grandfather almost died during the brunch reception? All in all, it was a 19.5 hour, beautifully exhausting day. I'm glad I made the decision to go home and sleep in my own bed. It felt good to finally slide into bed by myself, close my eyes, and just relax. It was the first time since 6:45am that I had really sat still, and I could feel my pulse throughout my entire body! I mean, my head, feet, arms, everything was just in that part-throbbing part-relaxing state. It was nice to be finally laying down. So yeah. Weddings are a lot of work. No wedding for me for a long time. :-)
3. I think that a good friend comes over to hang out with you when you need to clean your apartment, and helps you to stay motivated while you do it. While my TV does "hang out with me" when I need to clean my apartment, it does the opposite of helping me stay motived. My apartment is a mess. But I suppose I deserve a day of lounging around like a lazy bum, right? I've been eating well all day...that's a plus.
4. I think I will be able to buy my new couch sooner than I thought. AND IKEA is having a special couch deal right now where you get an IKEA gift card worth 20% of the price of the sofa if you buy before December 22nd! (for me, that's about $80!!!)

I think I'm done thinking for now.

Elevaters!

My friends' band, Elevaters, is steadily rising to success. That's not the important thing though. What matters is that they are really, really great. Check them out on myspace, or on iTunes and CD Baby. Insomniac Magazine calls them "one of the best new hip hop acts right now."

LA2DAY magazine has a really great 2-part interview/article on them. Check it out!

Part One: Disciples of Light, Purveyors Of The Groove

Part Two: coming next week...

Street View: Six New Cities

We're Live!!!

This is my first 20% project at Google--the geo-marketing team was nice enough to let me act as a "creative consultant" on this video--I hope there will be more to come!

I think I've found a way to apply my literary management/dramaturgy background to Google...

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! Now YOU can download the mp3 of the song and make your own video response!!! For more information, go here (it's in the description to the right of the video).

Change your name to Rainforest and start a hemp farm in the Netherlands

I've got some delightful links for you out there this morning. I've been saving some of them up all week, so they might be outdated, but here they are anyway. Enjoy!

1. I got the title of this post from this article in by Mark Morford. Britney vs. Blackwater. You decide.
2. Morford's other article from this week uses phrases like "mountains of pornographic produce" and "culinary orgasm." It's about Whole Foods.
3. There is a teacher in NY that is making parents do homework. It actually sounds like a brilliant idea, and I hope it proves successful. Read the NY Times article here.
4. Radiohead is so cool, they're practically GIVING AWAY their new album! If I was more cynical, I'd make a comment about how a pay-what-you-can record is like, the ultimate in trendy hipster behavior. But I'm not (I guess), so I'll just say that it's pretty rad of them.
5. There's a fabulous thing going on in Oakland called the Urban Releaf program, where this group is planting free trees all over the city in an effort to make it a better place. Nature!

Happy Friday!

Two Video Wednesday

This is video number two.

So sad I missed it live. So happy it's on YouTube.

Two Video Wednesday

This is video number one. I watched it this morning.

Best line: "anyways, you guys want to go walk somewhere?"

Google Maps: Getting Started

This video is brought to you by the Google Maps team...with whom I am working on another maps-related video (coming to YouTube soon!) -- check it out!

Go Google Maps!

Post Number 91, Ta Da!

I am sneezing. I am sneezing because of the sun. The sun is shining in my eyes, through the big glass windows of the shuttle. The shuttle that I ride for free. Ok, I'll stop complaining about sneezing. Sometimes I forget to put things in perspective.

But still, sneezing is kind of annoying.

Oh well. I haven't written a real post on here in a while--it's been a lot of lists and re-posts and such, and I feel like I haven't really been contributing any interesting life tidbits lately. Which I guess doesn't matter because there's really no format to this blog. Well, the format is "whatever I feel like posting whenever I feel like posting it." Ah, freedom.

Anyway, I just thought I'd include a few life updates today. I'm in the mood.

First on the Agenda: Finances. I haven't been doing as well as I'd like in the money department. My income has significantly increased since my internship (duh), but so have my expenses. I can afford all my bills, and even to pay my parents a bit of what I owe them every month (and I should be done paying them by late January), but I just hate the feeling of wanting more. I want to be putting money into savings, which right now I'm just not doing at all. I say it's because the money I'm paying my parents will eventually turn into money I put into savings, but right now I'm just frustrated that I can't do both. But paying my parents back is more important, so I just have to be patient. Nobody wants to be in debt--even if it is to an interest-free, late-payment-forgiving, nice and understanding source like your parents.

Anyway, I've been thinking about sticking to a budget for a while. I have definitely succumbed a little to the "ooh I have new money!" thing, buying a new shirt here...spending $100 on food for a housewarming party there...etc. Not that I'm going nuts, and I can still pay my bills, but I have certainly not been as frugal in the last few months as I'd like to be. Maybe it just took 2-3 months of being excited about my newfound steady income and now the excitement has worn off? Maybe it's finally hit me that pay increase + bill increase does not = tons of disposable income? Do you have any experience with this, readers?

Item Two: Knitting. I have joined a weekly knitting group at work. We meet for an hour at lunch on Fridays. I'm excited to have a regular (whenever I can make it, anyway) knitting time...and some of the ladies in the group are very experienced! Hopefully I'll finally finish the scarf that I'm making with the yarn Reed gave me for graduation...in 2006. It's going to be a lovely scarf, soft and warm and wide, even if I did mess up the seed stitch every once in a while. Gives it character, no?

Also, a few of the girls at work and I have been talking about starting a biweekly craft night, where everyone brings a craft she (or he, I suppose) is working on, be it knitting or crocheting or scrapbooking or beading or basket weaving or celebrity gossiping...and we will sit and eat and craft and watch cheesy-but-classic movies (Dirty Dancing, Return to Oz, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, etc). Sounds like fun to me!

Perhaps I'll post a picture from my housewarming party later--I, of course, did the cheesy thing where I take a picture of my tablescape. It was not so much a tablescape as it was a lovely display of food with one vase of flowers, but it was (I thought) deliciously impressive. So I took a picture. If I get it uploaded, I'll post it later.

Item Three: Fun. This weekend was really great. Friday night housewarming = really nice. Saturday Cal beating Oregon and moving up to be the #3 school in the country = awesome. Splurging on dinner items (fresh salmon, yukon gold potatoes, lemon, strawberries, gourmet cheese) and having a mini-wine sampling (had small amounts of a few bottles left over from Friday) and cooking a delicious meal at home with The Boy = truly wonderful. It was so nice to hang out and spend the day shopping at Market Hall (pricey, but fun to splurge), wandering around the "Out and About in Rockridge" festival, tasting fruits and cheeses. Then to come home and prepare a delicious meal together...just one of the best ideas we've ever had.

Happy Tuesday! May Tuesday be better than Monday!

Raw Video: San Diego Mayor Sanders Supports Gay Marriage

No, Really, Let's Go to the Mall.

Thank you to Melissa for introducing me to this video. Check out the rhyming. And the dancing. And the rapping. And everything about (aboot) it.

I wish I could have been in this video, and I know you do too (Jessie, I'm talking to you). If anyone wants to recreate it (and, um, finance said recreation), I'd be totally down.

Now stop reading this and watch this video!

Wunna-Weeks! And More!

My old ComedySportz buddies Adam and Danny have this new weekly shorts website called Wunna-Weeks! It is great, and they are great, and you are great. Well, you would be great if you went to www.wunnaweeks.com and checked it out. So go. But only if you want to be great. This week they feature an interview with fellow actlete and all around funny guy, Chris Tallman. And yes, he's great too.

There are some websites I've wanted to share for the last week, but work has been busy and I have been unmotivated to turn on the computer at night. So, here they are, in a brief moment of stillness at the Goog. Without further ado:

• Burqini Swimwear
• The new Apple iPod, special event (yeah, this is old news now)
• Martha Stewart explains why you should get rid of stuff. I agree.
• San Francisco Apartment Therapy agrees as well. (Apartment Therapy is MY new therapy)
• The SFist reviewed Sara's most recent SF show - and they love her.
• Reusable produce bags rock!!!
• This installation/art/theatre piece sounds really cool. Really, really cool. It's called "One Million Forgotten Moments," which is just about perfect.
• America At Home: a project from Against All Odds Productions, Snapfish and IKEA. I think I'm going to submit photos. This sounds like a really cool project. [note: I just found out that Google is supporting the project as well. Awesome.]
  

My left eye is getting a little twitchy; I think it's time for a break from the computer.

Little List

It's been a long time since I've just posted a simple list of things I find interesting, so here goes:

1. This list of high-protein foods. I have been trying to get more protein, and this is pretty helpful!
2. A hilarious explanation of how the moon landings were faked.
3. I really really really want to go on a weekend getaway to the Mendocino Vacation Cottages. It's expensive (for me anyway), but it just looks wonderful.
   
4. A friend at work just sent me a link to Apartment Therapy, and I am now subscribed through Google Reader. I particularly like this entry.
5. This book looks really interesting. Who wants to buy it for me?
   

Five for now, maybe more later. Maybe not.

Finally Photos!

I have finally deemed my apartment Photo-Ready, and I've posted pictures online. Click here to check them out! It's so nice feeling settled...even though there are a few things still on the List of Things To Get. All in good time, all in good time.

Woo hoo!!!

Small and Funny and Fine

Is this the most ridiculous bathing suit you've ever seen? It was in a sidebar ad on facebook the other day, and I just about peed my pants laughing. So odd. So very odd. Almost as odd as those full-body bathing suits I posted about a while back. I can't find the link to the post, because my little google search box isn't working very well (hmmm), but here's a link to the bathing suits. Quite a difference if you ask me. Oy.

I like this article from Real Simple about putting your pack rat qualities towards organizing--there's something I can really learn from!!

Today is a short day in blog posting, and that's about it for now. I'm borrowing a fancy camera from work so I can take nice pics of my apartment this weekend...score!

List Failure, and That's Actually Ok.

Last week, I made the following list of weekend goals:

• finish unpacking
• clean apartment
• take pictures of apartment
• spruce up back porch

I accomplished none of those things. Well, that's not totally true. I cleaned my apartment. A little. A little little. I did put my papers/bills away and reorganize my file folders, which needed to be done. A lot of outdated stuff (Curves membership, UCLA things, old student loan papers) to shred and recycle. So there's that.

But I didn't actually clean.

And I didn't finish unpacking, and I didn't take pictures, and I didn't touch the back porch other than to water my basil plant.

But I'm ok with that. Why? How is this possible? I spent the weekend helping The Boy clean and organize his room. It really needed to be done, and he wanted my help. Because if there's one thing I'm good at, it's home organization. And I (freak that I am) actually enjoy it. We got about halfway done, and it's already a serious improvement! The room looks so much bigger, cleaner, and more spacious, and maybe I'm being a control freak (maybe?) but I think he'll like this having "a place for everything and everything is in its place" (does anyone else remember that song?) thing. I know I do. Maybe he'll let me post before and after pictures up here--I'd like to maybe have a little home organization side business, and it would be nice to have a portfolio of sorts.

Anyway, the other reason I'm ok with having totally failed my list? I can do it this weekend. This weekend is the Cal vs. Tennessee game, and The Boy will be at the game with his family. I will be keeping a safe distance until I know that A) Cal has won or B) it has been approximately 24-48 hours since the game. The emotional connection to sports is something I can never understand firsthand, but it is something I can respect and try to understand from the outside. And I even enjoy going to games now that I understand a bit of what's behind it (and how it's played. That helps.) -- I just know that on gameday, unless it's not one of the Important Ones, my Saturday will be less stressful if I let him do his thing. This weekend, that means I get to stay home organizing my apartment. And watch the game on TV if it's on.

How-To Explore the Sky

Here's a very detailed demo of how to use Google Sky. Ummm the sky's the limit?

Seriously, it rocks.

Google Sky!

I just learned about this at work on Friday, and you should really check it out. If you already have Google Earth, download the new (still free) version and explore the sky!

Busy Busy Busy Bee

I just realized I haven't posted in almost a week, and really, I have just been busy! Things that have kept me occupied, in list form of course:

1. An impromptu camping trip to Yosemite this past weekend. SO not my usual style, and it took a little talking to myself and forced relaxation every once in a while (like when we were about an hour away and still hadn't gotten in touch with the car we were meeting there to find out where exactly we were camping and when we were meeting them and how we would find them with no cell reception!), but mostly, I let the naturally relaxing beauty of my favorite national park take over. I somehow found it difficult to get stressed out there. There was the brief moment or two of "how the heck are we going to find them!?!?!" panic, but I quickly dismissed it, telling myself that if we didn't find them, we'd make up a backup plan and just enjoy being in nature for a night. While we didn't do the hikes I really wanted to do due to time (Bridalveil Falls, Mist Trail, Tuolomne Meadow), we explored areas I'd never spent much time in (Tuolomne Grove, Rainbow Pool, and Hetch Hetchy). All in all, a very successful trip for my sanity, my happiness, and my trying-to-be-less-of-a-planner goals.
2. Catching up to the present at www.dooce.com. I recently decided I was going to read ALL of Dooce's backlogged entries, starting at the very beginning and working my way up to the present day. Yesterday, I caught up. And I'm a little sad.
3. Going to really cool things at work, like an author talk with Greil Marcus (who wrote Lipstick Traces...) and a cooking class wherein I learned to make potato gnocchi from scratch!
4. The Google Dance.
5. Still getting settled in my apartment--I have about 3 more boxes of stuff to put away, and my goal is to figure out where it's all going and put it all away by this weekend. I just made up that goal. Literally, like just now.
6. Organizing my finances. Thanks to The Boy, I now have a spreadsheet with a fancy formula detailing my pay periods/rent/bills and how I am going to pay back my parents within that time frame. He is awesome. I was totally freaking out about this because I am very bad at math, and numbers scare me a little. He is good at math, and is very patient and good at explaining mathy things to me in a way that is non-threatening, not overwhelming, and mostly understandable (I sometimes understand when he's explaining and then can't repeat it back to him at all). I sure like him a lot.
7. Wanting this. It would be so perfect for my back porch. Which I totally need to clean out and spruce up. Maybe this weekend.
8. Making a new list of weekend goals:
• finish unpacking
• clean apartment
  
• take pictures of apartment
• spruce up back porch

I think that's a reasonable list. I had to stop myself from adding to it...I tend to do that. Make lists and just keep adding things to them for the sake of organizing Every Last Inch Of My Life. I'm starting to realize that I can't (and shouldn't!) put everything into a category. Some things should be organized, some should not. This is a life lesson I am trying to learn and work on every day. I want to just chill out, take things as they come, and be an anal-organized-planner only when necessary. Cause I am damn good at it, but it's damn stressful to live every minute of every day like that.

the solar powered jar light I totally want

Good Blog, Heather

I was doing my usual reading of backlogged entries at dooce.com this morning, when I happened upon this entry relating to the book Good Dog, Carl. If you have ever read a Good Dog, Carl book, read this entry.

Read it.

She makes me laugh. So very much. I literally half-snorted, half-laughed...right here at my desk while I was trying to eat my breakfast. Good thing none of my cube-mates are here yet. The combination of cereal, orange juice and snorty-laughy-Kim might have been annoying.

Kitchen Gadgets I Totally Want

• This table grill. Sometimes the George Foreman just doesn't cut it (sorry, George!), and I really want the taste and experience of grilling something (meat. meat. meat. veggies. meat.) over an open flame. Really. Thank you, dad. Too bad this cute little totally-safe-to-use-indoors grill costs around $300. Thank you, Daily Candy for making me Want What I Can't Have.

• This cutting board set. Now, I'm not ridiculous. I'm not going to spend almost $100 on cutting boards. But if this happened to fall in my lap, or on my counter, I would not complain. It is so neat with its interchangeable surfaces, so hygenic, so colorful. I know they'd just look lovely in my kitchen. Not that my $10 Walgreens (wooden) or $2 Bed Bath and Beyond (flexible plastic) or free (wooden block) cutting boards aren't cutting it. Ha. Cutting it. I cut things. In the kitchen. Sometimes I chop things too. And my cutting and chopping surfaces sufficeth. But these are just That Much Cooler.

• These cupcake carriers. Or should I say, cupcake couriers? Fun colors, and totally useful. I really need some sort of cake/cupcake carrying/storing device, as leaving it in the pan and covering it with foil just Doesn't Cut It with me...then I don't get to frost the sides and put it on a decorative plate and DUH, what kind of Suzie Homemaker would I be then? My god, I am only 23. Why do I care so much about this stuff? Because I am a total nerd. Whatever. One day, I'll be in my late 30's or early 40's, and I'll have the kid who always has friends over because his/her mom makes delicious cake/cupcakes/cookies. All the time.

SO, I like kitchen things. I also like IKEA. I also like my new apartment. Strike that. I LOVE my new apartment. And I promise I'll post pictures soon...as soon as it's presentable enough to present to the internet. The end.

Little List...

A few snippets from Daily Candy that I thought were worthy of sharing:

• Sephora has lipstick that grows flowers. There are even some celebrity-designed colors. Normally that wouldn't excite me, but one of the (classy, if I do say so myself) colors was designed by Mariska Hartigay, only one of my favorite females in the acting world. So...yeah. Neato. I'm not going to spend $20 on lipstick any time soon (even if $2 goes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Am I a bad person?), but it's kinda cool that you can plant the lipstick tube after you use it (who uses a whole tube of lipstick?!? I don't think I've ever done that EVER in my LIFE!).
• I totally want to make heart-shaped eggs. Just for the novelty of it. Ha. Ha. Ha.
• Ha.
• One day, I would like to have enough "fun money" saved up so that I can look at Travelzoo's top 20 list and just pick one and go. Or go on a cross-country road trip. That would be nice too.

And this article from The Simple Dollar is particularly useful for those just graduating from college...or those just trying to get a handle on their personal finances.

I just tasted the BEST olive oil I have ever tasted. In my LIFE. You should go to www.sciabica.com and order yourself a bottle of the basil, lemon, and regular (the ones I tasted)...if you like spicy, try the jalapeno. They don't just infuse the olive oil, they actually press the lemon/basil/etc with the olives. At one point, I believe after tasting the basil, I actually uttered the words "holy crap that is amazing." After tasting the "regular" olive oil, I swore I would never buy from a supermarket again. It's a little pricey, definitely more pricey than at the gro' sto', but really? I might be totally un-frugal and stock up on a few varieties. Seriously, check it out. They sell it at the Google Farmer's Market (yes, we have a small farmer's market on campus once a week), and I'm sure the website will tell you where else to sample and buy.

So good.

Also, last note for today: I was just informed that we are having a Google Dance. Yes, that's right. A freaking DANCE. Food, drinks, video games, some sort of tech talk "meet the Google engineers" thing...I don't know if I can contain my excitement. Emily The Awesome has just told me about my new favorite dance-related game. This is going to be amazing. April 21, here we come!

Two Very Different Views On Weddings

I know about a bajillion people who are recently engaged, recently planning weddings, or recently married. Seriously, it's getting weird. Hey, weddings are fun and all, and it's not like I'm invited to (or required to attend) all of them, so I can't complain about buying a bajillion gifts or anything, but it's just weird. I have a list of about 20 people I have known since college/high school, many of whom are in their early-mid 20's, who are about to embark upon this whole marriage thing. I'm certainly not ready for it, but I am a girl, so I do get swept up in the excitement of the whole shebang...talking about dresses and flowers and wine and dresses and music and dancing and dresses and rings and dresses and you get the idea.

But I digress. The point of this blog is to share two little articles I dug up from reading other people's blogs.

1: How I feel about weddings. They should be simple, and more about the joining of two people (and two families) than about spending money or matching linens. Though I do like matching linens. And cake tasting sounds like a LOT of fun (though I hear that when you actually want to purchase a cake, you should never mention the word "wedding" or they will jack up the price by about 30%). Whether or not I am ready for a wedding of my own, I don't know a girl who hasn't thought about her wedding, or designed an engagement ring online (just for fun), regardless of whether or not she is currently in, or has ever been in a serious relationship. In fact, I find that more girls (myself included) tend to do such fantasy wedding planning when they are not in a we-could-one-day-possibly-in-the-future-become-married type of relationship. I don't know why. That's not the point. The point is, I don't want to spend so much on the wedding that I can't afford a house. Or kids. Or to not be in debt for the rest of my life. I'd like to stand with my partner, in front of our families and close friends, exchange vows in a ceremony that reflects us as a couple, and then celebrate with good food and drink and dancing late into the night. And I want to wear a pretty dress.

2: This wedding (and proposal and relationship, really) kind of makes me want to throw up. Just read it and you'll see. If you think it's just the most magical thing you've ever heard of, and that the extravagances are small prices to pay for the most perfect day of your life, then we probably aren't friends. Or we're friends, but you have a lot more money than I do...and we probably don't hang out. Like, ever.

Bottom line: I'm a tightwad and a romantic, and I don't think I need to spend a million bucks (the national average is apparently $37,000) to prove or express my love. Honestly.

Also...I think many people take themselves too seriously. I try to spend every day doing what I can do be happy, not fill my life with stress, and in general, to just enjoy the day. I don't want to feel like I need to come home and go out to "unwind" or "have fun." I want my whole day to be fun. Shouldn't that be the way of the world?

A Little List of Thoughts

Because I've been reading a lot of www.dooce.com lately, here are some thoughts. In list form.

• Sometimes, you're just really in the mood for milk chocolate. I am not usually, being a preferrer (I know it's not a word) of dark chocolate, myself. However, just now, at 3:04pm on Monday, August 6th, 2007, I wanted some. Thank goodness I, for reasons previously unknown to myself, grabbed a disc of milk chocolate in addition to the semi-sweet (just in case) and bittersweet (heaven on earth) discs I grabbed from the microkitchen at work.
• I had a very large breakfast (feta, spinach, bell pepper, mushroom, and more unnecessary cheese omlette, everything bagel with the insides mostly scooped out and filled with lox spread, pineapple, boysenberries, strawberries and grapes) and most of an Organic Guatemalan Low Fat Mocha at approximately 9:00am, and thus was not hungry for lunch. Go figure. So around 2:30, when the hunger started to arrive, I grabbed a chicken Cesar salad (and aforementioned chocolate) from the microkitchen. I didn't even eat all the chicken; I wasn't that hungry. So for lunch, I ate lettuce, onions and Parmesan cheese with dressing and croutons. Mmm. Healthy. Not so, although it was made at No Name, our organic-natural-hippie-dippy-so-delicious cafe, so I'm sure it couldn't have been THAT bad for me.
• My apartment is coming together. Now I just need to put some stuff away. In a big way. Really, I feel that I will not feel that my living room is complete (nor will it be, damnit!) until I have purchased my beautiful new couch (pictured here), and a bookshelf or two (so many boxes of books taking up so much space!)
• I really like having my own apartment.
• No matter how much I purchase, there is always a list of things I need to buy. I hear that's called "having your own apartment."
• Watching HGTV (incessantly) has helped me to become more motivated in the process of cleaning up, unpacking, and getting organized. I know it's totally dorky and housewifey of me, but I really do love a clean, organized place. As much as I am prone to clutter, I don't like it.
  
• I really need to start going to the gym again. Not for "losing weight" purposes (though that would be ok), but because I'm starting to feel lethargic and unhealthy.
• I really, really like cheese.
  
• In a discussion with a friend the other day, I realized that as far as relationships go, I'm pretty easy to please. Low maintenance, if you will. All The Boy has to do to make me giddy with delight is plan a date. Nothing fancy, either. Just a "let's go out for dinner tonight. Let's go to X Restaurant." He doesn't even have to pay. Just the pure act of him making plans for the evening makes me feel all warm and gooey. Don't let this fool you into thinking I won't sometimes whine about being hungry (oy. I have done that.) or sneak into the bathroom with a paper towel and 409. And a Swiffer. And Windex. And I will return triumphant--and the bathroom will be clean (this can be applied to many rooms in the house). And I will be made fun of. But that's ok. Because...
• ...I love a clean house. As I've mentioned before. I subscribe to Real Simple. It was a birthday present. It was on my birthday list. I purchased it from the newsstand (for about $5 a pop) for almost a year before I got the gift subscription. I also frequent the website for tips...and just for fun.
• I really like making lists, but I'm going to end this one now, because I'm sure it's long enough. And repetitive at this point.

Addition: I just read Emily's blog, and THIS is making me excited. Very excited. I really hope there's singing, and that it is good. UPDATE: It is a musical. "Tim Burton himself has confirmed that this will be an adaptation of Sondheim's musical."

Friday, Friday, Feelin Fine

Ok, so that's kind of a lame title, but I am feeling pretty good, if not a little (tiny bit) tired. This week has seen my brain (finally) catch up to my body, crash in a messload of anxiety, nervousness, stress, exhaustion, giddyness, among any other range of brain-emotion you can think of. Mostly it was the exhaustion and the stress. There were a few high-stress scheduling things at work, but nothing impossible, and I think that had I been well-rested and not in a state of brain-numbness, I wouldn't have taken them so hard. BUT that is not the point. The point is that it's FRIDAY and I just drank a glass of wine and ate chocolate covered strawberries and sat on a heated toilet and also ate cake and listened to Sergei and Larry discuss the last week at Google and this tradition of TGIF (a happy hour of sorts with food and drink and Sergei and Larry and Q&A and go team go!) is pretty darn excellent. While I don't love my job (ie: it's not my life's goal or passion or anything), I like it pretty well. And I do love my company. And my coworkers. And really, life could be a heck of a lot worse.

I thought to myself today, you know you're spoiled by Google when you sit on a toilet and are disappointed that the heated toilet seat seems to not be working. It's just a regular toilet seat. Oh darn. Before Google, I never even knew the joy of the heated toilet seat. It's such an absolutely ridiculous luxury. But gosh darn it, I love it.

Also, I never stop thinking how amazing the food is. Really, come visit me and I'll take you to lunch. It's just so good. And it's truly been helpful in this time when I've been moving and have had either no fridge or no food (or both) at home. I haven't had time to go to TJ's and stock up on dinnerfood items or baking goods or just little staples for the weekend or nighttime (or dinner time, because I do actually want to cook!), so for now I've been eating Googlefood, or eating out. I figure, since breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks are all free, I can afford to go out to dinner (or get takeout) while I'm moving. And it's nice. Mmmmm greasy thai food from Thai Basil. Mmmmm Steve's Korean BBQ. Mmmmm pizza that I didn't make. Not as healthy, but sometimes, it's just such a relief after a day of work and moving and all that to just pick up some food that someone else made and relax at home with a nice, hot meal.

So, the moral of the story is, I love this company. I'm currently writing this blog from my shuttle, taking some time to unwind on my way home. When I get home at 7pm, I'll be relaxed and will have taken care of email and blogging and reading other people's blogs and all that internet business that normally I'd have to do when I get home. And if I were getting home at 6pm like I used to, let's be honest, I would just be watching TV.

Have a great weekend! In the next edition: Low-Flow is a No-Go! Get me some water pressure!