I'm Better!

I'm so much better but I've been really busy at work and haven't had time to string more than two thoughts together. I'm sorry for neglecting the blog, but my brain can only hold so much. Quick update:

- Had a GREAT craft show last weekend. We killed it. Apparently wealthy parents and their unenthusiastic offspring are where it's at. We also had a lot of return customers who had lovely things to say about jewelry they'd previously purchased. I never get tired of hearing that.

- Did a fun outlet shopping trip with my friend Nina during which I found The Dress. We had a fun day but hadn't had a ton of luck with the shopping and each only bought a couple of small things. Then we stopped in Saks Off Fifth before we left and I stumbled across the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, a dress by Issa London. I knew about this designer, but at $500 a pop, there was no way I could afford to even think about it, you know? But I found a rack of ridiculously marked-down Issa dresses and tried one on. And died on the spot. And bought it!

This is the print:

This is me wearing the dress:

Sorry about the face. Anyway, it's silk and it makes me feel really pretty. Yay.

- More riding lessons! Nina and I went out recently for our lesson but the instructor was sick and told us to just saddle up and have some fun. We thought it would be fun to get some action shots:



Hee! Can you feel the joy radiating from my horse-loving grin? It's so much fun I can't believe it's legal.

- What else? Oh, my aunt is coming to town! I haven't seen her since I went out to California last May for my uncle's funeral. I still miss him so much. I'm really excited to see her and spend some time with her catching up.

I feel like there was something else I wanted to tell you guys but I can't remember what it was. Perhaps my opinon on the Bush Doctrine? The proximity of my hoose to Russia? No? Well, it was something like that.

Sicko.

I'm sick. Somewhere (HI KATE'S COWORKER) I picked up a nasty stomach virus and ever since Sunday night my life has been full of sadness. I've spent a lot of time studying the tiles in my bathroom, is all I'm saying. Actually, I don't think it's a virus so much as a small baby demon. Today my stomach has been burbling and growling in a manner that's deeply disturbing. I can practically see the tiny baby demon's clawed paw outline on my stomach as it tries to work it's way out. Clearly my diet of ...almost nothing... has upset him greatly. Here's a rundown of meals I've eaten in the past three days:

- a single cracker
- tiny sad Jell-O cup
- 1/2 cup of broth
- plain rice

Today I went crazy and had a little broth and rice, which baby demon is NOT DOWN WITH. He's gurgling in displeasure as I type. Pipe down, little buddy, seriously, you are freaking me out. My only sad pleasure is weighing myself to see how much I've lost in water weight. Isn't this the sickest guilty pleasure? I'm totally going to enjoy putting all those pounds back on (posthaste!) but for now I can at least feel skinny in a sickly consumptive fashion. Dehydration! It's what's for dinner.

Stupid pain.

My sister was talking recently about being clumsy and man, it is going around. I'm generally pretty cautious because I have a habit of, oh, fainting and/or puking at the sight (or idea) of blood, but lately I'd been stupidly injury prone and I really mean the stupid part. Hark:

This morning I was sleeping and somehow in my dream-state-thrashing I managed to rake my hand across our The End Up headboard (read: fucking splintery raw crate wood) and woke myself up by practically sliced off the top of my pinky finger knuckle. I remember thinking, "ow, I think that really hurt!" before falling back asleep. I woke up an hour later with a bloody crust of a knuckle, which I delighted in showing Kenny right before we ate breakfast.

Speaking of my darling husband, he's damn ticklish and also likes to be barefoot. This is basically like dangling lipstick in front of a hungry hockey mom. Every time we're watching TV and Kenny has his feet up on the foot rest, I feel the need to go in for the kill. I did this last week not taking into account that he'd just clipped his toenails...into razor sharp points. I now have a two-inch long scratch on my wrist because of his damn toes. He claims self-defense on this one.

Last Sunday we were mountain biking on a really narrow hillside trail. It was near the end of the ride and I was tired and not really paying attention. I tried to ride over a section of rocks without enough momentum and did a stupidly slow fall towards the cliff-side of the trail. I shrieked like a girl and grabbed a sapling on my way down. My bike fell on top of me which was just so graceful. I have some nice scratches on my leg and my arm and, as a bonus, I'm now attractively dotted with poison ivy. PRETTY GIRL.

Full of wist.

Fall makes me all wistful and contently melancholy. It makes me want to wear sweaters and boots even though it's still 90 degrees out. I feel stuck today, stuck in my chair, stuck in my head, stuck inside. I've spent my evening looking at lovely things (most of which I can't have) that will make me not mind the death of summer:

Stuff I love.

Tana French. Read In The Woods. Then read The Likeness. Then curl up in a ball and weep like a baby because you can't write like that. Then wait with baited breath for the next installment. They are really that good. SO GOOD.

Terget pannies. No, really. They are cute, a little retro, comfortable, non-itchy, and CHEAP. Suck on it, Nordstrom.

Vampire Weekend. I just bought this album (I know, like, years after every 15 year old in the world) and I'm only four songs in but it makes me grin with reggae-esque happiness. It's such good pop music and I'm super-picky about my pop.

Krisatomic. Her website is like candy, her cat is freaking adorable, she has REALLY cute shoes and is a swell artist. And she likes horses. And she's cute. I think I have a girl-crush.

Speaking of candy, I have a new favorite. Totally ridiculous and delicious - Giant Chewy Nerds. They are basically jelly beans with a crunch Nerd coating and I cannot stop eating them . The orange ones are the best followed by the grape (like Shasta!) My taste in candy usually runs with the 80-year-old-man set (Good 'n Plenty, anyone?) , but this is something different and sort of gross. But still tasty.

How to know you were raised by wolves.

I happened to be walking through Restoration Hardware today and saw this beautiful sunken-tray coffee table. My first thought upon seeing it was, "No way you could eat dinner on that."

HAHA.

But true.

Some reasons why you might be annoying me.

1. you think I want to hear your overly loud conversation

2. you God bless me

3. you have a McC@in sticker on you car

4. you say "knocka-knocka!" instead of actually knocking

5. your keys are extra jingly

6. you whistle in public

7. you ask me if the snack I'm eating is my "snack of choice"

8. you are eating yogurt with a plastic spoon

9. you smoke clove cigarettes

10. you love that the new VP pick is "just like me!"


A few people did my lame meme! Yay!

The Lass

Harriet

Fresh Hell

Wah Wah Summer is over (and a meme, of sorts.)

Well, that's it. Summer is over and here's how I know: My favorite outdoor lunch-eating spot was full of students and there wasn't a table left for me. le sigh. I get so spoiled over the summer, bringing my lunch and eating it on the patio outside the library. It's mostly deserted during the summer, so it's always a bit of a slap in the face when classes start. The school gym has also become overrun with students who don't even see me; it's like I'm invisible and those dudes will, literally, run smack dab into me. It's...annoying. I'll just leave it at that. But, those kids are the reason I have a job, so I just need to get used to it all over again.

My long holiday weekend was great - I got very little done around the house and instead had a lot of fun. Lots of mountain biking which I should write about on my sad dusty bike blog. Maybe I'll do that. We'll see. I also went to a couple of parties and hung out with Kate and ate too much and slept in. I did not finish painting the hallway or vacuum or do anything remotely useful. I'm not very good at being a responsible adult.

Since I've been MIA for the last week (the first week of school is a busy one for everyone) I thought I'd give you all a weird little meme, of sorts. No rules or anything, but if you're looking for something to write about, feel free to take my ideas! Let me know if you do and I'll link to your entry.

Something Weird I've Discovered:

I have some weird connection with lobsters and I'm not even kidding. I was in a Chinese restaurant recently waiting for a lunch date and happened to be sitting next to the lobster tank. There was only one lobster and he was at the far end of the tank. Until he saw me. I swear to you that lobster saw me and scritchy-clawed his way over to where I sat and gave me the saddest look you can imagine from a crustacean. He waved his sad banded claw at me and I died. That lobster wanted out and he wanted me to take care of this. He was LOOKING AT ME. Obviously I couldn't do anything to help him and when I left the restaurant an hour later he'd been joined by some giant crusty crabs and was huddled in the corner, terrified. I'm sorry, Mr. Pinchy. I would have saved you if I could.

Three Sounds I Really Love:

1. When you open a bottle of wine and pour the first glass it makes a really lovely and heartening glug-glug noise that doesn't happen with subsequent pourings.

2. The sliding bass note that happens about fifteen seconds into the song Our House* by Madness.

3. Every so often I call in a prescription refill using an automated telephone system and when the system is processing it makes this faint tock-tock sound. It's a really good sound and I look forward to it every month.


The Best Part of my Weekday Morning:

I drive across the Huguenot Bridge on my way to work and the view is always stunning. Sometimes it's clear and the river is all sparkly, sometimes it's misty and you can't see the water at all. It usually looks about like this:

or this:

(Thanks, Buck!)

The Best Part of my Night:

I think my favorite thing right now it the moment I quit reading, turn out the bedside lamp and get ready to go to sleep. I arrange my pillows and hunker down, really savoring the last few moments before drifting off. I think it's pretty much the only time I feel 100% relaxed.


*Our House: