The Best Day Ever.

Last Thursday was rainy.
It was rainy when I went to class at 9. It was rainy as I walked by the windows in the tunnel to Murphy Hall at 10. It was rainy when I moved Stella for my next class (Stella is my bike. I always refer to her as Stella, unless to someone who would have no idea as to what I'm referring.) at 12. Pouring, really. I walked Stella from one side of Ford to the opposite side of Murphy. I was outside less than 5 minutes and was already very wet. Not damp, wet. It was rainy as I left that class at 2. More than rainy. Definitely pouring this time.
I tried my best to fold up my seriously impractical but awesome bag I usually bring to class so as not to ruin its contents, bungeed it into Stella's basket, put my shower-cap-turned-bike-seat-cover on, and headed home.
I was pretty much drenched by the time I got to University. While I never really avoid puddles with Stella (those fenders are super handy, let me tell you), at this point I started trying to go through really deep looking puddles.
Dripping wet, I biked down the streets, grinning like a crazy person, listening to Billy Joel on my iPod.
About a block from my apartment, I realized I should not be listening to Billy Joel, but rather the Garden State  soundtrack (I cannot recommend this enough. Excellent, excellent music. Not a score, don't worry) because I felt/looked just like Large, Sam, and Mark when they visit the guy at the abyss thing.

Biking in the rain, letting myself get just totally couldn't-get-more-wet drenched, was one of the most fantastic, liberating things I have done in as long as I can think of. I had to dry off my body after I took my literally dripping wet clothes off, with the exception only of my socks (I have rainboots, duh). I feel like days like that need to happen more often.
Maybe next time, with large machinery and/or an abyss.


If you haven't seen this movie, please do so at your earliest convenience. It's one of my all time favorites. I have it. I'll lend it to you. Or watch it with you, more likely. Just watch it.

Fact: Natalie Portman's character Sam is probably my favorite character from anything ever.

The Shipping News

Fairly recently, I started using last.fm instead of Pandora, mostly because I can listen to what it recommends for me based on everything I listen to already, which is fantastic. It plays me a lot of soundtracks, in addition to other music. I am very excited about this soundtrack thing though. Honestly, movie music is so important. Sometimes after hearing the music I want to see the movie based solely on how the music sounds, the emotions it portrays, and so on. Anyway, I usually turn on my recommended music at last.fm, then bring up other pages and don't pay too much attention to the last.fm page unless I really, really like whatever's playing and want to know more about it. I've caught myself looking at many songs from the movie The Shipping News. I kept thinking that this title was familiar, but for some reason I didn't really feel like I'd seen it.

Today, after looking and again having it be a song from The Shipping News, I decided I should at least check on Amazon to see if I could buy it. Unfortunately, it's around $30 on Amazon and I cannot even find it anywhere else - eBay, the library, B&N, iTunes - which is super disappointing. After seeing the thumbnail of the album, however, I realized that even the cover looked very familiar. Naturally I had to investigate.

It turns out I DID see this movie! I believe my family rented it from our library a few years ago. I remembered certain scenes/images that stood out in my mind from the movie. Certain images, certain characters stood out in my mind. I really don't remember the plot, though. Maybe I should try to see it again?

This movie's soundtrack is definitely added to my list of soundtracks I wish I owned. It's apparently going to be much more of a quest than the others on the list, but will definitely be worth it if I ever do find it. (For under $30!)

Has anyone seen this movie?

Candle Fail

So I have this candle:

It smells DELICIOUS if I smell the actual candle when it isn't lit. Seriously, it smells very much like Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes. The problem is, when I light it, the room doesn't end up smelling like Pumpkin Spice. It doesn't change the smell at all. It's so disappointing. 

This candle is really, really small. I think it cost $2.99 at Target. 

Anyway, the point is...can anyone recommend a delicious smelling candle that actually smells more than just right in the jar? 

This is not a blog about cutting straws.

The day after the crazy drama explosion happened at work this summer, I had to go back there and continue working. From the moment it blew up and continuing through at least the next few days, I had this incessant pain in my chest. It was strong; it didn't fade when I took deep breaths, when I tried to distract myself in my music, in my job duties. It didn't fade during breaks. It did not fade until after I got home, but even then it still took a little while, it took time to process out of that mode and into relaxed mode. I was so anxious to even be near these awful people who had said and done awful things to the people I'd made friends with. It was as though being around them, I could feel this extreme dislike, this awkwardness, oozing out of them. Wafting towards me. Even when I was drowning out their voices in my music and concentrating on doing my work faster than ever so I wouldn't have to look at their faces. It still hurt in my chest. 

That was the first time I had ever experienced a feeling like that. This extreme anxiety. This knowing that I am around people who I can't stand to be around, and that they clearly can't stand me either. It was terrible. 

Today, I felt that chest pain again. Not as severely, but it's definitely there. I still feel it now, as I'm writing this. It didn't start right away. I think because I didn't go into it worrying, as I did this summer. Then, I knew what I was diving back into. Here, I wasn't so sure. But it was undoubtedly the same feeling. This incessant chest pain accompanied at times by a much faster than normal heart rate. This anxiety. I don't know if this is how I react to any anxiety-causing situation, or only ones where I am aware that I am disliked. So far, that's the only type of anxiety I have ever reacted to. 

I was truly hoping that after I left work I would never have to deal with that feeling again. As I sit here, pressing my hand on my chest in an effort to calm it down, I am hoping I won't. But also wondering if in some weird way I bring these people onto myself. How could it be that I have experiences with similar types of people doing similar things in a relatively short time period? Surely I have done nothing to deserve this? Perhaps it's just my lack of ability to be aggressive- to take charge of a situation, to stand up for myself. Who knows. 

My chest hurts. I am going to sleep.

I am a soundtrack nerd. I am not ashamed.

Recently, I was talking about my soundtrack collection with some people - I don't remember how the conversation got started - but in this situation, as with any other time the topic comes up, it was clear that I was much more interested than anyone else present. I kept thinking of more things I wanted to bring up, but I figured they were all bored already so I let it go. One of the things I kept thinking about was this : what are my favorite soundtracks? Well, since then I've thought about it more, and since it's probably less annoying, I'm just going to blog about it instead of trying to use it as a conversation starter. 


My Favorite Soundtracks (so far) in no particular order


Original Music/Instrumental/Score Type Soundtracks
1. Pan's Labyrinth - Javier Navarrete
2. Goodbye Lenin! - Yann Tiersen
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Klaus Badelt
4. Sherlock Holmes - Hans Zimmer
5. Jurassic Park - John Williams
6. Star Trek - Michael Giacchino
7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Patrick Doyle
8. Up - Michael Giacchino
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Howard Shore
10. The Dark Knight - Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard


Vocal/Compilation Type Soundtracks
1. Juno
2. (500) Days of Summer
3. Garden State
4. Happy Feet
5. August Rush 
6. Sex and the City (the movie)
7. Away We Go
8. Top Gun
9. Love Actually
10. Almost Famous


Musicals (Including Disney)
1. Chicago 
2. Hercules 
3. Wicked
4. My Fair Lady 
5. Les Choristes
6. Enchanted 
7. The Lion King
8. West Side Story
9. Newsies
10. Pocahontas 


And, just for fun, the soundtracks I wish I had
1. The Holiday - Hans Zimmer
2. Inception - Hans Zimmer
3. The Producers
4. Avenue Q
5. Transformers - Steve Jablonsky
6. Alice in Wonderland - Danny Elfman
7. Little Miss Sunshine - Mychael Danna and DeVotchKa
8. Something's Gotta Give
9. A Chorus Line
10. Sex and the City, Volume 2

Yes, that is really my iTunes after I typed "Soundtrack" into the search bar :)

Ideas. Terrible and good.

I've been to all my classes. I was only late to one. Seriously, that is so good for me. I am chronically late, not on purpose or anything, I just have terrible time-judging skills. Anyway, after going to all my classes for the first time, I'm pretty sure I'm going to like this semester. No science or math. No giant textbooks. No night classes. No writing intensive classes. I'm excited to be restarting French. I'm somewhat worried it'll be too easy, starting over again, but I was more worried about starting at a higher level and not knowing important things.

I forgot how crazy campus biker/pedestrian traffic is. Although I do think the return of a ramp on the Appelby side of Pleasant is definitely helpful.

I have some concerns about the availability of adequate bike parking around campus, and at my apartment, for that matter. I don't know if I can properly express how much it annoys me that the parking for the new science classroom building is on the bridge. Seriously. How is it possibly a good idea to require us to go across all the bike/pedestrian traffic to park our bikes, then cross back over to get to class?? This is a terrible idea. Especially if you do not desire getting to class about 25 minutes early (or late) to avoid the rush times or getting run into by other bikers as you attempt to walk through the traffic. Let me just say that again: TERRIBLE IDEA.

On a less rant-y note, I'm trying out last.fm for the first time. I don't know if I understand its ways yet, but so far I am loving the station I have going from A Fine Frenzy. This, dear children, was a good idea. :)

Love. Life. Friendship. Sex and the City. (Very long & random. Warning)

Watching the Sex and the City movie (again)...and I am in denial of the huge (and I mean huge) pile of dishes waiting to be done. I am in denial that class starts tomorrow. As ready as I am to have something to do, I am still not really ready to get up before 10 AM, to have homework to procrastinate on, to never be able to watch the Ellen show.

This movie. Fantastic music. Fabulous fashions. Incredible shoes. Best friends. I love it. As much as I love the friends I have, I still wish I had a bond like the girls of Sex and the City do. I don't tell anyone everything about my life. I sort of wish I did. It can get to be a bit much every now and then. I have trouble trusting people, I think. Probably due to some past "friendships" that failed. I'm wary of putting time and effort in building trust with people just in case they break it down. Someday I'll get over this, probably. In the meantime, I'll keep vaguely tweeting about my problems.


I have this keychain. Like the one Carrie's assistant Louise has in the movie. (Except mine is from Old Navy). I hope that someday I'll find my love. Like Louise. Like Carrie. Like the real people who find their real love. I deserve it too. I know I do. I'm probably just not trying hard enough. Trouble is, I am very worried that I have already fallen and it's not going to go anywhere. Ever. Just like with my friendships, I am afraid of being too trusting. I didn't even build up anything with this guy. He quits talking to me for no apparent reason. It gets to me. This gets to me. How would I ever handle actual rejection? I probably couldn't, and that's the truth. That is the real reason why I have never made any effort. It just may be that extremely mild flirting is as far as I can bring myself to go. But I want so much more than that. As much as I have tried to, though, I cannot quit thinking of this one guy. It's ruining me. But I don't know what else to do. So for now, I dream of someday. Maybe if I quit trying it'll happen on its own. Maybe. It's been over a year and a half. I've got to learn this skill so many others seem to have. This skill of having a crush that means nothing serious. A crush they can get over easily. For now, though, I'll just keep waiting. We'll see what happens.

Fall. On a stick?

It feels like fall. I love it. Everything about it. The air is cool and refreshing. I broke out a sweater today. Honestly, sweaters are one of the things I am most excited about when it gets to be fall again. This weather makes me want to go on walks. Epic walks. I even have a book called "Walking Twin Cities" that has different routes to walk and what landmarks to look for. It's really cool, but I haven't done any of them yet. It'll probably get put to use more once we have homework to procrastinate on.

Classes start on Tuesday. I'm excited. I need things to do during the day or else I don't get anything done. As illogical as that sounds, that's just how it is. I have no real time commitments at this point, so not much happens. I just lay around my apartment...reading, watching House or Friends DVDs, perusing Tumblr and the other various social networking type sites I've found myself to be a member of, generating lots of dirty dishes (and washing them, of course)...but not much legitimately gets done. For example, this:

is as far as I got with my laundry today. It's sorted...but definitely still in my room. Also, my last textbook came in the mail today. I'm all ready. Let's do this.


Oh! I went to the state fair for the first time yesterday! It was epic. So many awesome things to eat. And we got totally drenched from a sudden downpour. Next year, I am definitely starting earlier in the day so I can try more crazy food on sticks.

Good grief.

Trying to find a campus job is very disheartening. I am seriously not qualified for anything on the U of M employment site. I do not have work study funds. I do not have prior office experience/education. I cannot use technology. I do NOT have work study funds. I have no experience tutoring. I STILL DON'T HAVE WORK STUDY FUNDS. Good grief. I need a job too, dammit. I have trouble believing there are that many people with work study funds. Seriously, all the jobs I would possibly otherwise be qualified for say "work study required".

Maybe it's for the better if I can't find a campus job. They all want me to submit a resume. I don't have a resume, and I clearly don't have much experience that would make creating one worthwhile. Apparently a factory job was not a good use of my time this summer...definitely not helping now.

Ok. I'll quit whining. It's just that "not being able to pay rent" isn't exactly on my to-do list this year. Meh.

EDIT: Page 5 of 6. Found one I'm qualified for. Parking attendant. Again, good grief.

Second Blog

I've been working on a second blog for awhile, but I didn't want to share it until I had a few posts, mostly to make sure I would actually do it. In case you're interested in that type of thing, this one is focused on beauty stuff. Makeup, nails, product reviews, things I buy, etc.

http://vibrantbrush.blogspot.com/

Check it out if you feel like it. :)

I love IKEA

Where else could I get the perfect sized desk for $20?
And despite having just been there on Tuesday, I already have a shopping list going for next time. Here are five things I want right now.


1. Big, flat boxes for hiding stuff under my bed and in my closet (because my boot boxes aren't quite big enough) These guys are $7.99 for 2. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30177950

2. Medium sized boxes (because actually shoe boxes from Payless are NOT a cute way to store things) $4.99 for 2. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70177972


3. Pink picture frames, to accompany the blue and green ones I already have, and to inspire me to get back into doing more photography. (Because, after all, black and white photos look AWESOME in colored frames) $3.99 for 2 http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10117033


4. Adorable throw pillows for the futon. Because there aren't any. $2.99 http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60145420


5. Red mesh drawers. I seriously wish I had room for this. It is so cute. Much more attractive than the plastic stacking bins my nail polish/lotions/sunscreen type products live in currently. Eh, someday. $24.99 http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50151794

Ponderings.

I can't help but wonder what changed. Did I change? Did you change? Maybe no one changed, but rather the reality finally came to the surface. Could things have been different? Maybe. In the long run, though, I doubt it. We could have kept it up longer, been civil longer, but the underlying causes would probably still remain. We are who we are, right? Then again, maybe there was a change. A change over time.

 It seems as though a strange combination of changes can occur the more time you spend with someone. On one hand, you see more and more of the other person's true personality. You become more comfortable with one another and are therefore more likely not to hide things about yourself. You are more likely to share things about yourself. Be yourself. On the other hand, you can also start to grate on one another. Over time, only the other person's negative qualities stand out. I believe that as this happens, your mind twists your image of that other person to be much more negative than they perhaps actually are. You start acting more negatively because you feel more negative feelings, which then causes the other person to think more negatively, and so on. It's a horrid cycle, really. But it seems as though that is how it works. 

I'm not sure how this works with people who actually end up getting along all the way through. Is it because they just see more positives? Are there actually more positives? Or maybe this does happen, but on a much smaller scale. I'm not sure. Yes, I do have close friends I've kept with for awhile. That's not why I don't know what happens here. I'm just not sure exactly why these friendships have lasted, while others have not.

Despite this cycle, I still fail to understand how a seemingly close friendship can fall apart. Was it ever based on anything legitimate in the first place, or were we misguided from the beginning? Maybe we became friends simply out of convenience. Maybe we both assumed the issue lied within ourselves rather than within our relationship, or even the other person. Maybe there never really was a friendship, but only the imaginings of one within my mind. Maybe you secretly still are my friend. 

Yes this is me pondering about real friendships, no it's not all about the same one, no I don't believe "ponderings" is a real word. But it should be. 

Goodnight, and good luck.

Urban Outfitters Apartment Stuff

 I have taken to fantasy apartment stuff shopping online. As long as it remains just fantasy, it shouldn't be a problem... :)

Things my apartment would include if I had more money/space:

a jewelry holder made of CHAIRS?? yes please.

I want a coat tree. Not for coats, but bags, and maybe hats. And this one is blue. Bonus? I think so.

 COOLEST LIGHT EVER.

aaaand a hamburger phone! Duh. 

Somebody should set up a parental block thing for the Urban Outfitters website. This could get out of hand 

Edit: I just found this: http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?itemdescription=true&itemCount=80&startValue=1&selectedProductColor=&sortby=&id=18773713&parentid=A_FURN_DESIGN&sortProperties=+subCategoryPosition,&navCount=161&navAction=jump&color=&pushId=A_FURN_DESIGN&popId=APARTMENT&prepushId=&selectedProductSize= 

Douchebag Citation notepad. I'll probably need to buy this. I think I can swing $5, and this is obviously necessary for life.

Laziness, and a bonus book review.

I really fail at keeping up with this. I have ideas written down...things to blog about...but I never seem to get past the idea stage. Whoops. It's kind of strange...I started this blog, but I don't read very many blogs. In fact, I only follow one blog that is not specifically beauty-related. I probably need to find some others to read...maybe it would give me more inspiration. I don't know. Maybe I just need to quit being lazy about it.

About a month ago, if not more, I finished reading A Little Bit Wicked - Kristin Chenoweth's book. Honestly, I loved it. I want to get coffee with her. I always have been amused by her appearances on talk shows, especially Ellen's, I enjoyed her on Pushing Daisies, and the song Taylor, The Latte Boy is probably one of my favorites. Reading this book just made me like her more. Seriously, I want to invite her over for Thanksgiving or something. Despite the fact that her story is often taking place on Broadway or filming something in LA, she somehow still comes across as a regular person. I don't know how that's possible...but it is. She just seems delightful. It's an amusing, light read...goes pretty quickly. I recommend it. :)

Also, how someone so small can sing that loudly will never make sense to me.

Dottie nails...

I did my nails all crazy again. I bought this weird dotting tool and decided to try it. This picture does nothing to show how bright that pink is, however. It's China Glaze Shocking Pink and it's neon. The blue dots are Sally Hansen Blue Me Away. I covered everything with Orly Nails For Males matte topcoat, although they are still pretty shiny :/ But I do like it. The dotting tool has a brush at the other end, so I'll probably be trying more weird stuff. The dotting tool is SUPER easy to use. I got it at Sally's...it's called a Double Up nail art brush or something..I lost the package. It was around $5.

Good day. I say good day!

Today was a successful day, I feel.

We thought we were going to leave work really early, but then when we were almost done packing up the last order of school planners for the day...someone noticed the school's name was spelled wrong on the cover. FAIL. It said "Thomsom" instead of "Thomson". By the way, these planners go through many steps of different people looking at them and it took THAT long for anyone to seriously think anything of it. Anyway, after working on undoing all that we had done for that school, our boss told us we could leave at noon anyway. Even though I could use the extra money from working those last few hours, I decided to leave and get stuff done.

I got my hair cut. This was extremely overdue. I cannot adequately explain to you how bad it had gotten. I loved the length, but there were some seriously awful split ends happening. (Probably because my last trim was in January...) So yes. I got about 2.5 inches off...it feels short, but sooooo much healthier. :)

Then I went to the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. Definitely a win.

This picture is bad. BUT. That would be No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom (from 1995), Sugar Ray - 14:59 (from 1999), and The Rembrandts - L.P. (also 1995). 

THEN I found these: 

I had these shoes (only a size smaller) maybe since 9th grade and got rid of them senior year? I don't know for sure. I LOVED them, except they were kind of small and hurt my toes a lot, so after years of hoping it would improve, I finally gave up. These shoes actually crossed my mind recently, randomly enough. And here they were at the thrift store. They're a full size up from my old ones, which is a bit much. I could've done with a half size. But I can make these work, with those weird things you can buy to stick in the back....you know. Whatever. I am so excited to have these shoes back in my life. I just need places to wear them now. :)

BONUS: all 3 CDs and the shoes were less than $5 total. I love that place. Although I was disappointed that they didn't have any cassettes. I want some tunes in my truck. 

Finally, went to the dentist today. I accidentally haven't been for a year and a half...and oooh my goodness do my teeth feel nice. Seriously. I am never waiting that long again.

So, happy day. Happy blog update. Happy almost the weekend! :)

Manicures and Falling trees...?

I'm a fail at keeping up with this. :( I still haven't posted anything about the 3OH!3/Cobra Starship concert, and I've since seen Gin Blossoms (loads to discuss there, mostly regarding the weird people at Rib Fest)
But I always do this when I need to be going to bed. So once again, I'll say that I'll tell you later. Sorry.

But for now, today I did my first legit french manicure...like with white, not a bright color. I'm kinda proud of it, not gonna lie. It'll probably chip off by tomorrow afternoon though.

This is really blurry because I took it with my phone. for some reason my real camera is refusing to interact with my laptop. So is my iPod. And now only one of my 3 usb plugs works? Definitely making a Geek Squad run soon...

While I'm posting phone pics...we lost another tree on the block this week :( My view is way to open now. I am not a fan. I don't want to lose the ones in front of our house, but I'm sure it's soon. 

During the job(from my closet..haha): 

And after..:( 

That is all for today. 

Home alone.

This evening, I was home alone for a few hours.
I cleaned my room. I organized my stuff. It finally feels like I live in this room.
Then I went to my friends' apartment and specifically avoided drinking.
Then I came home, finished cleaning, and watched youtube.
Ha. I'm awesome.

P.S. I've been up since 4:40 and it's 1:25. I should be sleeping.

Mini Vacation. Candy. Etc.

Today, my family went on a mini vacation. We went to the Buggy Wheel antique place (it's off Highway 10 on the way to Detroit Lakes) which amused me. I saw awesome old bikes and was really tempted to buy an old Samsonite suitcase...but it was a weird brown so I resisted, despite having long been on a quest for old luggage. (I want to store things in it, not actually use it for travelling.) Then we went to Shoreham and ate fried walleye, which was delicious. We drove through DL for fun, and I was super disappointed to see that the long-defunct and creepy looking- but very much a place I remember from childhood- Kiddieland was now an apartment complex. Even though it closed when I was really young, I still was amused by looking at its rusting, falling-apart rides. They were pretty creepy and dingy looking when the place was still open.

On the way home, we went to the General Store in Sabin. (Here is their website if you don't know what I'm talking about http://www.old52.com/) I love this place. Got a HUGE waffle cone of cookies and creme ice cream, so-called single scoop that could leave me full for an entire day. Also picked up some Mexican Fresca, Pepsi natural, and a cream soda for later. I love going there because all these unique and classic pops come in glass bottles, and I am basically obsessed with glass bottles. I collect them. They also have weird, retro, and foreign candy. I picked up some Canadian/British candy :

I have had the Smarties before but not the coconut, although I'm assuming it'll be pretty similar to a Mounds. While looking around at all the awesome candy, I finally found a candy I have been searching for ever since I was introduced to it earlier this spring...the TWIN BING!

It is actually a super weird candy but I definitely fell in love with it...whoops :P Seriously, though, I was so excited when I found them.
It is ridiculously hard not to buy every candy they have...

Also. Last thing. Completely irrelevant. But today after I took a shower, I did not wrap my hair up in a towel to dry it, then comb it out. I just let it dry without any combing whatsoever. SHOCKER: it dried all wavy! Seriously, I am so excited. I try really hard to make the waves come out, and the secret all along was DO NOTHING! Mind blown. Hoping that it's not just a one-time occurrence...

Hmm.

I have been thinking about you a lot lately. Damn. I thought maybe I was getting close to getting you out of my head.

That is all.

I have to sleep now.

Disconnected

So I don't know where my phone is. I feel really weird. I never know what time it is. I never really noticed how often I think of a random thing to text someone. It isn't important enough for me to call about it or whatever, but just something amusing. I do it all the time apparently, because I definitely noticed not being able to do it. I really, really hope it's just off and at Rachel's apartment...otherwise I will have to go back to my old Razr. No one wants that. (By 'no one' I actually just mean 'I'. No one else cares probably) And I would have to acquire a new memory card. I am infinitely glad I decided to empty my memory card yesterday, though! I would have been so sad to lose all my 3OH!3 and Cobra Starship pics. (I really will still talk about that concert)

Meh.
Anyway, besides THAT, I deleted all my 'rules' in my Outlook and then redid them so they make more sense. Hopefully they actually do what I want them to this time. I tried making it very clear. We'll see, I guess. I probably just need to be subscribed to fewer store newsletters...but I just can't let go of potential coupons! Too bad most stores don't offer a choice to only be notified of coupons and sales, and not every new item they get in...

I made some cutoff shorts and pjs from my brother's old pants yesterday. And scored some sweats that didn't fit him anymore. Then today I cut up some shirts I never wear into more interesting shirts. Hopefully this kick I'm on of making new clothes from old/cheap/weird clothes keeps up. It's cheap. Now if only I can figure out something to do with that HUGE bleach stain on my favorite PINK hoodie...

Whoops. Hello again.

I accidentally forgot to do this blog. I don't know how it happened. 

Summer is good. I needed to be done with some people and some drama for awhile. And homework. I needed to be done with homework, too. 

My job is dull, but really not bad. I'm functioning surprisingly well on my new schedule, which is basically exactly the opposite of my former schedule. I now get up at 4:45 AM and go to bed sometime between 9 and 10:30 PM. The major downside is that my friends mainly do things at night, and I need to go to bed. So I am definitely not seeing people much, it feels like. This could also be because I am fairly lazy at planning things. hmm.

I am going to a bat mitzvah for twins tomorrow morning. Should be sweet. I went to their brother's bar mitzvah a few years back and it was legit. So was the food. 

Oh YEAH I almost forgot to mention the AMAZING concert I went to last week. I haven't uploaded the pictures from my phone yet, though. I'll make a separate blog about it. Promise. But seriously, it was soooooo good. Most fun concert I've been to yet. 

I did my nails funky last night. I like it, but I think I would like it better if the colors were reversed. 

In case you were wondering, the base is China Glaze "Shower Together" and the tips are China Glaze "Re-Fresh Mint"

Okay that's it for now. More on concert later. Hopefully not THAT much later. 

Also, enjoy your long weekend. :)

Friends

Sometimes I am bitchy. I know this. If I know a random fact that you are wrong about, I will keep going. If you are driving me nuts, I'll probably let you know. Except in a few rare circumstances, this is absolutely not because I hate you. It is because I am a real person and I am not going to pretend to be something else. I respect you enough to tell you if you are being obnoxious because I want to keep spending time around you. If I don't like you and you are bothering me, I will probably just leave. So just know that I respect you as a person enough to be myself around you and not put on a false front and pretend to be someone I'm not.

Friendships are so important. Friends don't deserve to be led on any more than a potential significant other. Pretending to care about someone you actually strongly dislike is never okay. Even if they never find out they aren't liked and get hurt, falsely trusting someone is no good. Probably the worst situation to be in is one who has    confided in one of these fake people. I have been there. I have told secrets to her. I have gotten what I assumed was honest, legitimate advice. I have been respectful enough to tell her when she was hurting my feelings. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. That was silly of me.In the end, though, I believe that I am better than I was before. I believe that nothing was lost except for time.

Even though it may hurt my feelings, even though I may get defensive, please be honest with me. Let me know if you hate it when I do something. Let me know if I hurt your feelings. Please. I mean it. I know I deserve real people and real friends. Be one for me. I'll be one for you. Promise.

Kate Nash

Yeah, okay, this is a bit overdue. I went to the Kate Nash concert at First Avenue last Wednesday. I was super excited because the tickets were really cheap and I LOVE Kate Nash. I was a little disappointed in my concert experience, however. As amazing and spunky as she and her music are, I (and clearly much of the audience) was a bit bored. It's not like she sounded bad - she definitely sounded fantastic - there just wasn't a lot of energy. People were mostly standing still, with a few jumpers. People at the bar or the tables seemed to just talk and talk and not even really be paying attention to the show. It was just kind of a let-down as far as the energy level. I feel like I was expecting the vibes from the crowd to be spunky like Kate and her music. Not a totally bad experience, though. I still got to see and hear her, got some decent pictures, and got to spend time at First Ave, which I love. Plus it was cheap. I'm still going to buy her new CD, don't worry. : )

The next two days.

Things to do this week:

1. Finish Stats paper
2. Attend Comm class
3. Dentist Appt.
4. KATE NASH CONCERT!!!
5. Attend Jour class

That is all. That is all, and my week is done. I am so excited. I don't have anything for a whole week after I'm done with Jour class on Thursday. I am so ready to be done. Too bad I am blogging instead of writing my Stats paper, which is due tomorrow....hmm.

It's Time to Address the Elephant in the Room

My mom sent me this video via Facebook today. It blew my mind. I think you should watch it:

Elephants are so wonderful and fascinating. I have always appreciated them, but I think this video has brought that to a whole new level. I almost cried while I was watching this; it was that impressive.

I got a package today, complete with bubble wrap. Bubble wrap will never not be fun.

I'm trying to think of something thoughtful and creative and cheap - or free - for my mom for Mother's Day. It's not going well so far...hmm. I think I have a rotation of gifts I get her for everything, and it feels very boring and I think I could do better...but I do not have any good ideas.

It's time for me to do work now...maybe.

Hotdogs, Gospel Choir, The End.

I was supposed to be productive today. 

I had more than enough time to do everything for the rest of the WEEK today, because I really don't have that much left to do, and I had a lot of free time. 

Instead, I did nothing that really needed to be done. 

The moving out floor meeting was today. Compete with cookout. That was good. I love hot dogs. 

I cleaned up my stuff. 

I made a sunglasses case out of my old pj shorts and duct tape, which I am actually pretty proud of. Using old fabric and duct tape is remarkably useful and really, really cheap. I wish other people thought duct tape was as cool of a material as I did, because I would more than willing to make things for people. (At a price, naturally.)

The last gospel choir concert was tonight. I went to it, by myself. The concert was fantastic and amusing as always. It doesn't matter that I don't even believe in God or whatever.  I can still enjoy the music, the rhythms, the talented voices, and the incredible energy that that HUGE group produces. I'm really sad that that's the last one, but I'm also really glad I went to all the concerts I knew about while I was here. 

I just remembered something. At brunch today, I was grumbling about how I really did not want to do work today, but rather just lay around doing nothing until the gospel choir concert. That is exactly what I ended up doing. Typical. 

Officially the last week of class. Officially, I am done on Wednesday by noon, and that is just a review for the test. I am so excited to be done with homework and class. I am SO done living in this dorm and eating this dorm food. I'm not sure if I'm ready to live so far from all of my friends. I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back home. Or "home," maybe. I'll always feel more at home in the city, I think. Oh well, there's still free rent and a full-time job waiting for me there. And dogs. :)

You are a neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie.

I am watching The Breakfast Club. I know almost all the lines. I have probably seen this movie at least 10 times.

So I finally got around to making myself a blog. For weeks, maybe months, I've been thinking of things I would put in my blog if I had one. Now that I do have one, I can't remember any of the points I wanted to blog about. Typical.

I love this movie. I got it for my 16th birthday. Allison will always be my favorite. She had nothing better to do. It's fantastic. I prefer her personal style choices to whatever Claire magically generated for her.
Something that will always bother me about this movie...I am curious who had to pay for all the vandalism that occurred while they were in the library on Saturday, March 24th, 1984.

My apologies for a terribly boring first post. Eventually, I'll think of the things I meant to blog about.

In the meantime, check out this clip from my hometown news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMqPilCHMtk