Proof

No, my husband is not perfect. 
Yes, sometimes we are not the nicest to each other.


But...he randomly does stuff like :

He randomly brings me POTTED tulips from the grocery store. 
What can I say-he knows me rather well. 
I'll be starting an online photography class tomorrow. I hope that it will teach me more about using this fancy camera. Dangit. 

Hello Darlings

Yesterday was a lazy day. I went to the library to renew some books, and while doing so, set off the alarm at the door and pissed off the guy working there. 
Sorry, guy. 


I am now 100% sure that I am officially sick. Really does seem like a physical manifestation of all the garbage happening in my life. Stress and whatnot. I want to sleep all day and stay in bed. 


But I can't. Today I am working from 10-7. Boo. That is a long-ass day. At least I have pizza dough for dinner made already. 


And another thing...I need to apologize for something. I cannot read Henry Miller. I try. I TRIED last night. But the book I renewed : Opus Pistorum was seriously...only about sex. Literally. I read ten or so pages, giving it a chance. Then I began flipping randomly through pages, trying to see if there was a single one where he didn't mention his John Thursday or some woman's figlet, or his balls or WHAT EVER. 
Couldn't do it. 


I mean YEAH it was good writing. Very descriptive. But I don't really need to read about all that hoo-hah. Not that I am against it. Just not my cup of tea (or anything else really gross). 


On the other hand, I finished A Moveable Feast. I couldn't believe that Hemingway was capable of being funny. I really liked that book. His description of Scott Fitzgerald cracked me up. 
Any other Hemingway suggestions are appreciated. 
Well, off I go to try and get some of this mucus out my self. 
You SO wanted to know that, didn't you?!?

To Blog or Not to Blog

*I literally typed the title of this blog post and the kiddo started waking up saying 'mommeeey? mooommmeeeyyyy?'


Good thing, since I was't sure what to write about. 

What I Wore Wednesday

I've been meaning to link this up for awhile now. I just realized that I don't usually remember to take a photo of my outfit for the day, only because it is usually something horrendus. 
And isn't that the dang idea of WIWW???? To keep us out of hoorendou clothing?


I do generally stay in a strange combo of workout pants and a tank top for the beginning of the day, unless I am up super early alone and have time to shower before the kid wakes. 
Eeenyways....

Heeeey, look! A comfy tee and yoga pants! And my nearly ever-present Sally mug of coffee!

I look REALLY bloated.

Off to do laundry at mom's.

Blush and bangs. Much better. Joe's Jeans, boatneck sweater from Gap. This was Monday , I was off to class with Milo. 


There you go. Nice to see you, WIWW peeps!!!

Ten on Tuesday on Wednesday

1. Do you decorate for Valentine’s day?
Not usually, but this year I made this:

And I sort of decorated my cake stand, but I didn't get a photo

2. Does your desktop have a picture or computer graphic? Is it organized?
It is a computer graphic. I usually have the free wallpaper from Design Sponge but I keep forgetting. Hopeful for February. 

3. Do you use a paper planner, electric planner or no planner at all?We recently got new phones. One of the main reasons being that I was desperate for some sort of electronic SOMETHING that could be shared simultaneously with myself and the Mr. The magnetic wipe-off calendar on the fridge was not effective enough. 

4. Do you change purses or bags often or stick with a good thing?

This reminds me that I need to switch my purse. I need to repair my favorite bright orange one. 

5. What’s your favorite YouTube Video?

Marcel the Shell for LYFE

6. Do you use Turbo Tax or a real person to pay your taxes?

My real person CPA husband uses Turbo Tax.
I just blew your mind, didn't I?

7. How many states have you set foot (or tire) in? Which ones?
Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland,Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, Wisconsin. Iowa, Nebraska, Washington, oregon, California
17...that does NOT sound like a lot. 

8. How many countries have you been in? Which ones?
UNited States of America, Canada, and Dominican Republic (which I guess doesn't really count as a country?)

9. How many pillows are in your house? (Sleeping or decorative)
10, I think. 

10. How cold is too cold for flip flops?
Under 65 degrees? I can't even fathom wearing flip flops right now. We're all bracing ourselves for the rest of Winter. February is usually really cold here. 

Warning:may be sports-related...

Hey there...hey. Hi. How are ya? Ooooookaey...word. 

Above is a phrase I said many, many, MANY times yesterday. That, or something like it. 

I was very much looking forward to work yesterday, for a number of reasons. One being the opportunity to use it as a little anthropological study on mall patrons.

"Well, WHY?!" , you ask. 

More reasons. To keep myself entertained. Because there was a big-ass football game in Chicago yesterday and I was interested in seeing who would be shopping during it. 

The results are in:

-Moms and daughters. Most of the moms didn't want to talk to me. That is okay. We have other people for them to talk to. 

-Sisters. They were more willing to work with me. That's usually better because then I can get them to buy more things. 

-Pretty sure there were a total of like FIVE men that came in during my shift (which began at the same time the game did). Two memorable (presumably hetero) gentlemen were the one in the 70s shearling jacket and the REALLY REALLY SAD LOOKING guy with the Cutler jersey on. They both made me smile because the jacket was SO VERY 70s and so very...patched...it was...like...something my dad would have worn. (if you know my family, I want you to pause for a moment here and re-read my literary/comic genius in the previous few sentences. You are welcome.)

And Mr. Cutler jersey man...he really did look sad. One of my coworkers basically dragged him into the store to ask him about the game. I sort of wanted to give him a hug. I don't pity sports fans when their team loses. I'm truly as empathetic as possible. Probably because Mr. Smith can get sad when the Bears lose. And I love Mr. Smith. 

However...IT IS JUST FOOTBALL

Did I piss you off right there? Sorry. But it is. I'm not gonna be  a JERK about it. I AM sorry the Bears lost. I LIKE watching football. 

So this isn't entirely about myself or football, please go look at this post on Prada, strippers, and Andre Leon Talley's opinion on the state of American culture. 
And please go read this post in order to drool over the photographs. Plus, the author is inspiring. 

Soup, Bangs, and Howard Hughes.

Yesterday I made some of my new favorite soup ever, and am sharing the recipe with you today! 
Here we go:


 Curried Red Pepper , Sweet Potato and whatever other veg you have lying around Soup:

Get a bigass stock pot. Chop an onion and saute in olive oil until  tender-ish. I like mine browned a LITTLE. 

Throw in some carrots. 

WARNING-this will make the soup VERY carroty. 

Dice one or two red bell peppers. The husb likes them, so I used two. 

Can you tell that this soup really needs no measurements?

Ignore the can of cat food on my counter. 

Smash up some garlic. These cloves were tiny so I used four. 

Throw it all in there...getting steamy and brown. You may need to increase the heat if you want some browned bits. 

I sweet potato what I sweet potato.

Peel.

Cut them up into uniform-sized chunks. You will be pureeing the soup later, so it doesn't mater WHAT size, just as long as they are similar. So they cook evenly. 

Mmmm...see that brown on the bottom? Flavor-m-f-ing-TOWN. 

Add more water than this. More than you think you need, really. The taters will thicken the soup considerably.

I used some chicken stock concentrate. Veggies, ignore this part. You could use veggie stock or just water. Add some salt to taste if you just use water. 

Also, please ignore my man hands and chipped nail polish. 

Curry powder!!! You could also use curry paste which I just now realized is what I used last time-the paste is more intense than the powder. You can always add more and heat up the soup in the stove-I think I'ma do that. I used like...oh my...a lot. Like...probably almost 1/4 cup. Keep tasting. 

Boil it up till your potatoes are tender. 

Let the soup cool a wee bit and puree in batches in a blender; or all at once if you have one of those immersion dealies. I forgot to take pics of the end result. Oops. 

Feed the cats. Watch child imitate cats. 

This one kicks me out of bed so that he can get in there. Little asshole. He makes me grouchy sometimes. 

Stupid face. New bangs. 

See that?!?! It is my WASITLINE!!!!

Glad to see you back around, friend. And I just cleaned that damn mirror...

Watched The Aviator last night on IFC (LOVE that channel). 

Howard Hughes was brilliant and interesting, and his sad story makes me cry. That plane crash scene was AMAZING. 

Way to be, Scorsese. Way.To.Be. 

Ten On Tuesday!!!!

This is my first time doing this. Be gentle.

1. What’s your favorite color to paint your nails? This is a tough one...my favorites are Big Apple Red by OPI, Schiap by NARS, or ANY OF THE DANG COLORS FROM ZOYA THAT I AM STILL WAITING FOR
2. Do you like to sneeze? dear sweet Lord Jesus yes. I work at a store that can get fairly dusty and sometimes...I gotta do it. 
3. How often do you fill up your car with gas? Once a weekish...once every week and a half, I'd say. 
4. Were you named after anyone? I am middle-named after my mother's best friend from college who was brutally murdered, Jaine. I really wish I had gotten to meet her to get to know her. 
5. Have you made any good recipes lately? Holy shit. Totes. Curried red pepper and sweet potato soup. SO EFFING GOOD. 
6. What’s an easy money-saving tip that you use regularly? Marry a CPA.
7. Would you rather have a sore throat or an ear ache? Um, neither? Sore throat, I guess.
8. Do you have any scars? What are they from?  Left ring finger-worked at a bagel shop in MN, sliced it open. Teeny-weeny one near my right eye from somersaults on my parents' bed during toddler-hood. Biggest one? C-Section scar!!!! My proudest one. 
9. What are you “known for” in your circle of friends/family? Hah. Well...family...probably for (how do I stay vague enough here...)being loyal to my mother. 
Friends...for being the good listener, the one to make you laugh. 10. How do you like to eat your pancakes? This is going to sound weird, but I like them made with apples and rolled up with a slice of Muenster. (cheese, not Eddie)


So, I did cut my bangs yesterday, but I don't have a photo yet. I literally stayed in my jammies/workout pants until 3:30 yesterday afternoon. 
I am really really missing my long hair. I've worn it short for over four years now, and I'm terrified that it simply won't grow anymore. A girl I met at work showed me these and swears by them, but they are NOT cheap. I might use my birthday money (in APRIL) to get some. 
And, I would like to thank Jane at Sea of Shoes for introducing me to these:

You will be mine. Oh yes, you will be mine. Someday. In my dreams. 

Things and Other Things

Am currently reading a few books at once:

And I am in a state of swoon over this girl. her vintage shop, her tights, her hair...
Do I SOUND like a stalker?
I guess I am, but only on the intertubes. 
Today I am cutting bangs. Going to try and recreate these:

Except I think I will stay to one side of my natural part, since I have these bizarre cowlicks on both sides of my head near my temples. 
And....drum roll please...the Mr. and I got 
NEW PHONES!!!!!!
La la la, do you hear that? That sound is angels singing. It is also the lack of me constantly bitching about how much I hate my phone. Because I LOVE THIS ONE.

We ordered cases (mine in hot pink, obvs) from Amazon yesterday and I cannot WAAAAIIIIT. Mostly because these were not cheap and I am clumsy. 
Workout time. I haven't exercised since like...early last week and I can tell. My body feels all old and creaky. 

CRUNCH

Our beloved Mac has been throwing tantrums recently, and the Mr. has an appointment at the Genius Bar this evening.
Hopefully everything can get sorted, but odds are we will be compy-less for a wee bit. 

So, to those homeslices who read this...have a grand weekend. I'll see you round the bend. 

Earplugs

I'd like to share a little something with the world. 


The way I view the inside of my brain. 


I have personified little aspects of my personality. They all hang out around a table inside a room filled floor-to-ceiling with filing cabinets. Inside these cabinets exist my dreams, memories, hopes, fears. 


There's the ball-busting, badass feminist-she looks like a young Joan Jett. She has a temper and throws things. She has never gotten over her teen anger. 
There's the overly creative, overly sensitive artist. She looks like Anais Nin, but I haven't seen her in a long time. 
There's the domestic goddess. She looks like my Aunt Bernadette costumed like June Cleaver, crossed with Nigella Lawson.
There's the frightened, nerdy little girl. She looks like I did my sophomore year of high school. After I shaved my head. 




And so on. 


There's another being in there that I cannot personify. It is an amorphous glob of terrifying. This thing has tentacles that reach into my very soul and has the ability to shake the foundations of my sanity. It is my fears. It is my horror. And it lives in me. It makes my throat close with hot tears and tells me I am not good enough. That I never will be. 


Generally I can keep this thing quiet with scripture and faith. And other things. 
And sometimes this thing becomes so loud and so huge that it overtakes everything else. I question each tiny decision I make. 
I cannot ignore this thing-it is a part of me. Occasionally I am able to banish it to a cold dark corner of myself by convincing myself that it is Satan (as I imagine at least part of it is), and using the name of the Lord to make it BEGONE. 
But sometimes that does not work. And I must find a way to hold myself together because I don't want my son to think his mother is a basket case. 
Today is a new day. 

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Wow. I slept in until almost EIGHT this morning. Apparently my body needed it, because I didn't even hear the DH leave. And I know he kisses me goodbye. So I must have been death-sleeping. 
So it goes. 
One of the MeYou Health Challenges this week was to create a 'sleep plan'. You were supposed to count backwards eight hours from the time you wanted to get up in the morning in order to find your bedtime. 
I did it and laughed. There is just no way I am going to be IN bed and ASLEEP by 11. Hah. 
Today's challenge is to write down 2 or 3 characteristics of my ideal job. 
This should be interesting. I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up. I know (from a past challenge) that I am a good listener and am good at expressing myself. 


Okay...okay here...here you go...3 characteristics of my ideal job:


reading
writing
helping


I should be...an editor! YES!!!! People respect editors. Fear them, even...
And yes, I do want to be feared, if only slightly. 


In reference to yesterday's post...Mags...really??? Did you return the leggings? So many people swear by them. 
E-go use your Groupon!!!


And another thing, people...I know the holidays are over and that warm-fuzzy-lets-be-kind feeling has worn off and given way to gruff, stinky,rude attitudes. But please. PLEASE don't condescend to shopgirls. 
Well, don't do it to ME, at least. It is a pet peeve and (for a moment on Monday night) the thought of throwing you out crossed my mind. 
Can anyone ELSE sense my insecurity at my lack of education? HAH!
Rebecca Woolf said to be authentic. Can't get any more authentic than that, BABY. 
Am currently reading Cherie Currie's book Neon Angel...have some Nin, some Miller and some Hemingway to get through. 
ALSO...Teresa Guidice from the RHNJ wrote a cookbook...and I tried 2 recipes last night...pretty basic but DAMN tasty! 
Hope you are happy with my ramblings. Here is a photo of Milo helping to fix our washing machine:

And now it works!

Coming soon-a photo of some stuff I made!

An Email to My Sister

Well, part of it. 


I also just found that, while I was in the shower, he pulled a pancake down from off the counter, got the syrup out of the fridge, poured it all over his table, AND ALSO got out the HERSHEY'S syrup and had some of that too. 

He came upstairs just as I was drying off and I followed him down. He then walked over to the table covered in a puddle of real maple syrup and showed me how he was LICKING IT UP LIKE A DOG. 

He was very proud. 

How...HOW on God's green EARTH am I supposed to discipline/teach/educate/love in that moment?

I admit to being totally confused most of the time. 

I certainly hope that makes someone smile today. 

Writer's Block

Default:


Talk about things I want. 

High waisted leggings from American Apparel. Theirs are widely known to be the best in leggings ,and I want a pair that doesn't disintegrate within two weeks. 

But I am rather intimidated by the store in the mall. 

Which means that I am irritated and intimidated by the little kids they have working there. 

But do I need to go in there and try them on?

Your thoughts? Merci. 

Reflections

When you are good at your job, things seem effortless. 
A job that I was really good at a million years ago was waitressing. Waiting tables, whatever you want to call it. 
When you know how long apps take to come from the kitchen, when you can ask the cook (by calling his or her name) for no salt on the edamame , when you can securely carry the BIG tray with one arm; things seem effortless. 
You can greet your tables with a smile. You can help other servers run their food. You can make sure everyone's glasses are filled. 
And you make more money this way. When things seem effortless. 
I love that feeling. Bringing people food they will love. Making them smile. Creating a positive and enjoyable experience. Most of the time it is strangely fulfilling. I am sure most people could recall at least ONE time when a restaurant employee went above and beyond and helped you go home with a great memory. Such is the power of people that bring you food. 
Last night I had a dream that I was a server again. 
And I was terrible. 
I HATED that feeling. 

Pretties

As I said yesterday, I have a ton of pics I ripped off Anthropologie's website this week. There is an Anthro in the mall at which I work, and I pop in there on the shifts where I get a break-pretty infrequently. While I don't care for all the clothes there-the home goods section makes me green with envy. It truly feeds my wanty side. 
Et Voila:

One of the few shabby-chic things I like. I am a sucker for cake plates. 

Drool-worthy bedding

Ikat-print sheets? OKAY!!!

Sea-life inspired dinnerware? OKAY!

I have decided I really like squid and octopi. Not to EAT...that's gross. But to look at and pretend to be. 

I kind of want to get his for my husband. The guy loves lobster. And he doesn't get to enjoy it as much as he deserves. Which is every day. 

This would look SO cool in the middle of a neutral room. 

(duh, althea...)

 Yes, I want black high heel booties. These are on clearance at the Anthro website if there are any wealthy readers out there who want my undying gratitude...(a girl can dream, dammit)

Kind of ugly. Looks like they would be hard to walk in. But SO CUTE with a skirt or some skinnyskinny jeans. 

No words. Just gasping. 

Don't tell me you don't love the heels on these shoes. Because you will be lying. 

These made my heart skip a little beat. Leather boots? Love. Wooden platform? LOOOOVE. 

So there you go. 

Also..the daily challenge today was to 'park your plastic'. I admit to laughing aloud when I saw that one. I am married to a CPA...we don't use credit cards anymore. We use debit and that is IT. 

Well, I did use the Discover to get that rug, but that wasn't today!!!!

Have a splendid day. I got a new workout dvd. Will letcha know how that goes. 

Promises, promises

I promised on SpacePage yesterday that I would have before and after hair pics on here today. 
Without further adieu (or is it ado? I think its ado):

Blonde roots. 

Sad pajama face. Stupid hair.

TA DAH!!!!I look super-pale because I took this when I got home from work and my lipstick had rubbed off. My hairdresser (who is also a dear friend) gave me foils of a cool brown and a base of a golden brown. Apparently this adds a TON of shine and dimension. I cannot get over how good it looks. And I NEVER style my hair, so this is the best we're gonna get. Haha. 

Is this hat cute or stupid-lookin?

SO, I go to see my mother once a week to help her with her laundry. She lives with my grandmother and my aunt and cousin. My aunt has an ADORABLE little doggie named Duke. 

Milo LOVES HIM. Last week we went for a little stroll around the block. 

Teaching fetch. 

Milo found this abandoned in someone's yard. He was impersonating my mom (who now walks with a cane) and cracking my aunt and me right up. 

New rug! NEEEEWWWWW RUUUGGGG!!!!

I am madly in love with it. Really ties the room together. Hope no one pees on it. 

I've got a folder full of crap I like on the Anthro website, but don't feel like posting them now. I'm not one of those women who are all about that shabby chic style or whatever...I prefer more of a goofy vintage modern. Maybe I'll get to it tomorrow. 

And finally, I have a request of you, my intertubes pals:

can you tell me two things you think I am really good at?

This is for the MeYou Health daily challenge. I'm not fishing for compliments, I swear. Its more for a fresh perspective. To expound on things I perhaps haven't thought of. 

Aaaand now I am gonna go work out. And buy a teen vogue BECAUSE two people I really enjoy are in there, Gwen Stefani and Tavi at Style Rookie. I heart her. Them. You know.