Unknown Superstar

Sage Advice

2011-10-06T11:54:00.001-04:00

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

Don't be trapped by dogma
which is living with the results of other people's thinking.

Don't let the noise of others' opinions
drown out your own inner voice.

And most important, have the courage
to follow your heart and intuition.

They somehow already know
what you truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary."

~ Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Address 2005

Where do you read?

2011-09-07T11:44:00.002-04:00

I love books. I was brought up reading books as I left the womb (and drinking Diet Pepsi too but that's a whole other story for another day). There are pictures of me and my sister when we were just barely able to sit up reading books in bed together. I participated in the summer reading program at the library every summer, reading books and creating little projects around their themes. Creating book lists to read and suggesting books to friends and family is just part of what I do as an adult (no summer reading program anymore where I can sew fake spiders that the library will hang from the ceiling. Well, that would just be weird, wouldn't it?). I gather great reads from magazines, rip out the pages and add them to my list on my library's website. The list is long. I can definitely add titles a lot faster than I can read them.

Because life is what it is these days - hectic to say the least, demanding with its errands and expectations - my overdue account continues to mount and I'm scratching at my library reading the first few pages of books I've read in the past. I actually HATE to read books again (and see movies again that I've seen. Boring!). But life conspires to put the trip to the library and managing the online book list at the bottom of the priority list.

Along comes the Kindle. Why haven't I gotten one? Would it not solve all my reading and book getting and book returning woes? I sit on airplanes and see people gently flipping their pages. Old people, young people, not me people. What is wrong with me! It would be so easy to download a book AT THE AIRPORT BEFORE I BOARD and have it as I sit down and fasten my too short seatbelt in my tiny airplane chair. I have no idea what I'm waiting for.

BzzAgent has paired with Kindle it seems to offer the lucky few a chance at the newest lightweight version of the Kindle. 8.5 ounces! I think most people eat steak that weighs twice that! Oh how a Kindle would augment my love of books and ability to read on the go. I'd never be without my book and I'd never have to resort to my own frustration in pulling out a story I've already had an emotional attachment to in the past. Obviously I'm yearning for some new emotional attachments! Electronic, page-flipping emotional attachments!

I'd love to be a part of this campaign!

New Flip Flops?

2011-08-31T11:00:00.002-04:00

Summer is NOT over! We still have at least a month left of flip flop weather. Do yourself a favor and head over to Old Navy and pick up a paid of their newly designed Flip flops. I'm a flip flop snob and have always bought Teva flip flops. But I got this free pair to try and I'm honestly pretty impressed. They are 1) long enough for my feet (a feat I tell you! Size 12 helllooo!) and 2) They're actually much more comfortable than they look.

I have to say that they look kind of cheap and I have been skeptical of Old Navy's footwear line in the past. But I wore them with jeans last night and they don't look beachy... you know? They are actually decent flip flops to do errands in and I guess, if you were me last night, to go to the bar in!

And what? Only 4 bucks? Go get em now! http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=60979&vid=1&pid=820575&scid=820575002

What do you Manage?

2011-08-24T14:11:00.002-04:00

I've been feeling overwhelmed lately with the amount of things and processes I manage. I know I'm not alone in this and wonder how people with children, especially single parents!, manage all these adult things and their childrens' systems and processes too.

I think our lives must just be so much more complex than they used to be. And these complexities and increased technology lead to greater expectations from those around us. i.e. the time in which an email should be replied to or a phone call should be returned; the ability to work at home and get more work done for the same pay; the ability or on the other side, lack of effort we have for keeping in touch given all of our available forms of communication.

But really, it's not even those expectations I'm talking about. It's more the amount of stuff we're supposed to keep straight and manage on daily, weekly, and monthly basis. And then on top of it, the systems and tools we have to know how to use in order to do this.

This sounds whiny huh? I guess I'm feeling whiny lately.

Here's a list. Perhaps its detail will make you think I'm being dramatic or hyperbolic (likely, actually) but when I'm feeling overwhelmed, these details are what make me feel this way.

The cell phone: Knowing how to use all of its features and/or what your peers/boss/family think you should know and use adequately to keep in touch; the cell phone bill and paying it, not exceeding your minutes or text quota each month; the cell phone website and how to set controls for your phone(s) that children might use/blocking calls.
At work I manage phone software for a call center to be able to see every minute who is on a call, how long that call is, listening for customer service on that call, recording and saving calls, making sure enough staff are ready to answer calls.
At work I manage reporting software for those phones and knowing which reports to run and how to sort them to get the results I'm looking for since none of them provide exactly what I need independently.
At work I manage everyone else's schedules - single moms, single moms with crazy ex's, moms with multiple children's schedules to work around.
At work I manage the quitline for 3 different states with 3 different priorities and basically 3 different protocols. These ever-changing needs with my staff of 10 on site and 3 off site. I'm lucky to work with a strong group of flexible women!
An afterwork tutoring schedule at the community center by my house where I design and deliver the curriculum in addition to tutoring once a week; 3 private clients all in high school who have their own teenage social, athletic, and academic schedules which are constantly changing.
Car maintenance schedule - yeah I don't even try to manage this. If a light comes on, I do something.
Medical and dental appointments - I do my best. The hard part these days is if you miss some of them or you don't cancel in time, you have to pay a fee. Remembering to do this doesn't always fit into the schedule of managing everything else during the day!
Groceries? Ha. This is why takeout happens more often than it should. I try to balance that by making takeout always last for at least two meals. Household goods - well I'm pretty good at making sure I don't run out of dishwasher detergent and clothes detergent because nothing frustrates me more than lack of preparedness when I have time to do things. And damn, with a schedule like mine if the supplies aren't there, it just leads to a busier schedule of fitting things in.
Bank accounts. There's the checking out, the savings account, the IRA, the pension, the 401K, and the online savings account. Passwords, logins, balances statements...some of these get managed more actively than others. I check my checking balance everyday just to see how much disposable income there is.
Birthdays, anniversaries, and special events - thankfully the gift buying for weddings, and showers has diminished over the past few years but has been replaced by baby shower rsvps and gifts and coordination of rides to these parties as we're all spread out now. Having the disposable income set aside for these events doesn't always happen (read: rarely happens) so that gets 'managed' on a credit card. Birthdays are somewhat easier thanks to reminders from Faceb**k, but those who don't allow access to their birthday then don't hear from me. This system needs tweaking on my part.
Credit cards, store cards, and don't get me started on pre-paid Visa cards. Pre-paid visa cards are a great gift and incentive for things I participate in but damn, do I need one more thing I need to go online for to check the balance? Credit cards are better now that online payments can be automatically set up and pay dates never missed. But still for expense reporting at work and then managing the rewards points, it can all get to be another huge tracking system.
Throw in the rewards points for airlines and hotels. My solution is just to try to stick to the same airline and hotel chain but that means not always getting the right price which tends to be the priority more of the time. I think this system tends to be the one that falls apart the most which is probably fine.
Then there's condo and dwelling insurance payments, condo and dwelling repairs which need to be discussed and strategized with all units in the building. Just something else to hold a meeting about a meeting about a meeting about.
And though I wouldn't give them up for the world the cats have their own medical appointments, food, and hygiene tools and products that need to be kept up to date.
Ooh how about more cards - loyalty and rewards cards for coffee, stores, and restaurants. Yeah this one really doesn't happen.
Oh regular day to day health. One that isn't getting managed well these days. Just preparing for and thinking in advance about meals, fruit and vegetable servings, buying groceries to fulfill those food plans, not being too tired to prepare those food plans, not eating outside those food plans. Wanting to do better by going to farmers markets - and when are those? what are their ridiculous non-get-to-able hours? And exercise? hello that obviously should be its own bullet.
Managing a gym membership? Keeping a gym bag full, keeping up with the schedule of classes and figuring out when you can go?
Have you flipped your mattress lately? Isn't there a schedule for that?
How about your fire alarms? Most of mine aren't even installed anymore.
Recycling and separating trash; turning in 5 cent recyclables. Thankfully there is no one bearing down on me to turn those in but they do help to reduce the grocery bills!
Should I be managing my sleep schedule? Thankfully I do that naturally. I'm someone who needs 8 hours a night and I am sure I get it.
Mortgage and watching the interest rate/strategizing refinancing as an option. Again, it's another bill that needs to get out at the top of every month.
Relationships are a thousand bullets. Mine used to be so simple. Now so many of them are political.

This list is exhausting me. What have I missed?

Yo Ho! Old Navy Strikes Again!

2011-07-12T14:16:00.002-04:00

Free tank tops this time? Thank you for my summer wardrobe Old Navy! Ladies you should check out their range of tanks which often have fun embellishments (the new and fun trend) which means you're not just stuck with the ribbed tank top that we've all been wearing for 10 years now. These tanks can play both at work and at home and damn, if you want to wear your embellished tank to the gym then go on with your bad self! Who doesn't like a little glitter on the treadmill? Prices are a little steep but given that they're so versatile the value is in the cost.

More Praise for Old Navy

2011-07-06T20:34:00.002-04:00

Old Navy has hooked up with CrowdTap once again to furnish my closet with summer options. They recently gave me and 3 friends the chance to literally take reign on the store and pick out full outfits with an accessory each.

Needless to say it was a ton of fun to hang out with the ladies and not talk about babies, husbands, pacifiers, or cleaning! IT sounds so cliche and so trite, but well, when you're in your early thirties, this is the conversation I guess.

We all tried on different combinations of outfits - all of us of course practical and efficient with our choices so that our options could be used in a variety of situations. Since two of us are office people we chose close that could move from office to going out. One of us chose clothes good for toting the kids around and staying comfortable while the other one chose simple but classy styles for home and going out. Though I NEVER buy button downs, I got a pretty floral shirt that I've already worn with both skirts and shorts. So versatile.

I am in love with my new summer bag option which went right from the Old Navy store to vacation with me in Orlando!

Garden Update!

2011-06-20T16:00:00.004-04:00

I have all these pictures that we take of the greenhouse but never post. So here's your post! Oh wait, I just realized I haven't posted at all! I must just be telling people when I see them. I do speak effusively about how much we are loving our greenhouse plot that we have via The Food Project here in Boston. TFP is a truly comprehensive organization that is headquartered in Boston but has gardens and collaborations in six towns on the coast. They encourage and teach about urban farming from farming in these greenhouse plots to having your own container gardens at home. The houses around the greenhouse ,in Boston's biggest and arguably poorest and most dangerous neighborhood, benefit from the personnel resources and probably from the paradigm set by the food project of maintaining gardens and local food as many of them seem to have huge yard gardens. It is inspiring.
Of equal importance is the youth program that TFP runs employing dozens of kids during the school year and the summer who build gardens, grow fruit and vegetables, and then learn business skills selling their crops at farmers markets and via CSAs. The kids are kept off the streets for a good part of the day and are learning sustainable skills. They are then resources in their families and communities.
So I have a plot at these greenhouses that TFP runs which were built last fall. For $25 we got a 4x10 plot where, about 6 weeks ago, we planted basil, dill, lettuce, 3 kinds of peppers, broccoli, and beans. The plants, in their ideal environment for growing, shot up immediately. We've harvested lettuce, basil, and dill and expect to harvest peppers and beans this weekend. The broccoli is enormous but the heads aren't crowning yet. You'll see in the pictures.
The plots are 'owned' by a melting pot of people which is pretty representative of the neighborhood of Boston that we live in. There are Caucasians, African Americans, Cape Verdeans, Latino/as, Middle Easterners, and folks from the Caribbean Islands. I've surely left some groups out but you get the picture. The plots take up about 2500 feet of the 10,000 square foot greenhouse. 5000 square feet is ALL TOMATOES! They are grown and sold to Boston restaurants. Today, Arthur and I went in and picked 400 pounds of tomatoes. We were sweaty and exhausted when we finally decided it was time to leave.
Here are some recent pictures. All taken on Arthur's phone. I'll have to get some with the camera soon.

Do you Old Navy?

2011-04-28T20:58:00.000-04:00

Old Navy is touting their spring dress line. If you've been in, walked by, poked around their website, you may have seen the dozens of dress options they have out.

I think the best part of the promotion is the variety of options. There are cute little fitted dresses for the cute and little, and there are some that are a little more 'flexible' (if you will) for those of us who aren't as cute and little. But that's par for the course with Old Navy right? They've got something for everyone.

Most of the dresses are under 30 bucks which makes them appropriate for showers and upcoming weddings (if you choose the right one!) and even for work if you dress it up with the right shoes and jewelry. Go nuts! Old Navy is touting their accessory line too so you can get it all done in one stop!

New Products I like

2011-04-20T12:12:00.002-04:00

There is SOMETHING, eh, about finding a product you can latch on to, you know? So here are two of my recent favorites.

There is a candy drawer in my department. It's a hazard. I can try to not go there, I can try to limit myself, but there are always excuses. Lately, it's been these. Yeah the hard candy Werther's are good, but chewy, chewy Werther's oh-so-satisfying. I recently had a problem disengaging from Jelly Belly's. I might have a new problem on my hands now. (pretend I didn't just send you to the page with the nutritional information).

Ok and thankfully not food related, I recently bought Ivory body wash. I've always been a fan of soap and not body wash and could really go either way. Somehow, I picked up the body wash version (it must have been on sale...I never buy anything for full price) and now I'm hooked. There's just something about that Ivory smell that you can't help but associate with clean and pure. Clearly their marketing has worked on me. The website pictures are all cartoon-y which for some reason for me, doesn't give the product justice. Even the packaging to me seemed clean and pure.

Ok lastly, you know Target never fails me. The have the best variety of drink mixes to mix into your water bottle. Since I am forever dehydrated (there's a lot here to hydrate, folks) I often fill up four water bottles in the morning and just have them on my desk to drink through throughout the day. Seems to be a good method for me (when I actually do it). Target has sugar-free packets (you know, like Crystal Light or something similar) in flavors like lime margarita and cranberry cosmopolitan. For those not so alcoholically inclined (those of you who aren't Risley's that is) there are grape flavored and tangerine strawberry as well as a wide range of lemonades. I know, not ground-breaking, not over the top products that are going to change your life, but still stuff that makes it all just a little bit better on a daily basis. (Sorry I can't find them on the website.)

Customer Service Kudos and Warning

2011-03-30T11:46:00.001-04:00

Cheers to Sports Authority for being able to track down my insurance plan 2 years later even after I had cut up the credit card used to purchase it. The woman was smart and could navigate the tools she had with customer information and I didn't sit through a crazy recorded menu of options or get transferred or told to call another number. The issue was resolved literally within 3 minutes.

JEERS to Virgin Mobile. Here is the text of a fax I am sending them right now. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER:

Hello –

I emailed exempt@virginmobileusa.com on 3/17/2011 3:18:56 PM and have yet to receive any information back about getting tax exempt status on our account for the above 3 phone numbers. I have already bought the cell phones.

I will include the email with this fax so you can see what I am requesting. I have now spoken with FIVE customer services reps including Jay #483767, Juan #482249, and Emerson #512380. All of them have told me different things including emailing to the above address from which I heard nothing, emailing to outteam@virginmobileusa.com from which I heard nothing, getting a phone call back from a manager which didn’t happen, and now this.

Please let me know how and when this can happen. Our tax exempt certificates are included as well in this fax.

Expectations

2011-02-09T06:57:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling overwhelmed lately but I admit I bring some of it on myself. I'm completely over-extended right now. I think having a personal assistant would be the answer but knowing me, I'd be giving up control of part of me and I'd hate that too.

While I'm overextended on the work front, all because I choose to schedule too much, I also feel frustrated with the expectations of life some times. When that happens on top of feeling like I can't get on top of my work, it just makes me existential. Typically those days where I wonder why I'm (we) do all of this and what it is all for and what its meaning is...are not good days. Too much thinking. When I feel a lack of meaning the more I think about it, the worse I feel. Now add THAT to everything else!

I just get overwhelmed sometimes with all the things I'm supposed to be doing. I'm supposed to be a certain way or have certain things as I am precipitously close to my mid-thirties. I'm supposed to be married, to be pregnant or have a kid. If I'm thinking about it ,I'm supposed to take vitamins and lose weight. Go on that tangent and I'm supposed to exercise everyday, I'm supposed to eat so many fruits and vegetables, I'm supposed to drink so many fluids. How can I keep up with all this with everything else I'm supposed to manage on a daily basis?

I'm not writing well enough to really tell the story of my frustration. I guess I can see around it though and know that these periods come and go. I'm talking to my boss today about how to gain more control over my tasks at work so I don't feel like I'm reacting to everything there instead of coming up with ideas and solutions. I know 2nd job will get a little easier after the March SAT. Managing schedules for 4 families is really too much with everything else (you know like making sure I eat 8 fruits and vegetables a day.)

Ok I must go get ready to react and wonder what the meaning of everything I do is today.

A rant about customer service (ok and some rave)

2011-01-23T19:06:00.003-05:00

This blog is turning into a rants and raves column but maybe I'm ok with that. It might still have random pictures of my cats.

So two weeks ago I had that Shel Siverstein 'No Good, Awful, Very Bad weekend'. I lost my glasses, my computer died, and my tooth broke. So today, $1362 exactly later, everything is fixed. Let me tell you about some things that have gotten under my skin in the meantime and some that have made me feel a little better about the world.

So my dentist's office was sold out about 5 years ago to this woman and a new staff. At first I hated it because I always felt like they were upselling dental procedures and helllooo!!! it's the dentist not a bridal gown shop. Do not try and upsell what people don't need. It's gotten better (amazingly not because of my complaints because you know I'm no stranger to corporate complaining) and because I'm 1/2 lazy, I have stuck with them. Well they were able to fit me in same day as the consultation for the tooth repair service. I'd been putting a crown off for a while due to the price but obviously if your tooth breaks on your favorite 99 cent Trader Joe's peppermint taffy, you're gonna have to just suck it up. The procedure wasn't bad...I'm a bit of a pro at dental procedures. What they have started doing on all levels including with both the dentist and the hygienists and assistants as well as with the lady at the front who does the insurance and billing stuff, is to tell you exactly what they're doing, why, and what to expect. When I wasn't sure that there was enough Novocaine, they explained to me that they could numb the inside too but that it hurt more to do the procedure and I could weigh that against putting up with some pressure. It was my choice. They explained where and how they were drilling and they explained why my insurance covered what it did, why the copay was what it was, and why I couldn't just get my bi-annual cleaning done at the same time (stupid inflexible insurance rules!).

This weekend at the eye doctors the assistant explained every exam down to the biology for me and what to expect throughout. They were funny and empathetic to having to wait in the doctors office with dilated eyes on a Friday night. I was very impressed.

Now let me tell you about getting the glasses. I went to Sears last Saturday after a week of not having glasses. I figured I'd get a better deal there than at Lens Crafters. Sure enough there was a 2 for $99 deal. Perfect! Another safety net for when I lose another pair. The woman says, our doctor called in sick so you can't have an exam but you can pick out your frames from that wall over there. All of those are in the 2 for $99 promotion. We'll make you an appt for next Saturday. Great! I picked out two I really liked, made the appointment and off I went. They call in the middle of the week that the doctor will not be in and can I go to Lens Crafters and see the doctor there and get the prescription. When I'm done I should bring it over to Sears. Sure. So this Friday I go to Lens Crafters and get the eye exam and prescription. I walk down to Sears and they're all but closed. There's a guy sitting there and I can tell he's ready to go home to dinner and wifey. I'm all, man..can I tell you my story? He hears the story and brings me in since I had then been driving without glasses for 2 weeks. He puts all the information into the computer and then says to me, you know, you're going to have to pay the overage on these frames of whatever is over $69. The who? I said, no the woman said anything on that wall. Turns out 'the woman' was a sales associate from CT who happened to be there and clearly didn't know the promotion. I was so spent. AT that point I would be paying $200 regardless which is what I knew I'd be paying at Lens Crafters. I said ok listen, you need to go home to your wife and I cannot pick out two frames that are only $69 tonight. He said yeah, basically the only ones in this promotion are this and this brand. I'm like alright, I'll be back Sunday. So I go back this morning. A whole other guy is there. I tell him my story and he concurs with the over $69 guy and shows me what my options are (which are basically the box of glasses you find at the tag sale from the lost and founds at the churches around the neighborhood over the past 10 years). Then he goes, so I'm guessing since you were misinformed about the rest of this promotion that you probably weren't told that it will take 10-12 days for the glasses to come back because they're sent to an outside lab. Yes, of course I wasn't told that. So I said to him, so basically, I should just suck up the $60 and just go get a pair of glasses at Lens Crafters that I can have in an hour. He agreed.

Thankfully the experience at Lens Crafters was swift and well done. I have new glasses which look good on me. I'm a lot of money in the hole (thank you Capital One! I'm sure you'll continue to enjoy my interest gathering adventures). But I'm not impressed with the customer service at Sears and I will surely recommend Lens Crafters for their immediate and well-explained service.

I'm Lovin' It!

2011-01-07T08:51:00.003-05:00

So I'm not a big fast food eater; not because I'm too good for fast food; simply because I like it too much. So I just stay away from it. I know of its addictive properties and try to have it only in instances when food needs to be eaten and the circumstances make it the best choice. Like when you're stuck in the airport for 12 hours. But I digress.

Fast food commercials can sometimes get you at a weak moment. Sometimes when you see those quadruple cheeseburgers it makes you want to gag but sometimes you see them and mmmm I could really go for something greasy and cheesy right now. But they just introduced this Maple and fruit oatmeal and the commercials are on all the time. I don't know how oatmeal could make me salivate but their advertising worked on me and I HAD to go and try some.

We went on the way to work this morning and granted the product coming out of the drive through didn't look quite as good as the commercial but it was pretty close. It was sweet but not too sweet ( I hate too sweet) and it had the promised cranberries, raisins, and apples in it. It was delicious, fit into my daily food consumption plan (let's not call it a diet, hmm?), and was a perfect warm breakfast. It will allow me to just say no to Bagel Breakfast at work today. I hope.

But kudos to you McDonalds! For 2 bucks you made something I'm willing to stop by for more often. What else have you got up your sleeve?

Shifting Traditions (part 2)

2010-12-22T14:39:00.003-05:00

For the past however many years, I have flown into Charlotte for Christmas where my parents would pick me up and we would then drive to Northeast Atlanta together to celebrate with the extended family.

The past few years doing this really got under my skin.

I realized recently that it wasn't doing this that made me so resentful, it was that it was how it was. I was single. It was cost and travel efficient to do it this way. It gave me and my parents more quality time to spend together. It just made me feel like a 14 year old boarding school kid on break.

The past couple of days I've been remembering how much I actually enjoyed those car trips. Mom would bring cookies, we'd listen to Christmas music, I'd tell them stories about work and my friends, and they would do the same. It is at least a 3-4 hour trip to Atlanta but with a couple of bathroom breaks and an unending supply of cookies, we made it. I'm sad thinking that that is over.

I'm not sad that I won't be sleeping on the pull out couch at the hotel.

This year, I'm bringing A to celebrate Christmas with my family. It was pretty costly to fly down to the ATL and rent a hotel room but we're doing it. It's an important step for us. It's another piece of the Modern Family puzzle that I chuckle about sometimes. The big black boyfriend, the crazy live-in grandmother, the vegan parents...we've got a little bit of it all.

In a similar but no related tradition memory...I was making my favorite cookies last weekend and remembered all the cookies my mom used to make at Christmas when we lived in Dalton. And though it seems benign, I fondly remember the screened in porch which wasn't heated in the winter where the cookies were stored during the Christmas season. The tile floor was cold and when you went out to sneak a cookie you got a good reminder that you were sneaking it as you hurried back into the house with your treat.

I had to put the cookies out on the deck and if you know where I live, you're probably aware that there was a good chance of urban contamination in the form of smoggy air, any array of chemicals and pollution coming from the sky, sneaky squirrels...you name it. It did the trick out there but made me miss the screened in porch.

And a tradition that hasn't shifted (yet I hope) was the hanging of personalized stockings that my mother hand made when we were little. Mine had a snowman on it. My name on it was white KRISTY (which is what they called me I guess when I was really little?). They were red felt and the cutouts were in all other colors all different from one another for each of our stockings. The cats each had their own stocking. They were hung on hooks, classicly, under the mantel and until a couple of years before I went to college, they were hung with a string of fake pine garland with colored lights that brought you right back to the late 70s when you know they were bought. The mantel had an assortment of Christmas knick-knacks my parents had collected over the years which were put up the day after Thanksgiving in the annual 'eat turkey and decorate the house' event.

I definitely miss all of that. I don't have a stocking. My cats don't have stockings. Maybe mom can hook us up.

Another Product I'm Loving

2010-12-13T14:28:00.004-05:00

I stumbled upon Noxema Blemish Control Daily Scrub at Stop and Shop recently where they didn't carry the Neutrogena face wash I've been using. I like the scrubs because it feels like I'm doing something with the little gritty bits, though I have to admit, I don't really know if it cleans and/or does anything further for my skin. Honestly, I don't think it does and I've been sticking with the same one because it smells nice and citrusy.

So I needed to get something and didn't want to do an in the car and out the car + a walk through Target which would have invariably ended up with another $50 in purchases, so I picked out something new. I'm kind of psyched because I'm not usually one to spend money on toiletries if I don't already know to what to expect from it.

It has the gritties, so at least I know I'm exfoliating. But it also has that tried and true Noxema tingle. Remember the big Noxema from adolescence in the big, blue tub? It feels like that...so I think something is happening (mind tricks are ok before 7 am). I honestly do think it has cleared up my adult face issues (seriously, WTH? I should have seen the last of this 16 years ago!). So it's a keeper and I'm happy to pass on the good product endorsement!

a

2010-12-13T14:28:00.001-05:00

Decorations and Generations

2010-12-12T15:19:00.007-05:00

I know I have shared pictures before of some of my Christmas Tree ornaments, some of which my parents have sent in bits and pieces now that they don't have a full-sized Christmas Tree (or one at all? hellooo!) anymore, and some that I have bought myself in the after-Christmas sales.

This ornament, I'm pretty sure was my maternal grandmothers. Or her mother's? Mom? Weigh in!
Fear not it is up high away from furry paws. I think this one falls in to the same 'wicked old' category. I remember it having a teal partner star... I wonder where it is?

These two are Pier One finds. We go here because the ornaments are handmade in Eastern Europe where my mother's family originates. I particularly like these two because ball ornaments can be pretty boring. But these two are ornate and are just me...
My mother at one time also made 3 wreaths. I think during her sewing period (a trait my sister got 100% of and I got none of). It fits perfectly geometrically with the rest of my regular decorating!

I don't think anyone would peg this as my style, but it works doesn't it? I love that it's something I can re-invent as my own for the holidays.

Re-inventing Traditions

2010-12-12T14:44:00.003-05:00

I am soooo glad to have traditions that my parents started with us that I count on throughout the year, and that now, as an 'adult' I can revive and reinvent for today. Traditions are comforting and obviously nostalgic. It's rare, I think , that a tradition brings back bad memories.

We had a winter tradition in our family of having an indoor picnic during February vacation every year. When I buy a house, I will make sure it has a fireplace so that my eventual family will be able to have an indoor picnic and roast marshmallows and hot dogs in the living room in February.

We always made and decorated sugar cookies at Christmas and as we got older we did it with a local Vietnamese family who shared in our American traditions and sugar highs. Today I had the chance to reinvent this tradition in my own home with my favorite little family kids, S and T. S's mom had never decorated cookies either growing up so it was a first for her too. It was so fun to share how much fun it is to use too much frosting and 4 or 5 too many red hots on each cookie. Even cutting them out with the cookie cutters was a lot of fun for them. I so enjoyed sharing my family's tradition with them.

We made a boatload of peanut butter Hershey Kiss cookies too. What an afternoon!

Products I love

2010-11-29T19:30:00.003-05:00

For today, L'Oreal Revitalift.

I have always been cheap about face cream. Well, I'm cheap (ok frugal) about a lot of things. But as it turns out, putting a little money into face cream really does make a difference. There was a good sale on L'Oreal Revitalift a few months ago so I went out of my monetary comfort zone and tried it. Mind you, I hardly wear makeup sauf some eyeliner and mascara. I suppose spending a little money on face cream so that what you're seeing and how I'm feeling about myself is good is worth it.

Face creams have always made me sweat them out. I guess that means they were clogging my pores? I don't know. Honestly, I have done no research outside myself. But this doesn't happen with this face cream. I just need a little on my fingertips to take away the tightness from the face wash in the shower and I'm good to go. It's got the weakest of scents and is really light.

I bought two more on sale to have in stock. It's a definite recommendation from the 3rd floor over here.

p.s. I'm done

2010-11-29T19:24:00.001-05:00

With that silly exercise. If you want to know about my inner-most feelings about myself and others please feel free to pose a topic. I'm not afraid of exploring ideas, but they have to be worthwhile.

I have recently found some good products worth sharing too. That's at least useful information.

Bring on the Snow!

2010-11-29T19:14:00.004-05:00

For real! I'm ready! We've got Christmas cookie candles burning here and the decorations are up. Christmas music got me through a swath of data entry at work today. 23 days until our big trip south to the big peach. Until then, the house smells like evergreen and I am reminiscing about all of these ornaments that I just hung on the tree. It's a lot of work but it's worth it for 4 weeks a year.

Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.

2010-11-23T09:20:00.002-05:00

I'm not at a loss here but don't feel too strongly about this.

When Savory Man and I broke up (that makes me feel like a teenager saying that) I was ready to move on. Come to find out there was too much about him that I needed in my life as a partner. Indeed we make a great team. I could probably live without him, but I choose not to.

I know I could eventually move on without the furry goodness. But it wouldn't be easy. And I certainly could not imagine it.

Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)

2010-11-23T09:19:00.001-05:00

I definitely need a new set of topics...huh? I don't have a hero, don't think I ever have, and therefore have not been let down. Boring!

Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)

2010-11-18T12:52:00.003-05:00

Dear JoDee:

I never really knew you before the rise of illegally downloading music from the internet. I did have a roommate for a while, Tomarah (hi, eh!) who was a country music fan. And I'm not saying that I am not a country music fan because I simply love the Alabama Christmas album and the holidays aren't the same if I don't have it on rewind (or whatever we do these days. BTW, why isn't my copy with the other Christmas cds that I just dug out? anyhow moving on...). But I am not a die-hard and I don't seek out songs and country artists to fill up my playlists.

But you dear, made an impact on someone who considers herself fairly multi-lingual in the music appreciation world. Because your songs have a pop edge, and because your lyrics just touch me in the right places (you know, not in a Divynals sort of way or anything), you have become a savior on some occasions. I sometimes catch one of your songs that I burned onto a cd here or there and never labeled and I turn it up and I sing out loud cause you make me happy, and the song makes me feel strong, and good, and right. I mean, I'm not lacking in self-esteem or anything but you have done your job (I think?) when you make me feel RIGHT. I'm alright.

Cause sure enough there are plenty of days when my Give a damn's busted and weren't you there when the whole family up and left Heads Carolina, Tails California (and you're there when I feel like I need OUT of Boston and off to somewhere else with this song).

For sure you expressed how I felt with a couple of fellas with Delicious Surprise and remind me why we need to have a rainy day every once in a while with Bring on the Rain.

Thanks for your songwriting and being that artist for me.

Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.

2010-11-18T12:50:00.003-05:00

What? This silly category is worthy of a bulleted list:

I never get complimented on egregiously big feet
I never get complimented on my ears
I never get complimented on my self-righteousness (trying to tame it!)

This is a silly category.

Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.

2010-11-16T13:26:00.003-05:00

I seem to get asked a lot, when shopping, if I work in the store I'm in. I don't know what it is - but I think it's my height. So basically I'm making this assumption that people assume authority by height, even in retail? Weird.

I get complimented on two things - my height and my eyes. Oh and my hair. I'll take 2 of the 3.

I'm not a huge fan of my height. Granted, it allows me to eat more than the average woman but I have always felt that I stand out and it's taken me a LONG time to feel comfortable dressing this body. The tall comes with the big feet and I still can't dress these feet most of the time. I think people associate height with models and perhaps that's what they like about it? No one associates it with pants that are always too short and shirts that need to be hung to dry because they're often too short to begin with on your torso. Few women associate it with difficulty in finding a likewise tall mate. But basketball players are tall! And you can reach things on high shelves! I'd give an arm and a leg to give back 3 inches. That's all I'm saying.

I remember being on a Spring Break in Florida once and a guy at a club telling me to stand up and feel confident in my height. I think I was less self-aware of my body then and remember not really understanding his passion about my height. I still slump and have bad posture but I at least have recognized that tall can equal classy, tall can equal authority and power, and tall can equal a combination of those two things thereby making it a powerful trait.

I am grateful to have compliments on my big, blue eyes and on my hair. I admit I have to do nothing to my hair and it is straight and not frizzy ever. I guess I'm just lucky. I know that 99.9% of women have problems with their hair that they spend a lot of money on products for. Though I'd kill for a day of spiral curls, I'll be happy with smooth, straight, manageable hair.

I get compliments on my eyes a lot and sometimes I see pictures and wonder if they are in fact, disproportionate to the rest of my face. Both of my parents are blue-eyed so I guess the gene carried through just fine. I don't know where the big eyes come from though. I can say honestly that I can't wait to see eyes on my future children. They're going to have eyelashes a mile long.

Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.

2010-11-16T13:25:00.000-05:00

Revert back to the post about those who made your life hell. That's all I got on this one.

Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.

2010-11-16T08:38:00.002-05:00

I have great friends. No qualms, no buts, no hesitations. The number of close friends has dwindled over time (and by time I mean since 1999 when I left college). I was really close with a couple of guys when I left. They were younger than me; guys I had had some pretty silly (usually) drunk escapades with in college. We were close from doing all the marching band stuff together for a few years.

I made huge efforts to keep in touch with them all when I left and graduated before them. Some of them I don't talk to at all and that irks me. A couple of them I'm still in touch with on a regular basis and they make an effort to reach out and say hi, or say -hey, I'm in town, let's get a drink. Two of them have drifted and those are the two I miss.

It was a hard process for me acknowledging and appreciating even I guess, that people's lives move on and not everyone will be willing and able to put into relationships what I do. It took a long time for me to realize that I was the anomaly. I mean, I get it - I get that there's a lot going on BESIDES me in people's lives. Maybe I'm selfish. Actually I feel, though not as strongly anymore because apathy has basically taken over, that I deserve more from some people in whom I invested, and never got the return. My fault? Perhaps.

These two guys who drifted - both 4 years younger, neither of whom was good at maintaining the traditional college role. Both left UMASS early because they weren't really going to classes and were wasting tuition money on sleeping in hungover and eating take out all night. We've all visited each other en masse before but that hasn't happened in years. Life came along and drinking excursions became fewer. I became old and need to go to bed early (I never was a night owl let's face it). I've lost touch with them both.

One of them I had had frequent phone conversations with. We made a point to keep in touch even though, quite honestly, the phone conversations were exactly the same everytime we talked. The other, from what I gather on FB, has created a nationally recognized career for himself and has a steady partner to share it with.

I'm sad they are not in touch. Or that I am not in touch with them. I guess this post is the impetus to reach out and say hi. Our 'drift' is not as a result of malice or spite, apathy perhaps. But I love 'em, and I miss 'em, and I hope they're well. And tonight I'm gonna call 'em.

Silly cat

2010-11-15T17:37:00.003-05:00

Milo tried to get himself returned to Kohls. Silly cat.

Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.

2010-11-12T12:20:00.003-05:00

Ok this one is a little easier. Though I have had few negative people in my life, I know a lot of people. Chances are in this enormous circle of people that there's gonna be a few assholes. Amazingly, they have all been men. One particular asshole was in college and clearly thought more of himself than other people did and thought he'd try to throw his weight around for no good reason, and the second asshole was a love who clearly masked his self-esteem, self-worth, self-meaning issues in his philandering.

Is that a word? It is now.

In college I didn't play by the paradigm. Meandering outside the typical wasn't purposeful on my part but, as we say at work, organic. It just happened due to circumstances and due to what made me the most happy and comfortable at the time. I didn't stay at my first college because it wasn't a good fit. The change was good. I chose to do an extra year at the new college and work at the same time because I just needed to. Most of my best friends were a year younger, there were still things I wanted to do on campus, I just wasn't ready. I also joined a service fraternity associated with the marching band but not until after 3 years in the band. Most people join their first or second year but I was busy doing other things on campus.

I had to do the typical pledging that you hear about for fraternities and sororities. I had a great time despite the fact that I was older than the rest of the pledges. I mean come on, it's college. You drink, you party, you have fun at all hours of the night. There was an older guy though who wanted nothing to do with my membership in this organization. And he would give me hell at any chance he could. He was just an asshole. Thankfully, no one else put up with it and I 'got in' to the fraternity. Just someone with a chip that was just too big on his shoulder. He was part of an organization where the veteran members were revered for their ~~asshole attitudes~~ wisdom and commitment to music and the band. In retrospect, and with my knowledge I now have of weak men and self-esteem, I now know that he was just a little boy in a big boy's body. He needed to exert power and I was the victim.

He approached me at Homecoming and said , "Hey Riz. Can I have a hug?". I gave in with apathy. Please. At least my body language made it clear that I don't care if you've finally grown into your big boy body. I'm all set thanks.

The other asshole who made my life hell for a short time was a recent 'love' (I don't like the word lover...icky). No long explanation needed - he was just a piece of shit who, in retrospect, probably has PTSD and quite honestly has a lot on his lap as a single father of 3 kids, two of whom have autism. Maybe piece of shit is too strong? Nah. You can still be a decent person and not use other people and have good social and communication skills even if your life is hard.
His choices were juvenile, his actions were hurtful, and his communication was deceitful and weak. I hope there are not other women in his wake whom he has treated this way. And, though he is an asshole, I do hope he finds a good therapist to help him extract all the pent up frustration he must have about getting dealt a crap hand in life. He has supports in his family for sure but he surely didn't get a fair shake from fate.

Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.

2010-11-12T12:17:00.003-05:00

I think I want to abandon this little exercise.

I honestly can't say I have someone in my life that gives me this extreme emotion...someone that has made my life worth living? I have made my life worth living.

Any strong woman will tell you that you don't need someone else to determine your self-worth. I get that people's kids make their lives better, that people have inspiring grandparents and wise great-aunts.

But my life has never not been worth living (despite double negatives). It's a very worthy life all on its own.

Next topic that I might shoot down too?

Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.

2010-11-09T13:54:00.003-05:00

I am tempted to scour the internet to see what other people have written in response to these predetermined categories. This is one I have to say that I haven't ever thought about so it is taking me some time to formulate some real thoughts.

And now it's been 3 days since I started this. I don't want to steal from other people's ideas but want to give you what I felt myself (ok and with a little help from Beth):

* I don't ever want to have to take anyone off life support. I am lucky that my parents have already signed a contract absolving me of the ethical and legal gravity associated with this in case they end up 'hooked up'.

* I don't ever want to bury a child.

* I don't ever want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Adventures are fun but I'd rather stick to the resort at the bottom of the mountain.

I'm hoping the topics after this one get easier cause this is both hard and depressing.

Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.

2010-11-05T13:10:00.005-04:00

I am a very lucky person to have done a lot of things in life that most people will only dream about. There are a few things on my bucket list and I do have to say that I WILL do them and though I may hope to do them today, at 1:11 pm in November of 2010, I know I will do them and not just hope about them.

My job at JSI has allowed me to travel to developing countries and experience deplaning on a hot tarmac and going through customs in a language I don't speak. It has allowed me to not only see, but to feel how poverty can simultaneously exist with joy and hope. It has allowed me to be in countries where my own country is hated and publicly ridiculed. I however, have not had the chance to travel extensively while in these countries and continents. One thing a lot of young people here have done that I never got the chance to do was to go white-water rafting on the Nile. That's on my list.

I have always wanted to jump out of a plane and have read up on the process and what it entails. Basically what it entails is me losing some more weight, going through a couple of trainings, and then getting my parachute on. On the top of the list.

I want to see Paul Simon in concert. And Stevie Wonder.

And I want to have a child. I'm hoping the natural way but god forbid if I can't, raising a child is something I want to do very much.

Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.

2010-11-04T12:25:00.002-04:00

I started writing something here. I'm going to plead the 5th on this one as being too personal for the interwebs. I'm aware that I have some forgiving to do, silently in my own head. I'll work on it.

Day 3 - Something you have to forgive yourself for.

2010-11-03T11:57:00.002-04:00

I might have missed a 24 hour period in here - sorry! Life got me yesterday.

This one is hard and I feel like writing what I'm about to write makes me sound like I'm answering that question in an interview, "Tell us about your weaknesses." You know, the one where you turn a weakness into a strength or a challenge that you're 'working on' and 'getting better at' because you need the answer to not deflate your entire interview and make you sound like you actually have things that you're not good at in life. God forbid.

I need to forgive myself for having high expectations of myself and others and for being too resilient sometimes.

I assume I have high expectations of myself, what I 'should' be able to do, and how I 'should' always treat living things from my parents. I tend to project those expectations on other people and this is pretty righteous of me and not the best way to make friends. So you ask why I should forgive myself if I know this is self-righteous? Yeah, I know. I guess I believe that though it bothers me sometimes that I think I'm expecting a lot of people, that I'm not expecting bad things. I'm expecting people to communicate and be nice to each other. Though this sounds simple, we are all aware that most people in life don't care if they're always good to other people or if they always communicate progressively. I think these things should be standard. So I do - I forgive myself from expecting this of you and others in my life. So be it.

I also think that sometimes I am too resilient to pain - physically, emotionally - and that I brush too much off my shoulders. I can handle it though and reflect on it. I think so long as I'm not being resilient as a coping mechanism to avoid something I don't like to feel, then it's ok. And as long as I'm cognizant that I'm doing it and it doesn't lead to further pain or to a pattern of avoidance then I'm good.

Your thoughts?

Day 2 - Something you love about yourself

2010-11-01T11:31:00.003-04:00

I was sitting on the couch on Saturday wondering what I would write for this post, somewhat concerned that nothing came to me immediately and then content that something did within two minutes. Seriously, sometimes I need to adjust my expectations of myself to be a little more reasonable!

I most love that I am (for the most part) fearless. I think it's beyond having a sense of adventure and moreso having an attitude that I should always take chances, that things will always work out in the end, and that an opportunity missed is a huge mistake.

In retrospect, being fearless has defined a lot of who I am. A simple example is my obnoxious driving record from my 20s. I was very much both fearless and foolishly invincible in my 20s. I only drove in the left lane and paid for it dearly until the 6years insurance hike wore off finally 2 years ago. I have to admit that while I no longer am convinced of my invincibility, I do still drive fast and in the left lane. It's not that I'm not aware of the hazards, but I am a Boston driver and have little patience for pokey drivers. It's not that I fear death, or accidents, or hurting other people but I do trust myself and my instincts and put more faith in those than I do the chance of getting into an accident. Foolish? Perhaps. Arrogant? Perhaps. I'm willing to take the odds.

My sister applied for a new job a couple of years ago and had to be that profiled person in their newsletter when she got the job. One of the questions they asked her was who she admired. And she said me! When she wrote that she admired that I took chances studying abroad and traveling to crazy places for work, I did a second take. I never realized that these were things she wouldn't have thought to do or would have thought they were out of her ability/capacity to do. I inherited my sense of adventure from my parents so I just assumed she did too and maybe it manifested in a different way? I'm honored to be admired for my desire to take chances and explore what's not handed to me. If I can instill one quality in my children (future people! future!) seeking adventure and learning about the world would be it.

I've developed a confidence in not being afraid to approach people and ideas that I just don't think are right in my 30s. I have a strong moral compass and I'm not willing to sit idly by when I don't agree with things being said or actions that I think are hurtful or in bad taste. I don't fear the backlash (and again, this may be pure arrogance) and work to put words together that aren't hurtful but which get the point across when I need them to. I've never been someone who can hold her tongue but do not fear repercussions when I feel the need to speak out and have taken the time to craft what I think needs to be said.

In general I fear mice climbing into my bed (this is an ongoing fear from traveling in Ukraine) and I fear loneliness. Sometimes I'm still afraid of the dark and leave the light on. But I love that I don't fear the future and I don't fear the unknown that comes with it. It really is a big adventure ahead and I look forward to seeing what it becomes.

Day 1: Something you hate about yourself

2010-10-28T15:53:00.003-04:00

I hate that I am a sweaty person. I have no remorse in saying this and I don't think I'm going to get a lot of emails saying..."But at least you have a healthy cooling system!" (please I've heard it before). No one wants to be sweaty and no one certainly wants to be sweaty at inopportune times. It has made me self-conscious and has probably contributed a lot to needing to be the funny person and the drunk person that I was for a long time to make up for the fact that I didn't feel like the cute girl or the hot girl in black pants. I was the sweaty, fun, dancing, out-of-control girl.

It would appear that the sweating gene comes from the xy chromosome on my mother's side. Her aunt says she suffers from sweating too much in the humidity and heat and my mother does too. I suppose I could have inherited worse traits and I've learned to live with this one over time. I am glad the current partner in my life understands I sweat too much and he often wipes the sweat off my face in the car on the way to work in the morning. I mean, who sweats getting ready for work?

I have at times talked to doctor about it and tried to link it through various internet searches to other conditions that I might have (ah, the power of the internet). No tests come back conclusive saying that I'm anything other than sweaty.

Yes there are greater things people hate about themselves. Things they've done or become that coarse their souls as inhumane, physical traits that make them think they stand out in a crowd, or a lack of discipline or drive in some part of their life that leads to self-loathing. I've learned to live with this unfortunate part of myself but I do hate it. Thankfully it's not something I am forced to recall and return to angst about like a regret or a poorly orchestrated fight with a loved one. I instead recall a high school dance where I brought a hair dryer because I knew I'd be soaked from dancing half-way through the night. Thankfully, the rest of my life has not suffered from that night.

I suppose the lemonade maker would agree that it's really good in fact that I don't sweat from my hands, my feet, or other publicly horrifying places. It all comes from my head and my face and in the most humid of situations and during (gasp!) exercise, it leaves me with a shower-soaked head of hair most often pulled back and slicked against my head.

Whatever, we all have our crosses to bear. Though I hate this about myself, it's livable and for that I am thankful.

30 days

2010-10-28T12:02:00.001-04:00

I've seen this on a couple of other blogs and would like to do it...that means putting a little effort into some regularity here. I'm going to try. I might start on Monday though given that it's the first of the month. I read a kind of hard-breaking day 1 on this blog today...you might be interested in it too. I might intersperse with cat stories. Milo has been undeniably sweet lately. I chalk it up to the weather. Here are the 30 days categories:
Following are the writing prompts for 30 Days of Truth, should you be interested in doing so yourself.

Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

This is a Cat Post

2010-09-25T15:25:00.004-04:00

Description not too needed. One night while I was trying to fall asleep, a fly chase ensued. Poor Stella put in a good 15 minute effort before Milo sauntered up, took a whack with his big grey paw, and finished the fun.

Loves Me a Farmers Market

2010-08-16T20:39:00.007-04:00

Farmers Markets proliferate the city during the summer. Last year I got a farm share which was an optimistic experiment. Turns out I have little love for swiss chard and a lot of things that come in farm shares that aren't tomatoes and corn. Call me boring, call me I don't know, not a vegetable risk-taker. But I loooovvve Farmers Markets. I love the idea of local food, of the labor of love put into local food, of not buying peppers from Chile and tomatoes from Bolivia. I have a Farmer's Market that is part of the Food Project here in Boston. Not only are the fruits and vegetables local and fresh but they are planted, harvested and sold by teenagers from the community who get paid to learn about growing healthy, local food and the pieces of business management. I love every single part of this project. They send me a weekly email telling me what's at the market that week with a recipe of one of the highlighted vegetables from that week. Sadly, I haven't made it very often this summer yet.

This weekend I hit up one of the newer markets that have sprung up all over the city this year. I was beyond excited with the 10 minute experience. It is in the Fields Corner neighborhood of Boston - not your safest neighborhood, but maybe one of the most diverse. I couldn't believe the variety offered nor could I believe how diverse the clientele was.
There must have been 6 kinds of lettuce! I got some fresh tomatoes -which turned into a bread and tomato salad at dinner tonight (email me for the recipe!) some pears, green beans (green beans with a mustard creme fraiche dressing), and an onion (which is sitting on the counter...why did I get this?). I feel like it was expensive but if I am going to put my money anywhere, I don't mind putting it here.One of the best things about these city markets is that you get 2 for 1 when you use food stamps and WIC coupons. Do not get me started about food stamps and my HATE of them and how they are used. There is nothing that fires me up quite as much as seeing birthday cakes, candy, and soda being bought with food stamps. Food stamps and WIC at farmers markets enforce the idea that food that is good for you, is not synthetic, and that is not over-processed can be as easy to get and as affordable as sweet and common choices at the supermarket. Often, the farmers markets these days are closer and often a close walk to inner-city residents than supermarkets are. I watched 3 people in front of me use their coupons for WIC or food stamps and was psyched. Kudos to whomever is making this happen in the state government.

And cheers to my cell phone for letting me document this unobtrusively on Saturday morning!

Weekend with the Babes

2010-08-09T20:43:00.008-04:00

I finally took a vacation day (halle-f-in-lujah!) on Friday and met Matthew and Beth at Misquamicut in Rhode Island. Matthew, who just turned one, was in for his first trip to the beach. He was incredibly well-behaved given the heat and new experiences of HUGE waves, ghetto neighbors, and the chilly salty water.
We avoided sharks and jellyfish and Matthew learned to anticipate the waves and the splashes on his face. Look how much fun we had!
Here Auntie Riz was working on her tan and her Michelle Obama arms while Matthew was getting ready for the next wave.
The beach was packed and there was plenty to look at and plenty I could deal without looking at but you know, it's what makes the world go round.

Saturday girls' brunch was at the Salisbury's. They have an enormous and verdant garden which I was remiss to not take pictures of. I do hope they have tomato recipes because they're gonna have an army of tomatoes ripening in the next 2 weeks! (p.s. I am available for tomato donations! And zucchini!).

These pictures are backwards chronologically but it doesn't matter. Here are the moms of 2009 with the babes - Jody and Ellie, Marcia and Ava, and Amy with Madeline and Molly.

The Lion.
This was an attempt to get them all in one place to see their matching onesies. Ava flew the coop first.

We all played nicely together, babies and adult alike. Ava was enamored with the world! So was Erin :).

I wish I were so easily amused with plastic!
Katie and Ellie also bonded over the world. Jody admitted to being a geek and searching out the Earth and Mars balls online for her kid.
I don't think there were snacks so perhaps they were comparing teeth. This is Molly and Ava.
The Ellie Bean.
I am especially fond of the hand on the hip move. So matter-of-fact this one.
Ava just taken with whatever was going on.
This never gets old. The Lion was doing 'How big is Madeline?'.
The Pop with her barrette in. This didn't last long as you can imagine.
The ladies do lunch and then play on the deck.
Mollipop and Madelion.
Pop.
I can't explain this game but I think all adults play it in some incarnation. Madeline LOVES to play it with Amy.
The Bean kind of looks like she has no legs in this picture.
Look how tiny Ava is! She is definitely the peanut of the group.

Progress!

2010-08-09T20:38:00.000-04:00

Another Summer Weekend

2010-08-01T15:32:00.008-04:00

This week was enhanced with the visit of friends, Olya and Andrew, from Ukraine whom I met while working on a project there from 2005-2007. In atypical Kristen-ness I didn't take any pictures of us together though we hung out each night at Kristen's favorite locales (Anna's, Castle Island, Kelly's Roast Beef at Revere Beach, Blue Ribbon Barbecue) and enjoyed good conversation about Ukrainian, American, and Canadian economics, politics, and airplanes. The furballs were enamored with them and happy to have new bodies to sleep next to for a week. And man were they happy to have some suitcases to lie on! I was happy to have such easy-going, curious, and grateful visitors. I was remiss to not take pictures! They are moving to Canada within the next year so hopefully there will be more chances for get togethers in the near future.

Fanueil Hall was a torrent of tourists as was the North End so after a short walk downtown we hightailed it out to BBQ for lunch yesterday. Of course Fanueil Hall is now only a place I go when visitors are in town but it's a good reminder of some of the very good work being done in the City. The Holocaust memorial, though nothing new, always strikes me as so very well done. The quotes are so well-chosen and the endless lists of prisoner numbers etched in the glass are a really powerful reminder of how inhumane we as people can be. It still shocks me that this was only 65 years ago. (It was such a beautiful day yesterday and this is the only thing I took a picture of...I don't know what I wasn't thinking yesterday). We hit the Haymarket where I got crazy deals - 6 tomatoes for $2, 3 mangoes for $1 and more. There'll be fruit salad for dinner and mamma whipped up some mango salsa for a treat today. How pretty is mango salsa?
After the highway was put underground, the City put up parks that not only connect the North End to the rest of the City but serve as true places to relax and enjoy some green grass, trees, and fountains right downtown. Walking through them and seeing people picnic, kids trample in the fountains, and even girls with their bikinis getting their tan on made me really proud to be showing this City to my friends. I think of the tourists who were here during the 15 years of Big Dig construction who didn't get to see what became of it. Kudos to the City for erecting beautiful city spaces for us to enjoy.

The weather has been summer-perfect - warm but not too hot with a breeze. Stella and Milo have been hanging out outside a lot and Stella has found that flowers and dirt complement her better than simply sitting on the deck chairs.She is irresistible to the extent that she actually has not ruined that planter of flowers. I think she may eventually take it down with her but for now, I'll let her be her pretty self amongst the other natural beauties at 12 Upham Ave.

And because it wouldn't be a week without a fantastic sunset, here's last night's treat from Mother Nature.

Weekend in Pictures

2010-07-25T16:27:00.010-04:00

Whose weekend was subsumed by the Bon Jovi concert? What a beautiful night -tailgating! full moon! passed out drunk woman in front of us! screaming at the top of our lungs and singing like we were 14 again. What's not to love?Me in the church of rock and roll again this weekend. Feeling the religion, praising the gods of beats that feed your brain and your soul and make you feel whole everytime you're there singing with the masses and calling and responding to the sweaty talent on stage. A few years ago concert producers realized that if you engage the audience and do the call and respond and create noise contests within the venue, you'll guarantee happy concert-goers who feel invested and part of the event. I do love me a concert. And I'll say it again and again that events like this are definitely my religion.
Kid Rock is hot and talented. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And yeah, our seats were this good. I'll confess to you when I was just taking pictures of the jumbotron.
It was hot. Look at my curls!
He made a point to tell us that all the music was live. He really does have great pitch and can really play the piano. I was impressed. He writes good ole rock and roll too.

Ok this is Kid Rock on Kid Rock. The jumbotron definitely adds a cool element to these live pictures.
It started with Blood on Blood and then We Weren't Born to Follow and as the pejorative (sadly) review in the Globe made note of, Bon Jovi has a definitive running theme of living your life the way you want to 'Frankie said I did it my way!' and that was a clear thread. ...Born to Follow had a cool video montage of men and women who have made history because they didn't play by the rules. Yeah, love that.

Come on, is this a cool shot or what?

We were close enough to see the band play but get good views on Jumbo.
Kid Rock came back out and did Old Time Rock and Roll and Shout. So fun. Beth and I were among the youngest in the crowd.

Richie did Lay Your Hands On Me (not surprisingly one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs) and then they did a little bit out on the catwalk.

Finally brother put a tank top on. I couldn't believe they were dressed in long sleeves in the heat. Then he serenaded us. Beth was in her own little heaven.
IS this a cool shot? Full moon, Gillette, that's really JBJ and then Richie on the jumbo.

This is my air guitar. And this was Beth getting her rock on.
Props to Gillette for definitely figuring out the exit traffic situation. It was brilliant. When you're sweaty and tired and it's midnight there's nothing better than not waiting AT ALL to get out and get home. What a gorgeous gift at the end of a gorgeous night.

Last Weekend in Pictures

2010-07-22T13:32:00.004-04:00

Last weekend (oh my goodness it's already this weekend!) was sunny and hot - the perfect summer weekend. What is missing from these pictures is the Saturday night summer garden party (#5!) with Jody and Brian. It was nothing short of fantastic to get them up to the city and celebrating each other in the treehouse. Thanks to Jody's trifle, I have gained 3 pounds. But damn, it was good.

A and I went kayaking on the Charles on Saturday morning. It was gorgeous and even better, hassle free. Might I put in a plug for Charles River Canoe and Kayak who made it super easy to just get in and get going.
Guess who sat in the back and steered the kayak? What's a better view of the city than this? Don't get sick looking at those waves... I kind of am and I'm sitting at my computer. For the out-of-towners the tall building on the left is the new John Hancock building the little building with the antenna on its left is the old John Hancock building. The tall building on the right is the Prudential and the fancy one on its left is condos or something.
Isn't this the quintessential Boston picture? And to think I didn't fall out of the kayak while taking it. That's the red line that runs Cambridge to Quincy/Braintree. And the cool bridge behind it is the Zakim Bridge. The bridge the train is on is often referred to as the salt and pepper bridge for its columns that look like salt and pepper shakers. I didn't seem to get those in the picture.
I don't know why he was doing this...probably signaling relief that we hadn't capsized.
I can't say I know much about this but this is a viking ship and the seal for Cambridge ( I think? Wikipedia isn't being very helpful about this).
Twas hot. And Camera was cloudy!
This is a cool shot of the sun rays as we headed back to the docking station.
Sunday we went to Tanglewood to see Arlo Guthrie and the Pops. Alec Baldwin was there reading a tribute to the Kennedy brothers. No shots of famous people, just pretty flowers and the beautiful Berkshire Hills.

And an Asian kid in front of the ampitheater. Another hot day! We sat under the big tree:
but after an hour we were starting to fry. A shady spot was found, we relaxed, and listened and I was back in hometown and my youth. It was good to reflect and I remembered how happy I was to come from such a cool place with such cool history and legends.

Progress

2010-07-16T15:29:00.006-04:00

While I am certainly a work in progress and could write tomes about my own evolution, I will spare you and present you with pictures of the burned down porch finally getting its makeover. Finally. It's been hot so credit to those contractors!

Pre-demo eyesore

Demo + new beginnings
Yesterday we saw the beginnings of stairs.

Long Holiday Weekend in Pictures

2010-07-05T19:14:00.012-04:00

Let's start the weekend off with the demolition of the burned front porch. Now the house simply looks condemned. At least that means there'll be some progress building the new porch while it's scorching all week outside and I'm sitting inside in the AC.
Friday night beach trip (I know when do I not take a beach trip?). This time for Kelly's at Revere. We didn't get roast beef (gross) but did get chicken fingers and ice cream. Isn't it wild to think I was on the west coast of Africa looking at this same ocean? Crazy perspective.
The gulls at Revere were voracious. This one calmly posed for me and my zoom.
These guys were catching their nightly sunset. A beautiful night for a walk.
Would love to be schooled on the beaks of seagulls. Anyone know about that red spot on their beaks?
Saturday morning raspberry picking with the girls. Pictures of the Bean will be forthcoming I hope (they were not on my camera). The berries were SO GOOD that I think I will go back next weekend for a second round.
There's nothing like turning your efforts into something delectable. Here is this recipe. Probably the best dessert I've had in as long as I can remember. I made with strawberries, raspberries, and a few surprise blackberries.
The basil was ready for a haircut so I decided to make pesto. There is something entirely satisfying about creating meals from what you have grown. Call me a country girl. So the mascot got a haircut...
and I got four servings of pesto and Monday night dinner. Turns out pesto doesn't look so hot when you take its picture. In the future, I will use pine nuts and not walnuts as I think the walnuts made it too bland. If you have a recipe you'd be willing to share for outstanding pesto though, send it my way. If it calls for outrageous amounts of garlic, all the better.

Saturday night we went to see the PawSox. Seriously, there's nothing better than a minor league baseball game. We see the Durham Bulls and the Gwinnett Braves all the time when I'm visiting the family. You just can't beat a $7 ticket and $2 hot dogs. In this case though you can. Some woman handed us tickets so we got ours free. This is the second time in two weeks that a random stranger has given me something (Gloria ran out of gas last weekend when I tested the tank just a little too long. A rite of passage for the novice Prius driver I suppose. Super nice guy got some gas and then escorted us to the gas station. He wouldn't accept cash for his help, said he was a blessed man in his life, and we should pay it forward). It is surely my time to pay it forward. There were fireworks but guess who got a raging stomachache just before the end of the game?
On the way to the Esplanade on Saturday night. The sunset was incredible. Do you know me? Do you know my fanaticism with sunsets? This was a really incredible sunset foreshadowing a really incredible night of sky lights.
And because I couldn't pick just one, here are my pictures from the Esplanade. It's been years since I have gone down and I remembered why about an hour into the trek. 1) 800,000 people is a lot of people. 2) It is summer and it is hot. I now have rules about the Esplanade. You should follow them: 1) If your child is too little to walk, your child is too little to appreciate the fireworks and the magnanimity of the event. Please watch on TV so the rest of us do not get annoyed with you trying to push through the crowd of 800,000 people at 10 pm with your stroller. 2) Riding bikes is great in wide-open spaces. It is not great on the 4th of July with 800,000 people trying to find 2 square feet of room to watch fireworks. Please walk to the Esplanade so the rest of us don't get annoyed with you trying to push your bike through the tiny spaces that all these people are trying to walk through too. 3) If you are not a patient person, you should not embark on an adventure on the 4th of July down to the Esplanade. You have to assume that it is going to be hot, crowded, and finding a place for your family when people have been there since 5 am is probably not going to be easy. So keep your fired-up jets at home and chill out with a Bud on your couch. k? thnx.

We actually ended up finding a small patch of dirt amongst thousands of other people right on the banks of the Charles near an enormous speaker. So we heard the music and saw the bright lights perfectly. We actually walked back to Southie from Back Bay which was a nice walk, on a nice night and we thus avoided the train and its 800,000 sweaty passengers. Brilliant night.
My camera has a setting for fireworks but I didn't get the cool effects. Fireworks have come so far! There were two incredible points. One was when a bunch of fireworks dissolved into gold dust and the whole sky was gold. Right at the end they made them dissolve into what looked like red, white, and blue confetti. It was crazy. It makes me want to see a Discovery channel show on how fireworks are made.

Still the camera made them look crazy huh?

Seriously? How did my camera make this happen?
And the fifth of July. Kind of like the day after Christmas. How about Tony's Clam Shop though? Lunch on the ocean? Gorgeous day? Boardwalk? I'll take it.

Sand, Sea, Sun

2010-07-02T11:25:00.005-04:00

Very few things I love better in the summer than sand, sea, and sun. Ok, maybe ice cream, but anything having to do with the beach, and boardwalks, and salt water make me happy. I'm lucky to live near the water and can't imagine ever living in a land-locked state. How do you people do it?

Last weekend there was a sand castle competition up at Hampton Beach. I think I've been to Hampton Beach once in my whole life. I knew it was like Nantasket on steroids, but that is part of the allure really. Arcades, greasy food, HUGE people watching, boardwalk, sunburns, fake tattoos...I love all of it. But also, I don't think I've ever seen a sand castle competition. It was amazing! I won't add captions as I'm sure you can figure out what's going on in these. I think Revere beach has an annual competition too. Revere...kind of the like the urban version of Hampton. Classy beaches are so over rated!

Pictures of A Life

2010-07-01T17:40:00.005-04:00

Poorly captured shot of girlfriends, wine, and laughter.
A funny shot of Marcia. I don't know what we were laughing about or how I manage to catch everyone with the craziest expressions.
Katie wins for best model shot of the night. At least this one shows we were truly having a good time!
Wow! Before the sun went down in the treehouse. You might note that everyone is wearing some of my clothes. Wardrobe changes apply in the treehouse! When are YOU coming over for wine and wardrobe changes?
Mascot.
Miss Stella at a recent garden party in the treehouse. Ever the social diva.
The Lion after the Walk for Babies. We were playing together.
The Pop and amazing and incredible Mommy.
Ava! When did you get so big in Westborough? Come to the treehouse soon!
Another hot picture of me in the Apple. If I do say myself, lookin' good!
From the most recent garden party with Paul and Paul. Clearly wine is a requisite at treehouse parties. Looking forward to next week's! YOU should come too. Let me know when you and yours will be coming by and I'll fire up the grill and chill the wine.

In Bullets

2010-06-26T10:32:00.007-04:00

My parents have been gone for what seems like a long time. I miss talking to them on the phone and my daily online Scrabble games with my mom. Tomorrow they are going to Auschwitz-Birkenau. What an inspired trip they're on!

I had a garden party in the treehouse on a Tuesday night this week with all my best girlfriends. The pictures are horrible. The company was invigorating and heart-warming. And everyone made it. In a time of our lives filled with houses in the suburbs, little babies, babies on the way, and *gasp* jobs!, all 8 of us were able to make it on a Tuesday night. Someday B will move closer so she can make it 9.
I'm enjoying my lineup of summer dinner guests to the treehouse. Best idea ever to get everyone out to visit. It's fun to have dinners to plan and summer food to cook and never mind conversation that I haven't had with some people in years!
My tomatoes seem to be stagnant. How long until they turn red? And are any more going to start growing?
I have to do something with my back closet which is the catch all for all things that don't go anywhere else. It needs some kind of door but the frame is not evenly shaped. I know this is hard to visualize without a picture. Wondering if anyone has any ideas.
Realized recently that I have finally built up a week of vacation time. It's lovely to think that I have no one to escape to a blue beach anywhere with. Lovely.
Castle Island will always be my favorite place in Boston. Last night I had crinkle fries for dinner and watched the sun set. Really? It's the simple things.
Google Reader has this new feature called Google Reader Play. Do you use Google Reader? It's a great time-waster/finder of things on the internet. Give it a try!
The Lion and Pop have been home together for almost two weeks. I will end with some candids. Tomorrow we are all walking the March for Babies in honor of all they have been through in their short lives. I know there are dozens walking in honor of these Peanuts. It's going to be a beautiful day. I just talked to P who told me that the Lion got a new something or other on Wednesday and has found her voice. I heard her filling the house up with her own noise this morning and heard the joy in P's voice as he laughed about it. That's gonna be one crazy family when those two get moving! (the Pop's mug is brought to you by chocolate pudding!)

On Principles

2010-06-21T21:13:00.005-04:00

I linked you to the principles of the UU Church in my last post (I'm lazy so will not link you there again, you will have to scroll down yourself). I believe strongly in those principles as a person and somehow I ended up working for a company that espouses the same principles. Don't get me wrong, I know the people I work with aren't one big UU Congregation but they are deliberate in upholding the principles of justice and equality for all the populations we work with and within the office as well. While the democracy and peer leadership that come with the operations of a flat organization can get to be simply infuriating when things just need to get done sometimes, I highly value the effort everyone puts in to enforce the dignity and intelligence of everyone we come in contact with.

This post isn't about those principles though. It's about what I have discovered to be the most important characteristic I choose to work on in my life. I've been thinking a lot about it for a while now. While I don't want to tie everything I believe in to work (though when you've seen some of the things I've seen, I guess it gives you the right to be introspective about personal life and work and their intersection even when you do make a concerted effort to separate the two). I've decided that being deliberate about what I do and what I say is of utmost importance to me.

When I write that just now, I kind of cringe because the idea of being deliberate all the time takes away from the spontaneity and liberty of the person I love in me. You cannot be both at once. Can I perhaps be deliberate about being spontaneous? Yeah, I guess so. I can be deliberate in letting myself just let go. Do I then miss the point? I don't know, I'll think about this.

I'm thinking more about making choices that affect me and others and knowing what their consequences will be. In some way of course, we all do this. The worst of us do things knowing our actions and the consequences of our actions will negatively impact someone else or multiple people. You people are assholes. Sorry, it's true. Ok, maybe you're scared and weak. Ok, not assholes but scared, weak, and you need to go to church every week. Ok anyhow, that was a deliberate outburst. I'd like to think that the greater part of human beings instinctively make good choices for themselves and those around them because they are human and learn that making people feel like shit, makes you feel like shit. I do think that a lot of people are able to compartmentalize, if you will, their bad decisions in order to not have to deal with them. They can act against the grain of good and what probably is more typical of the general population and do what they need to do and say in order to come out on top in a situation they may be in. I get that this is normal. I don't like it. I don't like that there is a deliberateness involved in screwing people over.

At work we started a recycling program a few years ago for plastics, glass, and metals to bolster our paper recycling efforts. It wasn't hard to implement and it's really inexpensive. As the cheerleader in this effort, I try to remind staff just to be deliberate about what they're doing with their trash. There are three separate containers in the kitchens and everyone just needs to pick the right one to dump their stuff in. It's so easy and deliberate choices like this quickly become routine. There's nothing bad that can come out of consistently making a deliberate choice like this. Does it increase self-righteousness? Maybe that's a negative consequence that come people would cite, but I would argue that the good this does for us each individually, for the company, and of course for the environment outweigh the self-righteous stigma that might come with this global effort. Thankfully, the global effort is currently being earnestly supported by the media and politicians and celebrities so it's easier to be deliberate and be patted on the back for your efforts around every supermarket cash register aisle that you wait in.

That was more of an arm's length example of what I'm talking about. I am trying to make a personal effort to be deliberate about my communications with people. I am trying to be deliberate about the choices I make with my body, with food, and with words. All this takes really is a little forethought and a little discipline. Is that what you really want to say and what are the potential consequences? Should I be using the filter between my brain and my mouth a little more? Should I turn the filter off? Should I choose this Kit Kat from the stash drawer at the office at 830 am? Am I going to regret it later? Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? See, I guess I'm saying that I know there are consequences to everything and good or bad you gotta make a choice. I'm not saying the filter has always got to be there, I'm just saying choose to use it or not use it deliberately and don't make choices whose consequences could hurt someone if you're not going to deal with them. The Kit Kat? Not gonna kill ya. But if there's a weekly goal on the scale that is sometimes enforced with guilt, then know that's what's a few days away if you're not careful.

Being deliberate and not being deliberate turns into rote behavior. You can get used to just being a asshole because it becomes easier than not being an asshole. That's weak. You can create behavior by being consistently deliberate that helps you and maybe helps others along the way. Being deliberate doesn't mean you have to become a saint. It means doing things that don't allow you to hide from yourself. It means talking to others in ways that hold you accountable to being a decent person most of the time. Is behaving this way and being accountable to yourself and therefore to those around you too much too ask? Is asking you not to hide from what you don't understand and the things you may fear hearing said out loud too much too ask? I'm only speaking from experience and assuming these are human traits.

I hate the idea of always being careful. I hate the idea of ever pussy-footing around something or ever walking on eggshells. I'd rather take the road of the unknown and see where it takes me. But on that road, I am going to make choices for a reason and when I don't know what the consequence will be, I will make my best effort to not hurt or put someone else in my line of fire. Now me, sometimes I have to learn and stand before the emotional firing squad myself. But I'm going to try not to set myself up there. I'm not going to hate people who set me up there, but I am going to think you're weak and selfish.

Have I just established myself as self-righteous? If comments were on you could leave one. Feel free to email me privately. And don't be an asshole *grin*.

Like a Virgin

2010-06-21T19:43:00.009-04:00

That drew you in, didn't it! It's gonna draw in some G**glers too so I'm going to turn the comments off before moving on. Ok if you are a 'member' of this blog, and um, are you? cause I don't know how you do that, but if you are, you may comment and make reference to awesome 80's songs at the same time.

I'm writing to share some secrets about this weekend with you. But not the complete secrets. Isn't that fun? I'm such a tease.

Friday night I maybe had one too many vodka tonics after getting my nails done with my little gay Vietnamese boyfriend in Southie. If you just took offense to that, oh well. So then I maybe went to bed once it was too dark to drink vodka tonics on the deck. In my defense, the rents are touring Poland (da!) as we speak so I was channeling them and their vodka drinking Eastern European touristy selves. Or at least that's my excuse. Anyhow, I have ameliorated the 'dark' situation in the treehouse just now:
You can't tell but the Tiki god (tell me you don't love him!) is sprouting some hair of basil. Who doesn't love her creativity (this is where it ends, don't expect more)? Anyhow, yes, pretty treehouse lights for summer nights!

So...that was Friday. Saturday A and I went down to Nantasket and because I am bad at lying on the beach, we walked around and looked in all the rich people's windows, drank lemonade, played hoops and air hockey in the arcade, and sweat. It was a lot of fun. We also found a secret public beach down the road from the crazy, crazy beach that everyone goes to. Parking across the street from the secret beach was $10. I can't tell you where it is though, cause it's a secret. Saturday night dinner was at Tavolo where I've eaten once before because I had Groupons and it's a neighborhood establishment and you know how I like to support the hood. Unfortunately, both times were just kind of so-so on the food. The service was very good and the atmosphere can't be beat. There are other great restaurants in Dorchester though where I'd rather spend my money. Oh please, I almost forgot that there was a stop at DQ in the afternoon. Seriously, what a day, right?

So when I decided to buy in Dorchester 3 years ago (exactly 3 years ago!) a big part of my decision was so that I could do my part in bolstering an often downtrodden neighborhood both with my wallet and with service to the community. The wallet's doing its part with the mortgage and with patronizing the local establishments. The service, well, I don't know why I waited so long. So recently, after a visit and lovely conversation with the Executive Director and her staff, I was invited to join the Board of Directors at the Bird Street Community Center. They want me because I'm a local and because I bring public health to the Board ( I think). I want them because this is the population I like to work with and I was bowled over by their comprehensive programming. I will write more in July after the induction. But anyhow, that was one of the things I had been wanting to do for literally 3 years. Another was to try out the Unitarian Universalist Church her in Dorchester.

The UU Church of Dorchester is the oldest in the city and the UU congregation is the 3rd oldest in the country. We got there a few minutes early and the nice folks gave us a tour of the historical building. The were a lot of historical pieces, and they told us about the huge renovations they are doing in order to get on the list of national historic places, but the piece I loved the most honestly was the disco ball in the coffee room. I mean, what other religious group would have a disco ball at church. Rock! The service attendance was light both due to summer and because I guess there was an event the day before that a lot of the congregation helped with. But it was easy to fall back into a comfort zone. I spent at least a decade going to the UU Church in Pittsfield and firmly believe in the non-dogmatic dogma (my words) - ok principles - that inform the intentions of those who call themselves Unitarian Universalists. This service was a little heavy on the god stuff for me though I was reminded that there was not a mention in the sermon about god, just in the ancillary pieces of the service. Still, I ain't one for the Lord's Prayer. I respect the content, but it goes a place I don't want to go to. I can't say I'm much for organized religion at all and believe that if you do something consistent each week, if you reflect on what's good, on what you personally need to work on, and have some time for silence and peace with yourself then you're all set. If you choose to be an a-hole the rest of the week and screw other people then maybe you need organized religion. But going to a UU Church was, sorry the bad metaphor, like riding a bike. It was easy to hop back on and have immediate respect for the people around me. We even sang my all-time favorite hymn, 'For The Beauty of the Earth'. (YouTube can't give me a decent version like it sounds like at church, just the choral version so you don't get to hear it here). I decided it was fate. Ok and their coffee hour? They had lamb kebobs! Under the disco ball! The people were very nice, it was nice to meet some like-minded neighbors and to feel a sense of community. I like that there were kids there that I know are being raised with the same kind of principles I value so highly in myself. Ok, now getting of my soapbox.

But anyhow, it was another virgin activity that I had wanted to explore for the past three years. I'll definitely go back in the fall and say hi again.

After the one religious foray for the first half of 2010 (yeah that was plenty; I'm going to do religion on my own again for a while. And by that I mean sleep in and drink coffee when I wake up on Sundays and dance around the house in my underwear.) we hit up Greenhills Bakery on Adams Street. Another chance to patronize the good people of the Dot and by Jove (haha! Religious reference!) it was incredible. I've been meaning to try these places too for a long time. They had a steady stream of people coming in and ordering the whole time we were there eating our very large and very fresh breakfast sandwiches. Sunday afternoon was spent buying more plants to make the deck like it is in my thoughts. The weekend ended with another trip for ice cream. Damn I love summer!

As I sit out here now, I am beyond psyched. This is everything I had hoped for 2 years ago when I had this deck project in mind. The sun is setting and the little lights are creating this perfect ambiance. The flowers finally have gotten sun in addition to all the rain they've been getting. The windchimes are playing softly and the tomatoes are growing silently
And as always, my main man is kicking it old school with me as the sun sets. He likes him some ambiance.

The girlfriends are all coming over tomorrow night for a mid-week garden party. Seriously, not much can beat this right now.
This was actually last night's sunset but I'm stealing it for today.

Trip to the Apple

2010-06-20T10:02:00.003-04:00

So I have this lovely friend, B, whom I met in Liberia who ended up working for JSI for a few months and is now taking a job with USAID. I have all faith that if anyone can make waves in the US government, it's B. Anyhow, so B and I have a birthday a year and 2 days apart. For hers, she threw herself a couple of parties. When the invitation to attend on the rooftop of her apartment on Central Park West popped up in my inbox, I didn't hesitate to start making roadtrip plans.

In short, the Friday afternoon traffic was a bear (but not until we got close to the city and we had tunes and snacks so no big complaints!) but the view from the rooftop was nothing short of AMAZING.
You might be tempted to think I stole this off the internet but I did not! I took it at sunset from the posh rooftop of this fully catered rooftop party in Manhattan. Holler! A, went with me and we looked like tourists on a rooftop in Manhattan trying to get the best pictures we could before the sun set.

Intrepid rooftop tourists that we are, we filled my memory card within the first hour and finally gave up and tried eating and socializing a little bit. We met a lovely man who lost his son on 9/11 who started a foundation to serve the mental health needs of people after terror or crisis in developing countries. You may not know that mental health programs are sorely under-funded in the United States and are often the first healthcare programs to get cut in budget cuts, but they are non-existent in developing countries. This is the foundation: http://www.petercaldermanfoundation.org/ A truly inspiring family to take this tragedy and use it to help so many people around the world.

So the party was nothing short of over-the-top. Full bar, fully catered, a dozen passed appetizers, taco bar, dim sum bar, beautiful decorating, fun music, cool people. If I lived in Manhattan that is how I'd like to spend every Friday night. Rooftops in Boston are fun, but nothing compares to NYC.

Around midnight we ventured off in search of an excellent dessert (we found dessert but it wasn't excellent unfortunately but I guess we shouldn't have had huge expectations for midnight and no access to Yelp or the like) and it turns out that B's home is a block from Lincoln Center. So we played intrepid photog-ing tourist there too.
We spent Saturday poking around Manhattan. I realized that as many times as I've been to Manhattan for shows and sporting events, I've never really just poked around and learned the city myself. I also never really spent time in Central Park people watching and absorbing how much life goes on Manhattan and just in the Park itself. It was good times. Who's looking trim at Rockafella Center?

And my favorite part of this picture? How about that upper right-hand corner - I have no idea who wanted to be Turned On but it's a funny capture!

Holiday Staycation

2010-05-19T20:31:00.009-04:00

For those of you who like posts with pictures, this is your post!

My mother and sister came up to celebrate girlz and mothers and ME! I complained a couple of months ago that no one ever comes to visit me (which is true) and all of a sudden there were two tickets booked and a weekend of events being planned (you know I had multiple lists and perhaps a spreadsheet). I had a lot of tasks on my list that I needed help with. The biggest was setting up a pot garden on the deck that I will be on EVERY SINGLE DAY this summer. I bought my little heart out at KMart in the plant section with the help of the two of them who have garden visions and know how plants work together. I know nothing about this so I paid and I will water.

Friday night we took it to Harvard Square where the highlight was finding a METER. We parked for a dollar. We actually had a pretty good dinner and got some cupcakes, poked around the bookstore, and heard this conversation from some college kids: "They've been seeing each other for a while but they made it official on Facebook today." I'm trying to think of what the equivalent is when I was that age or what the equivalent of that is now?

Meg and I went out Saturday morning and bought a lot of potting soil. Just a reminder that Rizzy lives on the third floor and that potting soil is not light. Neither was that big bucket on the left there. Given our eating habits over the weekend (okay, perhaps there was a little boozing in there too) I chalked those multiple trips up the stairs carrying heavy things as cardio.

Like I said, I had (have) no idea how plants go together and I couldn't tell you names of most of these without advising with those little white sticks that I kept to remind myself of their names once they had been moved to bigger pots. Meg built me this tower of herbs and flowers. We had a lovely visual from a magazine to go by but she really knew what was going on. I choose to not think about how it would have looked if I had done it.

We decided that I could probably handle making the 'big' garden in this pot with flowers. I like to think I have a pretty distinct style and was wondering how it would pan out in a flower pot. As it turns out it was a bit of a disaster (not too surprising I guess. DIY and I have never been the best of friends) and Meg or mom had to go in there and spruce it up. You'll pardon that I took a picture of my mom's rear end. Sorry mom! That was the before. The pot. Not her rear end.This it the 'during'. AND...you'll pardon the part of me poking out of my clothes over there. But how bout that tan! Just trying to focus somewhere else you know.

This is the after. Actually I think I did this and Meg added the ones hanging over the sides there for drama. Of course I don't know how we could have anymore drama at this house, but there you go.

There are also some budding tomatoes and basil. Not a lot I like more than fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. The Farmer's Market won't get as much of my business this year but the food processor will see a lot more action making pesto!
Oh hello hanging planters and tower garden! Oh hello!

Go ahead. Tell my mom how photogenic she is in the sun. Don't worry, she does this on purpose. I had other little things I needed help with - hanging pictures, drilling holes in some of my shoes - as it turns out, a little bit of practice with each and I now have a couple more skills I have mastered. Seriously, arm me with a Stud Finder and the weekend is a success!

So we went downtown a lot and did touristy things. Here's Meg at the Public Gardens with a very small swan. Best quote from this outing? Meg: Why is there a statue of George Washington in this park? Me: I think he's from Chicopee. Meg: He is? (I'll spare you the conversation about how someone might have thought it was possible to deport someone to Hawaii from Boston.)
This is a very awkward picture of all of us. It shouldn't be out for public consumption but then again, what do you want for posterity? I would not like my hips to be held for posterity. Thank you Olympus!

Ok this is much better. Miss Independent, yeah she got her own. I definitely feel like me in this picture. Heels would have summed it up a little better but we were covering some ground that afternoon. Here we were on our way to dinner at The Other Side after seeing Babies. Yum, yum, yum and go see this! Such a good reminder of how spoiled we are in America and how amazing human life is.

This is one of those pictures where I see it and need it. It's one of the churches on Commonwealth and a side street. But can you stand the crazy blue and green together. Go Mother Nature! Woot!This was a window display at a new clothing store. We should have counted all of them, but the entire front windows - probably 70 feet was lined with these old school sewing machines. Aren't I an excellent tourist in my own city?
And amidst all the pretentiousness and fawning on Newbury Street we saw this crazy car. It had like 4 tvs in it! I don't even know how else to describe it so the picture does a good job.
And this amazing sunset capped it all off on Sunday night. Before I went to bed at 7:30.

Be Careful When You Say You're Bored

2010-05-02T21:45:00.005-04:00

Friday morning I was feeling the boredom of a slow week at work and the anticipation of a beautiful weekend without a lot of beautiful plans. I wrote this post and resigned myself to spending time with me and trying to get a little closer to feeling satisfied with that (I still have great doubts in my ability to do this but what am I gonna do?).

And at 2:30 on Friday I got a phone call from my downstairs neighbor, "Kristen, you need to come home. The house is on fire." Yup, Murphy's Law. Kristen's Law. This stuff only happens to me.

I'm a little ashamed to say I thought, "Oh god the deck!" first (and not Oh god, the cats! first). Seriously, if the 2 year project of a deck was gone...I would have been on the next plane out of here. No thought process needed. I just looked for posts on here about that process and found very few. In short, it was a hell of a process, it was ridiculous, and it was expensive. I heard my neighbor say, 'the decks are incinerated' and I almost lost it.

Thankfully it was the front of the house that went up in flames. The porch light shorted and the beams in the porch ceiling had been smoldering for hours the firefighters said before the flames lit and a neighbor called for help. We'll eventually lose the whole front of it but what's left of it now is holding up the front of the house. My dwelling got away virtually unscathed with the exception of the door frame that got kicked in by the firefighters. The folks on the second floor got it the worst and will be in a hotel for the foreseeable future. We are very lucky it happened in the middle of day and when people were around.

Stella Bella lost her stomach and perhaps something else all over the kitchen and the dining room and the two of them were hiding in the back closet by the time I finally got upstairs. We'll learn more from insurance companies tomorrow but figure we're in for a huge project in the front of the house. Never a dull moment in this life.

The Boston Driver (Globe, May 2)

2010-05-02T15:04:00.001-04:00

By James Parker | May 2, 2010

The face behind the windshield, rigid with disdain; the peremptory surge of the engine; his cellphone, destroyer of the social contract; his middle finger, totemic, jabbed skyward as if to puncture heaven; and the smoldering sensation of impotence that he leaves in his wake ... Known nationally (and perhaps internationally) for his offensiveness and lack of humanity, the Boston driver has actually been slipping a bit in the ratings: last year’s AutoVantage survey of the Least Courteous, or most road-rageous, cities in the United States didn’t even put Boston in the top 10. (Although we tied with Denver as the driving population most likely to be found eating or drinking behind the wheel.)

Noting no improvement in local conditions, are we to deduce from this that the rest of the country is getting worse? That Boston driving is becoming the norm? Is it possible that everyone is starting to drive like a Boston driver?

I think not. The Boston driver is and shall remain a particularity, and a true product of our city. Look, there he goes down Beacon Street, middle finger aloft — and I would argue that he’s nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, allow me to mount a small experiment in appreciation.

Let’s home in a little on his characteristics. We can start by saying that the Boston driver is no anarchist. Not for him the Third World urban free-for-all, the low-slung car steered with a loose hand though a tumult of futile horns. He has, rather, a punctilious and unforgiving devotion to the highway code. Lights, stop signs, merges, ”right turn only”: these things matter. Should you err, he’ll let you know. Dawdle at a green light and he’ll shatter you with horn blasts. God help you if you go the wrong way down a one-way street. The law is the law, and within its framework he adheres carefully to a species of anti-etiquette, whereby every opportunity is taken to thwart, confound, or otherwise immiserate his fellow road-user. He will not ”let you in” to make your left turn: His heart and his lane are likewise sealed.

Now and again, too, we witness the inversion of his piety, the dark side of his moon: only where the rule of the road is properly enforced can it be flouted, grandly and scandalously, and at the moment of maximum inconvenience to everyone else.

A brute, a Pharisee on wheels: What can be said in favor of this person? Gentle Vermonters, on a jaunt to the city, are horrified by his coldness; hardy Granite Staters return home in disgust, their vehicles shaking with purgative heavy metal. But I love him like a brother, and I’ll tell you why.

He’s from Boston, to begin with. He was bred here, made here, by a confluence of factors including (but not limited to) Puritanism, potholes, Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and the prolonged master class in survivalist driving that was the Big Dig. Religion, wrapped around the DNA, placed him in the harness of legality; caffeine put the pedal to the metal; trapped in construction in 1999, he cursed — from the bottom of his soul — the car in front of him; and riding the wild slalom of the Jamaicaway, or the deep and drunken curves of Storrow Drive, he discovered himself. Yes, Manhattan has its rushing chasms; Los Angeles its highway madness. But Boston has its roads — testing, serious, poorly signposted. Exiting the Mass. Pike for South Station is like picking a lock at 70 m.p.h. Where the Riverway and the Fenway merge, in front of the Landmark Center — do that five times a week and it’ll make a Nietzschean out of you.

Second, he keeps you on your toes. Or on your rims, or whatever the appropriate automotive metaphor might be. He keeps you alert, is the point. Look sharp, visiting motorist. Tune those reflexes. The friendly smile, the go-ahead: not in this town. The rustic illusion of goodwill will not serve you here. Why should city driving be pleasant? You live and you die and you drive alone. Perhaps you’ve come dreaming in from the suburbs, a nodding consumer, drowsily piloting your enormous car that has a name like a restaurant or a porn star — Escalade, Sonoma ... Beep! Parp! Wake up!

Finally and most importantly, let us praise the Boston driver for his irreducible challenge to our better nature — the ceaseless and splendid occasions he provides, in other words, for the exercise of charity in all its forms. Patience, tolerance, humility: You’ll need them. But virtue is rewarded. In a driver-eat-driver world, displays of simple good nature have the character of an outrage, a revolution. Cheerfulness becomes an offensive weapon. I urge you to give it a try. When a middle finger is unscabbarded in your face, the natural thing, the human thing, is to offer one in return. But don’t do it. The chain of misery runs from junction to rancorous junction, from node to node of abuse. Break it. Pay it backward. Blow him a kiss; and blow his Bostonian mind.

James Parker writes regularly for Ideas and is a contributing editor at The Atlantic.

Humdrum

2010-04-30T10:24:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling humdrum. Like the song says ( I can't get enough of that song), "When the night falls down/yeah you got me here in this humdrum town."

I need a little spark. A little something new. The get out of bed, shower, feed cats, make coffee, make breakfast and lunch, check email and bank accounts, leave for work, come home from work, start over thing...it's really old. Really old.

I need a beach with sand and waves. I need a change of scenery. I need a road trip where it's so much fun I have to call into work and say I'm sick on Monday just because I need to stay where I am because it's so much fun. I need a friend to run reckless with for a couple of days and fall exhausted into bed at night knowing that we just pulled a fast one on the rest of life and sucked more than anyone should out of a day.

Everyday certainly I don't feel like this but I do feel like I'm missing the beauty in things a bit lately. I miss having someone around to inspire me.

I'm a planner by nature and I think I've come to rely on being able to plan. But with fewer friends who have the flexibility to have spontaneous adventures and even fewer who have the funds for any kind of adventure...I do feel a little lost. Ok, I feel a lot lost. Kind of alone. Having myself a little pity party over here. I suppose the healthy attitude would be to learn to garner happiness in the valleys of non-planned or non-exciting-activity-filled-planned time.

Yeah, easy for you to say.

We All Have Our Cross to Bear (Public Service Announcement)

2010-04-02T07:54:00.004-04:00

Ok so that dramatic title was tongue-in-cheek to some extent to another holiday that I celebrate for the marshmallow goodness and casseroles that people's mothers make. But it is apropos to how I've been feeling lately and, I have found as of late that writing, I guess even to the internets if you will, helps me to feel better.

I've written before that nothing has ever really been hard for me before. I know, poor Kristen, right? I know people who had really difficult childhoods - my parents both did and I know they tried hard to provide the opposite for us so that we wouldn't have to endure what they did. And it worked. My childhood was filled not only with love and support but with experiences most kids never get - living in other countries, jetsetting on huge vacations, and certainly never having to worry about having enough - money, love, support. We never lived a lavish life (contrary to the words I chose in previous sentences) but my parents saved, strategized their savings, and spent on things that would make life fuller for all of us. For these things I am eternally grateful.

I am also eternally grateful that we didn't lead a lavish life. We had very modest cars. My sister and I both worked jobs as teenagers. We never had fancy technologies or gaming systems. We traded clothes with other families as they grew out of them for a while and though I shot up past my sister at one point, hand-me-downs were the norm.

But nothing has ever been hard for me. Academics has always just been something I've had to do. Even in grad school I was never really 'there'. I went to grad school to get the letters after my name. I know that pisses a lot of people off but it's completely true. I did very well considering I didn't put a lot of effort into it (I guess that doesn't say much about the program?). I always knew I didn't need to prove my values or competence to anyone but I also knew that you can't get anywhere in a grant-driven industry without letters after your name. So I have my lousy letters and my values haven't changed.

Once I 'found' myself in my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college (see previous post somewhere about being a late bloomer) I certainly had no problem making friends. I became the class clown, the funny one, the drunk one, and drunk and funny one, but I think also the sympathetic one and the one who always cared for everyone. This quality has always been innate for me and was probably fostered by my parents who were social activists in their day (I think a guest post about my parents' experience meeting the MLK family would be cool, don't you?). Taking care of other people and caring about other people's quality of life is clearly what I was put on earth to do. Lately though, this quality has become the hardest part of being me. It is the first time in my life I have come into something that is causing me great pain and confusion.

I recently met an amazing man. We dated for two months. It was nothing short of an incredible two months. It has ended. I am devastated. I have a really hard time letting go of amazing people. They come into my life I feel every few years. They are people whose energy and I don't know, presence? just hit me when I meet them. Maybe this happens to everyone? I don't know. This guy was one of those people. And I strongly believe that people come into our lives for a reason, and if I'm not in this sad/frustrated state that I keep falling back into, I do realize that he came and gave me insight and evoked feelings in me that I needed to feel again. I am a firm believer that we all evolve as people - and this doesn't always mean grow better or get better, but rather that we change in ways that make us more us - and this happens all the time. I guess in that sense I do believe that in this evolution we become more us, the truer us (whomever that ends up being) that therefore this personal evolution is actually making us 'better'. However, the pain of these last two relationships is still making me just feel sad. I know neither ending was my fault, but I am sad that I have lost those beautiful people - both of whom I saw beautiful futures with. I think this part saddens me the most.

I think because my heart is often bigger than my head that I don't have the ability to protect myself from giving/loving/caring too much. I have always feared becoming like most (read all) of the female bosses I have had in the social service industry. They are all compassionate and care about people and communities but have all been so fucked up in their intimate relationships that they have become hard and have these huge walls around them. I've seen this too much and I don't want to be that. That being said, I also know that people need to help and heal themselves. Since most human beings are not equipped to do this on their own, we all need to reach out and seek that help from other people when things are difficult for us personally. I keep getting involved with people who refuse to do this. As a result, I end up being the one who is hurt and while I understand, I don't understand.

Clearly the men I am attracted to are sensitive and deep souls. I think because they tend to be introspective, I don't expect them to put up walls. I guess I'm learning.

This is my public service announcement. It goes out both to those who put up walls in friendships, amorous relationships, family relationships, and wherever else people come into our lives. It goes out to the people who want to help and know how life-giving and freeing talking about whatever walls you're putting up and feelings you're hiding can be. It is tribute to those of you who have taken what is, I KNOW, a scary step in making an appointment with someone to do this and getting all this past hurt and fear off your shoulders. Please, for the people around you, who love you when you're feeling good and who love you when you're not feeling good, please, seek out someone to talk to about the feelings that scare you to talk about. Talking to someone who is trained to listen and provide feedback to help you cope in a healthy way with your feelings of being wronged, your feelings of loss, your feelings of resentment, and even your feelings of joy, your feelings of optimism, and your victories does not mean you're sick. Seeing someone trained to do this does not mean you have a mental health condition. In fact, I count on my hands more people I know than those I don't know who have seen (read benefitted) a counselor/coach/therapist whatever the hell word you use. I include myself in that number.

Seeing a counselor doesn't mean you have to have this long drawn-out relationship with him/her. It can be a short-term thing to give you a place to release those things that build walls and to find that balance we're all comfortable in when we find it. Remember - this is what these people do. It's like going to a massage and being worried that the masseuse will judge you on your cellulite or that mole on your back. This is what they do! They see this stuff all the time. They not only have heard it all, they can tell you what has helped other people cope with these feelings and they will remind you that these feelings are normal and ok and JUSTIFIED. It is a judgment-free, safe place to release words and feelings that perhaps you think your friends and family wouldn't understand or would judge you on. Seriously, we all endure a lot in this life. You owe it to yourself and you especially owe it to those around you who love you and want to be a part of your beautiful lives to break down those walls.

I have never heard a person say that meeting with a coach/counselor/therapist hasn't been helpful or that they felt worse afterwards. Friends and family are great for listening and bouncing things off of, but there wouldn't be a profession dedicated to listening and providing help if people didn't need it.

Meanwhile, I need to learn to not be hurt so deeply by the choices other people make for themselves. However, it is hard to rationalize me getting hurt by other people fearing getting hurt themselves. Where's the justice in that?

Things I Love

2010-03-21T20:31:00.006-04:00

This was to be part of the last post but deserves its own post. As I'm looking for these past posts I realize that many of them have to do with the coming of spring. Hmmm...

I have posted before about the alcove in my bedroom where the afternoon sunshine comes in so warm and so inviting. It is the perfect place for a nap or sun soak and it makes me sooo happy to see it on sunny days.

I love fresh flowers. I especially love the week in May when lilacs bloom and I steal them from my neighbor's yard and put them in my living room. But I love any fresh flowers in my living room really. These tulips are going to be awesome on Wednesday.

Without cross-linking you know I adore Gloria, Milo and Stella. I'd be remiss not mentioning them here. Shout out on this line to them!

I love the Red Sox. I was handed, handed! Opening Day tickets last year. I don't see it happening this year but you never know! Let's hope that the pre-season record is not a significant determinant of what the real season will bring.

I love live music. I recently had the opportunity to see Jay-Z in concert. I remember having a conversation with my father over Christmas about the legacies of musical geniuses. Most of those we spoke about died well before my time (Gershwin, Chopin, Copland, etc.). But Jay-Z, he's still here and I'd go to see him again in a heartbeat. Most of the others were not moguls, hugely successful businessmen, producers, and songwriters as well as performers. See pictures here.

I love this bag. I especially like the inside of this bag. It of course was not too expensive (hello Kohl's coupons!) so I like it even more. Look! What's not to love?
Lastly, I love these shoes. Thank you Nine West! They are en route to me as you read. I found out last night that the physical stores stocks 11s and 12s. That was the best news I got all weekend!

Many Things To Tell You

2010-03-21T19:43:00.006-04:00

You'll forgive the format. I'm without a lot of patience/creativity/articulateness these days. And I got a lot on my mind to tell you. This post was encouraged from some old friends who said they missed reading. Sorry!

1) On a blog I didn't widely publicize you can see how my day started. In the spirit of, 'These things only happen to you Kristen', I'll share the link with you. You must link back to the original story about this donkey (turkey was too nice) in order to get the full picture. Should you have time on your hands, you can read about the beginning of what has been an amazing 2010 for me so far (and I don't say that in jest though some of those stories from early on might make you think I joke about it being a great year. But it has been!)

2) Gloria is amazing. I've had her for what, a month now? I still haven't figured out the deal with fuel usage versus consumption and I am stymied by my power windows still. Sometimes I amaze myself! Ali took the manual for me so she could instruct me as to the fuel consumption and generation piece which I thought was an excellent way for me to continue my lazy behaviors. Thanks Ali!

I'm frustrated by the fuel gauge (why is that word GAGE? I would hate to have to learn the English language as a second language!) which has bars which disappear as you use fuel. However, when it gets down to one bar, there is no indication about how long that bar will last. The bars are not tied to gallons of gas such that if I knew I was traveling an average of 40.7 mpg (which I am, hooray!) but rather proportions of gas to gas tank. Because the tank is expandable and collapsible based on outside temperature (this learned after much Googling) I may never get the full 11.9 gallons of gas in it and may never know how efficient I can be (which of course is my secret goal in all areas of my life) because of this. I therefore also never really know when the tank is going to run out. Now here's my issue. I buy groceries at Stop and S**p so that I can earn gas credits there making my gas cheaper (see earlier sentence about efficiencies!). I don't want to fill the tank unless I know I'm going to be filling it as much as possible thereby saving the most money possible! The visual on the dashboard is so deceiving. Once there were two bars left and I only got $7.50 of gas in. I might have to give the OCD up on this one and just move on. Every girl needs a goal.

Other than this, Gloria has gotten her road trips in. Thanks to KJ she has met other Priu**s (or at least waved in passing) and she has hit the drive thrus. She has transversed the state a couple times and has had her stereo volume and bass tested on many occasions. I am still having trouble figuring out how not to 'roll' my window down every time I hit that button. Call me a simpleton! Another great feature about this car is I can bring my mp3 player and run playlists and choose from thousands of songs just like I would in the house - FANTASTIC. Though it is a little annoying with most of the controls on the touchscreen, everything is relative compared to the hoopty I got rid of.

3) I have realized that I am not your average Pr**s driver. I don't know what the typical demographic is, but they are not left lane drivers. I have always been a left lane driver. In my days of 30K miles a year I racked me up some tickets that jacked up my insurance until, um, 2010. Because I seem not to learn, or perhaps because I have ZERO patience for the speed limit, I am back to the left lane after a short hiatus. I find most other Pr**s drivers do not like the left lane and certainly don't like the breakdown lane at rush hour. Whatever suckers, more room for me.

I realize I will never get 46 mpg if I remain a denizen of the left lane and if I insist on speeding up and braking fast but I'm over that. I'll take 40.7 and now probably a lecture from my parents as well.

4) Ali and I took advantage of that day that happens every time this year that makes me think of skipping classes and hanging outside the Campus Center at UMASS on that random Wednesday when the thermometer hits 70 in March. Thankfully for us, it was a Saturday this year though I would not have thought twice about bagging into work if it had fallen during the week. Blue Hills was mobbed like the mall at Christmas when we left around 1 so I'm glad we got there early. We took pictures...mostly because I am PSYCHED to have now lost 34 pounds. So I would like to call these pictures, 'Our hike after losing 34 pounds' (I hope to share with you 'Our hike after losing 44 pounds, and 54 pounds, and 64 pounds!). I'm clever aren't I? My hard work has paid off cardiovascularly as I found the hills hardly as daunting in the past (this is the trail I always take there because it's a 2 hour-ish really rewarding and physically challenging hike just outside the city). Today I was able to run 2 miles too so this is all impetus to keep up with the long workouts. I do need to add weights and strength training more regularly now (did I tell you about my lunge ordeal last week during conference calls?), but I'll keep with the 45 minutes of cardio which is not always easy at the end of a day but seems to be paying off.

Sun out, Window Open

2010-03-18T19:08:00.001-04:00

These two things make us all happy!

Oh! Gloria!

2010-02-18T19:23:00.008-05:00

Internets, meet Gloria.Internets, meet a very bad picture of me taken by Marty the Sales Guy (not his fault I look a wreck) and Gloria. Gloria is my new love. I love her like Dairy Queen vanilla ice cream, like Bueno Y Sano chicken burritos, and like that fake warm day at the end of Winter when you think the cold might be over for good. I wonder why I just showed you her back end. You deserve better:
Isn't she a beauty? As we all know, EVERYTHING is relative. In this case, my 2008 Prius is relative to my piece of junk 2002 Ford Focus. In the Focus' defense, it rode pretty well until the end when every morning it would groan like an old man and every pothole made me wonder if I was perhaps losing a piece of the undercarriage on every road in Boston. In reality though, that hoopty started falling apart the day I got it.

After a few years of 'putting up' with manual doors and windows (my concession for a low car payment at the time), I vowed I'd never put myself through that kind of manual labor again. If you would like a further discussion about how rough life is, we can take it offline.

That old black Focus never took any road trips. She never was christened with a name. She was never a part of me. I had about 2 minutes of nostalgia trading her in yesterday.

That Focus, man. Ya know, I'm starting to feel bad digging on it so much. I think I'm just so happy with the upgrade. This was the old car:

NOTE all the manual labor! Just before I drove to the car dealership yesterday I had to go to the post office. With a shake of my head, I reached back and checked the back door locks, and then the passenger side, and then got out and did mine. I was exhausted and stopped to catch my breath. After a quick check of the pulse, I went into the post office.

Now my friends, Gloria and I are cruisin the potholes with suspension and shocks ( I actually don't even know what that means but I am pretty sure they contribute to my smoother ride).

This is the shift. Mind you it takes less energy to swallow than to use this shift. To some extent, there isn't that satisfaction of the manual gear shift (and by manual I mean manual in an automatic car cause girlfriend never really learned stick) and because the car runs partly on electricity, there is never that real feeling of a gear shift between, I don't know, whenever the gear shifts. When I tap it into reverse, a CAMERA shows me what's behind me on my touch screen. Seriously? Seriously. I didn't take a picture. Deal.
Ok this is now like a car dealership glossy for the Prius. Just more personalized. So I'm going to need me a tutor for this part - I started reading the manual but *yawn* I got bored. This supposedly shows me when I'm using gas and when I'm using built up/stored electricity. I don't know, if you want to know more I'll send you the manual.
This is the BEST. I start the car with the keys in my pocket (!) and just push Power. For real! Then to park, I don't use the strenuous gear shift, I push this little P right here! And hello, I'm parked! It's not fancy enough to parallel park itself (neither is my paycheck fancy enough to afford such ridiculousness), and cripes, for all this car does the least I can do is parallel park it every now and again!
And best of all - electric locks and windows! You know I got in this car and opened and closed the windows 12 times and then locked and unlocked the car until I annoyed myself!
I'll miss my Evolve guy. I'm all about personal evolution. And automotive evolution.

Milo

2010-02-18T14:40:00.002-05:00

Milo is my #1. Not as affectionate as the Bella, he is the King of the roost and makes sure to place priority in himself first and foremost (hmmm sounds familiar). With Stella, it's Milo's way or no way at all regardless if she just wants to cuddle with him or if she wants to chase him around like a maniac. He is unbearably soft and furry, but rarely vulnerable enough to cuddle. Still, I like his attitude and he'll always be my #1.

Bella

2010-02-16T21:34:00.003-05:00

Stella is currently sitting on my feet under a blanket alternately cleaning herself and cleaning the tops of my feet. Sometime in the middle of the night she'll curl up into me in bed and purr herself to sleep. She was rebel rouser when she first got here but she's mellowing out.

Enviable Weekend (in pictures)

2010-02-15T20:49:00.006-05:00

That sunny spot is one of my favorite places in the world. Literally. Roses of course enhance the feeling. And yes, those were two different sets of roses. This post did not include pictures of the 'new' 2008 Prius in my life which was a part of this weekend as well. But these pictures make my soul happy. Of course, the Prius may too. But I'll live in the moment for now.

Where's Your Head At?

2010-02-08T19:20:00.004-05:00

I continue to feel like my head is where it should be right now. I feel balanced. Equilibrium is something I like to think I will always seek. Being there feels good. I need to check in and make sure I continue to come back here if I slide away a little. Maybe a little writing on the internets will be a good way to remind myself how good it feels to feel balanced. Here's hoping.

I'm quite in love with previously mentioned docking station and the ensuing dancing and singing it has encouraged. It's created a decrease in having the tv on for company, and has made working out much more enjoyable. The best speakers I had after mine kicked it about a year ago were the ones in Rhonda. Happy ears = happy household.

Speaking of Rhonda, I fear she is going to unleash some 45 minute hills on me pretty soon. Everytime I plug her in I prepare myself for the inevitable. Thank goodness today wasn't the day. There's a small part of me ready to ramp up, and a bigger part of me that's not ready. I'm still talking smack to her during the 30 minute workouts so I don't know how we'll get along for 45 minutes. She tells me to 'step it up!' and I of course tell her to F-off on a regular basis. She seems not to know that I'm already stepping it up. Ok, sometimes I'm not stepping it up and am instead reading about this Spring's new shoe trends BUT I mean, for the most part I'm 'remembering your goals!' like she tells me. Sometimes.

Hanging with Rhonda is all part of the continuing success with the balance in my life and of course with Weight Watchers too. My sister and I send each other text messages from meetings updating each other on our successes and maybe have a passive competition going on with these increasingly 'difficult' workouts (I'm thinking hers are maybe a little more difficult - thus the quotes). This week the discussion at WW was about why you are on this journey. How did you feel when you started and how do you feel now in the journey? It was a good meeting and listening was probably as helpful as talking would have been for me (a skill I have learned as I have grown older). I'm feeling optimistic and I know why I'm continuing to do this. I maybe didn't feel quite as ardent about this as I did when I started WW, but I'm doing this because I'm better than this. I'm better than who I am now. I'm way better than where I was. I seek a life of balance, but more so, I seek a life without mediocrity. I know life has peaks and valleys - I just don't want to hang out in the valleys too long when I get there. My balance is closer to the top of the peaks.

Before this vodka tonic allows me to unleash too many more analogies on you, I'll stop. And go get another vodka tonic. Cause WW told me I need to make up for the calories I burn or else my body will think I'm trying to maintain. What a rule! You don't have to twist this girl's arm!

Blog All Day

2010-02-04T08:12:00.013-05:00

...because I think I have time for this. Perhaps it will help me stay focused:

7:25 Arrive at desk with two cups of coffee (probably really four cups if you actually put it in normal sized mugs) open multiple email accounts and push paper to the sides of keyboard so there is actually room to type/hold coffee.

7:55 Get locked out of database used to track inventory for off-site storage for work. Call customer service for new pin and username. Joke with guy that I hope this is the hardest part of my day and that it's over before 8 AM.

8:13 Continue to waste time on personal email and other sundry websites while talking with my sister on IM. Send a couple of token work emails to let them know I'm 'working'.

8:25-8:40 Ran some data to see where we're making data entry errors. Consider this real work. *pat on back*

8:48 Raid the candy drawer in co-worker's office in the belief that yogurt and tootsie rolls combine to make an appropriate breakfast. Open up call center software so I can track incoming calls that start at 9 am.

8:56 Got morning dose of anxiety from Boss Lady who has a certain affinity for instant messenger. Find it amazing how she can create such anxiety in me by writing so little. Vow not to let her hyperactivity get to me any further.

Find task to do to procrastinate from writing sections of a proposal we're working on (this might be why Boss Lady is anxious. Oh well.)

9:02 Chat with co-worker about Weight Watchers (support in numbers!) and her recent trip to Sunday River. Get jealous of her awesome 2-day trip.

9:06 Back to procrastination task of tracking people's workloads and graphing it on spreadsheets (yum, spreadsheets).

9:07 Turn Pandora on. I can't possibly do this mindless work without background music can I? Decide Beastie Boys Station is the way to go.

9:17 Hear Violent Femmes which makes me think of an old friend from high school. Log into FB to send her a message.

9:43 Work hard to concentrate on numbers. Delegate proposal task to Admin (this is a good sign of leadership, right? Or laziness.)

9:53 Grab some almonds. Maybe Tootsie rolls weren't the best choice. I'm incredulous. Try to keep the chair bouncing to a minimum when Jump Around comes on the queue.

10:03 Sign in to take my shift on incoming calls from smokers.
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10:17 Send email to management team about my concerns with staffing workloads. Decide now would be a good time to water my plant.

10:40 Check in with FB to see reply from old friend. Love remembering those times. Resign self to writing project and vow to buckle down until noon. FAT CHANCE.

10:52 Talk with A/P at one of our vendors where we owe a lot of money to get some help circumventing some red tape on my end getting them paid. Don't like being shady, but also don't like long drawn out vendor relations. A fine line in working in a big organization. Back to editing.

11:08 Appropriately enough I just fit in two rounds of Scrabble. Good concentration going on over here.

11:31 Decide that Cypress Hill is not doing it anymore. Switch over to Jo Dee Messina (though I know this won't be good cause I know all the words).

11:41 Talked to our contracts officer at the RI Department of Health. Got resultingly more confused with her and solved nothing. Deflected her questions to the Boss Lady.

11:52 Wonder if it's a full moon. No one here is having a lot of luck concentrating and there seem to be a lot of loonies calling in this morning. Wonder how much longer I'll make it without the drug (Diet Pepsi). Will try to do some work-related activities for a few minutes before braving the arctic for my daily dose.
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12:20 Spent 20 minutes catching up with my aunt on the phone. A reminder that you gotta be kind to everyone you meet cause everyone is fighting their own battles.

12:30 Talked to dad on the way to get drug. Damn it's cold out!

12:48 Kind of but not really enjoying lunch from the microwave. Should have bought a salad.

12:50 Dumped the rest, not worth it. Going to run errands in other departments. What a lunch hour!

12:56 Well, those were some short-lived errands. Back to writing.

1:11 Writing yet to commence. Amazingly, I got pulled into wasting time in other ways.

1:12 Hates text messaging truncated language at work!!! Write like adults!

1:29 Still not writing. Paid for an online course for someone and am processing the reimbursement (=credit card points!). Now off for a round of Scrabble with mumsie.

3:27 Did some ridiculous throwing of sentences together before going to the hour and a half meeting about the strategy for said writing! Ha! Well, at least I already know what I have to do tomorrow!
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3:38 Round of Scrabble, sweet text message, and now I need to call some smokers.

4:07 And I'm disconnecting for now. Need to get some blood circulating. Trailing home via Southie for some love from my little Vietnamese boyfriend. Yeah, not like that dirty minds.

Life Update

2010-02-01T21:14:00.003-05:00

Happiness is afoot at 12 Upham Ave. In all seriousness it's about time. It's both a resultant happiness and an anticipatory happiness. Resultant changes are due to joining Weight Watchers in October. I started at an unfortunate time - right before a trip to the beach with my sister, her friends, many sticks of butter, and some huge panini sandwiches. I sure do love me a sandwich but there are no point values high enough for how we ate during those three days. There simply aren't enough walks on the beach that could make up for those community meals. Maybe runs on the beach, but until now, I have only run from wild animals and I don't know that that's going to change anytime soon. I lie, I actually have some aspirations for some Spring 5K's but that's another discussion for another time.

Anyhow, I have lost 10% of myself. Actually more than 10%. My goal is 30% so I have some work to do, but I have gotten to the point where I'm charged for it. The results have been so promising. None of my pants fit - to the point of embarrassment and jacking up my credit card to buy some new clothes, but man, it's worth it. So I'm definitely constantly motivated. I'm not missing whatever it was I was doing to myself and am still fitting in meals with the girls and the occasional cheeseburger. I'm satisfied and really that's what it's all about. So I'm going to Weight Watchers weekly and it's really good. I admit it's a little like kvetching with the girls every week, but it's a good head trip to make sure you stay in it mentally and emotionally. I won't lie, there's definitely a spiritual component to it - if you count reflection and a good ole self-check as spiritual...which I do. The accountability on the scale and the reward for milestones has been key. They're proud of me, I'm proud of me. At this age, there's not a lot of people telling you they're proud of you and you know what? Even adults need to hear that some time.

And this sounds almost absurdly ridiculous, but I feel like I have brought music back into my life. I know that a lot of people know me as the person who is always finding the new band and introducing people to new music. But I lost that for a while. Part of it was moving in on my own and never buying a stereo system. I think I have either just 1) always lived with people who had stereo systems or 2)lived in a bedroom and relied only on computer/dvd player to play music. This house definitely calls for a greater system. I didn't realize how much fun I was missing out on and how much dancing after work and sliding around the floors was missing from my life. The cats are understandably freaked out about my reuniting with Rhonda (see elliptical discussion from this time last year) and the ensuing concert I have everyday when she and I run up hills together. I think they're getting used to it though. I have found that they like when I sing and come to me. It's actually pretty funny. But anyhow, so I bought this docking station (I don't have the patience to write you about the docking station research/purchasing story) where I can just dock my mp3 player and listen to it throughout the house. I feel, and yes I know this is corny, kind of liberated. Singing is dancing is part of me. Granted, my dance moves are, as most of you know,unrefined at best, but they're still mine!

The furballs are good. Stella has taken to sleeping REALLY close to me at night. Sometimes I wake up at night to find us spooning when I try to turn over! I am sure it must be because it's a little ice boxy in here at night when I climb into my super-heated bed. She just needs to learn to sleep under the covers. I think they're both dying to get outside for longer stretches of time. Even Milo with his 'extra fluffiness' these days can't tolerate the tundra we've been putting up with lately up here.

Work is good - busy, but interesting and mostly stimulating. I do think I need a vacation though. The cold is getting into my bones I think. I could maybe turn up the heat though. Maybe I'll start there.

Random Holiday-ish Thoughts

2009-12-19T17:07:00.003-05:00

* I was on the expressway South this morning and the mall traffic had us backed up and in stop and go patterns. I was behind a Maxima who took stop and go to a new level. More like gun it and stop. The guy in the car in front of him got out of his car, and using his whole body to express his point, told the guy to slow down and knock it off.

* It is going to snow tonight. EVERYONE everywhere is talking about it. In the stores, on their phones, and MY GOD at the supermarket where everyone is stocking up on canned goods and bottled water. It's gonna be pretty, and festive, AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO LEAVE YOUR HOUSE TOMORROW! Relax!!

* Milo and Stella are alternating between crazy and deathly bored. But the Christmas Tree is still standing and that's what counts.

* I love living in the city and while driving around doing some volunteering this morning delivering Christmas baskets to shut-ins, I thought how cool it would be to raise kids here and teach them about the disparities in life and what they could do to help. Then on my way home I saw two LITTLE kids pushing grocery carts full of empty bottles. Sometimes the disparities are heartbreaking and you don't need an article in the paper to find out about them.

* I tried getting a few extra gifts today and couldn't deal with the line to the register. All apologies to my family for just not feeling it this year.

* I was at the mall getting glasses last night and was totally overwhelmed by teenagers and tooooo much entertainment. I think the mall management has gone a little overboard on the festive this year.

* There was a woman standing in Dunkin Donuts this morning asking for money. I mean there are a lot of people at the intersections around here but this is the first place I've actually seen someone inside. Is this legal? Some Jamaican guy behind me said to her, ' Hey Mon, we all gotta get there and work' and she says, 'I can't find work so I'm doing this'. I don't know what to think about this so I'm going to stop thinking.

* I've had some pretty decent disappointments in the past month or so. I'm trying to tell myself to move on. I might just have Cheetos and vodka tonics and hope that helps.

* I love DVR. Might be the best and most worthwhile upgrade.

* I saw a huge Tag Heuer billboard today featuring, of course, Tiger Woods. Oh Tiger Woods. What a story to end the year with.

* Stella can entertain herself for a long time with the milk cap. I wish I had a milk cap.

Roadtrip!

2009-12-12T20:27:00.011-05:00

So Amy somehow landed tickets to the Martha Stewart show in NYC and graciously asked me to join her. Now anyone that knows me knows that I am the least crafty person on earth, but I am always up for roadtip and an adventure.

So the crazy mom of twins and I got a 6:30 am bus out of South Station (might I mention that Amy was there at 5:40? She also had time to clean out her trunk before we left. Wow!) and were on our way. Amy was able to catch some needed Zzz's for a little while on the bus and I was able to catch up on some reading. I can't think of a better way to spend a day away from work!

We got to NYC in time to grab a bit to eat at brgr a trendy, but yummy lunch spot just by the Martha studios. We then waited in line with a bunch of other energized women (probably both by the prospect of being at the show and the temperature!)to be let in to the studios. I had never been to a tv taping before so I was pretty stoked.

When we got in we were in a holding room of sorts, but a nice holding room. *For some reason the words 'holding room' bring me back to the Liberian airport whose waiting rooms are akin to what I imagine questioning rooms at jails are like.* Amy stocked up on gear at the Martha store and scored an autographed copy of the cupcake cookbook she puts out along with some other Martha emblazoned goodies. We were given forms to fill out that gave us space to ask Martha a personal question (I thought we could ask her if she has ideas for decorated government-issued ankle bracelets for the holidays), cooking questions, entertaining questions, or decorating questions. I surprised myself with coming up for a question for each category but alas, neither of us was chosen to ask our questions.

Soon after, a man with crazy energy (heretofore named simple MWCE)came out to tell us what the show was about and what to expect. MWCE joked that when he winked, then we would know what segment we could expect free goodies during. Thankfully, he did a lot of crazy winking. We of course squealed like women getting free stuff do. He encouraged us to squeal and yell though, I think in practice for the taping. We rehearsed excited clapping, regular clapping, admiring yummy food sounds, and looking at pictures of puppies and small children sounds to make at his cue during the show. And then we were off! We walked through a back stage area and right onto the set where we were seated.

Being in the tv studio was really neat. It's kind of like you imagine it, but kind of not. The ceiling was ALL lights and lighting stuff which I suppose is appropriate but I guess I was just enamored by how much of it there was. The set was broken up into a huge and beautiful kitchen, a little like study/exhibit area, and then an area that looked more outside I guess. She did a segment on planting bulbs from there. We saw the producer of a new movie called It's Complicated make some kind of pudding with booze-soaked fruit in it. I was disappointed that there wasn't some for guests! But in the end there was certainly no disappointment when we left with a $100 gift card from Bank of America, a plush Scottie dog that they must be selling for charity at Macy's, and a lovely book called the Food Lover's Companion. We realized about an hour after the show that as lovely as the book is, it was not ideal to be carrying it around while we were tourists for the rest of the day!

The show was great and we got some great pictures and maybe even learned a little something about these flowers which I learned are called Alliums. My sister and I took some great pictures of these at Duke Gardens in May.

We both loved the entire experience.

When the show ended, we had about 2 hours to be tourists so we hopped on the subway and went to Rockefeller Center. We were there at dusk with about 6,000 other tourists but it was still amazing. The spirit was light and festive, the skaters were lively, and the Christmas tree was enormous. There were other decorations up and though there were a lot of annoying people who didn't think/realize/care that there were other people taking pictures and capturing similar memories, it was still really cool to be there.

On the way back to the bus we walked through Herald Square and saw the Christmas windows at Macy's which were nothing short of incredible. If the people that designed these windows when they first started doing this could only imagine what they would be like today with technological wizardry available to us, they would be shocked and mystified I think.

I may have zonked out on the busride home after we passed the time sharing headphones and all the pictures on our memory cards and in our phones. It was an ideal day with a great girlfriend. Next up: Oprah in Chicago!

Warning: This one might have a lot of cat stories in it

2009-12-12T19:43:00.007-05:00

So we have now had our first snow here and it is appropriately less than 30 degrees on a regular basis now. This is good because it's hard to really feel Christmas if you're from the North (ok blanket statement, but I'm going with it) if it's not cold. For a long time I really needed snow to get that 'It's Christmastime' feeling but these days, sharp air and a scarf will do the trick.

Milo and Stella, were wary of the snow at first. Stella, being the crazy female that she is (ok, and like me just a hair) was the first to jump in and make snow angels on the deck. I couldn't actually believe how much she wanted to explore it. Milo followed but not until at least a day later. He was content wondering where it was coming from. *caveat* I don't know whose voice that is, but clearly it is one that I should not use in public or with clients on the phone*

So that was fun. They are both from the streets but over time it is clear that Stella is clearly the more ghetto of the two. When I adopted her they told me that she was found in Roxbury. Now, I'm not knockin' on the 'bury, but Stella is an excellent example of the stereotypical street woman from the 'bury. She has major attitude. So much so that I'm thinking I might call the pet behaviorist at the Animal Rescue League where I got her for some advice. She has always growled when given table food and sometimes treats. She hisses when she's mad; but I don't know that she knows why she hisses. Sometimes I think she thinks she's still on the street. She eats like someone's going to take it away from her and even when I play with her and go to pick up the ball to throw it, she hisses at me. It's hard to discipline her for it because I don't think she has control over it and I don't know that yelling 'no' at her will change it. It doesn't hurt me and I think it's kind of funny, but it is a sign that she's angry. And these circumstances don't warrant anger. Advice?

The Christmas tree is up after a few days of doing it at my own pace. I was very concerned about it staying up and the ornaments not ending up in pieces. I did put the ornaments that are breakable up high but sure enough, I came home yesterday to 7 ornaments on the floor. Today I caught her trying to make friends with a cloth Holly Hobbie from 1979 that I think I gave my sister for a gift. I did get a chance to capture Stella for her Christmas picture though: So, anyhow, I went out and bought them a cat condo. I have spent weeks debating the size and features of cat condos. Given the precariousness of having them alone with the Christmas tree for a month, I figured this was a good time.

I won't go into how I negotiated the price down at PetSmart (but I did) or how it fit in the back seat only because the top was hanging out the window, but I will tell you how they took to it like an old friend as soon as it arrived. You'll notice that Milo is somewhat 'fluffier' that the last time he was featured here, but he accordingly fits perfectly in the 2nd box of the condo. Stella fits nicely both in the tunnel and on the top ledge. She however is in a funk tonight and is spending her time away from the condo.

So that's what's going on here. I forgot how many ornaments I bought the day after Christmas last year. It has become tradition for us to go to the Pier One at the Mall of Georgia on the day after Christmas and they always have the coolest ornaments that are 50% off. Let's hope they all make it through the first Christmas with four-legged residents at 12 Upham Ave.

A Trip to the Beginning of Time

2009-11-23T12:04:00.004-05:00

Ok - not THAT supernatural, but that would be cool.. An old friend of mine and I went down to Plymouth last weekend so he could get a taste for the early days of America. I hadn't been since I was a kid so it was really neat for me too, actually. And of course, as an adult, one has such a greater appreciation for history and the people who came before us.

Most interesting was the cemetery on top of the hill where the graves were soooo old. There were a few of the pioneering Pilgrims whose names we studied in school buried there but also so many of the original families who landed at Plymouth Rock and who started civilization as we know it here in America.

I always love the houses in Massachusetts that have placards from the National or State Registry of Historical Places. When I see when they are built I can always envision the wide, dirt roads and the horses and carriages they must have used then. I took a few pictures with my cell phone; I'm not quite sure why I chose not to bring my camera.

A Post for my father who misses my blogging

2009-11-01T19:41:00.007-05:00

Really this should be titled, "Meeting the Neighbors".
I have met my neighbors, no worries; I'm not some kind of hermit who runs between the car and the house to avoid conversation with the people who can ostensibly see into my windows. I don't even know how I came up with such a detailed scenario.
Now Milo and Stella on the other hand, don't have the chance to meet the 4-legged neighbors because they are 'sequestered' (if you will) on the deck when we are outside. But the occasional romp in the yard has given us access to the neighborhood pets. Typically I scuttle them back upstairs to avoid any sort of scuffle and potential blood drawing.
Today we were outside for a long time and I realized I was more ensconced in my book that I should be because I lost track of both of them. I got up and rounded the corner to find the both of them having a staring contest with another cat. I've seen this cat before and don't know if it has a home. But it really just wanted to play. Milo and Stella were generally just interested in it, though if I weren't there I'm pretty sure Stella would have shown it who's boss.
I mediated the meeting and caught some funny pictures on my phone. Here Milo assesses the cat on the other side of the tree. What you can't see is Stella observing from the third edge of the triangle they made around a tree.

I know Milo looks 'fluffy'. Let's just call it that. I'm trying to cut down on his diet.
Here is Stella meeting the kitty. Thankfully she responds well to NO STELLA.

Stella has to wear a collar and leash outside because she's wily and manipulative. The other cat wanted to play with the leash. You can imagine how well this went over.

And Stella escaped:

And here she is. I took her senior photo:

Her blue leash kept her from camouflaging with the fallen leaves. Unfortunately we were in a fight for the next few hours because she wouldn't let me take the leash OFF. She definitely has an inherent ghetto attitude sometimes. Apparently she's over it though because she's curled up next to me taking a well-deserved nap.

Update on life

2009-09-21T08:11:00.002-04:00

It's true that with Facebook there isn't a whole lot of burning desire in me to write on my blog. But at the same time, I can understand how you just can't get enough of my snarky comments via Facebook or my feelings about the constant ridiculousness of my life (what my father has referred to as my 'life in a Far Side cartoon').

First I want to talk about the new Whole Foods in Dedham. I love Whole Foods - really I do. Just walking in makes me feel healthy no matter what garbage I have consumed that day and no matter how flabby I'm currently feeling. Maybe it's the setup of the store or the word 'organic' flying everywhere. Even though I'm so skeptical of the word organic it still makes me feel healthy. I was a little disappointed with the lack of free samples (helllooo cheese cubes!)when I was there but with the hoards of families with kids just out of soccer practice running through the aisles I guess I can understand why management might not want to put out fancy cheese cubes and pita chips. I did get a burrito for dinner whose price was extremely reasonable ($4.99) but it didn't spin my wheels as much as the local Guatemalan burritos or Ana's, both of which are the same price. I was going to get ice cream too ( I know what a night, proposed cheese cubes, burritos, and ice cream!) (oh and don't forget the bottle of wine I bought!) but the 365 everyday brand was $5.00. Come on Whole Foods! That's actually what I consider unreasonable. So I won't be getting Whole Foods anytime soon I'm sure because they certainly don't want to build where the average income is probably lower than federal poverty level. Alas, it is good that I am often traveling in areas where it is not and where Whole Foods likes to open new stores.

The are exciting things on the horizon including the arrival of a new baby girl very soon into the village. I might be more excited to see how the parents acclimate to being parents than I am about meeting baby girl. Maybe the excitement is equal.

A trip to the beach is also on the horizon. Book suggestions welcome! I'm excited to get out of what has become pretty routine as of late.

And finally, because my sister is a star and has been able to stick to Weight Watchers, I think it's time that I dove in and tried too. It's not just for physical health but for mental health. I have never had to try hard to do anything in my life and I think that this will require so much discipline that I've been avoiding it for that reason. I just don't like to work hard. So wish me luck. The goal is to go to a meeting tomorrow!

I Have a Lot On My Mind

2009-08-10T20:11:00.004-04:00

But I have neither the energy nor ability to put it into words as of now. However, it would seem as though the furballs have found some common ground. We're getting somewhere!

I can't get enough of this video of them (I parsed it together from 4 I took on my cell phone with clearly, not enough light). It was so sweet.

Girlz

2009-07-20T10:21:00.001-04:00

Lots more girls in my life than there were 9 months ago. In this picture, Amy and Molly and Marcia and Ava.

Number One

2009-07-06T10:21:00.004-04:00

He'll always be my number one furry fur ball of goodness:

Kitty Condos

2009-07-06T09:46:00.006-04:00

Ok, so it is clear that I cannot escape my family for too long. I have officially become addicted to most things CAT. I am trying to keep it in check, but with the anticipation of Stella's arrival, things in the penthouse are changing.

I have spoken with Savory Man about the construction of a kitty condo because the ones out there are nice, but expensive. I'm not sure that it will really get constructed but it could. Otherwise, I'm on the hunt. In the meantime, I wanted to have something 'exciting' for both Milo and Stella to play in together. Mind you, Milo has taken great interest in what I call his 'subsidized housing'. He was sleeping in a shoe box but when I introduced him to this smaller box that my bathing suit had arrived in, he took a bigger liking to it. So here he is in his subsidized housing:

All stuffed right in there. Someone should tell him he's not the svelte kitten he used to be!

So anyhow, I go out and lay down $25 for a kitty condo for them. Savory Man puts it all together:

And like a child at Christmas, he wants nothing to do with it. Had we not put treats in the bottom he would have ignored it altogether. In his defense, when I did put him on it, it slipped a little and that scared him. He might be a little big for it. But of course, when Savory man took a steak knife to the cardboard box that's been sitting in the hallway for 2 weeks, Milo exalted in its amazingness:

So it goes. He remains ultra lovable in his subsidized housing during sleep time. I suppose he has moved up from subsidized housing to his own penthouse, but imagine he will still prefer his tiny quarters.

Dear...

2009-07-06T09:29:00.003-04:00

Dear City of Boston:

Thank you for upgrading our recycling to single-stream! I appreciate you being progressive and making it easier for all residents to get on board the recycling wagon!

Green hugs,

Kristen
____________________________________________

Dear CVS:

Thank you for my $25 in extra bucks! Granted I planned it this way by buying expensive nicotine patches for work when we ran out at CVS so I'd get the free extra bucks, but still...who gets $25 in extra bucks? I'm still deciding how to blow it all at my next visit.

Cheers from the opportunist,

Kristen

____________________________________________

Dear Molly,

You are a rockin superstar. I can't wait for our next trip to the beach!

Love Auntie Riz

______________________________________

Dear City of Boston Inspectional Services:

Seriously SUCK IT. I want my deck NOW. Not when you figure out how to get paperwork handled in a timely fashion.

Fed Up!,

Kristen

_______________________________________

Dear Milo:

My furry furball friend. Wednesday Stella will come home. Please treat her as a playmate and not some kind of disease. Please don't look at me with those longing eyes as much anymore and instead give ole Stella a try as an antidote to living in a small space without a lot to do.

I understand why you have tried to escape to the backyard this week and I don't blame you. More fun times ahead Mi-Tai.

Love,
Mummy

Thoughts

2009-07-05T13:01:00.002-04:00

Not too deep, don't worry.

I have cozied up to a few too many marathons of Run's House, 16 and Pregnant, and True Life on MTV lately. Is 33 too old for MTV? I'd like to think no, especially since I have given up my addiction to the Real World as of the last season.

The sun has come out here. There is even sun for most days on the forecast for next week. What on earth will we do with ourselves here? Could we possibly spend time outside in July? Amazing.

Milo hated the fireworks. I on the other hand was mesmerized. There were literally 360 degrees of fireworks around me on my roof last night. Of course the best were over the Charles but people all around Dorchester and Quincy it seems had their own stashes. It was incredible (and maybe a little chilly) to watch all around for like an hour. Milo was not as impressed and bugged out a little bit.

I fear that Milo is terribly bored. I realize that I am projecting my own problems being bored and kept inside on him but this is a small space for any(one)thing. So I'm getting him a friend. Her name will be Stella and she's an orange beauty. I didn't realize that the Animal Rescue League also had adoptable animals. So after looking for few days at the MSPCA I went to the ARL and there were a ton of cats. I had a hard time and need to stop looking online and going to the pounds because it breaks my heart a little each time. Milo and Stella will need a little kitty condo I think now to play on. Savory Man has volunteered to build it. There's plenty of space in here so hopefully they will keep each other company and active. I hope Milo acclimates well because I'm doing this for both me and him!

There is nothing in my refrigerator. I am getting my farm share each week but not doing anything with it. I either need to be more creative or, I don't know. I guess I just need to find a way to be using it all. And maybe I could go to the supermarket.

Right now I am over-caffeinated. So I will do some laundry and work on the 3 weeks of clean clothes that need to make it into drawers and the closet. I've got some pictures to share (of my cat and of A and P's little rock star). Hopefully I can get them up later for your oohs and aahs.

Pictures from Arizona

2009-06-20T08:32:00.009-04:00

I went to Arizona for a work trip last week (should have stayed there!) and took a few pictures. I was hoping for an adjunct trip to the Grand Canyon or a little hiking but alas, I was sequestered to a few blocks in and around the convention center. I took some walks and these are the pictures.

How pretty are these? They are ubquitous but that doesn't make them any less pretty!

This is the brand new, enormous convention center in Phoenix. It's a stone's throw from the Diamondback's stadium. Oh, and that's the view out my hotel window. How I wanted to escape to those hills!

Pretty!

Some cool mosaics outside the convention center.

And one last pretty flower picture! The locals getting off the bus and walking to work must have thought I was a loony tune!

Kristen...

2009-06-09T20:44:00.004-04:00

...is psyched to have worked out 3 days in a row. Let's hope for sustainability.

...skeptical of the amount of people at this conference attending the LGBT tobacco conference. I say there are probably some more important things we should be putting federal dollars into but that's just me (I'm waiting for the hate comments to roll in, go for it!).

...has developed some sort of weird anxiety this week. I think because I know I really don't belong here among all these people who believe so strongly in this work. It reminds me of the focus group I went to for chocolate where all the women were really fervent chocolate fanatics and knew the cocoa content in all different brands of chocolate. I just went for the stipend and free Lindt truffles.

...thinks she might be hogging the computers at the cool new business center setup at the Phoenix Sheraton. She loves her some modern touches.

...wishes her bathroom at home were like her hotel bathroom. Even just a little.

...misses her bed, her time zone, her boyfriend, and her cat in no particular order.

...needs a hug.

...passed up on yoga with the boss invitation this afternoon. Nuff said.

...is glad the hotel tvs have HGTV, TLC, and MTV. But no Oprah at 4 pm sadly.

...got re-stressed while sitting at the pool listening to a woman yell into her phone for 1/2 an hour. Seriously, get a clue.

...bought a bathing suit with no boulder holder support. Good for sitting in the chair and nothing else. Will soon visit llbean.com.

...has been brainstorming the future with a little bit of passion knowing that putting it on paper is a good start to make some dreams start moving.

...is psyched that Starbucks is the most convenient and cheapest place for breakfast this week. Heeeelllloooo mocha frappacino (please do not send nutritional info in a comment, k thnx).

...wish dinner were a little earlier tonight but is glad that it's cool enough to walk to the restaurant.

Sunday

2009-06-07T10:43:00.002-04:00

Kristen is enjoying her favorite kind of Sunday. The kind where the breeze comes in through the window and the bells of the church are playing pretty songs. Doesn't hurt that I got myself back on the elliptical and am feeling a small surge of 'thank god I can still do this'. Exercise clothes are packed for the week-long trip to Phoenix in hopes of killing some time finding muscles that might be hidden under one too many burritos.

Without writing a small novel, I ask you internets, and feel free to respond privately via email and not as a comment (but you can do that too) what you think about this because it's driving me a little crazy. I have recently asked folks to think good thoughts if that's what they do or to pray if that's what they do, for my friends who are going through some unquestionably tough times with their newborns. I have been told that asking people to pray is hypocritical because I don't necessarily believe in a god. I'm a little miffed because my intentions were/are pure and I'm trying to build as big a network of positive energy as I can realizing that not everyone builds good energy the same way. I guess it's not a question of my intentions but rather of my choice of words. I could have asked everyone I spoke to to think good thoughts and 'send good vibes' if you will. What are your thoughts?

Milo and I have had a lovely morning keeping each other company. I have learned that I cannot upload video taken on my cell phone to another site without buying a Quicktime upgrade so I cannot share with you our latest adventures with the red light. But here he is in all his pretty boy glory.

Best Damn New Parents

2009-05-30T09:37:00.004-04:00

Little Molly has come home and is a snug as a bug in a rug.

Milo's got a brand new bag

2009-05-29T18:34:00.003-04:00

Or just a toy that Bob and Cynthia sent him. He's in a new place and has pretty much destroyed the last set of toys he was given (thank you Beth!). I knew he'd love this. I think this is going to be the method for taking off a few kitty pounds. Now, if only I could teach my brain to think that I should run up and down the house after the red light!

Check it out here.

Bebesols

2009-05-22T20:27:00.003-04:00

That's how I said vegetables when I was a kid. I know, can you stand how cute I was?

I decided to buy a farm share this summer. I did it for a couple of reasons. One, because it's just GOOD to get fresh vegetables when you (I) can. Fresh vegetables do taste SO much better (are you enjoying my liberal use of CAPS?)than store-bought vegetables that are probably shipped in from California and Texas. So not only will I be eating fresher, I'll be doing my part to cut down on putting extra carbon into the environment.

The share is coming from Heaven's Harvest Farm, which, given its exchange must be somewhere in the middle of the state ( I have no idea, where is New Braintree? It must not be near Braintree). Oh yes look at that, it's almost in Western, MA. Well, thank you farmers in New Braintree for bringing my vegetables out here for the next 15 weeks!

It's a single share so I'm not sure how much that will really be, but I will surely update when it starts coming in. I'm a little concerned because a lot of the recipes on the website include kale and I have never eaten kale and quite honestly, it is not something that sounds that appealing to me. Remember, I am urban. I eat cheeseburgers.

In other food news, I had a coupon for a free kashi frozen meal and I would just like to pass on the YUM factor. This is not one of those products I am marketing for BzzAgent. It was really good. I am however Bzzing Bic soleil razors which I have to say are also very good. In a non gastronomical way of course.

Oh look. The Dorchester fireworks have started for the summer. JOY. Let's hope it's fireworks. Things in town have not been so safe lately.

Trippage

2009-05-18T21:25:00.007-04:00

I spent the weekend in North Carolina with the fam. We have started a new thing (tradition if you will) of celebrating everyone and everything whenever we can all get together. We started it in Atlanta last month and continued it in North Carolina this weekend.

If there was something to do this weekend in the Triangle, we did it. We played endless games of Scrabble (because it never gets old and because my sister needs a bum whooping), took naps, and caught up on everyone's jobs and activities.

We visited the Duke Lemur Center which was really neat. I knew nothing about lemurs, and sadly, don't know a whole lot about each of these kinds of lemurs because I was too busy taking pictures. But I did learn SOME things. Here are some pictures. They look kind of cuddly. Kind of. Check out those feet!

We shared some Egyptian food for dinner one night and ate pretty much any kind of junk food that existed at a street fair and at a Friday night Durham Bulls game. It was probably the most exciting and possibly longest game I've ever seen live, but Chris Richard hit TWO grand slams! What's the chance? Always a good time and the cheapest, most fun night out anywhere. Fireworks after EVERY game!

We spent a lot of time fawning over cats at my parents' house and at my sister and her husband's house. This is at my sister's house where my mother got rid of an entire bag of treats in about 10 minutes.

Here are pictures of the Scrap Exchange where my sister sits on the Board of Directors. It's this very organized place full of all sorts of scraps and pieces for artists, and crafters, and people who do things with stuff. It's obvious that it's a place that a lot of people care about and a lot of people put a lot of work into (a lot).

We also took a loverly walk through Duke Gardens, strangely a place I had never been before in all my trips down there.

Oh requisite cute cat picture. This was Molly being 'cat in a bag'.

They Came, and They're Gone

2009-05-13T19:43:00.000-04:00

I love lilac season. Due to torrential downpours and hurricane force winds I didn't get to enjoy the ones at my stoop for as long as usual. Sadness! I did pick some off right at the beginning and put them in a vase in the living room which was lovely.

What is your favorite part of spring?

This is your trunk on SAT

2009-05-13T19:42:00.000-04:00

I finally cleaned my trunk out post Spring season SAT tutoring. This is a lot of teachin. There is so much room left in my trunk now for summer fun!

Dear Wendy's...

2009-05-13T09:40:00.002-04:00

...I do not eat fast food often (well if you don't count D'Angelo's and I don't). I probably go to McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger a total of 3 times a year. Two out of those three times I get a kids meal just to satisfy a craving for the disgustingness that fulfills me.

Last night, because I couldn't bear to wait for someone to make me a turkey sandwich, I went to the Wendy's drive-thru. Indeed, Wendy's is known to be the high-end of fast food, right?

Indeed food was good, and satisfying in that fast food disgustingness way. But when did a meal at Wendy's eclipse $7.00? For real? And when did they start serving liter sodas in cups for medium sized meal?

Fast food is neither recession nor obesity proof I guess and I am a perpetrator of both it seems.

Thanks for the yummy meal.

Love,

Kristen

Post About My Cat

2009-04-28T20:00:00.005-04:00

See I'm warning you from the get go. This is a cat post. It will include undeniably cute pictures of my grey furball. He is driving me crazy with his cuteness rolling around on his back tonight. I think the floor must be cool on this very hot day.

Last night Milo dressed up as a case of bottled water. He was hoping it was Halloween. Unfortunately, it was April 27th. Nevermind, in this house any day can be Halloween. I swear to you I did not put him in this bag nor did I entice him into it.

This is his favorite vulnerable pose as of late. But it's only me that thinks its vulnerable. He just likes to be like this down by our feet.

Seriously, can you stand it?

Ok, do you understand why I can't keep my hands off him?

Ok these are from my cell phone so they're a little grainy. Oh my furball!

If I was Slightly Religious

2009-04-28T19:42:00.005-04:00

I would think this had great religious meaning. I think it still has great meaning. Beauty, hope, nature. I'll go with that meaning.

This is New England

2009-04-26T20:39:00.004-04:00

I was going to title this 'Spring has Sprung' but really we all know that it's going to snow some time in May and it's just a lottery now to figure out when it's going to be. But we will not look a gift horse in the mouth.

The weather this weekend was like late July and damn it, we deserved it and we took it with arms wide open. People were out of the woodwork like ants at a picnic. Community groups were all over the city getting projects done, folks were out pushing strollers down by the water, and the trees were in bloom in what has to be their prime of what is always a very short Spring season. We are lucky we are having some temperate weather because some years we go right from Winter to Summer, wearing fleece right into June.

So I'm going to be done talking and share some pictures of the blooming I took yesterday. None of these are from my yard but most of them are from my neighborhood. I'm going to print 4 of them and bring some new life to my living room wall.

It never grows old

2009-04-12T14:24:00.003-04:00

Today the church bells have been singing all day. Not a bad perk for a non-religious person. And this is another lovely sunset. From last night, post all-day rain.

Today we cleaned for a bit and I prepared for a yummy non-religious Easter dinner for after tutoring tonight. Easter was always an occasion for our immediate family to sit down and have a good Sunday dinner, often with extended family who celebrated themselves in the morning and then joined for dinner in the afternoon. When we were really little, we spent Easters in New Jersey with my father's grandmother and great aunt (thus my great, great, aunt. She was born in 1898!). This picture is from 1981 and my mother had made us those dresses. That was also the Easter of Strawberry Shortcake dolls in our baskets. I do remember that part of that Easter and almost remember where I found my basket at their house in New Jersey. Strangely, when I am reading books I often find myself setting the books characters in that house.

So anyhow, tonight we'll be having spinach and feta quiche with a pear and roquefort salad (you've read about that before and my intrepid love for it), followed by strawberry shortcake (!! my favorite and ideal for this post and Easter 28 years ago. My god I am old!) and Netflix.

Might I NOT recommend a movie called Happiness that I rented because sometimes I choose indie films that I really should read more up on before I rent them.

Happpy lovely Sunday.

Love Those Dirty Waters

2009-04-08T12:32:00.008-04:00

Yesterday was Opening Day for the Red Sox. I've been to Opening Day before, the days before getting Red Sox tickets wasn't a crapshoot in an internet waiting room or a suck on your bank account. Those were the days. But I digress. Yesterday, though hovering around 45 degrees, was just as exciting as it always is going to Fenway.

The crowds at the T station near the park were lively but bearable. Hood milk company and a local radio station were posted outside the T giving away K signs to help support Josh Beckett on his first day on the mound for the season. The lines into the bars were stretched around the block as always and the sausage stands were back up and running after what has been a considerable winter. I even saw this guy! I took this picture in 2004 when we first won the World Series. I guess this guy has a secure job with the team.

It was mobbed inside the concourse as it always is and there seemed to be a spirited need to drink lots of beer. Perhaps it was because we all left work early, or because it was freezing, or just because it was opening day. But everyone seemed to be carrying their requisite and limited 2 per person and sloshing all over themselves on their way to their seats.

Part of sitting in the Field Box (we had excellent tickets. Thank you work!) is that there is a TON of people watching to be done. Yesterday was just like that movie Fever Pitch. There were clearly people around us with Season Tickets who have been coming to these games forever. The women in the stands all wear hoodies and baseball caps. New England is not a place for women who need to wear cute shoes and fitted jackets at baseball games. There were the requisite party girls a few rows over who talked to everyone around them and slapped high fives after every good hit. You totally feel like you are a part of Fenway, and a part of history. The park is tiny in comparison to a lot of others but they've found ways to add seats over the years and people still pay to get packed in.

The concession guys coming through the stands must all be told to emphasize their Boston accents. Bee-yah! Wah-tah!Crackah jacks! It's fun to listen to and fun to be a part of.

Ted Kennedy threw out the first pitch. It honestly brought tears to my eyes (I recently read a well-done series by the Globe reporters about the life of Ted Kennedy which I knew very little about). I was very happy for him and glad he was invited. The pitch went about 8 feet into the hands of Jim Rice.
We were lucky enough to be near the alley that they took him off the field with.

The flyover was awesome and Pedroia (MVP! MVP!) hit a homer in the first inning.

The music though, so much fun. It's gotten so much better over the years and Boston has so many established music groups that have just MADE being a Red Sox fan that much better. The Dropkicks are the official unofficial rock group for the Sox. When I hear the opening strains of Tessie my heart starts to flutter. Whomever does the music is pulling in some of their other fun (and not so crass) stuff like Sunshine Highway. There is now a whole playlist of songs that are a must at Fenway - Sweet Caroline, Dirty Water...you know it's just like a giant party when you're there.

To me, any big event like a baseball game or a concert is akin to a religious experience. Every Yoouuuukkkk and the roar for Papelbon when he came out to the close the game...I mean that's religion. Everyone there to support the same thing. Everyone has a fever and fervent passion for what's going on. There's energy, there's passion, there's crazy people, there's little kids in their first baseball hat eating $7 hotdogs. I mean really, it doesn't get any better than this.

Big Feet

2009-04-05T14:01:00.003-04:00

I've got big feet. I am also tall. I'm not freakishly tall and my feet aren't freakishly big, but I'm just tall enough and my feet are just big enough to make clothes and shoe shopping a pain in the ass. I spare you no words in my description to explain my feelings obviously.

But I have this pair of shoes. I got them at Target two years ago. I love them. I wear them all the time because they dress up my work clothes ( I put very little effort into the work outfits) and they dress up jeans (for my intense social life in the city). In general, I like them because they make me feel like a woman and they make me feel good about what I'm wearing.

The heel is just right. As a 6 foot tall woman, anything over a kitten heel makes me 1) uncomfortable and 2) look freakishly tall around other people. These shoes have this kitten heel that, admittedly, makes a lot of noise when I descend the stairs in the morning because they are a slingback shoe. But the heel complements my boot cut work pants just so.

The closed toe and slingback make them appropriate almost year round. Ok, maybe with the exception of December through March. But my point is that they are utterly versatile.

So, my favorite shoes are in bad shape. They've seen a lot of use. Target is not carrying anything like them. If they weren't slingback, they'd have to be a size 12. But because they are slingback, they're an 11. I'm not going to find anything like this in a 12. Online stores don't work for me. I need to feel them and walk in them. My life is too crazy for mailing things back and watching my credit card report for charges to be reversed.

I know I can get them repaired, at least to some extent, but I mean, look at them. Flats that are out now are a great boon for me. But these little heels are all I have in this department and I'm a little despondent about their demise.

I'm done with my ode to my shoes. I might troll the interwebs for a little while now looking for a replacement, but I'm not full of hope.

I was going to write something deep

2009-03-28T11:49:00.002-04:00

But I'm not in the mood. Instead, here is your latest member of Red Sox nation. He prefers to watch the games stuffed in the couch I guess.