children, broad ripple is burning.

i have not neglected you, blog!

oh dear. i lie. i have indeed been neglecting you! but it is not on purpose, no. i have been splendidly busy with friends, christmas extravaganza, work, and other delightful adventures. forgive me.

but do let me regale you with the lovely things i received this christmas:

dvds:
all about eve
the philadelphia story
casablanca
pushing daisies: season one (from miss heather dagger)
my so-called life: complete series
sense and sensibility (how i love my jane austen films)

clothes:
1 favorite style of jeans by silver
a vest/shirt combo (a wonderful throwback to the 90's)
rhinestone studded audrey hepburn shirt
green button down jacket
black peacoat
black leather slouch boots (fabulous!)
long sleeved billabong vintage shirt
striped fashion scarf
green music and star long sleeved shirt
green giraffe shirt (from sister and reminds me of my love for heather)

other:
the new margot and the nuclear so & so's cd (from heather!)
various other margot and say hi and mix cds (from heather)
gift card for victoria's secret (hoorah!!!)
angel perfume (one cannot run out of their signature scent. it would be tragic!)
stocking stuff (mini toiletries etc.)
a black and silver bracelet
an angel ornament (tradition)
under garments & striped socks
the chicago manual of style (an editor's must have!)
a black filing cabinet (complete with folders)

there you have it. i think that concludes it!

to my family and heather i got these amazing blankets from richelle's family's embroidery store. i got their favorite pictures of me and them and put them on the blankets, blown up style. they turned out wonderfully! they went over really well, i think. i am awful at gifts, but these seemed perfect and sentimental. good combo! for justin i got a few random things and a subscription to "writer's digest" (as his editor) and the series of my so-called life. i think he will enjoy it.

christmas went far better than i thought it would. maybe a positive mindset is all it takes. hm. makes sense. anyway. i plan to update more later.

upcoming events:
dec. 29th - kitty kat club (free acoustic performances from oh crap mo is here, shoreline, and more)
jan. 4th - triple rock (farewell continental and red fox grey fox)

blast from the past.

looking back through old movies, i found the old crush taxi tribute to our good friends this world fair. i still think it is blush-worthy and amazing at the same time. check it out, if you please! circa two years ago!

everyday angels.

several of my co-workers have given me wonderful gifts for the holidays (mostly food, hoorah!). my site evaluation went swimmingly (very impressed she said)! i actually was motivated yesterday to go to dance (tap is not my thing. give me some jazz). finished christmas shopping with absolutely no holiday stress (unreal! inspired!). heather came over and told me some wonderful wonderful news with beautiful beautiful pictures (holy crap, i love. i love!)!!! hung out with justin before he left for his destination (i counted 15 different accents on him, and that was only the last hour and a half of the night. i adore that kid to no end). ahh. beautiful end of the week. except that i am extremely tired, but it was all worth the energy.

i know i need more pictures up here. or something worthwhile. but at the moment i am leading a boring life (one that i am delighted with). things will pick up once the weather is above freezing and there is not an inch of black/ice on the road. le sigh.

the dial isn't broken; that's the way it works.

Don't get comfortable.

Don't be sensible.
Swing with all you have.

Stop me if you can.

My Adreanna.

Whenever there was a perfect lullaby moon hanging in the sky, Adreanna perched herself outside of my window. She used to tell me that I had the perfect view of her favorite piece of sky. Every time she said this I swear I could have roped her to my roof and kept her forever.

I pretended her visits intruded on my personal time. I demanded that she find other places to praise her pagan gods. Adreanna never believed me. She would just begin to tap her long, tapered nails against the window pane. I imagined she kept the rhythm of the world's night in those fingers.

I never saw her during the day, she claimed disobedience to the sun. She refused to oblige it by entering into the afternoon. She said that her moon would see the adulterous touch of it on her skin. I thought she was full of shit and self-doubt--worried about what other people may have thought of her--but I still loved Adreanna anyway.

One lullaby moon night Adreanna did not appear at my window.

The month after that--still no Adreanna.

Then in January I awoke to banging on my window. I went back to sleep.

In the early morning freeze Adreanna's message was still etched onto the glass: "I miss your sky."

I thought she was full of shit and self-doubt, and I knew she had wandered into someone else's sky for a time.

From then on I kept my window shut at night--long past the cold months.

all we can do is breathe.

i sometimes fear long periods where everything is going so well.

it is an up, up, up hill climb until one simple day there is nothing of notice. nothing good. nothing bad. just everything mediocre. those days send me into a tailspin.

i have grown accustomed to greatness.

a standstill feels like a backward fall when my life has been go, go, go with laughter and happiness for weeks.

so foolish. i need to remember that i am fine. that nothing is wrong. that i am in such a wonderful place. remember, remember, remember.

my mind plays tricks on me, and i am starting to figure out its methods.

quick and dirty.

• i feel accomplished today. i paid all of my bills, met with my financial advisor for my 403(b) plan (it is like a 401k), mailed things i needed to, created a homework bucket for the kids that has been making them do their homework more often, and put together some other secret projects.
• tomorrow i will attempt to finish up my end of the christmas present project. i am pretty pumped about it. no more details though, do not want anyone to get any hints!
• i love having everything on my endless lists crossed off. ahh.
• is it sick that i absolutely love doing laundry? i do.
• i feel extremely fat after eating half a pizza and a lot of artichoke dip last night. bleh.
• i made several rad ornaments for my mother's tree at work (for our art projects). this ties into me trying to have some holiday spirit.
• i realized i am more than happy not going out as much as i usually do/did in the summer. i need to save/pay money. i go out when it is enticing, but if it is the same old same old, then i do not.
• came up with a pretty rad joint project for a book series last night.
• excited for the annual guthrie theater production of the christmas carol with the entire extended family on my mother's side next thursday.
• excited for cherise to come back. maybe all of us girls can hit up the holidazzle or watch some terrific movies.
• excited to start seeing heather all bundled up in buttons and bigness soon.
• people have a funny way of surprising me. i never thought people could learn in a positive way so much. completely impressed.
• a few people make me shake my head. but that's okay. all in good time, my pretties. all in good time.

ciao babies!

make a wish!

many many months ago, in a land far far away (woodbury), a short film was shot. justin wrote and directed this hilarious film (which i have seen, although it is not available for public view as of yet) called make a wish. it was a crazy two night shoot at a mexican restaurant called acapulco (so good). free food and drinks were provided. i brought my sister, katie, and my best friends, heather and lydia. the shoot began around midnight every night and lasted until morning. insanity! finally the behind the scenes clip is up. i have provided it below. as the total nerd i am, i have also provided the times where i show up and where my sister shows up. sorry heather and lydia, i didn't see you in it. :[

me: 00:15, 2:31
sister: 2:46, 4:31



justin is such a talented man, it sometimes makes me a very sad panda. i will never have the ideas and the inspiration that he has. but he does make me want to work harder at creative pursuits. i am lucky to have such brilliant people in my life!

hope you enjoyed!

shopping success!

i generally hate shopping of any sort, but today (for the first time ever) i found exactly everything i was looking for! hoorah for christmas and the stores being so stocked up for it with good prices! i got a comfy, long pair of lounge pants, some new magic shoes (as my old pair's soles are almost gone), tons of socks (lame i know), TONS of cute underthings from VS (but i feel like picturing said underthings in full online is a bit awkward and inappropriate), tons of nose studs (my cheap ones were turning weird colors, and i am a freak about making sure they look perfect), and a rad black leather bracelet. whoop whoop! i am in a good mood.

i don't need anyone else. i don't need anything else.

ahh friday! how i love thee. work has been busy but wonderful. i have some really fun art projects planned for the next two weeks of curriculum. i also had my benefits meeting this week, and i officially enrolled for them. the total cost of complete medical and dental coverage? $96 a year. fabulous!!! arg. life is really, really good. i am so lucky to have such a perfect job, two blocks from my house, with staff and children i have known for years, at a school that is nostalgic for me, with full benefits and good pay--all in this economy. so very blessed.

last night i got a last minute call from justin saying he had a +1 guest spot for the stella comedy show at first ave. i put down my chicken chili and hightailed it down to minneapolis. parked. ran six blocks in the frigid cold and met him inside. stella is a three person act of men who used to be on the television show the state. you would probably recognize at least one of them! we hung out upstairs with matt, tony, josh and his wife (who luckily did not remember me as the intoxicated idiot i definitely was the one time we had met and spoken). good times. hilarious! how can laughing ever be bad? laura and adam were also there, but we could only communicate via text and waves. boo urns.

winter mornings...

big smiles and warm thoughts.