i'm getting fat

and it's ok, because i'm eating delicious cookies.
and it's christmastime.
and it's ok to gain weight during the holidays.
that's what you're supposed to do.
and then you make your new years resolution to lose all that weight.

or that's what i'm telling myself, at least.

i made some kickass cookies tonight. i'm bringing some of them up to matt and family, but the rest i'm devouring myself. that's really why i made them..so i had an excuse to eat them. and that's why i made all of my favorites..magic cookie bars, peanut butter cookies with hershey kisses, and walnut ball things. SO GOOD I CAN'T STOP EATING THEM.

i wish i had money to join a gym. that would help when i try to make all of these cookies disappear from my hips and gut. maybe i'll just start running with tim.
haha.
that'd be a hoot.

cocktail dress

also, i got to see dana tonight.
him living in australia is a pretty major disruption to my life.
so it was really fantastic to see him.

we make the best cranium team.
fuckers had to end the game early because they were bored??
WHO GETS BORED WITH CRANIUM???
WHO?!!!

anyway.
cocktail dress was the charade of the evening.
props to dana.

#9

magic hat #9 is one of the most delicious beers around.
it is a major pity that it is currently only sold on the east coast. i guess they ship it as far west as chicago, but that's not far west enough. bitches need to export their brews to the west coast!
do it!
now!
this fact does, however, give me one big, legit excuse to lather myself in the stuff while i'm here.
"but i won't get to have it again until i come back east!"

yes, i'm taking big fat showers in #9.
when i went to the store to buy some, i saw some kid i went to germany with back in '99. he didn't remember me. i think his name was jacob. i'm not too sure.
back in '99. geez. that was 10 years ago.
time is FLYING.
flying like batman, which i watched again when i was in the airport last week.
what a fantastic film. heath deserves some major award for his performance. and i don't mean a leg lamp like the major award in A Christmas Story.
i mean an oscar.

the oscars should be interesting this year. quite a few good films were released, many of which i saw, and many of which i would still like to see.
i should get on that. i enjoy watching oscar-worthy, potentially-nominated films before the awards are given out. otherwise i feel like i'm watching them solely because of their award status. which is partly true. but this time i actually want to see most of them.
so, i should get on that.

pardon my spastic posting tonight.
i had too many # 9s.

i'm home

after 27 hours, i've made it home.

also, business class is awesome.

sfo

i woke up at 4:45 this morning to get to the airport for my 6:45am flight. luckily i flew out of burbank, so matt only had to drive about 20 minutes roundtrip on 3 hours of sleep as opposed to a lengthy 60 minutes or so, had i booked my flight out of lax [good on me for at LEAST considering that aspect of my travel plans]. thank you, boyfriend, for still loving me even after i scheduled my flight back east for such a god awful time. you're great. :)

since nobody flies out of burbank, i got there at 5:20, flew through security, and watched the minute hand go around the clock for an hour straight. it was excruciatingly painful. as well as dark. my flight to san francisco was a blur. i don't remember arriving here. i do, however, remember that i had an entire row to myself and that i wished i could have had that luxury all the way back to the east coast.

but at this point, just getting on a plane to the east coast would be nice.

upon arriving to this here san francisco airport at 8am, i found my gate for my 9:17 flight. super quick layover, no problemo. ok. delayed til 10:20. not too bad. 10:45. alright, alright..

"Attention, flyers [fliers?], we are currently looking for people with flexible schedules to New York who would be willing to give up their seat on this flight in exchange for a free roundtrip voucher good for anywhere in the continental United States good for the next year."

SWEET.

"how flexible?"
"we have a flight tomorrow morning at 7:42am."
"i'll get back to you."

10 minutes later. different representative.
"hi. could you give me some hotel information? i have no problem giving up my seat, i just have nowhere to stay tonight."
"well, let me see if i can get you on a flight tonight...ah, 10:20 red eye this evening, it would be business class. and i'll put you on standby for the rest of the flights out this afternoon."
"uhh..GREAT."

goodbye gate 80, hellooooo gate 81!
....goodbye gate 81, heyy there gate 83..
hmmm..at this point i realized that i wouldn't make it into new york until after 10:30 and as the last shuttle to grand central is at 11:10, i feared i wouldn't make it. last thing i want after 24 hours of travel is to be stuck in jfk until the morning.
so i just took myself off standby and currently have 8 hours and 14 minutes left until my flight.

my butt is numb, i have to pee, and i have bags the size of montana under my eyes.
ugh.

at least i'll get free [airplane] food.

merry christmas, kids

the chicago tribune is taking online submissions of photos of children who are terrified of santa.
they've put together a book of them, as well.
these are some of my favorites.



this one should speak for itself.
santa's face is amazing.


this girl looks like a bitch.


this chick knows where it's at. if you're gonna scream, SCREAM.
also, make sure to hold onto your candy cane with a kung-fu grip, no matter how terrified you may be.



i bet she doesn't even get the chance to cry, she's so genuinely frightened by this man.
i would be, too. look at him. creeper.
i guess that's what you get when you visit santa at walmart.


this is my absolute favorite. the description for this one informed us that these boys were both terrified out of their minds.
i think they've gone into shock.

click my fancy hyperlink above for more gems.

you'll shoot your eye out!

i can't wait for the annual christmas TV sesh i have with myself.

first and foremost is It's a Wonderful Life,' which you'd be crazy to miss. who wouldn't want george bailey to throw a lasso around the moon and pull it down for them?

second is the yule log. i generally spend about 7 seconds on this channel. but it's a staple, and the holidays just would not be complete if i didn't pause while flipping through the channels to acknowledge just how DUMB this is.

third is, well, quite possibly one of the funniest movies ever made: A Christmas Story.
thank GOD tnt/tbs/one of those plays this film for 24 hours straight the day before christmas. honestly. i don't know what i would do without it. that leg lamp? randy's snowsuit? ralphie's visit to santa? god.

if i can find my copy of Home Alone i will certainly watch that as well. hopefully with kristina by my side. what am i saying? if i can't find mine, i KNOW she'll have it. she probably keeps a stack of them under her bed for safekeeping.

fine. let me burn my hand.

yesterday, on the way to whole foods to get ear candles, i stopped at the convenience store at whitsett and chandler for a cup of coffee. it's cheap and it's good and it's always piping hot. so hot, in fact, that despite their heavy duty cups, i like to slide a second one on just in case my hand can't handle the heat. a protective covering, if you will. i used to do this regularly when i worked at the burgess cafe at skidmore. granted, our coffee cups may as well have been made out of tissue paper, for even with two cups i often found myself hustling to a flat surface to sit my beverage down until it had cooled.

anyhow, while i know this isn't the most environmentally-conscious way to consume coffee, i can't afford to risk burning my hand while i'm driving. so i did in fact take two cups. i brought my drink up to the register, all smiles, excited about the chilly weather and about the fact that i had managed to leave the house in my slippers and that it somehow seemed publicly acceptable, even in los angeles. i knew the coffee was going to be $1.20, but i waited for the man at the register to tell me so.
instead, he just stared at my coffee, as if confused as to what i was purchasing.

"you took two cups?" he said, after a long pause.
"oh. oh, look at that! ha! how'd that get there?!..." i responded, really just wondering if he was actually serious.
"....."
"should i...do you want me to go put this one back?"
"no. just leave it here."
"ok..."
"a dollar twenty."

fuckin economy.
when i told matt what had happened he pointed out how strange it is that we might not be living in a better america than our parents did.
is this really true? are we living in a world where expecting two coffee cups is considered to be just a little too extravagant?
god, i hope not.
but i'm starting to think maybe we are.

i'm going to see obama.

on november 10th i sent a message to the congressman of california's 28th congressional district, the oh so honorable howard berman.
after hearing on the news that tickets to obama's inauguration in washington d.c. in january were being given out [for free!] by house representatives and senators, i decided to give it a shot.

later that afternoon i received an electronic 'thank you for taking the time to write to our office.'
you're welcome.

on november 21st i heard back from mr. berman's office, which stated that they had received 2,000 requests for a stack of less than 200 inauguration tickets. these tickets would be handed out randomly by a lottery. please respond if you would like your name to be included.
duh.
though it seemed like a bit of a longshot, i had a good feeling. besides, somebody has to win 'em, right?

almost 3 weeks go by. nothing. i assume i haven't won, and concede to the fact that, come january 20th, i will either be sitting in front of my television, hoping that my antenna doesn't crap out, or sitting in front of a computer with chris, hoping that we don't lose our internet connection like we did on election night. it's a maybe lose-maybe lose situation.

december 10th, two days ago.
an email pops in from howard's office. 'thank you for participating in our lottery. i'm sorry you were not selected to receive tickets. you have been put on our waiting list as an alternate.'
ok. you never know. someone might not claim their tickets. howie may be able to get some more tickets from somewhere.. i've lasted this long, better not give up hope now.

december 11th. 8:37 am. i wake up and decide to check my email. i usually wait until work to do this so that i have something to do as soon as i get into the office. but for some reason, on this particular morning, i pop open my trusty ol' powerbook and check out my inbox.
"Congratulations! You've been selected from the waiting list to receive 2 tickets from my office for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Ceremony."
...re-read it.
..one more time.
.OH MY GOD.

i run downstairs in my tshirt and underwear, i don't care who else is around, my hair is a mess. i find matt making oatmeal in the kitchen.
I JUST GOT TWO TICKETS TO OBAMA'S INAUGURATION!!!!!!
AND YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!!!
big smiles.
hugs.
more smiles.
some oh my god i can't believe its.

talk about a high. i was on cloud 9 all day long.
but i guess it makes sense.

i mean, somebody had to win 'em.

i'm dreaming of a..sunny christmas?

i know i've posted once before about southern california weather. but i'm going to do it again.
it's 75 degrees out today.
it's going to be 77 tomorrow.
it is december 10th.
uh.

then i drive around in my car in the evening, when it's dropped to maybe, MAYYYbe 60, and i blast the heat. that's not right. my dear friends and family are back east braving 30 degree days, if they're lucky, and i find 65 an excuse to bundle up with hat and scarf. i wonder what this means for my east coast return. i may not make it! what if i walk off of the plane and freeze upon contact with the brisk new york air?! that would be a shame. but stranger things have happened.

i think the office put the heat on today. the hallway has that smell that heaters give off after they've been neglected for 9 months. they've also ventured into the attic and dug out the christmas decorations. it must really be christmastime. it can be hard to tell 'round these parts. though last night i partook in one of my favorite holiday pastimes, driving around the local neighborhoods, looking at the christmas lights. it'll never get old, will it? i can't wait to go home and see charissa coons's house. her family always has their decorations up the day after thanksgiving. we never miss that one.

i guess i should learn to think outside the box. not everyone has a white christmas. i guess most don't, come to think of it. but growing up with them, that's what i'm used to, and it's proving difficult to adjust to christmas in the caribbean.
besides, isn't santa boiling in his suit?

all the single ladies

i normally try to stray from the mainstream of today, however, i cannot for the life of me stop listening to 'single ladies' by beyoncé.
my GOD what a track.
[thank you, middle school french for teaching me how to fetch up é on a pc]
and don't even begin to argue with me about how hot the video is.

something to wine about

we're having a wine and cheese party tonight.
i am contributing a bottle of gallo cabernet sauvignon (it was more expensive than my norm, Two Buck Chuck, so i figure it's gotta be halfway decent) and a block of 'semi-soft' cheese (again, a blind upgrade from my cheddah), courtesy of trader joe's.
only the finest.

i have just put on my only black dress. the one i wear to anything Formal.
you can probably peruse my facebook photos and find more than a handful of me in this very dress.
recitals, dinners, anything important.
wine and cheese parties.

i just made myself and matt some delicious grilled cheese and tomato and basil sandwiches, with two piping hot bowls of tomato soup. campbell's has got nothin on trader joe's.
trader joe's. now THAT'S mmm mmm good.

i should make my way downstairs. i'm trying to get over my habit of being fashionably late.
to everything.



[for tomorrow morning.]

whoops

i forgot i had a blog.

i've failed once again at continuing to write down my thoughts and ideas. just like when i try to keep a journal. i write for a couple of weeks [at best] and then, well, fuck it.
this is not intentional. this time i place all the blame on thanksgiving and the few days prior, during which i did nothing but bake pies. the days following, i did nothing but eat pie. no time for blogging. i just get off track for a couple of days and then can't get back in the swing of things.
i will also compare my lack of commitment to my gym habits. what gym habits? you may ask.
exactly.

i then read kristina's blogs because i find them so entertaining, and subsequently feel pangs of guilt for not repaying the favor. not that she's refreshing my page waiting for new posts or anything...

this past week has been a blur. it's been incredibly slow at work, so it hasn't been a busy blur. it's just been a strange week. i keep having to double check the day. thank goodness it's friday. i've had a pounding headache since yesterday morning and just want to sleep in tomorrow morning. wine party at hermitage tomorrow night and i need to be well-rested. though i did go to sleep last night at 10. i can't even tell you the last time i did that. but matt's been real sick since the middle of the week, so it's been early nights and lots and lots of tea for me! mmmm...tea. i can never get enough tea. i could write a novel about tea. about how much i love it, at least.

i just ordered lunch when i brought in my own.
i'm so fucking easily influenced by chinese food. ugh.
that's the way to my heart, by the way. chinese food. chinese food and, well, some other less materialistic things.