i'm never buying a car again

so, i'm filling out my 80th form to request for this affadavit erasure duplicate etc to try to get a title in my name for the car i bought over a year ago. anyway, despite all the disasters, at least the dmv has the heart to put a little humor into their forms. seriously?

i'm confused

i just ate dinner at a Leatherby's in Midvale, UT and the menu was in spanish. and they only served mexican food. and there were mini Christmas trees on the table. With a dusty rose and country blue plaid wallpaper on the walls. And traditional Leatherby's ice cream and sauces for sale. huh???

true or false

-my hair is in two buns
-i just ate all the reds and purples only out of a bag of skittles

sometimes i forget that i can do whatever i want.

the future is now

I got a new phone. It's really cute. And as John promised, "so sick". One of the sickest features is that I can plug it into my computer and drag ANY song to it and then use that song for a ringtone. So, I'm letting you choose ymy own adventure. If you are a person that i communicate with via phonecalls, what song would you like me to hear when you call me? ANY song. So sick.















Speaking of phones, I miss being inaccessible. Also speaking of phones, if you call me and you know I don't have your number, leave a message! I have seen an absurd rise in the number of unidentified non-message-leavers calling me lately.

nine days

and all these little bunnies will be in one place. i can not wait.

it is too hot in our house to

-sleep
-eat
-shower
-breathe

eight hours a day

maybe some of you wondered what i look at for eight hours a day. this is it. i like it. but have been meaning to personalize it for, let's see, two years now. The plant is my first step. I'll keep you posted. Or...you could just come visit me! and note its progress with your own eyes.

small victories

my new roommate said i have cute feet.

i have a dresser

Downtown DI came through bigtime yesterday. My dresser search is over. And it's really long and really cute. And just happens to match my free headboard (thanks carrie) perfectly. It's starting to look a lot like home.

i am nothing if not a cookie baker, jumbo maker

Circa 1997, I (or maybe my mom) saw a recipe for Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies in Country Woman magazine that looked fantastic (anything with shortening AND butter has to be good) so I tried it. It was an instant hit and has become a staple for any family gathering (of 1 person or more). And, due to my vast experience, (friday nights in high school were marked by making jumbos and a viewing of Clueless or its equals-Tommy Boy, 10 Things I Hate About You, etc.) I've kind of become the master jumbo maker. Over the years, others in my family have really advanced and are equally if not doubly capable of the feat. But jumbos are just kind of my thing. I never have to wonder what my role is when we're together on a Sunday night warming up the deck of cards or settling in for an old Doris Day movie or having a baby blessing BBQ or whatever. My role is always to make the jumbos. It's what I do.
Hence my concern and devastation, yea, loss of self, when my last three attempts at these lovelies ended in disaster. They were disgusting. Like, they didn't taste or look good. This just doesn't happen to me. I'm good at making cookies. Three weeks ago I was creating Martha-worthy gems from a brand new recipe in Wyoming. And now? Now I can't squeak out anything worth consuming with the recipe I've had memorized for 10 years?? Maybe it's my oven? Maybe it's because I don't have a mixer? Maybe my baking soda's been open too long? I tried a different recipe, failures. I bought fancy pants ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, failure. I adjusted the temperature and racks of the oven, failure. I don't know if this is some cosmic attempt to force me into a deeper, truer sense of self or what. But I hate it. The dough is still good but the texture's a little off. I've brought them to work 2 times. The first time I left them orphaned in the kitchen and didn't respond to the inquiry about their mother. The 2nd time they just sat in my desk drawer for a few days before I took them back home and left them on the counter to harden. I'm at a loss. A complete loss.

i need a dresser

places i've looked:
IKEA
target
downeast-sugarhouse
emiliejayne

places i am looking today:
DI-salt lake, sugarhouse
Abode
downeast-draper

any other ideas? the heap of clothes next to my bed is really getting annoying.

these are gross, fyi.

When we were staying at Bret's house he kept having all this great food from Trader Joe's and I remembered how good things from Trader Joe's are. So, I thought maybe I could find something at Wild Oats that would be as good as his mini chicken enchiladas, spinach lasagna, etc. to bring to work for lunch. Uh, no. I found this gross Pad Thai Noodle Bowl. The noodles were good but the sauce was gross. I like pad thai a lot. Anyway, I'm basing my decision to never shop there again on this one product. The only thing that might maybe make me waver is those darn lemon creme sandwich cookies. mmmm. heaven.

why didn't anyone tell me?

There is free! entertainment every! day the whole! summer! This is my second and a half summer working 2 blocks from this. And no one told me. I think I went once last year when Maxfield was playing. I just had no idea it happened every single day. And during lunch, that's ideal. I always want to go outside and never have anywhere to go and I feel weird sitting on a curb to read a book. And look at the schedule. Storytellers, dancers, bluegrass. It's (more than) everything I need.

i just like to see you happy**

i just finished Gilmore Girls. it's over. finished. forever. gone. no more story. i can't believe it. i can't believe i care. i can't believe my eyes did not remain dry. ok, i can. it's just sad. i don't care what anyone says, it's sad. i kept putting off these last few episodes, like i do the last chapters of books. endings are sad. cuz then it's over. ohhh, but so much pausing. so much suggesting. but also some gratifying scenes. i want to say everything but i know some people haven't finished it yet. just finish it, veronica! so we can watch it over and over again and analyze it and listen to podcasts of the creators repeating themselves and talking about their genius creation.

and have somebody watch you while you eat it

i want this cake (and like 20 others) from The Cake Girls. it's just so pretty. and the yummy yummy flavors. Devil's food cake with peanut butter mousse? coconut cake with passion fruit mousse? orange zest cake brushed with orange juice and layered with hazelnut truffle filling? hello.

go. now.

so, maybe it's old news, and maybe you're sick of hearing about it, but seriously, Martha Stewart stuff at Michael's is so so good. I want every single item. Because, heck, some time I'm going to want to make a felt counting book and some time I'm going to need to throw a fiesta and some time I will want beautiful collector's boxes and some time I will want to give cookies in the cutest packaging ever.

this is just absurd

and and and it was so windy! and and we couldn't even keep our arms down! (but somehow that other girl is walking steadily, unphased by the intensity of the gusts??)

my newest vice

at only 30 cents in our new vending machine, it's just so hard to say no

you've gotta be smarter than the smart-ink

i bought a dress at forever 21 (thanks for the gift card, mama) and they forgot to take off the sensor thing. well, i maybe wanted to wear it on a blind date last night (that's another post. that will never be posted.) and i really didn't want to drive the 1 mile to Gateway to have them take it off. What? It was rainy. So I set my mind on beating the system.













Some things future system beaters should know:
-isolate the sensor by wrapping a plastic protective layer (the bag the clothing came in works great) between the sensor and the item
-there really is (green) ink in those things
-scissors are no match for the steel rod in there. they will break
-this is exhilarating and you feel real good when you reach victory
-wire cutters are strong enough but so fat
-all the tugging will probably make that rod wear some type of hole in the article of clothing
-this will take way longer than it takes to drive a mile

comcastic

we have internet and cable now. but not wireless. wired. so i have to sit within 5 feet of the box. but our chairs have wheels so it's really not a big deal. i just thought you all should know. internet! it's so magical, all over again.

Anne Frank

No one has ever become poor by giving

Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!

















I may or may not have come across these quotes while working on a powerpoint presentation for a XanGo executive. (they love making stretchy connections) But still, I was glad to read them. It's been a long time since I read her diary, but I remember thinking then, and again now, how incredible she is. I also think, when I read quotes like this, how I could have thought of that. That seems rude, but I mean, I wonder how many journals in the world would be as fascinating to read. Probably so many. It seems like with enough exposure, I could care about any person like I cared about Anne. Just like how I want to watch the E! True Hollywood Story EVERY time, no matter who it's about and how I wish they'd do them on just 'normal' people. And people are probably thinking and writing really smary and great things and I just wish I could read them. Yeah yeah, I read people's blahs and I look at people's profiles, but it isn't even close to the same. Not even a little bit. Anyway, I just really like Anne Frank and books and people writing things and people being nice to other people.

never suppress a generous thought**

i look cute today

someone please come visit me so it isn't wasted

baptism by fire

i just emptied my trash. my trash had my whole life in it. well, at least my catch-all folder on my desktop. the one that's been catching all for the last 2 years. anything anyone sent me, or that i just liked, photos, things i wrote, things i made, plans for my wedding, just my whole life. looks like today's the day i start a new life. i feel kind of sick. and kind of excited.

soul triangle

In the last four days, I've had the honor of meeting two great stores I can't believe it's taken me this long to meet. IKEA and H&M. Is it possible to have two soul mates?

DEKAD

i bought this adorable clock last night at IKEA because it was only $6 and i've always wanted one. there are no instructions and about 5 nobs on the back. help me.

there's a guy washing our office windows right now

like, hanging from the roof and the whole deal. he's kind of cute. what do i do? what do i do?

i want a house

to put this fridge in. i love blue but i love white more. i think becca would love red. you can get any of these colors!

don't hate me because i went to arcade fire, hate me because the feeling's mutual. should i have stopped? should i have stopped?**

It was matt's favorite kind of show. The kind where songs sound a bit different and you're never really sure if they'll make the time change or make it to the end of the song but then they do. The kind that makes you a little nervous but really really happy. The kind that makes you dance. The kind that makes you want to listen to Arcade Fire nonstop for an entire 10 hour drive home. Regine is an all-out drama queen. And I'm still not sure why some of those people were on stage, but I don't think anyone minded their presence. The real time video on the curtains behind them was maybe my favorite. It makes a difference to be in a great venue (Greek Theater) and city (berkeley) and in such great company. Totally worth the 1452.2 miles on I-80.
The Parks thought so too: read here and here.