leaving on a jet plane, ahem, amtrak train

Sunday morning, I leave from Newport News, VA.  Approximately 10 hours later I'll arrive in New Haven, CT.  I can't wait to see the boyfriend and meet his family. 

Posted via email from nicholkola's posterous

Alice in Wonderland Trailer

SQUEE!!!!

Wait for it...

Last year's GAP holiday commercials are my favorite. They called them Gap Merry Mix It. The all cast rendition of Jingle Bells is my favorite. Enjoy...

Hold Tight

Because of this, this has been given a new deadline of January 9th. Who can be crafty with snow falling out of the sky?

Talk to the moose!

Big thanks to Caitlin for telling me about this. I love the blond girl around the 9 second mark.

"a Little, Small, Wee Bear, a Middle-sized Bear, and a Great, Huge Bear"

There's a new feature on here. It's over there. To the right. See it?

Check out my postings on Posterous. I mostly post random little things that are too long for Twitter and too short for this blog.

(There's a The Story of the Three Bears comparison to be made here. Go for it.)

12 days of christmas song

enjoy!

Posted via email from nicholkola's posterous

Snow Heart

A Snow Heart For You :) xoxox
Originally uploaded by janoid

I saw this picture and had to share it. Enjoy.

have i finally found a headboard i actually want??

I think I have!  I found it on Design*Sponge ('cuz that's where I find most stuff).  It's another DIY thing (grrr!!), though.  Check out the other headboards here.

I Challenge You!

No, not you, but me. I was (finally) working my way through my Google Reader when I came across this on Design*Sponge. I saw the picture of the finished wreath first and thought to myself "That's soooo pretty. I want one, too!" I've never been very good at making wreaths so I stopped trying (know your weaknesses, people) but, BUT!!, I think I might be able to make this one. (famous last words coming up...) It looks super easy.

Why am I telling you this? Because I know me. I'll tag it in Reader and then forget about it. I really do want to try and make it so I am calling myself out. My deadline to make this lovely, ruffly wreath is Sunday, December 20th.

The clock starts.... now!


















{I can do this... right?}

wordling

{source}

Neat

I saw these Digital Day Counters on Shelterrific today and I think they are so neat! If you're tired of going low-fi and writing the date opened on one of those little round stickers then this is your solution.

Let's Brunch!

On the weekends, I love going out for breakfast or brunch. I generally stick to Weezie's or Joe's Inn (and once, one fabulous time, I went to Godfrey's Sunday brunch) because I know I will not be disappointed. Having a disappointing breakfast/brunch will ruin your whole day.

I've been wanting to branch out and try a few of the other places Richmond has to offer but could never think past my regular places when the time came to change it up. Luckily for me, Style Weekly put together a nifty list (we all know I *love* lists) for me. Check it out here.

The places I have starred as priority locations to check out are: Babe's, The Black Sheep, Café Diem, Café Gutenberg (they had me at pumpkin spice waffles), Café Rustica, The Hill Café, Kitchen 64, Perly's, Water Grill, and Zeus Gallery Café. I've been to a few of these places for lunch or dinner and can only believe that their brunch selections are just as tasty.

Think I can hit them all up by the time summer arrives? Yeah, me either, but I'll give it a shot.

Zombieland

After two failed attempts to see Zombieland, I finally saw it at The Byrd Theatre last night with the boyfriend and it was AWESOME!! I realize I'm a little late in telling you about the awesomeness that is Zombieland, but sometimes that's just how life works. And in case you are one of the few that has not seen it yet I tell you here and now - GO SEE IT!! Seriously.

Also, I will need this movie on DVD. (I hope there are easter eggs.)

Thanks for...

my parents who put up with and love me, no matter what

the rest of my family

my friends who listen to me and put up with all my shenanigans

my wonderful, funny, smart, supportive boyfriend

Google and Twitter and the whole of the internets

Crossroads

lipgloss

I'm 50% White (part iii)

Just what you've been waiting for... more whiteness!

#43 plays - Who doesn't like a good play? Or a bad one for that matter.

#44 public radio - It's local. It's people you know (well, could know, if you knew those kind of people) playing music you love. I also love the scheduling of the different kinds of music. Jazz in the evenings, swing on the weekends, classical during the day, a little NPR in between. And it's local. I'm a fan of things that are local.

#48 whole foods and grocery co-ops - This goes with the being a fan of things that are local.

#49 vintage - Recycling at its best.

#50 irony - People that drive their Hummers to grocery co-op are my favorite.

#51 living by the water - I grew up on a peninsula, I've been to the beach more than I can count, vacations are usually at the beach, my dad is a captain on a scallop boat, I am convinced there is salt water in my veins. I would love to live by the sea at some point in my life (not happening anytime soon, I know). The sound of the waves crashing, watching storms roll in, seagulls (oh, how I miss seagulls - there are no seagulls in Richmond, just stupid pigeons), going for walks on the beach and collecting seashells - heaven. This quote made me laugh: "Mountain views are also acceptable, but generally seen as a poor substitute." I suppose mountains have their own allure. Maybe, one day, I'll find out if that is true.

#53 dogs - How could you not like dogs? They are adorable and, unlike cats, they are just as happy to see you as you are to see them.

#54 kitchen gadgets - I am a sucker for kitchen gadgets. I try to control myself and stick to the Alton Brown rule of thumb: if it doesn't do at least three things, it isn't worth space in your kitchen.

The Caterpillar!

I. Can't. Wait.

Let's Make Some Lists

Things that seemed far away and omigosh they are thisclose, or have already happened

my car being paid off (happened!)

Thanksgiving

the release of New Moon (I'm going to see it tonight!)

Things that seem far away

Summer 2010

finishing my AAS

Annabella (it occurs to me as I am typing this that I haven't really talked about this other than to say how cute doxies are, more to come)

Christmastime

3/5/10

Things that are on hold

my move south

Knitting

I've been working on Knitting Projects # 2 and 3. Project # 2 is a pair of fingerless gloves that are coming right along (see picture below). Project # 3 was going along with no problems until there were problems. And boy are there problems. I don't even know where to begin to fix the problem. It's looking like I'll have to rip it apart and start over, but considering that I was about 7 inches into the blanket I just can't do it. I know I have to, though. And I will. Eventually.
















{the beginning of fingerless gloves}

New Moon is Almost Here!

Hilarious.

Things I Should Own

With this going on it would've been nice to have these this morning:

















{source}





















{source}

Books

Can you believe I haven't written about what I'm reading since July 29th? I can't either. I've checked out and purchased many books but I haven't been very good with the follow through. So what have I been reading since July? Here's what:





Sad, I know. But here are some books I hope to read by year's end (or something like that):









p.s. - East of the Sun is a very good book and I haven't actually finished Friday Night Knitting Club (funnily enough because I've been busy knitting).

knitting, apples, a trip to the middle of nowhere, and lots of links

I finished knitting my first scarf. Yay! It only took a few years, but whatevs, I finished it and that is all that matters.

I have moved onto two more projects. Project # 2 is a pair of fingerless gloves I saw in One More Skein. I'm using a very pretty light grey wool. Project # 3 is a baby blanket for a friend that I'm kind of making up as I go along. It all started with a pretty pale pink wool that I found on the clearance shelf. I don't have enough of the pink to make the whole blanket so I am going to do a wide border in a dark grey. Both projects made possible because of gift cards my friends Caitlin and EB got me to The Yarn Lounge. I have discovered a few things about myself while knitting; let's make a list: 1) I love bamboo needles and hate metal needles; 2) I cannot knit and talk at the same time if there is more than one kind of stitch involved, apparently I cannot divide my attention; 3) I get no reading done when I am knitting because my hands can only do one thing at a time; 4) I knit longer when I am watching tv; and 5) I can think about absolutely nothing, my mind actually quiets down and it's quite lovely.

Now the part about apples! I went to Graves Mountain for their Apple Harvest Festival with my Buddy (my Buddy is my paternal grandmother whom I have never called "grandma" in my life), Aunt Paula, Aunt Linda, Cousin Emily and my cousin's daughter (is there a title for that? does that make her my second cousin? I don't know), Ashley. I had a great time and discovered that I had actually been there before. I've always had this memory of a creek and a bluegrass band playing by it and when we were walking around, I saw the creek and put it all together. I said to my Buddy, "Hey! I've been here before!" to which she replied, "Yeah, I brought you here when you were little." *That* would have been nice to know before.

I drank cups and cups of yummy hot cider, we looked at crafts and pumpkins, got some apples, listened to bluegrass, and hoped it didn't snow. Then we went up to the lodge on the mountain and had a very yummy lunch and the best dessert ever. It was some sort of apple cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum-o!

After finishing up with the fam, I headed over to Buckingham County where my grandfather has a little lego house. There is no cell phone reception at the house. There is one spot on the front porch, if you stand just so, you can pick up a signal. So there were some fun moments standing just so to make a couple of phone calls and send some text messages. I had two days alone and I made the most of them – I finished reading my October book club book, started knitting projects 2 and 3, ate a lot of apples, napped, did some very therapeutic writing, watched The Whole Nine Yards, and generally just stood still for a minute. It was so lovely and I am so glad I took the time to do it.

On the way back to Richmond, I stopped by my dad’s family’s homestead (the house is still standing, for the most part), stopped by the family church and saw the old folks that are buried there, from there I drove over to Scottsville for lunch/dinner at Lumpkin's.

And now, I give you pictures from my weekend in the sticks...

{Here is my Buddy rocking my first scarf}

{Emily and I in front of the creek I recognized}

{my hot cider and Buddy’s black coffee}

{pumpkins}

{apples}

{random}

{crafts}

{pretty}

{my bounty}

{the Buckingham house}

{the old house}

{Old Bryant Lane}

On Notice

UPDATE: I am told that "cancellors" is not a word. Whatevs, it totes is on this blog. Here at Irregardless: Two Negative Elements Together At Last, we are all about giving words that don't exist a home.

blogging fail

I was working on a post









And then I wasn't

And then I was, but I accidently deleted it

And then there was a piece of pumpkin cheesecake












Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

Lose Some, Gain Some (Pounds)

I don't think I have ever talked about my weight loss journey on here so consider yourself warned that I'm talking about it now.

When I moved to Richmond I looked like this*:











Luckily my RVA employer participates in the Weight Watchers At Work program. So now I look like this:













In the past I went on diets and lost weight but it never stayed off for very long. My reasons for regaining the weight were: 1) I worked long hours and did not have time to pay attention to what I ate, 2) Taco Bell, and a lot of it, 3) eating late at night, 4) skipping breakfast, and sometimes lunch, because omigosh I'm so busy, and 5) maybe I'm just supposed to be fat. What I've come to find is that the reason was simple: I was in a bad relationship with food. There was a lot of miscommunication going on and the whole concept of eating balanced meals was a foreign concept. Thinking about the calories in what I was eating and drinking never even occurred to me. Joining WW was an eye opening experience. Food and I learned to talk to each and listen to what the other was saying.

I signed up for Weight Watchers and my first meeting was on June 3, 2008. In that 17-weeks, I lost 23.4 pounds. More importantly though I learned to be aware of the calories I consume and how to spread them out over the course of the day. After the 17-week session ended some co-workers and I decided to strike out on our own. We felt that now that we had this new found information that we could continue without the WW fee. We chipped in and bought a scale for the office and we weigh-in every Tuesday. We track our losses and our gains, we give each other pep talks and we talk each other down off the edge. Since going rogue, I've lost 19.4 pounds for a grand total of 42.8 pounds lost. One of my current mini-goals (because it's important to have mini-goals so that reaching the main goal doesn't seem so daunting) is to lose 10 pounds by the end of the year. September was a busy month and there were a lot of celebrations going on which means I ate a lot of cake and fancy dinners out and gained a bit more then I bargained for. All is well though, I am aware of the situation (and that's one-fourth of the battle) and am refocusing on my end of the year goal.

I'm happy with where I am (especially when I look at that first picture, it just makes me think of this) but I know I have a lot farther to go. I know I'll get there and I'm sure this past September will not be the only month when my feet hang off the back of the proverbial wagon. As long as my feet only dangle off the edge, I'm ok with whatever happens. Of course it would be preferable that they (my feet) put on a pair of sneakers and burn off some calories but that's a whole other battle.

*Sorry, I don't have full-body shots that document the loss; you'll just have to trust the cheekbones.

Throw on our bow-ties and we hit the town

All week everyone has been talking about this video but I'm just now getting around to watching it. It's hysterical! Watch it now. Don't wait.

A Snuggie!

See that zebra print blanket? It's no regular blanket but a BLANKET WITH SLEEVES!! Being warm and toasty under a blanket is even better when your hands are free for knitting. Loves it!

30 Rock

16 more days until Liz, Jack, Kenneth, Tracy and the whole crazy (emphasis on crazy) gang return to my life. I can hardly wait. Life has been so empty without them. I've read all that Wikiquote has to offer, I've watched old episodes on Hulu.

I NEED THE REAL THING!!

16 days...

{photo source: here}

I Turned 27! (and not 28, as I previously thought)

I'm so glad that this got rescheduled because my birthday weekend in RVA was FABULOUS!!

Friday night I met Angie and Judy in Williamsburg for a birthday dinner at The Olive Garden. It was a great time (once they finally arrived) and great food!

Saturday morning I met up with EB and we headed over to the farmer's market in Forrest Hill Park. There was a nice variety of vendors selling jewelry, pottery, stained glass stuff, veggies, cookies, bread, hot dogs, turkey legs, coffee, clothing items and more! I bought a pretty pair of earrings (I'll post a picture eventually), EB bought some earrings too and a very cool necklace. I got a cup of coffee (it was Blanchard's and it was tasty, as always) and some ginger snap cookies. The cookies were spicy and chewy and so delish! The Cracked Egg Bakery is responsible for me eating cookies for breakfast. I left the Southside and headed to Michelle's over in the East End. I hung out there for a bit, headed to the West End, visited a friend at work, stopped at Wawa for lunch, a little time at the fabric store, headed home, took a shower, napped for a little bit, got ready for bowling! and then headed over to Sunset Lanes to "sco oh ore..." Sandy, Michelle, Caitlin and I had pitchers of beers, rings of onion, cupcakes from the 'krop and one hell of a good time. I had the lowest scores of the evening (I had a knack for making it into the gutter). It was hysterically funny how bad I was. My "friends" rocked it though. Strikes and the like abounded. Apparently no one got the memo that the Birthday Girl is supposed to win.

Sunday was me meeting Sandy and Catherine at Baker's Crust in Short Pump Mall for a late lunch/early dinner. The Crust was out of the dessert Sandy and I wanted so we headed over to Cheesecake Factory and OMG! they had Red Velvet Cheesecake and it was worth every penny I paid for it and every calorie I have to burn off. After a little hide-and-seek with Sandy's keys (who knew there was a customer service center there? I didn't), we sat on a bench to enjoy our cheesecakes and do a little people watching. Good times. Came home to a sink full of dishes (dishwasher is currently out-of-service) and stuff that needed to be done, I guess birthday time is over now.

{For those of you that are wondering where my parents were in all of this (you know, the people that are the reason I *have* a birthday), I assure you that I celebrated with them, too. I was in Hampton last weekend and we celebrated then. They took me to dinner at Bonefish and then we had cookie cake back at the house. Good times (and good cookie cake), too.}

Lunchtime Blogging

NOTE: This post is a little more random than usual. Enjoy!


Today is a lunching at my desk kind of day. For lunch I am eating a toasted pb&j, Ruffles and catching up with my Google Reader. I only have 1,000+ unread items to go. Should be a breeze. Or not. I've read all the important and time sensitive stuff (i.e. Perez and Twilight Lexicon) so the rest may just sit there for a bit longer.

Summer is official peace out and it's very sad. There are a couple things about Fall that I'm looking forward to. 1) Scarves. I have a lot of scarves. Like seriously a lot. I probably have more scarves than shoes. 2) ... Ok so maybe there's just the one thing I'm looking forward to.

This morning my bosses had a little breakfast get together to celebrate my birthday. It was actually a joint birthday celebration as my cubemate's birthday is a few days after mine. We had bagels from my favorite Richmond bagel place (Cupertino's), fruit and juice (well everyone else had juice, I had a cuppa). It was lovely and very nice of them.

After work I feel like I have a bunch of running around to do before my weekly get together with the Cakes. I have to go to the fabric store and because I'm such a nerd two different libraries. Then it's off to Westover Hills for knitting and coffee (or a cuppa, if you're me).

The scarf I've been knitting since the beginning of time is almost done. There have been a few dropped stitches along the way, but I just keep on keeping on. It's my first scarf, I'm not going for perfect. When I finally finish it, I'll be sure to post a picture.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of the only sandwich you ever need to know how to make...


(Ignore the peanut butter in this picture, the bestest kind is Peter Pan's Creamy Whipped peanut butter. It's heaven in a little plastic jar.)

Doxie Love

How could you *not* want one? I cannot handle the cuteness! So. freaking. cute.

Also, I want this and one of these.

{photo sources: here and here}

"Well, it all started at Grace and Belvidere..."

I am usually, generally, mostly a pretty laid-back, go along with whatever is going on kind of person. I can usually find the bright side and focus on it. Not today. Today is all kinds of bad and funkiness (being funky and being in a funk are two completely different things).

It all started on the bus ride home yesterday. There was an overturned SUV blocking Grace at Belvidere. The bus had to detour over to Broad. Going up Broad during rush hour traffic and then wanting to turn left in front of that traffic is a nightmare. Granted I’m not driving but I had a lengthy list of things that had to be done that evening. Getting stuck in hellacious traffic was not on that list (neither was “take a nap” - that list had it out for me from the beginning).

I finally got home, changed, had a snack and got my stuff together so I could go run all my errands. While walking to my car, I realize that I was not dressed appropriately for the weather. I turned back around, changed, grabbed an umbrella and left again. Leaving: Take II was successful.

I headed over to The Yarn Lounge (which was a little overwhelming) and then the CVS and then it was off to Short Pump (which I usually avoid like you avoid someone with H1N1) and then the Tuckahoe library and then Joann Fabrics (which was mildly disappointing) and then Kroger (thank you baby James for trail mix and bottle water being sold by the registers) and then to a Twitter gathering (that, p.s., I was an hour late to and only stayed for a few minutes because I was in no condition to be around people and be social) and then home.

You’d think the home part would be the end of my evening, but no, it’s not. Once back in Apt. 101 I did laundry (when you live in a 7 story building it’s a good idea to remember which floor’s laundry room you’re using, playing hide-and-seek with your laundry is not fun), made and packed breakfast and lunch for today, packed for this weekend’s trip to Hampton, paid bills, balanced the checkbook, wrapped Angie’s birthday presents, made and ate dinner (at 11 freaking p.m., well somewhere there about, I don’t remember what time it was but it was way too late), took all the trash out, showered and finally collapsed in my sweet, loving, oh so comfy bed around 1:45 a.m.

Today is where the funk comes in. It’s all little things that out of context don’t seem so bad, but string them all together with 5 hours of sleep and you’ve got funkiness. This morning my hair felt weird and wouldn’t do a damned thing I suggested. It is currently being corralled by a headband. The outfit I threw on, with 2 minutes left to get out of the door to catch the bus, doesn’t fit me and I look sloppy and uncomfortable. These shoes are killing my feet. They are the most uncomfortable pair of ballet flats EVER MADE. I had to run a city block to catch that bus I was so worried about. Once on the bus I made the mistake of telling the lady with the baby “aw, what a cute baby!” She then proceeded to roll her eyes at me and shake her head. SHE ROLLED HER EYES AT ME!! What the what? I got off two stops too early to be able to go to Starbucks, unless I *wanted* to be late for work. When I decided "to hell with it, I’ll be late," I realized that my wallet is sitting on my desk at home. No money, no Starbucks. Co-worker/friend asked if we were still on for lunch. Blink, blink moment. I had completely forgotten (which is not like me) that we were going to Cap Ale for lunch. But I can’t BECAUSE MY WALLET IS ON MY DESK AT HOME.

Can I just crawl into bed and stay there until this cloud of funk takes its leave of me?


In better news, tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Go here and, by the powers!, you’ll be speakin’ pirate-like quicker than you can say yo-ho-ho! (Son of a biscuit eater is my favorite.)

Busy Little Bee

It's amazing how busy I have been, currently am and will be. It's a good busy, but busy is busy, people.

August was filled to the gills. Car drama... painting... a wedding... trips to the beach... weekends in Hampton.

September is shaping up to be a busy month, too. Concerts... birthdays... social events... knitting.

October is not going to offer much relief. 30 Rock... more concerts... Charleston... NYC... more birthdays... more knitting... more painting.

November, I look forward to seeing you so we can spend a nice, (hopefully) leisurely thirty days together. When we go around the table at Thanksgiving and say what we're thankful for this year , I know what I'll be thankful for: family, friends and a little down time.

Summertime, My Dear Sweet Friend

Summertime, I feel like we barely got to spend any time together this year. I look forward to your return next May/June. I've made a list of a handful of things I'll miss about you:

1. I’ll miss the cicadas singing;
2. picking which side of the street to walk on based on the amount of shade offered;
3. the sidewalks themselves being slight sticky because of the heat;
4. the wave of hot air that hits me when I open my car door;
5. planning my outfits so that I'm wearing the lightest fabric possible;
6. the feel of my legs being out and not wrapped in suffocating pants;
7. the smell of freshly mowed lawns;
8. having to eat my ice cream cone really fast because it’s melting more and more with each passing second;
9. rolling the windows down and driving faster to make my own wind because wow is it hot!;
10. not being able to leave things in the car because they might melt;
11. the sun being up early and going down late
12. sunglasses are the only accessory needed.

Hurry back!

Fun with Fabrics

See that lovely painting over my loveseat? I got it at Kirkland's and I love it. It's bright and cheery and lovely and exactly what I was looking for. When I originally hung it there (ok so *I* didn't hang it, someone that is much better at doing that sort of thing hung it for me) the idea was to just let it hang there unencumbered and uncluttered. Here's the problem with that scenario - none of my other walls are empty and now that wall looks like it got left out. I hung the rest (I actually hung the rest, thankyouverymuch) of my art gallery style so the wall with one painting looked a little odd. I decided I wanted to hang stuff on the wall with it but what would I hang next to it? I did not want to distract from its loveliness and I did not want hang just any 'ol thing next to it. While perusing a design blog one day I came across a wall of nothing but embroidery hoops filed with pretty fabric. Brilliant! I had scraps of fabric left over from various projects. It was the perfect solution. Off to Ben Franklin I went to pick up eight embroidery hoops. Those things are cheap! I've only hung five so far. I need to make a trip to the fabric store and check out the scraps table for the remaining three hoops. The beauty of this wall art is that I can change the fabric out, I can add more hoops, I can remove hoops, I can play with the arrangement and, of course, those scraps of pretty fabric only enhance my lovely Kirkland's painting.


The hoops, pre-fabric

The hoops, hung

(That changing table on the left is a whole post just waiting to happen so hold tight.)

Now what to hang on the other side of the painting...

UPDATE: I went to the fabric store over the weekend and got some awesome fabrics! I'll be sure to share, once I get around to getting them out of the bag.

I'm 50% White (part ii)

The whiteness continues.

#28 not having a tv - That's right, folks, I do not have a tv. It's like the 1930s up in my place. Want to know the news? I suggest you turn on the radio.

#35 the daily show/colbert report - Back when I did have a tv, I loved watching these two shows. If Jon or Steve didn't talk about it then it wasn't worth knowing.

#36 breakfast places - So here's the funny thing: I love to sleep late. Or all day. But if there's a good place to meet for breakfast then I have no problem waking up early. Meeting for breakfast at some great place is one of my favorite things. Well so long as I can nap when I get home.

#37 renovations - I rent an apartment so I don't do a lot on the renovation front. I like seeing other people renovate stuff and dream of renovating something of my own one day.

#39 netflix - I'm all for anything I can order on-line, while wearing my pajamas, and is then delivered to my mailbox. This also cuts back on the whole going to the video store for a specific movie/tv series and upon arriving finding out they do not in fact have it. That's irritating. Ordering the movie/tv series on-line (pajamas!) and having it delivered is not. (Unless of course your mailman is a complete idiot and always puts your movies in your neighbor's mailbox and then your neighbor doesn't bring them to you until she's finished watching it. There's always a downside.)

#40 apple products - "Plain and simple, white people don’t just like Apple, they love and need Apple to operate." Truer words, people, truer words.

#41 indie music - Don't you love listening to something that you know only a few select people are listening to? Don't you just feel like telling everyone "na-na-na-na-na, my music choices are better than yours! I'm listening to a band/artist you haven't even *heard* of yet!"?

#42 sushi - First of all, not all sushi contains raw fish. It vexes me so when I hear "I don't like raw fish so I don't eat sushi." Grrr. Pieces of raw fish are called sashimi (and is actually very tasty, even if you're not a big fan of fish). It's a whole other thing. Second of all, sushi is yummy and delicious. But beware of how much you eat because that rice will fill you up quicker then you can imagine. Third of all, pickled ginger and wasabi? Yes, please.

Don't worry, there's more whiteness to come...

You call that a holiday?!

Secret Society of List Addicts had a post today called Holidays That Should be Invented. This of course made me think of the holidays I think should be invented.

Here's my list:

Mulligan Day - Everyone should get one day where you can have as many do-overs as needed.

No Filter Day - All year you repress saying 80% of what pops into your head (or if you're me, 95%). On No Filter Day have at it and repress zero percent! (Note: This day should probably be followed up by Mulligan Day.)

Eh Day - This is the day where answering a question with "eh" is completely acceptable. No one can tell you "that's not really an answer" because on this day it totally *is* an answer.

Be Nice to Me Day - Ever had one of those days where you feel slightly cracked and like at any moment you're just going to scream at the top of your lungs and then break down crying if anyone else says one. more. thing. to. you.? Yeah, this is your day to stop the madness.

Sundries Holiday - Go do whatever you want. Why should other people tell you what you're celebrating? Take the day off from work and celebrate... whatever you want!

My Labor Day Weekend

My five-day Labor Day* weekend was FABULOUS! I had sooo much fun! Let me break it down for you, like a fraction.**

Thursday:

Getting to Jimmy: Woke up early (well early considering I didn't have to be at work), got dressed and all that. Quick trip to Ukrop’s for veggies. Made sandwiches and wraps, finished packing up my assigned items. On the way to meeting point, I stopped at The Sev to get ice. People at The Sev were insane and there was a big thing about food stamps. Finally got out of The Sev and met up with girlfriends (Catherine, Sandy and Michelle). Packed up back of Catherine's Escape (it was a little like playing Tetris). Headed up I-95 around 11:10 a.m. Pretty much smooth sailing up 95 until it wasn't. Got off at Dumfries Rd. and proceeded the rest of the way from there. Sandy was navigating, I was reading Glamour magazine. Stopped at a gas station to get more ice and Sandy got these really tasty watermelon licorice twists. Sandy also made friends with a questionable gentleman in the gas station parking lot.

Party in the parking lot: Arrived at concert venue and parked in VIP parking area (oh yeah!). Set up our borrowed tent and coolers and chairs and made beverages. Proceeded to tailgate like I've never tailgated before (because I've actually never tailgated before). Met a lot of very nice people in Tentville. I'm pretty sure I gave my e-mail address out to some people. They had a very neat cooler, as I recall. Walked across the freaking parking lot to meet up with @WxDan. Poor guy, he put up with a lot and he sooo didn't have to. Had a rainbow cookie and more beverages. Somehow tailgating came to an end and we ventured to the lawn...

The actual concert: AMAZING! That man puts on a good show! Old stuff, new stuff, stuff I'd never heard (because I only have the one album). There was dancing and fins and the yelling of "salt, salt, salt." I loved every freaking minute!

The aftermath: We hung out in the parking lot for a bit and waited for the traffic to clear up. Ate some very tasty wraps and had a Cherry Cola. After much discussion with Catherine's GPS thing, we finally made it to the hotel Sandy scouted out. It was a really nice room and I was so happy to lay down and go to sleep.

Friday: Up early (again!). Breakfast at the hotel. Off to IKEA. IKEA was so cool and I so have to go back. Birthday lunch for Catherine at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Catherine blew the candle out the *second* it was placed in front of her. Back to Richmond. Unloaded the car and napped.

Saturday: Went to the pool with Catherine and Sandy. The water was FREEZZZINNNG but the sun felt lovely. I, for some reason, felt the need to lay on a float in the ice water. The crazy thing is that Sandy actually swam in the ice water. She's like a polar bear or something.

Sunday: Up late (yay!). Met up with Sandy for late lunch/early dinner at Kitchen 64 (their sweet potato fries are out of this world). Scooted over to Micky D's for an ice cream cone. Off to Movieland to see "(500) Days of Summer" (odd little movie, I love Zooey but I really didn't like her character by the end of the movie). Then it was off to Sandy's place over on the other side of the world to borrow the first season of True Blood and drop off extra veggies from the concert wraps. Hung out for a bit, watched some random tv (disturbing stuff, like a 15 year old that weighed like 400 pounds. that's crazy!!). Back home. Watched a couple episodes of True Blood.

Monday: True Blood and napping. Seriously. Up late. Watched some True Blood. Napped. True Blood. Repeat.

*Also, what the hell is Labor Day all about? Apparently it's all about this. Still don't completely understand the point but I get the day off from doing labor and that's all that really matters.

**1,000,000,000 points for anybody that got that.

I'm Knitting Again! Maybe. Sort of.

A few years ago my friend Caitlin taught me how to knit. I did a little here and there but never even finished the scarf I originally started. A few months ago I was ready to get rid of all my knitting stuff. In telling this to Caitlin, she implored me to give it another chance. So I kept all my knitting supplies and wondered if I would ever try again. I had completely forgotten everything she had taught me and I am not good at following instructions in a book so I hit my friend Elizabeth up for a refresher. My other friend Sandy joined in the knitting fun. I don't think she had ever knitted before.

EB (as I sometimes call Elizabeth) showed Sandy and me how to cast on and knit. I guess it's going well. There's a small hole in mine. I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen and EB just shakes her head when I mention it. It's towards what will be the end of the scarf. Some snazzy tassels will take care of that little problem.

I may pick up that original scarf I started. It's really great yarn. A very pretty green. We'll see how it goes. Seems easier to just buy a freaking scarf from Old Navy though.

UPDATE: As requested, here's a picture of my current (and past) work:

Shoes

My extended weekend was FABULOUS and I'm going to tell you all about it (and Jimmy!), but first! let's look at some shoes...









{source: Shoelust}

Kitchen Tip

Want to know how I remove spaghetti from water without using a colander? Like this:

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

By this time tomorrow I'll be wearing a lei, hanging out in a parking lot with great friends, eating food from Christopher's Cart, drinking drinks and waiting to see this man...













Good times are dead ahead.

{picture source, here}

Shoes

I may not always wear fabulous shoes but that doesn't mean that I don't wish I did. Look at these...














Aren't they fabulous? Can't you just imagine wearing them with a great cable knit sweater dress? I can. Totally.

{source: decor8blog}

I'm 50% White

Have you seen the website Stuff White People Like? It's hysterically funny!

I went down the list to see just how white I am. Turns out I'm 50% white. Out of the 128 things listed (as of the date of this post), 64 apply to me.

• #5 farmers markets - I do love a good farmers' market. There's something about buying the thing from the guy (or girl) that grew the thing.


• #6 organic food - I always thought all food was organic, until I was told it wasn't.


• #8 Barack Obama - I voted for the man. I went to his inauguration. I genuinely like him.


• #9 making your feel bad about not going outside - Doesn't everyone want to breath fresh air and enjoy the sunshine, or the rain if that's your thing?


• #13 tea - I drink cups and cups and cups of tea on any given day.


• #15 yoga - Yoga is pretty great. It can be relaxing or it can be intense.


• #24 wine - A nice glass of wine can repair a broken day. A whole bottle will make you forget all about it.


• #27 marathons - There's something about training for a marathon that makes you feel productive.

more to come...

Light Bulb Moment

Lately I've wanted to change stuff in my apartment. I want to get a new desk, I want to paint stuff, I want to do things with blank walls. Now I want to change my bedroom.

Last night I was eyeing my headboard thinking "Should I paint you? Cover you in fabric? Buy a new you? Something about you has to change" when it occurred to me that I've thought that about a lot of my furnishings lately. It's quite the unjust thought because I love my stuff. And while I would love to own a tulip table, I just do not have room for it in my tiny apartment. What gives?

I had a light bulb moment when it all became clear to me. I've been in my current apartment for one year and three months. I've never stayed put this long. Granted I'm only three months past the normal move time but three months is three months, people. Around this time I am usually unpacking at a new place and having fun figuring out what goes where. This is an interesting, and unforeseen, issue.

So what is the solution? Making little changes here and there, I guess. I'm going to paint those chairs yellow (and not black like I originally thought) the first chance I get. The desk area will stay the same because, honestly, I just don't want to spend money on a new desk or table when there's nothing really wrong with the current desk area. The headboard's days are numbered though. Either a coat of paint or a covering of fabric are coming its way soon.

Teen Witch

Remember this scene in Teen Witch? "Look how funky he is." It's awesome. Enjoy.

On Notice

Desks

I've been thinking about getting a new, larger desk. Something like this maybe?
























I'd hate to get rid of my current desk (that I love, really I do) but what with going to school and all I've just outgrown it.

Or maybe I should get a dining room table and use it as my working space. I do love tulip tables and drool a little bit when I see one. IKEA has one for really cheap right now...















And then there's lucite. Oh how I love lucite furniture. The chairs! The tables! Oh my!
























{sources: the first desk and IKEA table and lucite chair and lucite desk}