It's 2010 and I don't have a Rosie yet?

So we've reached 2010 and life isn't like The Jetsons. I'm kind of disappointed. I was looking forward to having a Rosie. You know? Anyway, I was going to post a year in review thing but then I thought 1) I don't really feel like doing that, it'd be March by the time I finished it, and 2) I've never done one before, why start now? But! But, RVANews did this here so I figured that would be my compromise. I would do their handy, dandy little list (oh how I love lists...) and we could all move on. So here we go...

First, let’s talk about 2009…

What was your biggest achievement?

Paying my car off. Seriously.

What was your biggest failure?

I had to have my gallbladder taken out in February so I guess I failed at taking care of it.

What was the best book you read?

East of the Sun by Julia Gregson

What was your best purchase?

My vacuum cleaner. I love that damn thing. I hate, hate, hate to vacuum but with my new machine, I don't mind so much.

What song will always remind you of 2009?

Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon

What was your favorite movie of 2009?

It's a tie between The Hangover and Zombieland.

What was your favorite TV show?

How I Met Your Mother. Let me explain. I never really watched it before. An episode here or there, never really got into it. And then I did and it happened in 2009 and so that's my answer.

Who impressed you the most?

This one is a tie between Dan, who stepped up and had the guts to say something I might not have been able to, and me, because I went way, way out of my comfort zone this past year.

Who pissed you off the most?

Again with the me answer. 'Tis true, though. Before I impressed myself, I pissed myself off because I wasn't giving something a try.

Choose one word to describe 2009.

Unplanned.


Now looking forward…


What do you hope to do more of this year?

Expand my comfort zone more. Also, knitting.

What do you hope to do less of?

Worry about the what ifs.

Who do you think will be the most talked-about person of 2010?

Tiger Woods.

Who/what is going to make a comeback this year?

Money. You heard it here first.

Who do you want to just go away?

Tiger Woods and H1N1.

What do you think will be the hottest conversation topic nationally?

Money and War and Who To Blame It All On.

What do you think will be the hottest conversation topic locally?

Lack of money to get things done in the city. Flying squirrels. The weather.

What do you hope will happen this year?

All the things I want to happen. But let's not jinx it by talking about it. Ok? Ok.

What do you hope won’t happen this year?

I hope I don't gain back *all* of the weight I lost last year.

Choose one word to describe what you predict (or hope) 2010 will be like.

Happy.














{a picture of me on the first day of the new year}

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.

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.

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, 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}

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!

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!

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...

Let's Make Some Lists

Things that seem far away

• my car being paid off


• my birthday trip to NYC


• the release of New Moon


• Christmastime


• Summer 2010


• my move south


• getting my AAS

Things that seemed far away and omigosh they are thisclose

• The Wedding of Josh and Caitlin


• Jimmy Buffett concert


• my car being paid off


• the start of the fall semester


• reaching my goal weight for 2009