Everyone Loves a Boston Girl

I spent a little bit of time doing some Christmas shopping today and I’m happy to say that I’m almost done with it. It will be a miracle if I really am done soon as I am usually shopping up until the 23rd. Anyway, as I’m finishing up my shopping, I’m already receiving presents! First I received the e-confirmation for my January trip to Chicago, which my sister and her boyfriend are gifting to me. I know Chicago in January is probably not the brightest idea, but my sister and her boyfriend are moving back to Boston in April so I want to squeeze in one last trip.

And when I arrived home from this afternoon’s shopping excursion (see what happens when you have no job?) I found a copy of Martha Stewart Living in my mailbox. Clearly a present from the parents. Yay! The last thing I need in life is more magazines (I have a magazine fetish and legit have them all over my bedroom and living room and get more than I could ever dream of reading), but I’m also hoping that they got me a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated (best.magazine.ever). Love Chris Kimball. And Martha Stewart. Duh.

I really wanted to post a picture of the current issue’s cover because it seriously is making me drool. I think it’s the best cover on any magazine I’ve seen ever (it should win an ASME award stat). It’s a beautifulll white kitchen with pale yellow appliances/accessories and is, I think, my dream kitchen (from what I can see of it). And there’s a sweet computer hanging from the cabinets, which makes me happy because I am always bringing my laptop into the kitchen so I can utilize online recipes. I will post this picture when I find it. I actually Googled he photographer, Eric Piasecki, and he makes me want to buy my own home immediately and decorate it exactly like his photos show me. Sigh.

Also, I bought this amazing book for my dad:

It’s basically a really beautiful book of interview with 50 different chefs and what they would have for their last meals. A bit depressing if you think about it, but so intriguing for a foodie like me (and my dad, I hope) to read. It’s got me thinking about what I would want to eat for my last meal…and…I need more time to think about it. I’m the world’s worst decision maker (Libra) so this could take a while.

While working on my final project of graduate school (can you say yesss??!!), I’ve realized that crazy screaming music gets me really motivated. It’s kind of funny as this music is not me at all and my neighbors probably wonder wtf I’m doing. When I went to Warped Tour in August, MC (who used to read my blog every day and then got too famous for the little people like me ) made me watch Escape the Fate and Underoath. I was a good sport and watched and even danced a little (it was at the end of a long, 16 hour day). He made me the CDs later and I loaded them into my iTunes thinking they were wayyy too hardcore for my tastes. But then they’d randomly play and I found they’re actually really good. I still don’t really understand why they feel the need to randomly scream in the middle of an otherwise nice song, but hey, I guess it works for them.

My version of being hardcore. Eeek. Like I said, end of a long day.

My mom said she thought it would be fun if we made our own Christmas cards together this year. I laughed at her first, then grudgingly agreed, and then actually got kind of excited about it. I am not a visually creative person at all, which means that I suck at coming up with ideas for art and then implementing them to make them look good. As a kid, this was no problem. But now that I’m older, I figure there’s no use doing/making something if it’s going to come out looking like crap. And it pretty much always does.

But I figured my mom could help me. A couple years ago, she and a couple of her friends took a stamping class for fun. Yeah, I know stamping sounds wicked lame and old-ladyish, but it’s really not. I seriously had no idea how talented my mom was, but she has made some awesome stuff and I’m extremely jealous and amazed by the cards and other paper goods she’s made. The funny/sad part is, she made wicked cool stuff in the class, bought tons and tons of nice supplies, and never uses any of them.

So when she called me on Saturday and sounded like she wanted to just go out and buy holiday cards, I convinced her that we needed to make them. She finally agreed and came to pick me up Sunday morning. We accidentally spent much of the day shopping in Coolidge Corner and didn’t arrive home until close to 4:30, when we finally got started on our cards.

Basically my mom and I have very different ways of starting projects. I’m the kind of person who will think about what I’m going to do for a bit and then say, “screw it, I’m just gonna start and see what I come up with.” I’m not good at picturing how things will look and just need to see it and then alter it as I go. My mom likes to plan every detail of the project out before she starts. So we basically sat among all the supplies forever *talking* about what we were going to do, before I finally came up with an idea I kind of liked and set off on it. And made my mom help me every step of the way.

I totally sucked, spilled glitter everywhere, including all over myself, wasted tons of supplies, and didn’t even go near the paper cutter. My mom didn’t even start her cards, she was so busy helping me. I messed up so many of the cards that I only ended up with 18 of them. So, only 18 people are getting holiday cards this year.

I really wish I was good at the visual arts. Just like I wish I was good at music. I was somehow born with no creative genes and it’s pretty sad. I’m going to start planning next year’s card in September so I can have ample time to plan something awesome. And do it all on my own. Because my mom just called and said she’s not even going to bother making her own cards this year; she doesn’t have time. I feel bad, but I guess she should have taught me art earlier in life.

And my card legit looks like a 5-year-old did it. Awesome. But honestly I’m proud of it because it’s my first creative endeavor since I’ve been an adult. It can only go up from here. Right? Right?

(It doesn’t help that I’m still using my camera phone for my photography. I know. Horrible.)

Fabulous weekend and now I’m ready to pass out and get ready for a busy busy week. Last night I went to see Gary Gulman at the Comedy Connection. In case you don’t know him, he was on seasons 2 and 3 of Last Comic Standing and was awesome. He was freaking hilarious last night and the show was a lot of fun. He basically made jokes about Christmas carols/him being Jewish/and Boston sports. Comedy shows are the kind of thing where you’re always like “oooh we should go,” and then you never do. I went to a show with the ex in NYC a couple years ago and for some reason the comdedians chose to make fun of us the entire night. It was great and after that I always wanted to go to another show.

After the show we met up with Sas and crew at Beacon Hill Pub, one of the trashiest bars in (the nicest area of) Boston. Sas and I had a crazy night there a couple years ago and vowed we would never go back. But then we would end up there by mistake and have fun every time. I mean, they have a basketball arcade game and a vending machine, so how can you not have fun? So what if the alcohol sucks (I stick to beer…in bottles) and some of the people are a bit off, sometimes trashy bars are the best. And I’m not sure, but I think Sas may have forgotten about her vow to never drink again. She was hilarious.

The voice is pretty much back, with minimal raspiness (despite my night of laughing and yelling). I have a big final project due in class this week and then graduate school is pretty much over. I’ll write about my foray into creativity tomorrow.

And I’m pretty sure the Patriots kicked some Steeler butt today as well. All I can say is wow. And yay!

You don’t realize how much you talk until you can’t. And then you have to take time to really think about what you want to say and whether or not it’s worth it to try and get it out. I’m not a fan of having no voice.

I mean, I guess i’m thankful that my version of getting sick doesn’t mean being stuck in bed all week feeling horrible. It means feeling just fine but not being able to talk. I think this is probably someone’s way of saying, “Whoa Susie, shut up for a few minutes. Give everyone some peace and quiet.” If talking were this difficult I probably wouldn’t do it so much.

I think it’s slowly coming back. Now I just sound extremely raspy, which some could possibly find sexy. Or my voice just cracks, which makes me sound like a 12-year-old boy going through puberty, and is not very sexy. And it’s no fun having a phone interview when you basically have no voice. I had to explain to the guy, “excuse me, I seem to have a bit of a cold,” which probably equates in his head to “shit, this girl is a sicky; we can’t hire her or she’ll be taking every other day off for her illnesses.” Real good impression to be putting forward.

I guess if I just rested it and didn’t continue trying to talk, it would come back. But the chances of me not talking are slim to none. I’m just hoping tea and honey will do the trick.

I went a little YouTube crazy and took a long walk down memory lane today. Not sure what provoked me to do this but it could subconsciously be because I’m a bit sick–well, not really feeling sick, but woke up this morning with pretty much no voice. And maybe I’m yearning for my childhood where my mom would take care of me.

I love finding stuff that takes me back to when I was a kid. I think mostly because I had a really good childhood and have an exceptional memory for things that aren’t important and happened a really long time ago (ask me what I have due in class this week, however, and I will have no clue).

Anyway, I found a bunch of my favorite television shows that I watched probably my first 5 years in life. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like TV was so much cooler back in the 80s.

From what used to be my favorite show of all time, Today’s Special:

One of my earliest memories is sitting on the floor in my family room watching this show. I was seriously in love with Jeff. Now he kind of creeps me out. And I loved Muffy, the mouse who rhymed everything. This show, being set in a department store, just may have had something to do with my current love for shopping. Just sayin’.

The Wuzzles:

The Wuzzles were also were some of my faves. I loved Eleroo and had the stuffed animal, too. I also had the Wuzzles board game.

Pound Puppies:

I had soooo many Pound Puppies stuffed animals and named them all. I was so obsessed with dogs and it made me really sad that the pound puppies were from a pound…they made me want to work at the MSPCA shelter, which I later on did.

Muppet Babies:

Obviously. I am still a huge Muppet lover, and the Muppet Babies were perfect for my low-attention span as a child. And though I loved Nanny and her striped stockings, it really bothered me that we never saw her face.

Zoobilee Zoo:

I don’t have a clue why I was so into this show because I was pretty much afraid of everything as a child…and these are some pretty scary people/creatures/whatevers. But I was pretty obsessed with Zoobilee Zoo and sang the theme song alll the time. I hated the bird because she talked to much. Loved Mayor Ben.

I could keep going and going, but I won’t. These are definitely the shows that shaped my first 5 years and I think it’s awesome I can reminisce on YouTube. OK, I’m done being lame and childish for the day; now back to being a 25-year-old adult in 2007. Depressingggg.