"what is a weekend?"

• i did some shoe glittering last weekend. the shoes were my grandma's - beautiful cut, insanely comfy, but i was having a hard time finding things to wear with them. now they go with pretty much everything. (that's how glitter works, right?)
  
• finished the buffy tv series and moved onto the comics. nerd status is rising every day.
• yes, that is a wine rack next to my bed. i'm all about convenience.
  
• i've moved on (in my tv life) to downton abbey. oh muh gawd. are you not watching this show? because you need to be watching this show. amazing characters, even better relationships. SO MUCH DRAMA. i am completely smitten. the whole first season is on netflix and the second season (currently going on) can be found on pbs.org. go! do it now! it's way better than whatever else you're watching, i assure you. (ps- the blog title is from the show.)
  
• knitting a sweater. suck it resolutions!
  
• really in love with my people right now and trying to appreciate small moments more instead of fixating on the future.
  

what's new with you?

• 
  

slacker sushi

for those of us with less than stellar rolling resumes.
for more on that, read this.

eating with mike yaz: part two

1. getting out international tapas on at the continental. french onion dumplings, lobster mac'n'cheese, funky tacos, and cheesesteak rolls. and we dressed up fancy just for kicks.
2. at the freezing cold big eyes sushi in south philly for a strip tease roll, pink lagoon, and crunchy california. wrote about it here.
3. drove to harrisburg specifically on a thursday to get thai burritos at neato. big as your head, will give you a food baby equivalent in size to chris farley, but my god it is good. those people are doing it right.

be brave enough to break your own heart.

i just wrote a massively long post that was on the more emotional side of the spectrum than what i typically post ( a result of a serious non-james-brown related funk and a pensive subway ride) and blogger had the good sense to get messed up and lose my post. i'll take that as a sign.

and with that, i leave with a picture of my brother's christmas present in progress and my favorite quote of the week found in this article, via jayda.

the long and short of it

five days into the new year and i can already check off one of my resolutions - do something new with my hair! take that 2012! as you can see in these poorly lit photo booth shots, my hair was once obscenely long and now it is uber short! the shortest it's been since before the millennium in fact. so far, i'm really diggin' it. i feel a little sassier. and a little more like my preschool self. jimmy dunn fell to his knees when he saw (his first words were - "OH MY GOD-WHAT!"). liz told me i look like michelle obama. i'm digging this fresh cut - it really feels like a new year.

bring it on 2012

i see you 2012. sneaking in. threatening to be the last year blah blah. i accept your challenge and i promise that i shall see to it, that this year rocks beyond all reasonable expectations. here's what i would like to accomplish in the upcoming year:

• go on a new england road trip. eat a lot of food. see a lot of greenery.
  
• do something different with my hair. i'm thinking shorter.
  
• build a tee pee. because the great place needs a new fort. and just in case i can't find anywhere to live after graduation.
  
• graduate college. unless something goes insanely wrong, i think this one might be a freebie.
  
• fix up my etsy. if at first you don't succeed, make it your resolution again.
  
• go to chicago. see what the fuss is about.
  
• learn three full songs on the ukulele. note to self: tune uke first.
  
• more karaoke, more wigs, more theme parties. duh
• throw a dinner party. of the grown-up food variety.
  
• knit a sweater. i got the yarn. i got the skills. i got the power.
• go to more concerts. you're in philadelphia for pete's sake. even if it's bands you don't know all that well. you need to find new music girlfran!
• learn a few conversational words in a foreign language. listen to that french tape in your car. or hit up your cousin abby for her old german flashcards.
  
• LIVE IN THE MOMENT. for pete's sake. your worrywart grandpa is starting to worry about how much you worry. just stop planning and pooping your pants every time a detail isn't worked out or you don't know what you're eating for breakfast in three weeks. take a breather and remember how lucky you are to have so many good people in your life and how fortunate you have been thus far. remember that time you went to the ted leo concert? that was unplanned! or going bar hopping with australian santa in paris? also unplanned! i don't want you to go against your natural ways, but dude. just simmer more this year and appreciate all the other dudes around you and how bright their smiles are/shiny their hairs are/wonderful their jokes are.
  

2011 was definitely a year

a lot a lot happened. but i feel like it mostly happened at the beginning of the year, so it all seems like it's been around forever. a year is still a long time in my opinion. there's that whole thing about time flying by as you get older and blah blah but nope. not for this chickadee. a year is still a significant amount of time. in 2011 i -

• landed my dream internship, which turned into a summer job, which is turning into a real deal grown-up pants job. i get to work with amazing people on super fun projects in a city i've grown extremely fond of. hopefully, my future there will consist of many more hot glue gun-wielding days, improved techy skills, and greater knowledge of programming geared towards toddlers.
  
• did an independent study
  
• wrote a column about food for temple news both semesters
• painted a table in my backyard
• lived with beautiful ladies in a beautiful home. great place forever!
• hosted the best theme parties in the 215, including ellis island, unbirthday, rumspringa, neon indian, pun-party, under the sea, tupperware, and viva las vegas.
  
• said good bye to the harry potter saga in style, with a final hoo-rah in the parking lot before the last movie. costumes & butterbeer cupcakes & sparklers helped us with the send off.
  
• went to georgia for my cousin's wedding
• was introduced to buffy and adventure time and countless other shows by mikeyaz.
  
• stressed an insane amount about the future. to a sometimes absurd level. was repeatedly calmed down by my mom.
  
• worked a full time 9-5 job over the summer and discovered just how draining it can be. went home most days and fell asleep in my room watching cheers.
• performed with my amazing improv team asteroid. did an amazing b-movie for halloween. performed in new york as part of the del close marathon.
  
• acted as head writer for Temple Smash for the fall semester. worked really hard with a group of people i love to make that show happen.
  
• saw Sufjan Stevens in concert
  
• went to the jazz age lawn party on governer's island. tried to dance with mixed success.
  
• shopped for my clothing exclusively at second hand shops, with great success.
  
• turned 21 and enjoyed being able to go out and partake in new social experiences. saint patrick's day parade, harrisburg summer 717 reunion, and rebel bingo were all highlights.
  
• dated an amazing boy. made frequent trips to new york, ate a million good foods, watched a million good shows, had a million good conversations.
  

i originally thought of this as a really stressful year, one that i was glad to see leaving. i worked a lot and panicked a lot about what was going to happen after school - to myself, to my friends, to my relationships, to life in general. but looking over this list, so many good things happened in the midst of all that worrying. so many good dressing-up opportunities! so many good people! that list is full of things i love doing and i am incredibly lucky to be able to do them all. 2011, imma chalk you up as an alright year.

happy zoo year

see what i did there?

photos from our november trip to the philadephia zoo, courtesy of the generous james dunn's membership. he went off to sktech animals while mikeyaz and i explored. hope you dudes all had a wild (ho ho! another funny!) new years eve.