i love these ladies

wonderful weekend.

epiphanies i've had today

today on smile and wave, rachel featured a love story from jeremy (half of the jeremy&elsie couple). it pretty much detailed the beginnings of their courtship and all the cute things jeremy did to get elsie's attention. and it hit me- i forgot that guys like girls. that men pursue women. the boys get crushes. for some reason i had adopted the mentality that guys just float around doing whatever and it is entirely in the hands of women to make the first move and seek out the men. and while i'm 100% for ladies taking charge, i think i often take it a little overboard in my own personal life. i'm always thinking about what i could do for them, or what i could give them- i never think about the benefits of the relationship for me. it's supposed to be a two-way street kind of thing. it would be nice to be actively sought out by a guy- i feel like that's a clear indication that he likes you and obviously wants to be with you. and while this is most certainly not always the case, i feel like whenever i ask guys out, the thought process for them is "meh. i guess." i don't like that. i want the enthusiasm to be a shared thing. and for a guy to initiate that- it would be appreciated. i'm not saying roses and moonlight- just showing interest on a real level. if a guy brought me swedish fish and asked me to watch labyrinth, i would completely melt. it's that kind of stuff.

i also recently watched 'merchants of cool', a pbs documentary. (if you follow that link, you can watch the whole thing for free. a little old but still very valid.) in the documentary, the describe two archetypes created by teen television and promulgated by mtv/pop culture- the mook, and the midriff. the mook is the guy- the perpetually adolescent, irresponsible, goofing around with the boys kind. the tom green or the jackass guy. that's the model for male youth. and the midriff is the counterpart- the jaded, sexually mature female character. cynical at the age of 16 and already giving up on the concept of finding her prince. and while i don't think i believe in the prince thing, it's almost like we've done a complete 180 and lowered standards to a point that women don't even think they're deserving of the prince. just because he doesn't exist. though we may not directly emulate these two characters, they seep into our psyche (at least in my case) and really affect how we interact and build relationships with the opposite sex. the midriff allows the mook to exist. girls give up their ideal before they even look; guys feed off this and know they don't have to be ideal. that the girls will accommodate them and figure it's the best they can do.

obviously this isn't universal truth. it just really rang true in my own experiences. i'm sure there are nice guys out there but in all honesty, i haven't been looking. i've just been expecting guys to fit a role in which i have to be the one working to woo them. not true. imma let them suckas come to me. sure i'll still ask out my fair share of dudes- i do what i want yo. but i'm no longer going to put all the pressure on myself to make things work. i'm a down-to-mars chick. i know my self-worth. they can work for it a little bit.

valentines day swap! part dos

i received my second valentine today! (i love coming back from class and finding that frantic email saying "YOU HAVE A PACKAGE!!!!!!!" totally makes my day.) this one is from gayle. i love all the pretty papers and there's a sweet little ice cream cone stamped on the front. i die.

ps- sorry about the photobooth photos. i've been too lazy to drag out my big ol' camera and my p&s is on the fritz.

valentines day swap! part uno

i got back from class today to discover a glorious valentines day package! i'm participating in a valentine swap and i received my first valentine today from micaela. so cute- it had little romeo and juliet details doilies (which i'm a sucker for) and also came with two packs of m&m minis (devoured immediately.) she claims she's not crafty but i'm not so sure i buy that. . . i'm so glad i signed up to be part of the swap- it gives the whole blogging thing more of a community feel, you know? it's easy to forget that there are people on the other end and receiving things in the mail from them just makes things seem more concrete. i like it. i also love valentines day so this was a perfect swap. thank you so much micaela!

also: imma make these. they are too good not to.

creatures of habit

same shit, different day. we all have our routines.

seriously though.

every time i upload my pictures onto my computer it comes as a shock. all food pictures. i don't know why i'm surprised- i'm the one taking the pictures after all. i think it's just seeing them all together. damn you food setting! you make me want to only take pictures of delicious edibles! the top picture is of the glorious baked mac&cheese i made sunday (grandma weigel's recipe) served with stewed tomatoes and peas with tiny lil' onions. the bottom three are shots of the baller cookies i made today to give as a thank you gift to the teachers who wrote me study abroad recommendations. i found the recipe on every last cookie- awesome blog. full of cookies. full of good writing. enjoyable on a lot of levels. this particular recipe (they're called 'surprise cookies') turned out to be friggin delicious. my dinner consisted of the batter with a side of the final product. also: i got a new mixer and it terrifies me. it has super turbo speeds. as corrie put it, it sounds like a plane. so. scary. i'll take a video for you guys so you can see how powerful this baby is. it's also responsible for the mess in the third picture. i am not the cleanest cook. mehhhhh.

going the distance

these are just some random pictures from my photobooth. a couple outfits, my beautiful mary poppins umbrella i got for christmas and fell in love with (it's sooooo heavy though), a cute picture of my brother and cousin when they were babies, and aunt karen's chicken with wild rice and trees. yessssssss. i've been super busy lately- clubs, applications, housing, internships, actual schoolwork, creative endeavors, and friends have pretty much consumed me 24/7. which is the way it's supposed to be right? life > blog. this blog is also based on my life. so it's kind of vital that i be living it.

but seriously: good post tomorrow. i have the afternoon off and i plan to use my beautiful camera and find beautiful things for you.