Tied at 162: thoughts on David Aexelrod

David Axelrod looks like a substitute teacher you'd have in high school. ~ Erin

2012 Election Night Coverage is ON

Loyal and early readers may remember that Election night 2008 I spent it making tasty food, drinking a lot of wine, and drunk dialing Tim, Michnya, and Michelle.

This year election night cover is ON.  Don't think that me being four years older and wiser and me settling down with a fiance and cat is going to make me not spend the whole night recapping the night with electoral vote counts and photos of what was going on.  We're not sure if we'll be watching it at home or watching at Erin's house with Buffalo dip.  I think for Ricky's sake, it'll depend on how well Obama is doing so he's not too bummed at a friend's house.  Either way, I think I'll be making mitten cookies and a board.  The low rent version of this...

If we watch it at Matt's house, maybe I'll send him out on the street to do off site coverage. 

I also downloaded Blogger for my phone so I can blog the night away straight from my fancy phone no matter where I am.  Technology at work four years later!  Progress!

I also took some time to reread my 2008 series and it's amazing how different things are since 2008.  Most of my friends have since gotten married and even had children.  I work at a dream job in Boston.  And I met the love of my life and we've adopted a cat that we love (perhaps too much) and are making a great life together.  So yes, Mitt Romney, when you ask if your life is better than it was four years ago... I'd say yes.

Ten! Ah ah ah ah!

On my way to Worcester yesterday Erin texted me that Jerry Nelson had passed away.  I read a few months ago that he was in failing health, and that he had pretty much retired from puppeteering except for the vocal work of Count Von Count.

When I was rattling off to Ricky all the characters Jerry Nelson played, he was amazed.  Sherlock Hemlock, Camilla, Gobo, Emmitt Otter, Robin, Fozzie's mom, The Amazing Mumford, Floyd Pepper, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Uncle Deadly... I could just list roles, but that'd be boring.

Here's him as Count Von Count, along with Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog.



And here's a video I found of Jerry Nelson singing When The River Meets The Sea at Jim Henson's memorial service in 1990 with another Muppeteer, Louise Gold.   Try to keep a dry eye at this one:

Memories from Buffalo

Here are some photos from my trip to Buffalo for Erin and Matt's wedding during Memorial Day weekend!

Outer Harbor

Old roommates and friends

The bride

Bridesmaid-zilla?

Groomsmen tired of the van

Church part

There was dancing

You have no idea how excited I was to finally proudly dance to the song Single Ladies and then pull out the "he liked it and he put a ring on it" photo...

It's like she's the queen and we're the sorry people!

Ricky's in Canada

The Falls from Canada

Niagara Falls rainbow!

Sunday flea market find with Erin

I liked the cool composition of this photo.

Back from Buffalo

Back from a whirlwind weekend in Buffalo for Erin's wedding.  I'll post more photos of it later, but for now... let's take a moment and take in the glory that was ALL THE TIM HORTONS I bought before hitting the road:

So let's break it down.  This is, from l-r, an iced coffee, ground coffee, a breakfast sandwich on a biscuit (so flaky and tasty, a million times better than Dunks) English Toffee Cappuccino mix , and two glazed sour creams.

And so you don't think my entire trip was spent eating doughnuts and drinking iced capps (other than the wedding itself) here's a hipstamatic photo Ricky took of our trip to the Falls.  How wonderful and creepy does that look??

MFT Day 9: Navy blue nail polish

I promise that this won't devolve into me plugging products I like. 


Last night, after a long run, I decided that my poor sad wintery feet (read:  dry, cracked, and all around gross) needed some love.  I gave myself an impromptu pedicure while waiting for Ricky to come home from work.  I automatically went for my navy blue nail polish.  I felt better after pampering my poor feet.

For years, I've liked nail polish on my toes but tend to never put it on my hands.  I find it distracting, I often end up chipping it an hour in, and I have short stubby fingers so it never looks good.  I think if I had longer fingers and nails, I'd be more apt to give myself manicures, but alas.

I have a lot of pinks and some crazy colors, but wanted to about a year ago try out a dark color, ideally navy blue.  I went to Sephora and got a great color of navy blue.  I can't remember the name of it, but if you go... it's the shiny navy blue polish.  I may need to get more soon because a year later I've used up about half of the bottle!  There are tons of blue polishes, and they let you try everything out at Sephora (thank God because that shit is not cheap) so definitely try a few colors to see what works best for you.

I may have a blue pedicure for Jess and Erin's wedding, as a secret fun way to tie in some "something blue" for both looks.

Posting about something I almost never post about

Shoes.


Winter break seemed consumed with shoes for me, which is odd since I normally don't really care about or purchase shoes.  I seem to have a lot of pairs, but that's in part because I'm terrible about throwing away old shoes (there's still a season left in them!) and I go to a lot of weddings so I have a lot of dressy shoes.  In 2012, I am in two weddings, each with a different wardrobe and requirements.  For Jess' wedding, we need to wear pewter heels (I'm recycling a pair I wore to a different wedding last year), and for Erin, she didn't really care.  The lack of direction was almost harder, because I saw so many different routes to travel down.  And because I am in this wedding, I wanted nice shoes that would be comfortable and look nice when photographed.  Oh, and weren't too expensive.  (Lewis needs to be able to eat at the end of the spring)

I've been hunting for months, and hadn't found anything I truly liked until recently.  My friend Jess (not getting married Jess) and I were browsing shoes when I went to Modcloth.  I haven't purchased much there in the past, but I stumbled across a super adorable pair of shoes that were only $30.  I don't tend to gravitate towards pink, but I liked the soft color.  I also loved the detail on the toe of the shoe.  The bridesmaid dresses are blue, so I thought a deep blue and a light pink would look nice together. 

I got the shoes right before Christmas, and they were a dream.  Just as pretty in person, not too high of a heel, and were pretty comfortable.  Modcloth also threw in a complimentary headband!  So I am prepped and ready for that wedding.

On top of this shoe purchase, I received my Missoni heels from my friend Megin on Christmas Eve.  Even though someone (Ricky) thought they were too busy for a shoe (Ricky), I really wanted a pair of Missoni for Target heels.  I liked the toe detail and that the heel was so thick.  I could see them being more comfortable as a result.  Unfortunately, my Missoni shoe dreams were crushed in the north because it seems every girl with a size 7 1/2 foot in Massachusetts had the exact same dream.  And more disposable income and time to rush to a Target before me.  Shoe FAIL.

Over the summer, I was bemoaning my lack of Missoni shoes with Megin, as she was living in Massachusetts for the summer.  When she returned to Virginia in the fall, where she lives most of the year, she found out that the south did not feel the same way about Missoni heels that I did.  I got a text that her Target was overflowing with the heels.  She purchased a pair for herself and one for me, with the promise of bringing them up for Christmas.  Shoe WIN.

As promised, she brought them up and gave them to me on Christmas Eve.  They are just as great in person as they were grainy and pixelated on her phone.  Super comfortable as well.  I'm planning on wearing them to Jess' shower and/or rehearsal dinner.



And now I'm done talking about shoes for another year or so.

Golda Meir

The birthday girl with Gertrude and Alice, 2006.

Erin left me a voicemail last night.  She's at her parents' house for a week or so, and was doing some cleaning when she stumbled upon the birthday gift I gave her for her 22nd birthday, a paperdoll set of notable women.

I had this paperdoll set when I was little.  Dover Books produces hand-drawn paperdoll sets on a range of subjects, from presidents to movie stars to fashion from a decade to Notable Women in history.  Because my mum is wise and I am neurotic, I  was never allowed to cut up these paperdoll books, but could use them to draw my own paperdolls.  This was quite smart, since I could keep the books as reference forever.  In fact, I still have them all in my closet at my parents' house.

One day in college, I was telling Erin about these paperdolls and she remarked that it was the strangest set of paperdolls imaginable.  This is mainly because while they did have more "glamorous" women like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Edith Wharton, they included significantly less paperdoll-ish women like...

...a bare-breasted Pocahontas
...Gertrude Stein, with Alice B. Toklas as her accessory plate
...Golda Meir

Erin couldn't imagine what this book would look like, so I decided to buy her her very own copy of this book.  She thought the plates were hilarious.  I think it was published as a historical toy for young girls who like paper dolls.  I tried to find it on the Dover website, but I think they've discontinued it for other paper doll sets.  Like notable TV moms.  And Vampires.  It's a shame, because every little girl out there should be able to play paperdolls with Gertrude, Alice, and Golda.

Winter Break Goals

It's like "mini resolutions".

One of the joys of working in education is that I have lots and lots of holidays off.  I also have the week between Christmas and New Years off, as the college closes.  This is, especially after years in the private sector, completely magical.  The whole school is off, and there's no pressure to check email or catch up.  I love it.

Many of my friends, however, do not have this time off, so I find myself with a week almost completely to myself.  This is okay with me, though, as I'm using it as a week to catch up on things.  A mini-GSD week, as it were.  I made a checklist, which I will update as that week progresses:

Grown Up Friend Date with Patti.  My friend/old roommate is a teacher, so we both have a week to ourselves.  We've resolved to grab lunch and catch up.

Clean my closet.  It's become a catch all for all my crap, and now I can't see the bottom of the floor or the crap I've thrown in there.  Time to tackle.

Clean computer room.  Not as bad as the closet.  This is the room where we put things that we don't want Lewis to eat.  But it needs some order of semblance.

Get materials for Jess' ring pillows.  I'm in a wedding in March, and I've been asked to make two ring pillows for it:  one is pink, and the other is the color of The Boston Bruins.  (I'll probably be leaving out gold or just have it as an accent)

Knit something with quince yarn.  I have a ball of this, that's been sitting in my stash since I purchased it in July of 2010.  I want to wear it.  Probably as a cowl.

Organize stash.  With all the Christmas knitting, there are balls of yarn everywhere.  And it's chaos.  I need to make it not be chaos.


Make shepherd's pie for Ricky for dinner.  I love a recipe I found for this that has ground turkey, lots of veggies, and no tomatoes.  I think it'll be a dinner one of the nights, since it is a bit time consuming.

Find shoes for Jess' wedding.  I need a pair of pewter heels.  I've been a giant failure to date in finding a pair that I like and don't hurt my feet.  This is the week to find those shoes.

Donate things to good will.  This will free up some closet floor space.

Fix sewing machine tension.  It's been wanky for a year now, time to fix it so I can use it!

Make ring pillows.  Photos will be posted of this, I am sure.

Another secret project for Jess' wedding and also for Erin's wedding.  Secrets secrets.

The world is now filled with a lot less young children-based puns...

I am in no way a fan of The Family Circus, but I did say "aww" when I heard that Bil Keane passed away.  More because The Family Circus has been a present my whole life.  When I was a little kid, I found it cute in that "gee willickers" sort of way.  Then, as I got older and and my sense of humor became a bit more advanced and refined, I pretty much stopped reading it.  But it was nice that Keane was so consistent... using the same jokes and ideas for 50 years. 

Erin once mailed me a Sunday Family Circus where she added a ghost (like those ghosts that he always had in his cartoons) that said "shut up, Jeffy, no one likes you!" which I found to be hilarious.  Because it's true.  No one likes that know it all pain in the ass Jeffy.  It's been hanging in every office I've had since I've received it.

So it's been real, Bil.  I hear your son has adopted The Family Circus, so at least it'll still be continuing.

I also wanted to post a cartoon from The Nietzsche Family Circus, which combines an image from The Family Circus with a quote from Nietzsche.  Mainly because I find this page hilarious in that "Garfield without Garfield" or "Kayne West tweets with cartoons from the New Yorker" sort of way.

Bridesmaids

My reprieve from attending or being involved in weddings has ended.  I just picked up the bridesmaid dress for Jess and Giacomo's wedding in March.  It's now sitting in my closet, where it will probably sit for another 2 months.  Then I'll hand it off to get altered for short ol' me.  Erin should be giving me the dress for her wedding soon. These weddings will be #4 and 5 for weddings I've been in.

While being in two weddings next year will prove to be a busy later winter/late spring for me, I have a strong feeling it'll feel like a cake walk compared to 2011.  Ricky and I attended seven weddings, spanning from Western Mass to CT and all over the North Shore.  Only three weddings, all of which are pretty spread out over 6 months, is a gift.  And one of those weddings will involve driving 9 hours!

 I think in a few years, I want to have a bar crawl or a birthday party where my friends and I don our old bridesmaid dresses and get a little boozy.  This is in no way a creative or new idea, but on this post about bridesmaids it popped into my head.

Day 7 of the 30 Day Song Challenge

Dance, postcards, dance!

It's Sunday morning. Ricky's watching The Killing On Demand and Lewis is running around everywhere, trying to get into things. Little does he know he's going to the groomer in a few hours to get his nails clipped and to visit the shelter where we adopted him from. They haven't seen him since he was a wee bit of a thing, and now he's almost 6 months. Little guy's getting so big!

Day 7: A Song That Reminds You Of A Certain Event

I think maybe because of my upcoming college reunion, and even a little bit of yesterday's post, but I've been thinking a bit more about college this weekend. I think for my Event, I will choose a song from my first full-length directing piece, The Wedding On The Eiffel Tower. To this day, it's my proudest accomplishment when it comes to theatre.

I made a really unique piece, while a lot of it was my work and ideas, another big part of it was a huge collaboration. Pete had inspired a lot of the music choices, and Erin and Danielle (both castmembers) had suggested pieces that made the cut. This great girl named Jen choreographed the whole thing. And while a lot of it was structured, I gave a lot of room for my actors to improv and create on their own. It was a lot of building up for me, but also a lot of letting go to make the performances what they could be. A huge lesson for myself.

I've been thinking about Eiffel Tower a lot more recently, too, when Erin got engaged in Paris. Originally it was supposed to be by the Eiffel Tower, but apparently it's too many people there to safely propose.

Of all the songs, I think I'll do the big dance number, which was Frank Zappa's Peaches En Regalia. All the postcards danced during this, and it was very funky and cool. I think Erin even still remembers parts of the dance.

Day 6 of the 30 Day Song Challenge

I seem to have lost some steam with this, and I apologize. Classes started this week at school, so it was a lot of busy time with the kids. Also, the Bruins were playing a lot of playoff hockey, which took up my evening free time. They're in the Stanley Cup Finals now, but I'll still make sure I have time for this.

Day 6: A Song That Reminds You Of Somewhere

This one has been difficult, I think. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my undergrad experience at HC. My five-year reunion is coming up next weekend (eek!) and I realized that I graduated from college five years ago on Thursday, May 26. I've done a lot in five years, and yet at the same time it seems like yesterday that I was sitting in Kimball Dining Hall with Erin and Tim. I've gone back a few times since then, mainly for plays and one Commencement, but it's not the same. College on a campus is such a special time, and you really can't recapture that. This is not to say it was the best four years of my life -- because I think it's sad to have peaked at 22 -- but it was a memorable and special four years.

But the remembering part hasn't been the difficult part... it's the decision of what song! Do I pick my college song, O Holy Cross? Do I pick songs I used for theatre pieces I directed? Do I pick a song that friends turned me onto?

So I think for this post, knowing that a lot of music played a big part of my college life, I will pick Float On by Modest Mouse. That album came out in the middle of college, and I feel like Float On played pretty much every weekend, at whatever party or hang out I was on, and we'd all sing the lyrics. And whenever I hear those opening notes and guitar strums, I can think of various groups of friends in a dorm or a party singing it. This is one of those songs that no matter who I was with, too, they'd love that album. So don't you worry, we'll all float on.

Quiet Saturday

Today's a quiet Saturday for me and Ricky. I'm doing a mountain of laundry and some research for something exciting coming our way (announcement coming soon!*) and Ricky's doing work. We're playing classical piano music, there are some candles lit. It's a very nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

I was supposed to have the second half of my gum surgery on Thursday, but the doctor canceled last minute, so we find ourselves with a whole weekend wide open, without me being uncomfortable and on pain meds in bed. It was a very nice problem to have. We may scope out the museum down the street, or share a cheese plate at Gulu Gulu. Something low key.

Since I haven't blogged in about a week, I figure I'll also show you all what I've been up to since Thursday. I had been planning on being out of commission due to gum surgery for a few weeks, so I had stocked the house up with soft things to eat. When the doctor canceled Thursday afternoon, I found myself with a house filled with soft things with a short shelf life. Bananas and yogurt probably wouldn't keep for two weeks. Solution? Whip up a loaf of banana bread:

The bowl is from Erin for Christmas. I must say, it's pretty nice having pretty/nice bowls to mix in instead of the tupperware ones I've been sporting since graduating from college. I had a potato masher, but when I moved it went missing, so I've just been using a fork for light mashing these days. It did the trick.

The recipe calls for buttermilk, but since I didn't have any on hand, I used plain yogurt. It created a nice tang to the bread, and also a bit of denseness, but with that, it's extremely moist. It was very easy to whip up, and used up my slightly too ripe bananas.

I'm very happy with the results, and bread is far nicer to be eating to get nutrients that the protein shakes I should be drinking right now if I had had the surgery.



*I'm neither engaged nor pregnant. Less big news than that.

2010's best pics: #9

I realize that if I want this to be successful, I may need to post more than one on a day so this doesn't take like two weeks to complete. So on that note...

#9: Topsfield Fair. Topsfield, MA
Bob, Erin, Matt, Ricky, and I went to the Topsfield Fair this year. It was most everyone's first time (minus me and Ricky). It was also an exciting trip, because this is when Ricky and I got Alva the fish.

At the end of the night, Bob, Ricky, Erin, and I took a trip up on the Ferris Wheel. I hate heights a lot, so this was big for me.

I like a lot about this picture, but perhaps most of all is the lack of focus. No one's looking at me, or even in the same direction. You can't really see Erin or Bob's faces, because of the bar in the middle of our pod and Ricky's hand. It's dark, and everyone's blurry. You can't even see Erin's eyes because of the reflection of fair lights below. The background is a blurry yellow light. I don't know why, but the mood and atmosphere of the fair made this haziness even more appropriate.

I also love that the sky is dark and that there's a distinct line of light and dark on the horizon. It's all a lovely effect and memory.

Holiday Gift Guide: Crate and Barrel

Over the weekend, I got a good deal of my Christmas shopping done in Cambridge. I was in the area to see It's a Wonderful Life at the Brattle, and Ricky and I decided to make a day of it. Photos of ice skaters to come in a day or so.

I have the luck to work near a Crate and Barrel, which I have often hit up for gifts. I think for the quality and look of what you're getting, it's a relatively good bargain. They also cater to a wide array of needs and tastes. And did I mention that it's 2 blocks away from where I work?

Anyways, here are some things I've noticed in the store or have given as gifts myself in past years and why I think they're great gifts:


It's a candelabra that looks like a branch. How pretty is this on a table with white candles? They look like piles of snow on a branch. It's larger than I thought it would be in real life, but I would definitely consider getting this for a parent or even as a housewarming gift.


Way back in the day, on the once decent then horrible sitcom That 70's Show, the protagonist's mother had the line "they should call fondue fundue... because it's fun!" I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be stoned during this scene, but that's neither here nor there. I've actually given a fondue set to my friend Danielle a few Christmases ago as a gift, because she likes chocolate, snacking, and entertaining. I gave her with it some nice chocolates to make fondue with, and possibly a cheese. This set is not electronic, so it's not too expensive and also a nice intro to the world of melted sauces.


I've given this gift as a wedding gift once. Crate and Barrel makes nice frames, and I like the variety of picture sizes for this one. I gave the frame and the offer to purchase any wedding prints they want. As of today, the couple still hasn't decided which pictures they want, but they are very excited to decide and see the frame up in their house. Black and white frames are classy and go with all decors. I could also see getting this for a friend or family member, and printing out pictures of a trip or over the years. Erin's gotten her share of C&B frames from me over the years, especially when she moved into her boyfriend's house.


There'll be more gift guides as the weeks progress!

Cookie-eating fanatic bordering on glutten.

Getting ready for an evening of shopping with Erin and drinking with Bob. Before then, I stumbled across this Bad Larry. I've enjoyed the digital shorts the Muppets have been posting on the internet, it reminds me of the old Sam and Friends sketches from the 50's:



I love it, but I question if he has the chops. After all, the Muppets and SNL tried to blend together in the 1970's and it was considered a big flop. That being said, the condensed version of everything, Macarooner, and Cookie Gaga had me giggling at my desk.

Facebook Friend Mashup is awesome

It's not called that, but it might as well be.

I noticed last week a new feature on FB which is where you can compare two friends of yours and see their friendship: the posts they commented on each others walls, the events you've attended, the shared interests, and the photos they're both tagged in.

What makes it awesome/addictive for me is that they show a photo of the two people. Ricky and I have been paring friends to see what Facebook has deemed THE photo of the friendship. Ricky and I are a photo of my Mad Men Meme, which is funny. Our friend Jon and Megin are the two of them with their daughter, which I found fitting. Me and Erin is one of my fridge where I tagged the two of us as a fridge magnet for when we went to Cleveland, which is odd. Me and Tim are a photo of us in Worcester one summer at a Moe's, which I actually have framed in my house. But my favorite is the photo of my two best friends from high school, Amanda and Jess:


If there was ever a photo that summed up their awesomeness, it'd be this. Happy while dancing at Amanda's wedding, full of joy. Hair a-flowing. It's just so perfect.

Alva the fish*

*aka, how we got fleeced by the Topsfield Far

A few weekends ago I went to the Topsfield Fair with Erin, Matt, and Bob. There was a booth where you could win goldfish, and despite my questions that Ricky could win there... he did on the first ping pong ball. So we found ourselves with a fish named Alva (after this awesome guy).

For a night, Alva lived in a tupperware container because by the time we got back, it was too late to get him a house. The next day, I spent $30 on a 1 gallon tank, some rocks, a plant, and food. When he didn't like the food, I then went to get another thing of food ($4).

(Alva, in home #1)

Alva seemed happy for a bit in his new home... well, for about week. Then he sat on the bottom of the goldfish tank staring out as us sadly. He hid underneath his plant. And, worst of all, his fins started turning brown at the tips. Oh great, he's moody or sick. I compared him often to Beatrice in Best in Show, and wondered if I should get him a busy bee to cheer him up. (we didn't, but we did spend some quality time shopping in catalogs to makes us feel better about ourselves)

Last night, Ricky and I decided to get some medicine for him to fix his fin. Because we had no clue what to do, we asked the experts... who told us he was dying. It turns out goldfish create the most waste of all small fish and so he's living in tons of his own waste and poop. Goldfish's organs also keep growing, so the pressure of only 1 gallon of water is pushing on his organs, which is causing duress. They then told us we'd need to drop at least $100 that night to get him the right digs. Ricky said no, which I agreed. At this point, I was so annoyed I walked into the cat toy aisle.

After some intense deliberating and negotiations, we settled on a 10-gallon tank, a filter, more gravel, and another plant... for $50. We came home and spent an hour setting up the filter and filling the fish tank with water. Alva seems happy now, and is actually swimming and eating.

(Alva in his new 10-gallon tank. That wine was not consumed last night... but it was seriously debated several times.)

In case you were keeping tabs, this $2.25 fish has now cost us... $84.


That being said, Alva seems a million times happier in his tank. He's enjoying swimming around, playing in both plants, and not sitting in his own poop. I also put a small gnome in there (a house is not a home unless you got a gnome, says the wise Michnya) to encourage him to not die for at least 6 months.

He looks glum, but that's because the other pictures he was swimming too fast.