The End

And for my 500th blog I shall...

quit blogging altogether.

Colorado

Back from CO. I must warn you that upon my first questioning of the trip, I ended up talking for like... 15 minutes straight. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but it was not a dialogue. I just spouted off everything, rapid-fire. What I'm saying is at this moment, I have no ability to filter out what is actually interesting to other people. You may want to skim. Now that I think about it though, this may not be any different from every other blog... so let's proceed.

The journey:

It was the best flight I've had in my memory.

1. My personal timing was amazing. Usually, I leave so early for traveling situations that I end up waiting around for well over 2 hours before I even board the vehicle. However, because my flight was at 7am, I chopped down the time and ended up getting to my gate exactly 1 hour early. I'm not sure if that still seems excessive for others, but I'm pretty sure that if I had any less than an hour, I'd have been panicking for all of my waking hours.

2. The flight was like... half full. I got a window seat and a whole row to myself! Especially awesome since I don't remember flying over the mountains before. I stared out the window the whole time.

3. The flight attendants were super cute. One wore one of those glasses with the fake nose and mustache and one wore a hat that had weird pigtails or something. Over the speaker, they imitated the Wicked Witch of the West voice with a "welcome to the Southwest broomstick, my pretties."

4. My flight came in early and I raced to the baggage claim. When I got there, my bag was ALREADY ON THE CAROUSEL! That's unprecedented!

Renting a car/driving:

The car rental was SUPER easy. I got a free upgrade on the car because the cheapest one wasn't available at the time of my arrival. Silver Hyundai Esteria? Estrada? I'm so uninterested that I'm not even going to look up the official make. It was pretty easy renting the car, although they did take an unexpected $250 deposit, which would have been a deal breaker a mere half a year ago. Luckily, I had the funds.

What I WILL say is that in Colorado, they drive the speed limit in the FAST LANE! I was going out of my mind. Almost no traffic and a car that actually WANTS to accelerate and I felt obligated to keep with the flow of traffic... at 65mph. In my brain, 65mph means cruise between 65 and 75. That 10mph difference made me NUTS. Also, I may have scared Amy a smidge, and she remarked that I am an LA driver. It must be true because I felt so relieved when I got home.

Overall, it was definitely worth it for me to get the car. As expected, I had the independence to come and go as I please, which I used multiple times, including a nostalgic cruise by my old house and school and park. Plus, whenever I needed to get some air, my excuse was "I'm going to run to my car for a second" and race out before anyone thought to ask why. I use this excuse a lot in real life too.

Packing:

I really know this part isn't interesting, but I feel the need to write it anyway. I MUST stop thinking of face wash as superfluous! I couldn't decide if I wanted to check my bag or not when I packed, so I only brought liquids in containers of less than 3 oz and my face wash is more. I always think that my self-maintanance priorities are eyeliner and at least one lotion (although I brought 3 because I might have a problem...). FACE WASH IS A PRIORITY. I immediately broke out.

Dad and Indigo pt. 1:

The first day, I got to my dad's and chatted with him and Indigo for a little while. Indigo either LOVED my gift to her (an autographed picture of Stana Katic from Castle, whom she formerly informed me is her fave) or humored me, but I'm definitely going to assume the former. They were both pretty exhausted though, and I ended up rattling off movies and TV shows and actors and my opinions on them for hours, probably. Then we watched Ratatouille, which we'd all already seen. I'll be honest because I don't think they'll read this, but I was kind of pissed off since I could've spent those two precious hours with Amy, in which we would actually be talking. I just couldn't think of how to leave for Amy's at 3pm when I told them I was going to go at 5 or 6pm. If I'd had any foresight at all, I would have told my dad to take a snooze and I would have gone to the park or for a walk with Indigo. C'est la vie.

Pre-wedding:

I haven't seen many (any?) brides, but I'm pretty sure Amy would still win as the absolute most chill bride ever!

When I arrived, Amy was taking a break from making the cake (she made her own cake! In the shape of the tower from Lord of the Rings) and eating pizza. We broke out some red wine, but quickly decided that we'd prefer beer. So we ran out and got some Blue Moon and drank about half a bottle each before our conversation sparked Amy's memory regarding a store that I would love.

We ended up going to a store call Tradesmart that had BAJILLIONS of movies and books for cheap! I ended up buying Thumbelina and The Doors and the book Game of Thrones. There was no cell service in the store, so when we emerged, Amy was bombarded by calls from her mom, as it was 9pm the night before her wedding and we basically left a crime scene behind - half empty glasses of wine, partially eaten warm pizza, unfinished cake, half empty cold bottles of beer and the TV still on.

Eventually we got home and got back to the cake while watching Monty Python's Flying Circus. At one point Amy turned to me and said "I'm already losing motivation for this," which I found hilarious.

At about 11:30pm, Amy revealed her hair plan to me, which was that III was going to put it up using hairagami. Remember the commercials from the 90s? It turns out, it's just two snap bracelets sewn together. After about 15 minutes of trying and mostly failing, we went to sleep.

Woke up at 8am. Got ready. Her family made a breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and bacon! I did Amy's hair with more success. Packed up the car and headed out.

Now for some pictures:

The wedding took place at an establishment in a small shopping center in the mountains. The ceremony took place outside. There was a little stream with a bridge over it and we all stood on the precipice with a pretty arch and a mountain backdrop.

It was beautiful and sunny, but there was a nice, crisp mountain breeze that was a little chilly. The preacher had a very low, soothing voice and he read the Corinthians passage about love being patient and kind etc. Amy and Matt also picked out their own poems for the preacher to read, which were very beautiful, but I can't remember them anymore. They also took two bottles of different colored sand -- black and a rust orange-- and poured them into a vase to symbolize their individual identities blending together in unity. The preacher said something along the lines of "may you be in love for longer than it would take to separate each grain of sand."

I want to include this picture of me walking down the aisle with the best man, Scott, because I am NOT wearing opaque white stockings. That is just my legs!!

Bridesmaids. I'm wearing the dress that my grandma Cheryl made for me. She suggested I send it to Amy ahead of time to get professionally... steamed? Ironed? Pressed? Anyway, I didn't do it...

Also, I've had many child sims wearing the flower girl's exact outfit.

Wedding party, regular. Also, despite what it looks like, standing on the slope of that bridge in heels for what felt like a jillion hours, KILLED.

Wedding party + masks.

I don't know how well you can tell from the picture, but their masks were VERY intricate and beautiful.

Lord of the Rings style cake, that I participated in. I can't even TELL you how delicious this cake was. Chocolate and chocolate chip cream cheese cake with a REALLY delicious frosting. I'm not even a huge fan of cake, in general. When I finally get my own pictures developed (I had to get disposable cameras because my digital camera is dead), you will see some pictures of my sister feasting on the cake later.

The figurines on the other cake. Awesome.

After the ceremony and JILLIONS of pictures, we went back inside for the reception. I signed as a witness on the marriage license, which was neat. Also, as part of the wedding party, we got to eat first, which was sweet! They had really tender turkey, potatoes, vegetables (peppers, mushrooms, zucchini), salad and bread. Delicious. We also got two drink coupons. I got a pino grigio (white) and a coke.

After the meal, we all got glasses of champagne and I got to make the first toast. I was debating myself over whether I was going to post the actual toast I made or if I was just going to brag about it. I've decided the latter.

I was pretty nervous and so while my voice remained steady, the paper I held was shaking uncontrollably, although Amy said it offered a nice touch. But the guests were generous with the laughter, so it was nice. Plus, afterwards I got a jillion compliments. One guest said it made her cry and one told me that she was a speech teacher and would have given me an A. Amy's grandmother asked if I planned to do anything with writing and I told her that I am going to try and write for movies, and then immediately regretted setting such high expectations for my future. Oh well.

After my speech, the best man gave a toast in which he quoted a good portion of The Princess Bride "mawage" speech, which I loved. Amy's dad did a cute speech about how he knows that Amy and Matt aren't related (because they both have the same last name). Amy's grandpa gave a very very brief and funny speech. "May all your problems be little ones." That was it.

Afterwards, Amy and Matt cut the cake. Then they did their first dance (Frank Sinatra's "I Love You," which they had Matt pick out just moments before the wedding. In fact, the way I met the groom was by going up to him, introducing myself, and demanding he pick a song. Unconventional, perhaps). Then Amy and her dad danced. And then we all danced forever and ever.

Then we went back to Amy's parent's house, where we dressed in casual clothes and had some pulled pork sandwiches, beer from a keg, and cake and we watched a picture slideshow of Amy and Matt's childhood to present. Then Amy's family watched a tivo-ed Broncos game, which was super nostalgic for me because I remember going to her house during the games all the time. Of course, we'd dress up for the Broncos and then promptly go downstairs to play pool and watch Celebrity Death Match. I'm actually thinking of a specific Superbowl party...

Eventually it was time for me to leave. It was such an emotional day that Amy and I ended up just bawling. She also gave me a bridesmaid gift-- a flask with my name engraved on it.

(Note: I didn't really get her a gift because... I didn't really know how I could do it, so I just wrote her a check and gave it to her in a card encouraging them to spend it on chocolate. I also gave her my copy of my toast, which I wrote out in hand because I thought it would be more special that way.)

I kind of had to settle down for a bit and used the time to cruise by my old house and a few other areas. Then I went on a wild goose chase to find my dad and my sister, which I won't detail because this is already way too long.

Indigo pt. 2:

When I got back to my dad's house, my dad decided to go across the street and catch the end of a hockey game and give Indigo and I some time alone. In almost all circumstances, being forced to bond with an 11-year-old for 45 minutes sounds like torture. But Indigo is fucking AWESOME!! First of all, her current favorite book is Hunger Games, so we bonded over that. We talked about how girls are lame in middle school and she told me about a girl she knew who was annoying but she had a brain tumor so Indigo was conflicted, which I thought was very complex and amazing and empathetic of her. She loves to dance (tap, ballet, point and... something else) and when I was talking to her about dance movies, she finally reminded me that she was 11 by saying she couldn't see Black Swan because she wasn't allowed. She wants to be either a singer/dancer/actor (although she isn't confident about her singing abilities (I didn't hear her, so I don't know)) OR a forensic anthropologist (like Bones). We took some pictures and I suggested we do a goofy one and asked her what scenario we should react to. She said "let's pretend we're seeing a guy just pooping on the street!" Awesome! AWESOME!! When my dad came back, I KIND OF wanted to tell him to go away again.

Mostly, she is just an AMAZING conversationalist and I felt SUPER kindred to her. I felt like she is my sister, even though I've seen her for maybe... 50 days of her life. Even some of our preferences are the same-- we both prefer chocolate-based ice cream. Neither of us like icing. Okay, so it's not ground breaking similarities, but it still felt awesome at the time.

The best part was that when I first arrived in CO, before we even picked Indigo up from her mom's house, my dad told me that Indigo's dream is to live in Golden, CO forever. However, at the end of the trip, Dad told me that Indigo is now planning to move to LA in 7 years. I was flattered, but it was especially reinforced when we went back to her mom's house and her mom said the same thing of Indigo's new LA plans. I am always amazed at how hard we bond. And how comfortable she is with me. She's unbelievable.

I didn't actually see her in that can-can outfit, but my dad just posted this of her from Halloween.

Dad pt. 2:

After Indigo left, my dad and I got to bond. We tend to talk about life, monumentally. Gaping generalizations and realizations about how to be happy and fulfilled. We ended up going outside and my dad made a fire in his backyard. It was actually hilarious to me because he's SUPER efficient about it. Getting certain sticks from one area of his yard. Logs from another area. Different logs from another area. A huge trashcan specifically dedicated to pine needles for his fire, which we gathered from the front yard. Placing the chairs down wind. He builds a LOT of fires in his backyard, is what I'm saying.

Mostly, it was excellent. I'll tell you a couple of things though, because I feel confident that my dad won't read this and even if he did, he would probably just skim... but when I talk to my dad, it isn't the same as it used to be and it fills me with disappointment. We don't connect in the same way, and part of it is because I AM kind of bitter about our relationship, but it's not really his fault and I don't really want to talk about it with him. I don't mean to be bitter either, but I feel cheated that I'm his second tier daughter and I got stuck with Ernie. These feelings color my interactions with him now. And it just especially hurts because having long talks with my dad always used to be REALLY incredible and inspiring and eye opening.

More awkwardly though, I didn't want to talk about my mom. There was just zero way that I wasn't going to cry--between crying so much earlier at and after the wedding and having some alcohol in my system and being with my dad late at night and already being super sensitive about my mom at this time-- and I just didn't want to spoil the moment. When I felt we were going to slip into talking about my mom for real, I told him that we always get to a point in which we talk about her and I just wanted to avoid the whole topic, which was a little awkward. Unfortunately, by nature of our relationship, we kept talking about parents. His parents. Him being a parent. Brothers and sisters. To be more clear, IIII kept bringing up my mom. So I had to keep doing a 180 every time I accidentally brought her up. Our conversation got a little stilted because of that. Although I am pretty proud of how I handled it anyway.

The last day:

The next day, I learned that I left a few things at Amy's house and, more importantly, I stole a few things from her. However, it ended up being fortuitous because it gave me the perfect excuse to pop by her new apartment, which I was DYING to see. It is AWESOME, by the way. If I wasn't so pleased with my own apartment, I'd be REALLY jealous. Plus, it was nice to say goodbye to her again, but without so many tears.

Then I headed to Denver to help my dad's long-term girlfriend, Asiana, move. I enjoy moving and actually, we were moving so briefly that it barely counted. It was excellent seeing the very beginning of Asiana's new place. It'll be great to see how it evolves. My dad let us spend some time alone together and we walked around her new neighborhood looking for coffee shops. We eventually found one, but we found WAY more bars and adult entertainment stores. It was lovely.

Then I went to lunch with my grandparents. It was WAY more lovely than I imagined it would be. Usually they're very judgmental and annoying, but they were very supportive of all of my choices and seemed pleased with me. Afterwards, I remembered that the last time I saw them, it was nice as well, but I guess it got blocked out of my mind by the many MANY unpleasant experiences I've had with them.

Then I took off for the airport. Returned the car. It was very nice because everyone kept asking me if I was okay on time, which I thought was kind. Of course, I was just fine on time, because of my time issues.

The plane ride was great. We had to stop and switch planes in Las Vegas. Did you know that there are slot machines in the AIRPORT in Vegas? Something about that city absolutely disgusts me and I was disturbed by the gambling in the airport. Whatever.

On my second flight, I started writing an imaginary blog about my trip and lamented the fact that I didn't have my computer. Oh well.

The only unpleasant part:

I decided to wait until I actually got my bags before I called for the shuttle to take me to my car. I REALLY shouldn't have. I called them at 9:53pm and patiently waited until 10:20pm, when I instantly became furious. I called again, and waited again until 10:43pm, when I was so pissed that I wanted to cry. Of course, me being furious on the phone sounds like "Hi, I'm so sorry to keep calling but..." On that third call, they told me that I'm supposed to be in a completely different place. Basically, on the ticket it says that you need to stand under the red "hotel" sign. There are a JILLION of these signs everywhere, and I was supposed to be at a SPECIFIC one in the middle island, in between two terminals and not just at the sign right out the door. Why they didn't tell me or even call me when I wasn't there, is beyond me.

FINALLY I saw a shuttle with the same name as my parking center. Unfortunately, there are two companies with the same one and that shuttle belonged to the other one. PISSED!! But a few minutes later, the guy with the wrong shuttle told me that my parking service picked up one of HIS clients, so he was going to my location anyway and would bring me with him. I wanted to make out with him in gratitude, but I settled for tipping him $2. What a kind guy.

I ended up getting home at 11:30pm.

And that's the end!!

Anticipating November

November is shaping up to be awesome already, I think!

Next Wednesday, I plan to attend a comedy night. The reason this makes headlines is because it came SUPER highly recommended by a producer friend of mine who said "This is one of those 'I SAW THEM BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS' shows. This is probably the best, most original character-driven comedy I have ever seen." I have no idea what it's about, but I don't think I can miss this. I must know. I must have a riotous Wednesday evening.

Then, upon reading my daily dose of cracked.com, Dan O'Brien convinced me to go to my first ever comic book convention called Comikaze. It's only $12 (I'm only going for one day). Read this and tell me you're not super jealous of my choice!! I already bought my ticket for Saturday, so if I have any readers that I know who live in LA and want to join me, there is a 40-50% chance I'll be going alone (unless cracked is as persuasive to Corina as it is to me). And while I usually LOVE doing things alone, this might actually be kind of sad...

Still, I'm SUPER pumped!

Lastly, I just signed up to volunteer at the LA Food Bank with people from Present Pictures (the people who gave me the gift of The Perfect Family) on Nov. 19. Absolutely r-excellent!! There is nothing better than a crisp, fall morning of volunteering, followed by some snacks and a chat with people you haven't seen in a while. It's a feel good activity on almost all of the possible levels.

Of course, Thanksgiving also occurs in November. My dad will turn...41? 42? on Nov. 16. Amy will turn 24 as a married woman on November 30. Natalya's birthday is Nov. 27.

Whatever. That's all about November.

Also, this is my 498 blog (on this website...). Maybe I'll make a special one for #500. Probs not, though.

Pre-trip Babbling

I am SO excited to drive that rental car on Saturday! I'm even more excited about other parts of my trip, but... that's what I feel like expressing. Especially because MY car is giving me grief again. Physically it's in regular shape (still waiting on rusty muffler companion piece), but now I have to deal with the registration. I recalled, with the help of my mother, that my registration is up this month. So I need to switch my car insurance, plates, and possibly license. And I don't want to be bitter about this, but I swear they make it almost COMPLETELY impossible. Why is the DMV not open on Saturday?!! I would GLADLY (well... we'll say that although in an alternate universe in which the DMV WAS open on Saturday, the real adverb would probably be closer to "begrudgingly." But pressing on...) wait at the DMV all day on a Saturday, but taking the morning off is just the worst. This is doing absolutely nothing for the reputation of government run agencies, I'll tell you that. It's not even a good story because I've NEVER heard anything nice about the DMV.

The point is I stressed about this for a week and a half, then promptly decided that it simply can't be done. I simply can't get the registration switched before the end of the month. I pray that no cops pull me over in the week or two (hopeful estimate) of November when I'm trying to work it out. I love the relief that giving up gives you. Like when you're running late and you start going CRAZY, praying, cutting corners on time. But then after you realize there is no way for you to be on time, you instantly relax. It's done now. There is no hope. I can just plan for the consequences now.

Things to be done:

1. Laundry. Bummer.

2. Buy a specific thing for Amy that I don't think you can get in CO.

3. Pack

4. Find camera and charge battery

5. Make sure I can park at the airport.

My MAIN goal for tonight was going to be to write my speech. I had every intention of going home tonight and pounding it out like a paper. However, last night, as I was wandering around my apartment my brain just started giving an imaginary speech. After 5 minutes I realized that I should write this shit down!! and bolted to my room. 2 hours later, speech complete. Well... it's good enough that I won't be ashamed to read it as is, but I've made some changes throughout the day.

I'm having a bit of a fling with Monty Python. I wouldn't call it a full blown obsession. A mild flirtation. But I bought their autobiography for $6 (with shipping) on amazon. Mostly so that I don't go into an awkward spiral in which I only read Ella Enchanted over and over every day. The abuse that book has taken is evident. No one would be surprised if said spiral was already taking place, by the looks of it.

Bah! It will be so weird to leave California! I will not have daydreams about them refusing to let me back in once I've stepped out. I will not.

Another Weekend Summary

Pretty good weekend.

On Friday I went to an improv show at UCB! Even though I think of myself as a consumer of improv, I'm not enough! Knowing 20 episodes of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" does not an improv connoisseur make. Mostly I was just extremely impressed. Although there were occasional extended moments of zero laughter that made me feel terrible but I'm pretty sure it's just an inevitability. I had to force a chuckle on occasion, but for the most part it was riotous. I went with my high school friend Darri and a friend, and we met up with yet another friend later in the night for some Italian food at a VERY quaint Italian restaurant on Melrose. I'll go back if I remember what it was called. Very cute outdoor garden in the back.

Saturday I woke up early to get the mechanic at 8am (lame). But when I got there, he didn't have the part. I am in love with my mechanic, but he could've called. But whatever. I didn't go back to sleep and instead watched Drive (which I own due to job perks (when I have job perks, they are the BEST!)).

It was good. From the beginning it was clear that they were trying to bring an 80s vibe to it via the soundtrack. It reminded me of a Less Than Zero or True Romance (although that was 93), even though I don't EXACTLY remember the soundtrack for either of those films. It was fine, except that the acting was too good to correspond with such jolting music. There was definitely a scene in particular with Carey Mulligan where the music and scene were so off that it was more like listening to the movie in mute and letting the loud neighbors next door provide the tunes.

Other than that, it was stellar acting and casting (Albert Brooks!!), a pretty straightforward plot, and an annoying ending (but it seems like all movies like this have an annoying ending). Mostly, it was ABSOLUTELY worth watching for the Gosling alone. I was literally groaning aloud every time his mouth twitched to a grin and I rewound frequently to get a second helping of certain looks exchanged between Gosling and Mulligan. Plus, he was a mostly silent character, which means that his suave, altruistic, mysterious appearance was never tarnished with shitty dialogue.

ANYWAY

Then I watched Miss Congeniality and spent the remainder of the daylight hours rereading Ella Enchanted. The latter was especially excellent, even though it's a children's book and I basically know it by heart. If I had to make an HONEST list of my top books, it would still be in the top 5 (assuming Harry Potter is counted as one book...). Then I had some friends over... so at least I did something...

Sunday I got a hair straightener for the wedding. I'm not sure if that was a life changing purchase since my hairstyle is what I lovingly refer to as "hangover hair," even though I never actually have a hangover. For now I haven't even opened the straightener because I have neither a blowdryer, nor the willingness to devote 15 minutes to hair in the morning. Lotion Regime has taken that time slot and I prioritize moist skin above straight hair. For now.

I also refilled some paint colors, got a couple of canvases, and scoured a Vogue I bought several months ago for new painting ideas while watching the extended version of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I LOVE that movie. LOVE.

Plus, I finally tested out my solar, cool white Christmas lights. PERFECT choice. Cool lights are so elegant and unobtrusive and give the fairyland impression that I love. Very pleased.

Wedding next weekend!

A Mundane Day (Detailed)

The weekend was pretty good.

Went to a 9-year-olds birthday party. Yes, while I actively avoid going out to drinks (I'm working on it (but not really...)), I will absolutely jump for a chance to attend a child's party. It has all of my favorite elements: free pizza, karaoke machine (although I didn't utilize it), a bouncy castle (again, not utilized due to a revelation I had 3 years ago: bouncy castles are HARD y'all. I can take 30-90 seconds before I fall straight to sleep (and bouncy castles maintain the warmth and comfort for the kind of instant unconsciousness that suggests narcolepsy (presumably the downside is the abundance of tiny feet jumping on your face, but I'm pretty sure I could take it))). Most importantly, such parties have a plethora of the shortest, funnest, most scatterbrained tiny humans running around and asking you where they put the cake (because everyone over 5 feet is MOSTLY just a cake supplier to a 9-year-old).

ANYWAY,

The next day was mechanic day. I had to be there at 8am, which was lame because I had to wake up earlier than I do on a work day. Whatever whatever. I brought the car over and my mechanic (/lover?) told me to call back in the afternoon. So I have a minimum of 4 hours to kill.

Went to my old shopping center (the one I used to park in for 2 hours per night, talking on the phone to Kevin, when I lived with Davida) and immediately headed for Denny's. Got an OKAY breakfast burrito. I'm a harsh judge of breakfast burritos now that Corina and I have made it our mission to find the best breakfast burrito establishments. One of the many, highly productive goals our roommate-ship has wrought. One hour down.

Next, I get a pedicure at the same shopping center (all of this tale will be at the same shopping center). It was pretty good, although I hadn't shaved my legs because I didn't have that much foresight so... that can be awkward, but it was okay overall. Although I have to mention that for the most part the lady and I weren't really chatting and mostly I just vaguely watched what she was doing through sleepy eyes. But when she started the leg and foot massage she started making really intense eye contact, really gauging my face. I can really only describe it as feeling like I was on the receiving end of a blow job. And I won't lie-- I was being seduced a little bit. Although not enough to pay for extra time (happy ending?). Anyway, another hour down.

Then I decide to make some calls, but my phone has only 2 bars so I have to make them count. A short one to my mom (depressing and also confirming that I will NOT be returning home for Christmas), a slightly longer one to my brother (13-years-old and thus useless on the phone), and finally one to a friend from high school whom I haven't spoken to in 5 years (Steph).

3 hours down. And one battery nearly dead.

I call my mechanic, an HOUR after I technically could call him, and he told me that it would be ready around 3 or 4pm but he would call me. Naturally, I spend 10 minutes praying that it's ready at 3pm.

Then I get some soup. Get some chai latte. Read some Bridget Jones' Diary (I unfortunately left my Hunger Games companion book at work). No call at 3pm.

Listen to some Mitch Hedberg. Listen to my music, which was amazing because I realized that I haven't heard a song in good quality for a LONG time (because my car gives me.... more like a SHADOW of a song). Informed by this revelation, I listen to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." Then Whitney and Mariah's "When You Believe." Then a shit-ton of Mariah.

At 4pm I'm about to cry (it's been 8 hours!). I don't want to call and be annoying (and thus upping my bill (in my brain)) but I'm about to kill myself. I decide to walk back to the mechanics and hope he calls en route. When I get there (4:15pm), I see my car on the sidewalk. No one is working on it so they're either finished or... they haven't started (?!). So I go for the annoying and call. And my car is ready! But when I talk to my mechanic he tells me that he's given me a new muffler but since my car is old and from the east coast (weather damaged), the stuff around the muffler (?) is rusty and needs to be replaced. I have to go back next Saturday. NOOOOOO!!

It's okay. It's an exercise in patience. Although I asked him if my headlights and oil change went okay and he admitted that he forgot about the headlights. He did it in a hot second, so I don't care, but it does make me reconsider calling him "my mechanic (/lover?)."

I have to say, I told this tale twice, and to both recipients I mentioned that I was glad I told them my story because then I won't be tempted to write a blog about it. I feel like my longest blog entries often detail the most mundane days. Well so much for that...

Sunday was less eventful. I went to Kohl's which is QUITE a journey from my house, but I got some extras for my wedding ensemble and a new shirt, sweater and nightgown. I WANTED to get one of those fancy olive oil containers that you use to pour oil onto a plate and dip bread in (so... Bertucci's...) but alas, they had none. Probs best because I bet I can find one cheaper than whatever they would sell at Kohl's. I also perused the luggage section. I'm kind of scared to buy luggage because it's so expensive and I'm not POSITIVE of the features I'm going to need throughout my life. I'm not even sure of the ideal size-- I know what's ideal in my HEAD (small (but important-looking)), but not so much what I'm going to want to bring on my future business trips (so far, imaginary). So I'm going to put it off for now.

I DID have a bit of an episode later in the evening. Corina came home and we became less-than-sober, which is noteworthy because I started telling her about how I'm not going home for Christmas and then I just burst into tears. Corina is so lovely and one of the most empathetic people I know, so naturally she started crying with me. It was good, I guess, but I had such a time trying to even us out again. I tried a joke(ish) to recover, but that came off as pathetic, which I could see in her eyes. Then I just announced my difficulty in leveling us out again, which didn't really help either. Finally, I just prayed to be distracted enough to not worry it anymore, which worked, I think.

The important thing is, I seem to be pretty upset that I'm not going home. By Christmas it will have been 2 years. The silver (golden) lining is that I am already booked for housesitting at that time. Yes, that's right. I've already forgotten that I'm sick of housesitting. Or more accurately, I've become suddenly shocked that my checking account numbers are no longer doubling regularly. Plus it's the huskies that I love, which is truly a treat.

Good Weekend (Boring Title)

Excellent weekend.

1. Got to see Julia for the first time in... impossible to estimate the time frame. "Long-ass" is my best approximation. It was magnificent.

And on a side note, I really want to find a bar near me that's casual and only costs $3.50 for a Sam Adams like Rancho (her preferred dive bar). I just can't make the journey to Altadena every time the mood strikes.

2. I basically did nothing on Saturday. This point is emphasized by the fact that I spent approximately 45 minutes walking around my living room with my pajamas and heels on, whistling. Not cleaning or waiting for something or thinking hard about a vexing situation. Just whistling. Mostly I had pre-forgiven myself for wasting a day because on Sunday...

3. Corina and I had Nesting Day. Our apartment has looked like we just moved in since... we moved in. In July. We picked this day several weeks in advance and we had 5 goals.

Goals:

a. Breakfast burritos-- We weren't THRILLED with our burrito vendor (we had to pay extra for cheese and bacon), but it was delicious.

b. Christmas lights- we were anticipating more of a struggle on this, but Target has an INCREDIBLE selection of Christmas lights. Presumably it was serendipitous timing, but there were seriously boxes of JUST purple Christmas lights. And solar powered lights!

Corina got a box of blue and a box of purple for her room. I got a box of red for mine (I'm not 1000% confident about my choice, but I haven't hung them yet-- we'll see). We got a box of colored for the living room and 2 boxes of solar powered, cool white lights for our balcony.

c. mats/rug - since we planned this day forever ago, we fully intended on getting our things at garage sales and thrift stores. However we quickly learned that rugs are expensive. Really expensive. Like... $100. So we've temporarily abandoned the idea of a rug in favor of mats. We got an outdoor welcome mat and a kitchen mat at Lowe's and we got 4 rugs that are all awesome and slightly different from Osh (I'd describe them more, but I feel like in this case, my words will never give you an accurate picture. Better wait and photograph it). We'll wait on the rug until we're certain we know what the forever color scheme of our living room will be.

d. Dining table - Again, we really hunted. $150 for a decent one at a garage sale. $200 for a good one at a thrift store. More than $200 at the unfinished furniture store. We finally went to Ikea where we found a very basic table for $70. The chairs were $20 each, so we only got two. What I'm saying is, if you eat at my house, you will be sitting on patio furniture. And depending on the size of the gathering, it might not even be a chair.

Corina and I assembled our table and chairs to the music of Eric Whitacre until our fingers became enflamed.

e. Pizza - We prepared the box of pizza dough mix that my aunt gave me and made a pizza topped with pesto, basil, tomato slices, sun dried tomato slices, pieces of fresh mozzarella, pieces of feta, and garlic. Cooked on the pizza stone that my aunt sent me. It was a wildly delicious (and slightly redundant) pizza!

For posterity, I must add that... I felt unwell in ways I will not detail this morning. I feel strongly that this is not a coincidence. But if I still had more of that pizza in the fridge, the knowledge of its consequences would not deter further consumption. It was worth it, is what I'm saying.

We ended the day with some apricot beer and Grosse Point Blank.