stave it off, 1-2-3

It's been a sort of gross three days or so (we're neck-deep in hurricane season here so it's been rainy and windy since Sunday) and although I wouldn't say I have Seasonal Affective Disorder or anything, four straight days without sunshine can get a girl down. While I did my fair share of wallowing yesterday (with Matt over a couple of beers) and it does have its merits, I'm trying to refrain from excessive self-pitying as much as possible. So in order to stave off the cloudy-weather blues, I'm focusing on exciting things that are coming up. I think you know what that means.

IT'S BULLETED LIST TIME

• My co-worker Alice (not her real name, but she'd approve) and I just got the go-ahead to plan and run a Harry Potter Palooza Party in November and we are SO EXCITED. And we JUST CAN'T HIDE IT. Children of the library, prepare yourselves for butterbeer (non-alcoholic, of course), pretzel stick wands, Quidditch relay races, and a library-wide dragon egg hunt! (Like I said, SO EXCITED.)
• I'm in the process of re-arranging, re-organizing, and re-decorating my bedroom in my parent's house. I'm talking new bedspread and linens, new headboard, new desk, extra storage, the whole shebang. Because unless someone steps up as an anonymous benefactor and decides to deposit several thousand dollars in my bank account on a monthly basis, I'm gonna be living in that room until I finish graduate school. And while the World of Van Gogh theme that I chose 9 years ago worked for me when I was 15, I'm kind of over it now. Dammit. I hate it when my parents are right.
• AWESOME NEWS ALERT: Matt gets a whole week of paid vacation time starting in March, and to celebrate the first vacation he's had in two years, he and I are stealing away on a 7-night cruise to the Bahamas. Yeah. It's like. I don't even. I've never been to the Bahamas and I've never been on a cruise and I'm beyond myself with excitement. It's not until May, but that won't stop me from obsessively researching every aspect of cruising, or imagining myself lying out on some white sand beach, or fantasizing about eating steak and cheesecake at midnight before going bowling and nightswimming and then ordering BLTs via room service. 

Ahhhh. That's much better. Now if this stupid weather doesn't let up, I think I'll be able to handle it.

But seriously, Weather Fairies. Make it stop or I'll smush you.

gorram ruttin' reavers

Last Halloween I was working the library's Halloween Party and I dressed up as a friendly witch and painted ghost and Frankenstein faces onto 7-year-olds.

So. This year I'm off on Halloween and I want to be as horrifying as possible. Scotty and Jewel are throwing a Whedonverse party and my costume choice was obvious. I'm going as a Reaver, AKA the brutal and animalistic space barbarians from Firefly.

That's hot. 

That picture is the most prevalent image of a Reaver on the Internet. It's like pulling teeth trying to find a good solid shot of one, let alone a female Reaver. So I'm gonna base my costume off of these two gems I found:

[Totally had to remove this one 'cause it came from a site that's infected with Malware apparently. Ugh.]

I like this one because a) it's an actual costume worn by a female Reaver in Serenity (to which the movie production geek in me says: OMGMGMGMGMG) and b) it's a great reference point as to the color scheme and aesthetic that I should aim for.

OK, first of all, that is one badass chick. Second of all, it's really impressive without being too elaborate. I feel like I could put together a costume like this without having to go to a Ren Faire, is what I'm saying.

My search starts this week and I'm little-kid giddy about it. I'll keep you guys updated as I find stuff!

Too soon?

So two weeks ago one of my co-workers caught me lusting over engagement rings online.

This was her reaction: *crazy grin* UH OH!!!
This was my reaction: *quickly minimizes all windows* I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT! I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!

But I do want to talk about it. I just didn't want to, you know, talk about it with my co-workers. I allowed them to ask ONE question: How long have you been dating? (Answer: 3 years.) They nodded and seemed impressed, but I could have sworn it was the amused, affectionate kind of impressed that really just means they think I'm adorable, all fantasizing about big-girl things like COMMITMENT and DOMESTIC BLISS.

Then my mom stumbled upon what probably looked to her like a guest list because... well, it kind of looked like a guest list (it was really just a list of all of the people we know, though) and according to my sister, thought the whole concept was all sorts of hilarious. Fabulous.

So, Discretion FAIL on my behalf, because I keep on browsing wedding blogs at work and leaving wedding-related stuff all over my house and telling every damn person I know that IT'S ON THE HORIZON. Even though it's not really on the horizon because it'll most likely be another two years before we actually tie the proverbial knot. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut until it's a done deal.

Sundry Summer 2010

Pictures from my first summer out in the Real World:

John Mayer concert at the Camden Waterfront with my sister, BFF, and Matt (not pictured).

Lots of D&D with Scotty and Jewel and their kitty:

Kitty liked my Homestar Runner messenger bag:

First Phillies game since 5th grade: 

Fun and games in Hilton Head, SC:

And one last hurrah in Ocean City, NJ:

Ah, summer. I shall miss you. 

sometimes i write haiku.

I just got back from my annual family vacation in South Carolina and I can't believe how much energy I have. I unpacked all of my bags, a task I usually drag out for an entire month. Matt's coming over later on, but that's not for several hours and so I have plenty of time to kill.

So I thought I'd write a recap of the four weeks that I went MIA in the blog world.

In the form of several haiku.

So.

Week One - in which I entertain visiting relatives, and see the Phillies play for the first time ever.

Baseball games are fun
but there isn't much to eat
if you are vegan.

So many things to
do in Philly area.
Aunt just wants to shop.

Where are we going
today? Oh, what a shocker.
Shopping. Stab stab stab.

Hm, aunt just gave me
two hundred dollars to spend.
Shopping not so bad.

Week Two - in which I remedy a certain technological issue, and Jewel and I attempt a Buffy season 1 and 2 marathon.

WHOA A NEW LAPTOP.
WOW THE SCREEN IS SO SHINY.
OMG SO COOL.

Oh, Angel. You are
such a creeper. In some states,
this is harassment.

JAMES MARSTERS JAMES MAR
STERS JAMES MARSTERS JAMES MARSTERS
JAMES MARSTERS EEEE SQUEEEEE

[As you can see, that was a very exciting week for me.]

Week Three: in which I help my sister prep for college, and can't stop playing Sid Meier's Civilization 4.

Just one more turn. Then
I'll go to bed. Just one more
turn. SHIT IT'S SUNRISE.

(Why am I)
unexpectedly
nostalgic over shower
caddies and whiteboards?

[OK, had to cheat on that one a little bit.]

Week Four: in which I play D&D, help Linds house sit, and attempt to make my dad a cake for his birthday.

90 percent sure
we're playing this game wrong, but
damn, is this game fun.

Adorable house
makes me want to buy a house.
What magic is this?!

Well, dad, I made you
this nice cake, BUT NOW IT'S GOT
ANTS ALL OVER IT.

[True story. I left it on the counter and the next morning it was completely crawling with tiny, tiny ants. Nice.]

If you decide to leave a comment, feel totally free to haiku. That's right, haiku's a verb now. I just decided.

Catch Me If You Can - Part One: The Wedding.

In an effort to catch you all up with my life, I'm picking up where my last couple posts left off in a little series I'm calling Catch Me If You Can. We'll see how long I can keep this up until I just decide to go back to posting the boring details of my everyday life in the form of bulleted lists.

***

Things really started to fall apart for this blog around July 4th weekend, when my cousin's over-the-top New York City wedding weekend happened. There was just too much going on, and my computer was dying a slow death, and my relatives came to live with us for a week afterward, and there's just not enough time in the day for shit like that.

But. The wedding. At some points it was really, really fun, and at some points it was just kind of annoying, and there were things that I thought were going to be lame that turned out unbelievably cool and things that I thought were going to be cool that turned out awkward and weird, and there were things I finally saw done right and things I would have done differently were I planning a wedding (like not having it in New York City on July 4th weekend, for starters).

But mostly, it was just great to see all of my favorite family members in one place for three consecutive days.

Maid of honor extraordinaire.

My grandmother, who came all the way from the Philippines.

There was a portrait booth set up between the bar and the dance floor -- things got weird.

There were so many people at this wedding -- but you wouldn't know it from this picture. Those empty pews are sad.

I grew up with this motley crew. Don't let our fancy outfits fool you -- we're a bunch of freaks.

Ahem. Case in point.

Professional pictures are here, and I really hope you check them out if you are even remotely interested in wedding photography, because they're awesome.

it's aliiiiive! ("it" is me. i'm alive.)

Wow. Here are the main reasons I've been so bloggily absent recently:

1. My relatives from the Philippines stayed at my house from last Saturday to this Sunday, and we had to entertain them 24/7. Which meant lots of late nights, exhausting shopping excursions, day trips into Philly and New York, and extravagant restaurant meals that left me food-comatose and totally useless. Also, I had to sleep on the couch all week, and although our couches are very comfy, they're not really great in the way of lumbar support. I didn't get a lot of good, quality sleep. Is what I'm trying to say.
   
2. My computer is eight kinds of broken. First of all: VIRUSES. AUGH. What kind of an evil creature is lurking in his or her basement creating stupid, terrible viruses that do stupid, terrible things like hijack your web browser so that you can't Google anything and every so often a message pops up saying that I won a prize and it won't let me do anything unless I accept it and give the website my very personal information? To this person I say: Die. Die a horrifying and painful death. Second: I got the dreaded Blue Screen of Death the other day. And we all know what that means. I might as well just throw it in the garbage right now. Third: My computer is Very Elderly. It's on its last legs. Actually, I don't even know if it has legs right now! Maybe it's just dragging itself along on its front legs! 

This is way funnier than it should be. Please, someone else tell me this makes them laugh.

So the fate of my blog is up in the air until I can figure out what do with with my sad, old computer. I'm thinking I'm just going to throw in the towel and buy a new one. I need one for grad school, anyway. 

Anyways, I just wanted to pop in and say: Hey! I'm not dead! And I've been keeping up with everyone else's blogs even if I haven't been commenting, I swear! Is anyone out there? Hello? ::taps microphone:: Hello??