If I could teach the world to sing

Do you ever hear songs that instantly transport you back in time?  Or remind you immediately of a single person so much that it becomes "their" song?  I know we all have things like that.  When I hear 'California' by Phantom Planet, I'm transported to college, sitting in my friend's dorm room watching endless hours of The OC.  When I hear 'Amarillo by Morning' by George Strait, I'm a kid again, playing with my sisters.  When I hear 'Macarena', I'm ten, dancing to it in my best friend's bedroom.  And when I hear our ridiculous song, I'm sent back to freshman year, sitting in the hallway of my dorm, talking to you on the phone about everything under the sun, including what a strangely awesome song 'Come On Eileen' is.  Do you think it's strange that I, being a freshman in college, a woman of the world, should have had such a relationship with such a youngun as yourself?  Do you think it's strange that our relationship has lasted through the years?  There are songs I can't listen to now, you know.  Songs that have nothing to do with you, and yet remind me of you, and our in and out relationship.  And the way it ended.  However, I have gotten better.  Today when I heard our song, I laughed.  I didn't cry.  And that within itself is a big step.  It's the first time I've heard it since right after.  That shows progress, don't you think?  It was a complete surprise, and you haven't been on my mind for a while.  All of a sudden, I was sitting in the laundry room talking to you about Queens and your childhood.  I know so much, and yet so little.  You talked so much, and said so little.  You're like the Doctor in that way, you know.  You probably don't.  You didn't know how much I love that show.  There are a lot of things you didn't know.  Like how after that one time, I was so mad at you, and couldn't show it because your friends were there.  Or after that one huge fight we had, I cried myself to sleep over your idiocy.  Or after you kissed me at your birthday party, I was a complete mixed up fool.  And how I had finally decided to stop our cycle.  But I guess you did it for us, didn't you.  That's one good thing to come out of this I guess.  Though truthfully, I'd be all right with continuing the cycle, because it would mean you were here and not there.  This is the most I've written to you in a while.  I feel weird, and kind of bad, because I feel like I always want to talk to you, or talk about you, or something.  Do you think people are tired of it?  I feel like I'd be a little tired of it.  But I try not to bring it up too much.  I don't want to annoy people.  You were annoying, did you know that?  You drove me nuts sometimes.  But I always loved you.  And I always will, my Toto.

Repeats

There are a lot of people I know who read a book once or watch a movie once or a TV series once and they're done with it.  They don't need to read it or watch it again because they've already seen it or read it, and they know what happens.  I am not at all one of those people.  I think there are two sides to this coin, as there are to every situation.  The one side is that by only doing something once opens you up to new things, and you don't get bogged down doing the same thing over and over and over again (which if you expect the same thing each time is the definition of insanity).  Reading or watching the same things can be a way of becoming stuck in a constant, never-moving area.  You don't get to try new things because you're drawn by the compulsion to do the same things you've already done, and if you're not careful, you get stuck there for a very long time.  Thus you become boring and blah.

The other side is that by repeating books or movies or TV shows, not only do you get to continue your relationship with said story (because let's face it, it is a relationship of sorts, albeit a one-sided one), you also learn new things every time you read or watch.  For example, I am currently reading two books which I have read before.  One is a classic, a fantastic book that I've read a million and twelve times and every time I read it, I find something that strikes me anew (review coming soon Linds!).  The other is a continuation of a series I've read before, but I have only read this book once.  I'm rereading it because I got the final books in the series for Christmas and I found myself forgetting who characters were and what the deal was.  So I'm rereading and on this second read I am able to look past the basic story into the deeper connections between the characters and the events happening in the story.  There are people who can do that their first read through, but I am not one of them.  I first read for the story, then I reread for the details.

It's the same thing with movies and TV shows.  Of course some movies I rewatch because of the story or the dialogue or whatever, but there are some I just feel compelled to watch because I missed something the first time.  Or I caught it but I didn't realize its significance.  Which brings me to my dilemma for this weekend.  For the first time in a while I have absolutely nothing to do.  I have a little laundry to be done and my dishes need washed, but other than those rather small chores, my weekend lies wide open.  Here is my problem.  I want to have a marathon of sorts, where I hunker down on the couch and watch a series only to emerge for food sleep and church.  But what should I watch?  I am in full nerd mode at the moment, so I'm fluctuating between rewatching Season 1 and Season 2 of Sherlock, rewatching the entire 6 seasons of Doctor Who,  or jumping into a completely new series, such as Firefly, which wouldn't take me long, since there's only one season, or Supernatural.  Or should I watching something completely different, like Gilmore Girls or Friends?  I have a feeling it will end up being me drawing names from a hat or playing eenie meenie minie mo.  But I'll let you know how it turns out :-). 

Wedding Plans

Now before we all freak out because "What do you MEAN WEDDING PLANS?! YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED?!"  No, I am not getting married, at the moment or any time in the near future.  My future husband is releasing a new record in a month, so he's a little busy.  Plus he has no idea who I am, but hey I'm optimistic :-).

ANYWAYS!  I'm not getting married, but two of my best friends have accepted a marriage proposal from their significant others, and so they're getting married, and have both asked me to be in the wedding.  Well it was less of an ask, and more of an assumption.  I mean I've known one of these girls for twenty years (WHAT?!) and we've always said we would be in each other's weddings, and the other I've known for twelve years, and that's a pretty long time as well!!  So yeah, I've been asked to be in two weddings this year, and I've accepted both.

When I accepted the first, it was a total no brainer.  I'd be there with bells on my fingers and rings on my toes.  When I accepted the second, it of course was a no brainer as well, but it was more thought about because OMG what if they overlap?  That would totally and completely SUCK.  However, there are two potential dates for one, and a pretty sure date for the other and while they're close, they don't overlap.

My beautiful amazing friend Ally is getting married November 23.  When I first heard that, I had a slight freak out  which I think I hid pretty well from her.  In my head, that was the weekend after Thanksgiving.  My family goes to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving, and I had no idea how I was going to get from Oklahoma to San Antonio in a reasonable amount of time without flying and not having a car there.  But then I checked.  Thanksgiving is the NEXT week, which means my freak out was for nothing.  Yay for nothing freakouts!

My amazingly wonderful friend Amber has two potential dates working for her, and from what I can tell, they'd both be fine with me.  Though one is Nov. 8th, and that would put both weddings in November.  Though that might work out better!  Who knows!

All I know is I am very excited and honored to be a part of these two wonderful women's special days.  Now it's time to start saving for them!!!  

Mind Your Feet

I woke up this morning, took a shower, got dressed, made lunch, and walked out my front door to my car, same as always.  I drove to work, singing along to Christmas songs and (lightly) cursing at drivers who insist on going 20 when the speed limit clearly states 35, same as always.  I pulled into the parking garage, and my spot was open on the second level, same as always.  I parked my car, stopped my iPod, grabbed my lunch and purse and headed for the stairs, same as always.  Halfway down the stairs, it suddenly wasn't the same as always.  My foot got caught on my jeans, and I was falling down a flight of stairs.  I could see myself, lying on the cold hard concrete, bleeding with some sort of broken bone and having the worst Christmas ever.  Then, with the grace and poise that comes with tripping over things A LOT, I miraculously caught myself, untangling my shoe in midair.  I hurried down the rest of the stairs and across the street through the arctic wind and into the office.  Another win for the balance-challenged.

In the Light of Tragedy

In the aftermath of the terrible, heart-crushing tragedy that took place on Friday, it seems utterly frivolous to return to my regular blogging without at least some remembrance or something to honor those who lost their lives to unprovoked violence.  My heart wrenches whenever I think about those affected by the tragedy, especially the families of those who sacrificed so much.  As stories of untold bravery pour in, such as the teacher who ushered her first graders into their classroom bathroom, and kept them quiet until the gunfire stopped, or the brave teacher who hid her children in closets and cupboards then lied to the gunman to save them, giving up her own life in the process, I am overwhelmed by feelings of great grief and haunting images. This sort of thing should never happen, let alone have happened four times in the last two years.  That's not even counting the minor (if you can call them that) incidents where only a few people were killed by someone going apeshit with a firearm.  I don't know what needs to happen in our country to stop these, but something needs to be done.  Whether it's harsher gun control or more focus on mental health issues, or both (which I think is what needs to happen), something needs to be done to stop these terrible, horrible occurances that seem to be becoming more and more mainstream day by day.  My heart goes out to those who are suffering the affects of the Connecticut shooting, as well as all of those who have been affected by the smaller shootings that seem to occur on an almost daily basis.  May God bless us all and keep us all safe, and help guide us in the direction that will lead to an end to such senseless heartbreak.

Fancy

I am not a fancy girl.  Tulle makes me itch, makeup takes too long, and I'm not really a fan of pink.  I can't fix my own hair, I bite my nails, and I'm about as clumsy as one person could be.  But sometimes I get this itch. This fancy itch that just won't go away no matter how I wish it would.  This fancy itch wants me to do fancy things, like attempt to curl my hair on a regular basis, or paint my nails a bright red (which by the way helps me not to bite them).  But the real main itch wants me to be fancy to all my friends.  The itch wants me to throw a fancy pants dinner party.  You know, like the ones seen on all the blogs and all over pinterest.  Where the decor is fancy, the people are fancier and the food is fanciest.  Now, every time I've thrown a dinner party in the past, it has not turned out how I thought it should.  Don't get me wrong, they've been a blast, and I'm a damn good cook if I say so myself, but they never turn out the way I think they should in my head.  So here is what my dream fancy pants dinner party would look like.

The Theme

I always find that just having a random dinner party is fun, but usually works better if there's some sort of theme or current.  For this one, I like Twelfth Night, because it's an underrated holiday which people don't celebrate anymore, and it is the end of the Christmas Holiday!  So we'd have a traditional dessert and someone would be crowned the King and Queen of the party.  Then we'd play games!

The Table

I'm a fan of the plain with splashes of color or pattern.  So I'd go with these plate settings from Anthropologie:

with these from Williams-Sonoma as an accent:

For flatware, I'd use these, again from Anthropologie:

with this tablecloth (Williams-Sonoma):

and these napkins (it's a fancy party, you use real napkins) (Williams-Sonoma)

Now for glassware, this is my favorite part.  You have regular water glasses such as these:

wine glasses: 

and of course, cocktail glasses, such as these beauties:

And of course for hot beverages after dinner (what dinner party is complete without Wassail or coffee or hot buttered rum?)  these would fit the bill nicely.

The Food

The food, oh the food.  It'd be fancy, I'll tell you that!  I'm thinking this on the menu:

Appetizers (served as people arrive, along with cocktails)

• crab cakes
• stuffed mushrooms
• pigs in a blanket

Served with:

• Gimlets
• Cranberry vodka sours
• Simpleton cocktail

Dinner:

• Main Course:
• Beef Wellington
• Sides
• Duchess Potatoes
• Roasted green beans
• Salad
• Rolls
• Wine

Dessert:

• A mix of Christmas cookies 
• Sugar
• Molasses
• Chocolate Crinkles
• Wassail, coffee, hot chocolate

That is my perfect fancy pants dinner party.  I may try to put it on soon!!!!

 

Major Crush Alert

I know I've written about this before, but I feel like it deserves reiterating.  You know how some people have celebrity crushes on people, and they change every few weeks, months, years?  Well I have those as well, but there is one celebrity crush that I ALWAYS ALWAYS come back to.  I discovered him when I was in high school, and it was love at first sight.  And it's been a one sided love affair ever since.  I love his curly brown hair, his big brown eyes, and his slightly large, off center nose.  And oh my his voice.  He could sing the alphabet song and I'd swoon.  Who is this amazing specimen of man?  Well, it's the one, the only, Josh Groban.  I've had other crushes of course, some in a musical capacity (Michael Buble, Jamie Cullum), some in a theatrical capacity (David Tennant, Channing Tatum), but none have ever come close to the love I habor for Mr. Groban.  He's adorable, funny, a fantastic nerd, and of course amazingly talented.  He always brings me up when I'm feeling blue, and no matter my mood, the addition of Josh makes it better.  You may be wondering why I'm going on and on about him now.  Well, I just got done watching his new vlog on YouTube announcing his new CD song list, and it just made me love him even more.  His new CD comes out in February, and I cannot wait.  So in conclusion, I love Joshua Winslow Groban, and I have a feeling I always will.  PS if anyone knows a way for me to meet him so we can fall in love and go on with our lives, if you'd let me know, that'd be fantastic.  Thanks :-)