What a week it has been – I feel like I have had new life breathed into me! Maybe it’s the fact that Spring is juuuust around the corner (get here NOW), or perhaps it’s exciting new ventures that await me. Whatever it is – I have so many terrific things to share and rejoice about. First things first, my new wallpaper (new as of Friday, anyway) is truly amazing:
the way Pepper and Scout’s fur smells – not gross, I swear.
having clean laundry
Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm – so awkward it makes you cry.
going to bed early on a Friday like an old person and waking up earlier on Saturday than I do on the average weekday
watching Scout jump from cardboard box to cardboard box, ready to captain the Hardwood Floor Sea
movie theatre popcorn
my 6 year old Uggs that have paint on them but that I still wear anyways
living next door to a television star – it’s really quite entertaining, he always has something fascinating or strange going on. He also has a fantastic pompadour.
when Julian willingly goes grocery shopping with me
laughing hysterically in the aisles with him and then grossing everyone out by kissing. What? We’re young and in love.
- Unhappy Hipsters. Need a break from your day? Read it & laugh. Or cry.
- What’s Your Excuse for Not Saving? Great post by my girl FB about the lame justifications people make for spending frivilously instead of investing in their future. Just FYI: you do not NEED a mansion, a gardener, a luxury car, a weekly french manicure or a $500 pair of shoes. Especially if you are in debt.
- LA Tech vs SF Tech – My favorite line has to be: “However, while both crowds love to love the city of San Francisco, San Franciscans love to loathe Los Angeles, which is understandable in some regards. Traffic here is tragic, and this IS where buttock implants were invented.”
- Also relevant… Why You Should Start A Company In LA, the latest in Fast Company’s look into startup appeal in cities other than Silicon Valley.
- Six Word Memoirs by famous authors. My personal favorite is Frank McCourt (author of Angela’s Ashes, Tis, etc): “The miserable childhood leads to royalties.”
- Award-winning cookies – perfect for Oscar parties, which I am hoping to partake in this coming weekend! Check out the Best Actress selection below. Wonder if they taste as good as those women can act? Also adorable, Oscar statue cookies!
- Empty bellies do not beget genius. – Brilliant piece by the bold and beautiful Gala Darling on female body image and why you should say “screw you” to the pressure to be stick thin.
- I Want That Hoodie So Bad. I really do. It has nothing to do with the fact that my fiance designed it and that it’s modeled after his latest sketch, which you can see below.
Ew! I almost let another Thursday slip past me without documenting my list of glorious things that I appreciate and looooove this week. All in all, I’ve had my mind and body busy with other shtuff so I haven’t been able to blog all week. Sad face. I know you’ll forgive me, because, not only is it the right thing to do but – well, you ain’t got no choice! Muah!
Above all else – the weather in LA lately! Think “the perfect week in Spring.” It’s so fantastic, I open my bedroom windows every morning and cherish the fact that I live in a place where you can wear tank tops in February. It could be a little warmer, but all in all, I’m stoked. It’s got me closing my eyes and trying to will Springtime to get here FASTER! Speaking of, I think I found my swimsuit for this year. Behold:
Some other stuff that is pretty incredible:
unexpected phone calls (a lot this week, actually); being able to spontaneously spend a night chatting and hanging out with my Step Mom who was in town on her way to Vegas for a wedding; getting super inspired; trying three new recipes this week and LOVING each and every one of them (Julian, too!); surprise love letters and boxes of Valentine’s Day chocolates; watching so many movies; real, Southern fried chicken (Honey Kettle in Culver City – I DIE); cute white puppies at work that look like stuffed animals; being inspired by Sara Janssen’s Simplify Saturday post and filling three trash bags with clothes I don’t wear, need or want; rearranging my bedroom (rearranging a room can make ANYTHING better!! Top 100 favorite things to do, easy.); finding out my brother and his fiance will be spending the weekend with me in LA (first time for him meeting Julian, eee!);
making the decision to step outside my comfort zone, challenge myself and trust in my abilities; the French windows in my apartment; Bath & Body Works room sprays; getting our invitations all designed & ordered (thank you, Danny!!!); window shopping for clothes online; when work orders groceries, and Wednesday lunch; boyfriends who do the dishes for you everyday; quick pump-me-up phone calls with my girlfriends; heightened excitement and anticipation over my friend Julia’s upcoming baby; seeing Julian after his first ever professional deep tissue massage – CUTE, and hilarious; this raincoat; perfecting the art of pancake-making (wipe the pan with an oil-soaked paper towel); a garage full of firewood for fires in my fireplace (it might be warm during the day, but it’s still cold at night! This is the desert, after all!); not caring about NY Fashion Week and being totally o.k. with that; helping a homeless man buy a large coffee instead of a small (I realize how trivial this sounds, but it still made me feel good);
This oldie-but-goodie music video from Julian’s BFF and Best Man, Marc Scibilia. This man is going to be famous. This song was from the Ron Paul Presidential campaign tour, which Marc played on. Video directed of course, by Julian. And yes – all those people playing instruments are Marc!
The Internet in 1969. Might be a fake, but if not, too funny!
This evening, I’m having a realization. And that realization is that I cannot watch my fiance’s live web casts without getting super distracted by his super chatty fans. I’m not sure what it is that is so interesting to me, but the fact that hundreds of people come to watch him and hear him take calls and talk about the weather and filmmaking is super entertaining to me. That being said, I am cutting myself off from watching his current web cast and focusing on writing this little diddy we like to call Things I Love Thursday. Because there are plenty of things to love about this week so far!
Among the greatness….
meeting Kristin Davis. And having her post our photo on her Fan page. I am fully willing to admit my geeky fandom!; frozen candy bars (why did I ever stop eating you? Anyone else remember frozen Snickers?!); finalizing our wedding guest list and rehearsal date/time (HALLELUJAH AGAIN!); baby mooses playing in a sprinkler. I die!! How could you ever kill one of these? They’re like puppies!; really, really hot showers on really, really cold mornings; maple & brown sugar oatmeal; the way Pepper sleeps on the pillow above my head like my guardian angel; speaking of bed, really crisp, clean sheets – I have a thing about bedding. I’m working on it.; “Look! A solar-powered garden!”; discovering my neighbor has a bunny hutch and feeding those cute buns carrots last night; my pink planner that Julian’s aunt Susan got me for Christmas, without it, I would be totally lost; strawberry soft-serve ice cream sundaes; weekends full of DVD marathons (Glee!); rainbows; friends who don’t make me feel like a Queeny bride, even if I kind of am acting like one; being really productive even when the internet goes down at work; starting the week off with an early morning teeth cleaning, having the dentist tell me my teeth are “picture perfect”; good talks with my guy; making lists of rules for a healthy marriage; driving an hour to get donuts only to go get cheese fries instead; apple-scented lotion my Momma made me at Thanksgiving, which makes my whole office smell like Candyland; neighbors who bring up fresh baked brownies, just for the heck of it; the way Julian makes coffee for me (perfect); turning lemons into lemonade; thinking about all the fun stuff my friends and family and I will get to do while we’re in Nashville for my wedding (Grand Ole Opry!); having a clean house (which is rare); finding out that the purple & gold rug I fell in love with months ago is still available in the store; listening to girls hyperventilating and crying while calling into Julian’s live web show (I’m evil); updating my Netflix queue to include all the Best Picture nominees; dreaming about chocolate frosted donuts, which for some reason I cannot stop thinking about lately!
And last but not least – this picture of a black squirrel chowing on a humongous pizza crust. I sent this to Julian and said “who does this remind you of?” Immediately he knew who I was talking about – Pepper, my black cat. She has the fluffiest tail and I always call her a black squirrel, despite having never seen one. So the fact that this exists makes me very excited. She even has the same MC Hammer/genie pants that Pepper has. I love this! Thank you, FB!
Three cheers for it being almost Friday! Here’s to an awesome weekend ahead of us!
Ready for some super awesome and mind-blowing random stuff that will send you down a rabbit hole of internet clicking? Hold onto your keyboards ladies & gentlemen, it’s time for Bits ‘n Pieces! Man, there is always so much I could put in this thing – I could do one every single day. But then when would I have time to work, and cook, and sleep, and brush my hair?
- How AMAZING do these Pie Pops look?! I want one in every flavor, but especially cherry!
- IGotNoTV – Ever since I gave up evil cable TV, I’ve been reliant on Netflix and Hulu for entertainment. It’s not half bad. Aside from not getting to watch the Grammy’s, but I’m sure I could have streamed that online if I had cared to even look. IGotNoTV is an alternative to Hulu and streams classic and new shows for free, online. Why preach about giving up cable if you’re just going to watch TV online, you ask? To that i say, shut up and watch the entire first season of Beverly Hills: 90210 with me.
– Bill Gates Foundation Donates $10 Billion in Vaccinations. This just goes to show you how long I’ve been trying to get this Bits ‘n Pieces up – this news is pretty old. But giving BILLIONS of dollars to help obliterate some of the world’s most deadly diseases will be worth talking about for years to come! This is almost as cool as when good old Gates released a jarful of mosquitoes on a room of TED attendees. He was illustrating the urgency in finding a cure for malaria, btw.
- Ever feel like you’re the only one working while everyone else gets to take a load off? Me too.
- I think I could really get into these Argentinian espadrilles by MYMU this Spring. Why are South American girls so undeniably chic?
- Here’s one way to cut costs on your wedding – DIY fabric flowers. Way presh, but I think I’ll stick with the good old fashioned kind this May. Could be super cute around the house, though!
-So they’re making another Free Willy movie, only this time, Steve Irwin’s daughter, Bindi, is the star. Apparently this time there are Pirates involved. File this one under “ENORMOUS WASTE OF MONEY.” My only question is – based on the DVD artwork – WTH kind of pirate wears Teva sandals?
- It’s funny how you never realize how badly you need something in your life until all of the sudden one day it magically appears and you wonder how you ever lived without it. That’s kind of how I feel about black glossy doors.
- A reality show about hipsters in Silver Lake? Oh brother. This is going to be ridiculous. I love that the ad for cast members specifically calls out rich 20-somethings who dress like they are homeless. There are a LOT of these in LA, take my word for it!
- I love fashion, but I rarely follow Fashion Week or new collections from designers. Who has the time? I did manage to catch a glimpse of Chanel’s SS10 collection, and all I have to say is, I wouldn’t turn ANY of these clothes away from my closet.
- Still trying to figure out why Julian didn’t give me the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond for an engagement ring. It’s touted as the most expensive diamond in the world and all 31.06 glorious carats are on display next to the hope diamond in the Smithsonian for the next eight months or so. First public appearance in 50 years! Just like JD Salinger! (ok, bad joke, bad joke)
- Business Advice in Three Words – my man Neil Patel brings it again. Reading his blog makes me understand how he became such a rich and successful VC by his early 20s. Even if he is super annoying at parties and tries to (physically) pick me up too much (creepy).
- The Bike Book Caddy – Quite possibly the worst idea ever. Whatever happened to “staying alert” when you’re riding a bike alongside much-more-powerful cars driven by much-less-aware people? SAFETY FIRST! ENTERTAINMENT SECOND!
- The Dirty Dozen – a list of fruits and vegetables that you should ALWAYS buy organic. Everyone knows that things like bananas and avocados have thick enough skin that you can get away with buying conventionally… but things with thin skin, like tomatoes and LEAFY GREENS should always be organic. Unless you don’t mind ingesting pesticides.
- The Bible of Fashion according to Cornell’s Pi Phi Sorority - This is hilarious but terribly true, I’m afraid. They make some good points – “No satin dresses. No one looks good in satin dresses unless they are from Betsey Johnson or Dolce & Gabbana, you weigh less than 130 pounds, have spanks [Ed: I think she means "Spanx" the brand] and it’s New Years Eve.” Also, no “Muffintop” and “No Sleeveless, unless you have really great arms.” Great find, FB!
- New Alice In Wonderland stills. I can’t decide if I’m getting more or less excited about this movie. One thing is for sure, the “unofficial official” soundtrack Almost Alice is kind of disappointing. Really? Avril Lavigne? These stills, however, are darling… especially this one.
- Cupcake knit hat. Cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Spotted on a little boy at Griffith Park a couple weekends ago and made J get all paparazzo so I could show my cupcake-loving-former-roomie-who-also-happens-to-be-incredibly-cute-and-sweet, Jacqueline.
Sometimes, you just have crappy days. Despite your best efforts to get enough sleep, dress nice, look pretty, eat well, channel productivity, be kind to others and make your day pleasant, things still don’t go your way. That’s kind of how I felt about today. Unexpected rain storms, thinking about bills, getting bad news, dealing with bad moods and just an overall irritated feeling sucked the joy right out of my day. Not even thinking about going home and zonking on my bed made me feel better.
And then, right when things felt super craptastic, there was a glimmer of hope. Literally. A rainbow.
Lauren called me to the window in our office kitchen to see the most brilliant, bright, thick and vibrant rainbow I have ever seen in my entire life. Almost instantly, my spirits were lifted and my jaw dropped in awe.
It was a full rainbow too, the kind that stretched clear across the sky beyond where the eye can see. The most amazing part, however, was the base, which appeared so close you could reach out and touch it, but was miles and miles away. This was not your average watercolor-esque rainbow, oh no, it looked like a cartoon – it was that bright. I half-expected Rainbow Brite or the Care Bears to come sliding down at any moment.
It’s times like these I wish I had a camera that actually zoomed, not my amateur-status iPhone. Really, these pictures do it no justice.
I ran down the stairs and into the drizzling rain (and nearly broke my neck in my yellow heels) to get a better shot of it, and immediately, it started fading away. By the time I took these photos below, the clouds had already smeared away the top of the rainbow. When I got back inside, the extraordinary colors we are oohing and ahhing over were already starting to bleed back into the dull gray sky.
The rainbow only lasted a couple of minutes, but that’s all we needed. I think we were all meant to see it. There is an important, poetic lesson in here somewhere, but I think for me, it just means to quit griping about all the garbage you think sucks in your life, because life is damn beautiful, just as it is, and even in the worst of situations, there is always something fantastically amazing just waiting for you around the corner.
This morning, I woke up and thought about staying home. You see, I felt sick last night and I had an 8am teeth cleaning appointment 45 minutes away, so the thought of staying in bed was extremely inviting. However, I peeled myself up, got ready and was off. And boy am I glad I did, because little did I know that today was the day I would meet Kristin Davis from Sex and The City! You know, Charlotte!
Our trusty coworker Doug (who actually has a daughter named Charlotte) spotted Kristin taking photos outside of our office (we later found out it was for her Facebook page), and promptly informed us. We immediately lost any sense of decency and self-control and ran down to ask her for a picture. And here I thought I was numb to living in LA and seeing stars. I’ve never done this before, for the record.
This might not seem like a big deal to many of you, but this is very exciting for me. Besides the fact that she is one of my favorite characters of all-time (can’t really say actresses because I haven’t seen much else she was in) in my favorite television show of all-time, I JUST made Julian watch the pilot episode of SATC last night as part of his pilot research for a show he is developing. (BTW- I made sure to show him an episode from a later season so he could see the STARK contrast in filming style and well, just style in general.) I told Kristin this and she gave me some advice to pass onto Julian, saying that you should never make a pilot TOO good, or the show itself will be bad. She was telling me how Jerry Seinfeld has framed bad reviews of the pilot episode of Seinfeld hanging up in his office.
That’s great and all, but I really just wanted to go sit at a coffee shop with her and talk about boys and fashion and how hard it is to be a classy lady in Hollywood these days.
Had I known this would happen today, I probably would have put on makeup and dressed in something other than my super-awesome Garfield sweater, but I was feeling ballsy this morning. She said it looked cute. She also thought Lauren and I were 22. And said we were “fresh-faced.” Just want to throw that out there.
As my celebrity-high began to deflate, I started thinking about how ridiculous it was, and about which stars would cause me so much excitement that I’d feel the need to run up like a fan and ask for a photo. I’m sure this list is longer than I’d like to admit, but it definitely includes Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Rachel McAdams, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift, Jen Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Tina Fey and Sarah Jessica Parker (duh).
Saturdays might be my favorite day of the week. Fridays are nice, too, with the impeding weekend ahead of you and all, but there is nothing better than a Saturday morning with no plans. No plans that is, except but to get a dozen donuts from SK’s, brew a huge pot of coffee, and watch movies on the couch.
I had my in-house photographer take these photos today so I could share the beauty of this day with you all:
These teacups are special to me. I found them in a thrift store in Middleburg, VA two Christmases ago. The pattern really called out to me and I couldn’t figure out why – my Mom later told me that is the same pattern she had when I was a youngster. Makes sense now. I’d love to know the name of it so I can get more of it! I made Julian drink at least one cup of coffee out of it before he could graduate to his big boy mug that holds more caffeine.
If there is one thing we have plenty of in LA, it is donut shops. But perhaps none are as delicious as SK’s on 3rd and Formosa. Except maybe Randy’s, but that’s a given… SK’s on Saturdays has become somewhat of a ritual for Julian and I. My favorite are the chocolate glazed, he prefers regular glazed. Please note the ratio of chocolate glazed:regular glazed in the box. Mhmm.
While grocery shopping last night, I got distracted by the Valentine’s Day candy. I’m talking like, 15 minutes of mulling around the holiday aisle distracted. I was disappointed to only find the crap brand of candy hearts (no white hearts? Seriously?), but we still bought bags of Sweet-Tart hearts and cinnamon imperials… the best thing about this holiday is the CANDY! For sure. Saint Valentine wasn’t so bad either, I guess!
“The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle, (1493); alongside the woodcut portrait of Valentine the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner — until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor — whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn’t finish him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for the martyrdom or martyrdoms: 269, 270, or 273.[8]“
Do you see the face?
And for no other reason than because I love my neighbor’s windows across the alley (she painted her windowpanes turquoise ♥), a picture of one of the windows. I’m almost certain I can get a better shot of this, but for now it’ll do. I want to do this, very badly!
I know I’m a total flake and forgot to do Things I Love Thursday this week, but I’ve been too busy with social gatherings. I’m so popular, I know! Thursday night I had a celebratory dinner with my closest GFs in LA at Le Petit Four in honor of my engagement. It was wonderful, we ate like Queens and I sat around and basked in their loveliness. I am so lucky to have such smart, sweet, caring, talented and beautiful friends.
Last night I played hostess to two of Julian’s new friends, Rhett and Link, who you may recognize from their YouTube channel. I made white chicken chili and we sat around and listened to advice from two married men on wedding to-dos and not-to-dos. I got a sneak peek at a music video the guys filmed in a bathroom this week with Julian (yeah) and will be releasing soon. It is truly hilarious, can’t wait to share. It also has a cameo from one very popular female tech vlogger.
So I guess you can just count this as a TiLT, because, well, I love all these things!
Alright, there is laundry to be done and donuts to polish off. Don’t be jealous. xoxo
Has it really only been a week since my last Things I Love Thursday? And yet it feels like Christmas is approaching with rapid speed. I’d like to reverse, that, please – slow down the holiday cheer express and speed up the workday. Yeah, that sounds perfect.
Here’s a little list of things that are making me grin from ear to ear this week.
THINGS I LOVE THURSDAY!
- First things first, planning our Spring trip to Paris and Berlin. I’m not sure how much detail I’m allowed to give, so I’ll keep it brief: WE’RE GOING TO PARIS AND BERLIN IN MAY. We = me and Julian. If you know me, you know that I have a mild obsession with France and all things Parisian, so the thought of frolicking through the city in the Spring while the gardens are in bloom and the sidewalk cafes are ripe for sitting on sipping coffee and eating crepes is UNBELIEVABLY EXHILARATING. This will be my first time in both cities. I dusted off my French language books last night and have already begun making a list of things I want to see/eat/feel/hear/experience. If you have any recommendations, share them please! Warning: this might be all I talk about for the next six months.
- Living on a budget. Saving money is very important, children. Duh. It’s also very addicting. I won’t get ahead of myself because I’ve only just begun on my most recent dolla-saving journey, but every time I’ve become a tightwad in the past, I’ve found myself strangely obsessed with frugality. There is something exciting about watching every penny and seeing how much you are saving. It’s almost like a game – “can I live off of $20 in groceries this week?” I love the feeling you get when you transfer a big chunk of money into the savings account, or the statements when you see how much it is growing, or even find a super-saving coupon. Am I the only weird one, here? I find comfort in community.
- Making sweet & sour chicken from scratch. And not screwing it up! This is one of Julian’s favorite dishes, so I knew that it would make him super happy if I made it, and even happier if I made it well. I used this recipe and have made it twice since we got back into town. He loves it and I love it! Though I can feel myself reverting back into vegetarianism a little at a time (I was vegetarian/sometimes-vegan for three years until I met him, and even still don’t eat beef or pork.) For now, I’m just choosing more and more vegetarian options. It’s tough though, when your boyfriend is a meat-lover. At least I can take comfort in buying organic, free-range chicken.
- Flickr’s favorite button. I’m a retard (in the most politically correct use of the word, I promise) for only getting into Flickr now instead of years ago like everyone else. My account has been pretty dead for, well, since I created it over three years ago, but recently I discovered the “favorite” button and now I’m just having the best time ever collecting the most beautiful photos in the pool.
This is what my room looks like, but with a bigger bed. Yeah, I wish.
- Adding an extra layer to my bed. Sometime over the last week, it got cold in LA. Like, really cold. For LA, at least. It was in the 30s a few nights ago, and despite having heat in my apartment (which I am blessed to have), I was frozen solid. My heater is in the living room at the opposite end of my apartment, so hardly any heat makes it to my bedroom. I found a solution, though – adding more blankets to my bed. Blankets are heaven sent, for real. I have a super-soft ivory quilted blanket I bought at Target a few years back for like, $20, and the fact that it has remained soft to this day is a miracle. I layered it in between my sheets and duvet and my toes are no longer blue in the mornings. HALLELUJAH! I love bedding.
- Having a clean car. With all my preaching about consumerism and giving back/helping others, I’m ashamed to admit I have a brand new car. Well, it’s a year and a half old, but I bought it new, and it’s the first new car I’ve ever owned (my parents are firm believers in “drive it ’til it dies.” I only bought it new because I plan on having it for a very long time (like, when I have kids), which is why I bought a Honda, because those suckas last forever and a day and are VERY cheap to fix if broken. Moving on, my pretty new car is filthy dirty 95% of the time. Despite having a garage in the great-garageless town of LA, I usually park behind my house (I’m lazy) underneath some evil trees that drop leaves on my car every night. As a result, my car is very, very dirty. And then there’s the inside. Full of empty Starbucks cups, old bulletins from church, half-full bags of cashews, bobby pins, granola crumbs, bottles of lotion that are on the verge of exploding from the heat, receipts, more receipts, cat litter (don’t ask), at least twenty SocialVibe Pink Balls, etc. etc. etc. At least there isn’t (much) old food in there. Saturday I decided enough was enough and I hauled my darling car down to the car wash at the end of my block (which makes having this dirty a car even more of a disgrace) and washed it myself in one of those little bays (far too embarrassed to take it to be washed by someone else). I spent about $6 when it should have been $3 because apparently I am slow. Then I vacuumed the inside…. wow. I even refilled my windshield wiper fluid, which had been empty for about two months (you could barely see out of the window). At the end of the day, my car was clean, I was a mess, and all were happy. Driving is much more enjoyable now. Good thing I’m getting a bicycle for Christmas.
- Christmas baking. This past Saturday, I decided it was time to begin the baking of the Christmas treats. Now that I have someone wonderful to eat all my sugary snacks (someone who doesn’t gain weight, nonetheless), baking is so much more fun! I borrowed recipes from Amy and made peppermint bark and peanut butter balls. They turned out fabulous and weren’t hard to make at all (the bark is truly foolproof), the only sad thing is that they were entirely gone 24 hours later. I took the first batch to a holiday party with coworkers that night and the rest to church on Sunday where they were having a ‘world market’ type fair to help charitable organizations. I put the treats with the free coffee and they were gone in the blink of an eye. I have a few more recipes up my sleeve, and hopefully this time I’ll remember to take pictures!
Not my picture.
- Making gifts rather than buying gifts. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it’s FUN. Sure I’ve only made one so far, and I’m almost positive that I WILL be resorting to buying some gifts this year (there are only 15 days left until Christmas, after all), but I’m going to be as crafty as possible. And for those gifts that I DO have to buy, there are always gifts that give back.
Other random things that are awesome:
pretty notebooks (with Paris on the cover, of course, given to me by my girl Cesca) full of all kinds of lists, doodles and creative ideas; free lunch at work on Wednesdays; drinking warm water (not cold water); USAA’s annual dividend deposit (I love waking up $73 richer than I was the night before); watching Julian roll around on the floor like a toddler; “Never park drunk, that’s my advice.”; hearing great GREAT GREAT news from one of my best friends; looking down at the cat food bowls to find that Julian put a leftover bowl of broccoli next to their food dish (he doesn’t know cats); having an abnormally large excess of creative energy; RSVPing for orientation to tutor homeless kids downtown (more on this later, hopefully); “Won’t you guide mein sleigh tonight? Rudy…”; sweater boots; white Christmas lights; Blissfully Domestic; Craigslist; Jay-Z’s new album; MOM: “What’s going on over there?” JULIAN: “Oh, those are fountains.”; Tuesday phone dates with Katie; “I love ramen noodles. I want to get endorsed by ramen noodles. Do they have a website?”; Christmas trees in the lobby at work; heavy rain in LA, followed by very clear days; when people find my accidental wittiness, loudmouth and ill-timed remarks charming and funny; even better, when people actually like reading my blog and leave me awesome comments. What a reward.
How are you feeling today? Pretty good? Happy it’s Friday? Amped for the holiday season? Me too. I have a challenge for you – watch these videos – any of them, all of them – and tell me how you feel afterward.
So, what do you think? Still jonesing for that $500 handbag? Still thinking about which 5 star restaurant you’re going to dinner at this weekend? Dreaming about your next vacation or complaining about your job, when 10% of Americans are unemployed? I’ll tell you how I feel: I am humbled. I am in awe. I am shocked. I am ashamed. And I’m inspired. And I think I just discovered the purpose for me living in this city I loathe so much.
Thanks to Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) for his incredible work with the homeless community in LA and around the country, I found these videos on his site, InvisiblePeople.tv. His story is quite an inspiring one, if you have a minute, read this. Or just watch this:
