Showing posts with label pop culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pop culture. Show all posts
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Thursday Loves




"Light As A Feather Abstract" - Art Print by Melanie Biehle in beautiful frame options and a variety of sizes.
Hello again, poodles.

Focusing on the good, here is a little bit of what I've been loving lately.

The artist Melanie Biehle's work (the piece above is called "Light as a Feather")

➕putting on warm socks right out of the dryer (seriously, try this)


➕The show, Ramy on Hulu is a really beautiful, funny and smart. As long as we're on TV suggestions, I'll add High Maintenance, Better Things and PEN15 to the list. SO good.

having the arrow turn green right as you pull up to turn left

taking off my bra

➕the Bridge on Sirius XM

Pilates

a really great phlebotomist

my relationship with my siblings

a yoga class called Stretch & Relax

being alone 
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How Did This Happen?

Peter is a dedicated binge watcher of shows from beginning to end. It’s admirable, really. I don’t have the attention span and end up abandoning the project. (Damages, The Closer)

Since Peter usually watches in the living room, I’m constantly in and out of the room. At first, it’s just noise but then I stop for a second, ask a question, and then two. And then I sit down to “just watch this scene.” And every time, I get sucked in and addicted. It happened with Criminal Minds, which I initially hated and then found myself craving. Hadley got sucked in too. Finn hated it because he found it too upsetting. (FYI: He used to find Spongebob upsetting.)

We caught up to the current episodes on Criminal Minds so Peter set off to find another show with 4 or more seasons to binge watch and Blue Bloods caught his eye.

From Wikipedia: The series follows the Irish-American Reagan family of police officers with the NYPD.  Francis “Frank” Reagan (Tom Selleck – MAGNUM PI!) is the Police Commissioner . He was a US Marine Corps officer and a Vietnam veteran before he joined the NYPD. He is a 9/11 First Responder, a widower whose son Joe was murdered in the line of duty, and has three other adult children—Danny, Erin, and Jamie.

The family reminds me a lot of my own Irish-American Catholic family sometimes which makes me heart smile. Loud, opinionated, loyal, loving, and funny. They have dinner together every Sunday night and say the same prayer before dinner that I said growing up. The father and grandfather in the show have qualities similar to my Dad and I nod and smile when they do or say something my Dad would. My mom watches the show and loves it. 

Every time Tom Selleck comes on screen and does anything I’ll randomly say “Good idea, Magnum.” I love him and he’s such a great presence on screen.

One of the adult kids, Danny, is played by Donnie Wahlberg. He of the New Kids on The Block fame. I hadn’t really seen him in anything and he’s surprisingly good at that realistic, intense street cop thing. But I never thought about him or thought anything other than “oh, he’s a surprisingly good actor”.

But then I had a dream about him a few nights ago.

In the dream, we were romantically entangled. I remember being in the dream and saying “Wait, what? YOU?!? What are you doing here? Where’s Tom Selleck?”

I do not have a crush on Donnie Wahlberg but my damn subconscious does.

So the next morning, at the urging of my subconscious, who is like a teen girl, I googled everything about Donnie Wahlberg.

Did you know he has a show on VH1 called Donny Loves Jenny.

 

 

You know what happens next, don’t you?

Yup.

I watched 3 episodes.

And it was really cute, actually. They’re adorable and funny and in love. I normally do not like reality TV (except Survivor!) because it’s negative and usually involves a lot of fighting and yelling. But with Donnie Loves Jenny,  they said they wanted to put out a positive show, which I thought was sweet. I’m on the fence about Jenny McCarthy. She seems like a nice, funny woman but that whole vaccine crusade thing really rubbed me the wrong way. I suppose it’s not entirely her fault though. Yes, she was insanely vocal about anti-vaxxing issues but it was the idiot public who proclaimed her Dr. Autism and started quoting her non-scientific viewpoint.

I digress.

So, after watching him with his wife and her darling autistic son and how sweet Donnie is to the kid, now my crush is real.

And I’m so irritated about it because it wasn’t my idea.

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Oh So Quiet

I quit Facebook and it was awesome.

I have been debating it for YEARS. Years, I tell you.

There were so many things I hated about it but I just kept checking it every 10 minutes like a trained chimp. (For the record, there were some great things too. Just not as many as the annoying ones.)

It was a lot of noise and distraction and frankly, stuff that I didn’t care about or need to know. There was also the element of “LOOK HOW MUCH MORE FUN WE ARE HAVING THAN YOU!” Something that has proven leads to depression in some folks. And that is definitely something I do not need help with, thankyouverymuch.

After deactivating my account, I felt immense relief. Like, crazy amounts of relief.
Then panic set in. What if no one misses me? What if no one knows I’m gone? Where will I put all of the pithy comments I come up with and all of the cute pictures? How will I know what’s going on?
A classic case of FOMO.
Fear Of Missing Out.

And the nurturing voice in my head said “It’s OK.”
And it is.

Hope your summer has been swell. I got semi tan for about a week and have eaten massive amounts of berries.
xoxo


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Distracted

girls

Remember this scene from GIRLS this season? Episode 4, I think. Hannah and Jessa were in the tub together and Jessa was crying after her breakup with Thomas John.

It was a beautiful scene. But here was my issue.

That tub is filthy.

Like Did-someone-break-into-your-house-and-paint-excrement-on-the-grout? filthy.

In fact, while watching this scene, I was so distracted by the filth of the tub that I started thinking about how I would clean it. (Which makes me a TOTAL ma’am, I’m aware. I’m officially old.)

Here’s the tape that played in my head:

“Bleach would be involved for sure. And I would totally use one of those CLOROX bleach pen things I’m in love with that you use to bleach grout. It’s wildly satisfying. And so precise! I love the feeling of accomplishment you feel after. I cannot believe they are sitting in that tub? Would I have sat in a tub that dirty in my 20s? I’m sure I did. Wow, that’s really gross.”

Credits role.

DAMN! I missed the whole scene.

Rewind.

Do not be distracted. Do not be distracted.

Distracted again! That nasty tile sucks me in every time.

I had to watch the scene 3 times. And I loved it.

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WWPD

I admit, when I read “Just Kids” it was strangely life altering. I fell in love with Patti Smith. She’s a bad ass. No doubt. Strong and brave and fearless and smart and ferociously talented. I want to be her when I grow up.

When I see pictures of her, I take a deep breath and slowly exhale while studying every detail.

This site, fantastically named “Awesome People Hanging Out Together” has been mentioned everywhere lately. Have you seen it? It’s sublime.

This picture stopped me in my tracks, of course. Patti and William S.Burroughs? Yes, please. Look how he’s holding her arm. Good stuff.

pattiwilliam

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Goodness

Untitled Yellow 2010 b

I haven’t been blogging my darlings. Laziness, I suspect and a bit of constricting writer’s block. Well, not writer’s block but “oh who cares about that? block”. Anything interesting I would just throw up on Facebook or just ignore it.

School is in full swing, which is GLORIOUS. (Typing that just reminded me of Laura Branigan’s song GLORIA, so now that will be stuck in both of our heads. You’re Welcome.)

Things making me really happy:

  • We’re going to The Broadmoor Labor Day weekend for a night. I just up and booked it. Have wanted to do it for forever and just hadn’t done it. We’re going to go to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo first, then check in, go to the pool and Peter and I are going to lie in beach chair sipping cocktails while our kids frolic. Then we’re going to grab dinner and explore the grounds. I promised Hadley we’d have breakfast in bed via room service, which she is super excited about. As am I. Of course, now that I’ve mapped all of this out and have expectations, none of it will happen.

  • This article about Tavi and Ira. Hearts and rainbows were shooting out of my head when I was reading it. I love them both.

 

  • I’ve almost gotten all of the wallpaper down from the kitchen!!!! This is HUGE, you guys. Or as Donald Trump would say “Youge.” It’s been more than a year that the wallpaper has remained partway torn down. It’s just hard and really high up all over the kitchen…and life gets in the way. And I’m lazy.  Look.

LivingRoom&Kitchen 020

See? Makes. Me. Murderous. Those are potted plants. But now it’s GONE! I have big plans. And that gross light is gone. And the table is on it’s way out.

 

LivingRoom&Kitchen 026

You know what else drives me batty? TILE. It’s everywhere. All kitchen and bathrooms have this tile. ARGH. AND…your eyes do not deceive you. That green and beige border tile? It has fruit on it. Yes. Fruit. Hideous.

BUT! There is hope. My lovely Karrie of Happy Habitat is going to come save the day and consult me on what to do to my house décor wise. (No pressure, Kar.) She has the greatest eye.

  • And last but certainly not least… We saw The Book of Mormon!!! Tickets sold out in 4 hours and I was on 2 phones and 2 computers to make sure I got them. It did NOT disappoint.  It’s everything everyone says it is and more. It just is. Perfectly profane and funny and smart. We saw a matinee and I just wanted to line back up and see the 7pm show.

Happy day to you, noodles. To combat my fierce PMS, I’m going to get some sun on my face and blare pop music as I run errands. Wish me luck.

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March VOGUE

I’m not even halfway through the March issue but I found myself scribbling notes on college lined paper at the kitchen table.

I smiled while doing it.

I miss writing longhand. I like to write in cursive with a really great pen.


So, here I sit transcribing my notes into a blog post. Funny. It reminds me of college when I would take scraps and bits of paper I had scribbled ideas for short stories on and turn them into something.

 

Adele is on the cover, looking gorgeous, per usual. (Although, I wish they hadn’t photo shopped her body on the cover. We know she doesn’t have a 20 inch waist, people. And it’s ok. )

adele-vogue-march-2012 

She is, as you would guess, a great interview, full of vim and vigor. The interview validates why she is so astonishing. She’s brutally honest and claims she really has no idea where all of these beautiful songs come from. They just pour out of her. That type of honesty is inspiring and beautiful. She doesn’t talk about “the craft” or other such bullshit nonsense. She just is. Also, how cool is the fact that Rolling in the Deep came from a gang phrase used in UK? “Roll deep” basically means having someone have your back so you are never on your own if you get into trouble. She thought it was beautiful and changed it to “Rolling in the Deep.” Genius.

“Adele has one of the great dirty mouths of her generation. Get her going on a subject that raises her ire, and the obscenities fly like sparks off a welder.” –Jonathan Van Meter, Adele interview, VOGUE

“…Like sparks off a welder.”  So good.

:::::::

The piece by Cheryl Strayed about her trek on the Pacific Crest Trail has me wanting to rush out and get her memoir: “Wild: From Lost to Found on The Pacific Crest Trail.”

I’m not a climber or really interested in it. It is her writing and her reasons for doing it that intrigued me. She had never backpacked before going on the trip. NEVER. That’s like me deciding to freaking hike the PCT (which, incidentally, took her 3 months and is 1,100 miles. WTF!) And very clearly, she finds herself needing to do it.

My mom died when I was twenty-two and she was forty-five. She died of cancer, but it wasn’t the way I thought a death by cancer would be—long and drawn out and cinematic. Instead, my mother was dead seven weeks to the day after her diagnosis. Her death was simple and ugly and it didn’t feel even remotely like a movie. It felt to me that I had died with her, and in some ways, I did. The vision I’d previously had of my life died. I don’t have a relationship with my biological father and though I had a step-father, he couldn’t continue being a step-father to me in the face of his own loss. And so I wandered forth, suddenly an orphan. – Cheryl Strayed

I understand why she did it with no experience. Why not? After a blow like that, you feel invincible. Not the invincible I felt after giving birth to H&F. That was empowering and invigorating. I felt so STRONG!

My Dad’s death left me numb. Nothing could hurt me.

When talking about her decision to make the trek, Cheryl Strayed says “Nothing bad could happen to me, I thought. The worst thing already had.”

This resonated so deeply with me, that I actually stopped reading for a second to look up, close my mouth and let that thought marinate.

I felt and feel the same way about my dad’s death. It was worse than breast cancer, depression, lupus…His death rocked me to my core. There is definitely a sense of “Nothing scares me now.”

:::::::

And a final thought on the issue: Florence Broadhurst for Kate Spade? Fan-freaking-tastic. A beautiful marriage!

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Enter: Reality

Ok, so it turns out I’m a bit of an unrealistic psycho. (shocker, I know.)

It has been one week and 2 days since surgery. I have been diligently conferring with my Dr., whom you may know, Dr. Google, and he agreed that I am an unrealistic psycho and that I need PATIENCE and TIME. This pain is normal. SUCKY but normal and I must be tender and careful with myself.

I knew this.

But Dr. Google has a way of solidifying things, you know? (Word to the wise though, Dr. Google has some patients who are not the kooky, fun kind of psycho (me), who tried to tell me that they had disc surgery too and I was going to end up alone, in a wheelchair, never to walk again, like them. And that we should start a book club.

NEXT!

Ok. Patience. Got it. Will work on that.

In the meantime, I have a confession. I cannot understand or fathom, and am actually quite embarrassed to tell you this.

I watched not one, but TWO seasons, all in a row, of Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team last night. I stayed up until 1am.

Friends, What. The. Fug? My intention was to watch Melancholia but at the last minute I deemed it, well, melancholic and searched for something mindless.

BINGO!

I’m telling you. I can’t look away. Trying to armchair psychoanalyze myself, the only thing I could come up with was that I grew up in Houston, Texas. When I was little I wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader (the pinnacle of success and beauty – eek gad) or a waitress. BIG DREAMS!! Whatevs. I was like, 6.

Happy happy Friday. Don’t let the holiday crazies grab hold of you. Remember….keep it low key.

gentle movements, peace and pain pills,

Emily

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Recovery

I’m still in recovery mode from our most recent trip to Asheville, NC. The trip home was brutal. Peter misread the tickets so we missed our flight. I could not be annoyed with him. He was annoyed enough for the both of us. We rallied and tried to make the best of the 5 hours we had in the Charlotte airport after driving 2 hours to get there.

Luckily,(insert exciting music here!) We bought an iPad the day before and pulled that sucker out to surprise the kids as soon as we got to the airport. Needless to say, the kids were beyond happy and we were saved, quite frankly.

I ache from the tip of my head to the end of my toes. My body is angry and my fatigue is endless. I am working on it though. And by “working on it”, I mean doing a whole lot of nothing. (aside from making out with my VitaMix and giving my doggies love)

With the kids happy and occupied on the flight, I watched Sophia Coppola’s Somewhere, which I’d been dying to see. It was mesmerizing. I love how Coppola describes it as more of a mood, than a film. More like a haiku. It’s beautifully minimalistic. Just a brief glimpse into the life of the main character, a famous actor, played surprisingly well by Stephen Dorff. Elle Fanning is lovely. That girl lights up the screen.

I feel the need to wrap myself in a cocoon and come out in a few weeks. A vacation to recover from my vacation.

If only life were that easy.

Nope.

Thrown back into the thick of it.

In the meantime, I am smiling remembering sights and sounds from Asheville, good times had with family and craving food from Chai Pani and The Laughing Seed.

I had Peter pull over one day so I could snap some pics of this amazing mural. I only noticed later the creepy hanging chickens in the blue background. Blech. Ignore that part.

While snapping a few shots, a Jack Russell terrier came bounding towards me, barking. He immediately stopped as I bent down to pet him and give him some love. His scruffy bearded owner appeared from a doorway and yelled “BRUCE! Quit it!” I laughed all day at the thought of a dog named Bruce. Love it.

Asheville-July2011 022

Asheville-July2011 023

Pretty brilliant, right?

Asheville-July2011 024

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Artsy Fartsy

I volunteer once a week at the kid’s school in the art room. I want to make sure that in addition to helping in the classroom with academics, the brilliance of art programs don’t get ignored.

The art teacher, Mrs. O, rules, of course. She’s young, creative, interesting, smart and artistic. (duh) I do whatever she needs me to do and I so look forward to it. For one, there aren’t any children there when I volunteer. (Bonus!) They are at lunch. So it’s quiet and deliciously meditative. Mrs. O goes to lunch too, so we chat for a bit, she tells me what she needs done, and then she leaves. I put on my iPod and get to work. It’s deeply satisfying being in a room that is swirling with imaginative energy and fantastical creations. I’ll have to bring my camera next time. It’s badass.

Last month, when I was in the room, Mrs. O told me that she selected Hadley to participate in an art show. Accordingly, we made a huge deal about it at home, as it is a big deal. Rare Bird’s first art show. One of many, I’m sure.

All of the work is being shown at a local mall for a week. We went on Saturday to check it out.

February 2011 052February 2011 053

They are allowed to create whatever they want during art class. Hadley made a dog and a mouse out of old ribbon rolls.

February 2011 057

Here’s Finn dutifully posing. While looking at all of the other art, he said something profound like “This sucks. Can we go to the toy store?”

So we did.

At the toy store, Peter found the game KinderBunnies and immediately grabbed it. Apparently, he has played the adult version, KillerBunnies, and wanted to try the kid version out. I’m down with anything that gets us spending time together and gets the kids thinking.

The game is really fun and the kids LOVED it. I’m sure adding to the fun of the game was the fact that Peter and I agreed to play the game in the fort the kids built. We also agreed to eat take out for dinner in the fort. (note: Peter, aka Old Man River, was not pleased about sitting on the floor. He made it known and had trouble walking when he got up.)

While it was a bit of a pain in the ass, it was SO novel that the kids were freaking out and squealing with delight. I kept leaning over to Peter saying “This is fun. We’re fun parents, right? Say this is fun. They’ll remember this, right? And think we were fun, right? I mean while they are talking to their therapist about something else we screwed up….”

+++

My cleanse ended on Monday and while I was a bit sad, because I like structure, I just realized I can continue to eat this way. So I am! Modified, of course. Vegetarian flirting with Veganism. Trying to avoid gluten and dairy because it makes lupus happier. I am allowing sugar back onto the scene and I welcomed her with HUGE open arms. We did have to have a heart to heart though about her controlling ways.

It’s 65 and sunny here. Just try to ruin my mood.

XO

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Funk Removal

Have been in a funk for a few days. Today I decided to do something about it.

These things in combination seemed to have done the trick.

  • Find a good vegan soup recipe for dinner so I don’t have to eat the same motherscratching brown rice and veggies.
  • Noon yoga class with a righteous instructor
  • stroll through Vitamin Cottage grabbing some groceries, including the prettiest strawberries I have seen in a long time, roasted pumpkin seeds and frozen wheatgrass shots.
  • Drive home with the windows and sunroof open, taking in the amazing Colorado day.
  • Listen to CD made YEARS ago by KBDK, which contains a good amount of classic rock and hippie jams. (Widespread, Phish, Grateful Dead…)
  • Windows still open. Volume up embarrassingly loud.
  • Pull into the driveway with a smile on my face and then proceed to take 2 shots of wheatgrass and eat strawberries over the sink.

Mission accomplished. Funk removed.

It’s day 16 of the cleanse, people. Uh huh. I’m feeling pretty badass. Not supremely badass as there have been bumps in the road. Like this morning when I emailed B and was like “TALK ME DOWN FROM THE LEDGE. SCREW THIS!”

But still, maybe a little bad ass.

Good job, body. You’re doing swell.

On a TV front, are you watching Portlandia, yet? Mkay. Get on that. Although, don’t repeat lines to Peter and laugh hysterically because he’ll just look at you blankly. Also, I know I’m totally late for the party but FRINGE? Hello, fantastic. I’m deep into Season 1. I’m also going to acquire Friday Night Lights. After all of the hullaballoo everyone makes about it, the shit better change my life. Kidding. Sort of.

Wishing you wonderful Tuesday.

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Thursday Loves

  • Music – specifically Cat Stevens, Tennis, Fleetwood Mac, The Weepies
  • Feeling light and zippy (yup, I just said “zippy”)
  • brunches and lunches with people I love
  • Daydreaming about vacations
  • my sister’s post about her recent vacation to Tulum
  • Oliver spooning with me at night under the covers like a nursing infant.
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race
  • Feeling grateful. Every day.
  • The look on Peter’s face when I gave him a snow blower for his birthday
  • This girl’s photostream on Flickr. That blue hair is perfection. I love the shot called “WINTER.”
  • Planning a baby shower and HJ’s birthday party. FUN! The fun part for me is the invites and choosing where to have it. (Baby shower = French restaurant, bday party = funky art workshop for kids) Then I just delegate. It’s too stressful for me any other way.
  • Still alive and cleansing like a mofo. It’s Day 4 and I’ve had some minor missteps along the way but I’m being decidedly chill about it. This isn’t about self-flagellation. It’s about learning what works for my body and about being healthier.

I will say that I’m much more of a juice kind of girl. I love that vibrant green!

Yesterday morning I decided to make a smoothie. I put in some romaine, raspberries, an avocado, a cucumber and some coconut water. It looked so beautiful before I turned on my mighty Vita Mix. After that it was just brown sludge. I literally choked it down. And I was sad because I LOVE all of the ingredients. It tasted pretty good but I just couldn’t get past the texture and color of it.

I feel really really good though. My stomach issues have been non-existent since I started. I don’t know if I can attribute that to the cleanse or the fact that I also started taking Probiotics. Either way, it’s fabulous. Lupus has been relatively quiet as well. Big ups to my friend B, who is kicking arse as well!

Happy almost weekend to you, sweet people of the interwebs.

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Thursday Loves

                

                                                       +++

Hello little squirrels.

Here are some things I’ve been loving lately:

  • the glitter red nail polish on my toes. They were like portable Christmas ornaments all through December.
  • big black crows. They fascinate me and their squawking makes me laugh.
  • wearing hot pink underwear under my usual utilitarian every day black garb
  • my lavender body oil, which leaves my skin supple and me smelling a bit like the Patchouli wearing boys in college I found so irresistible
  • watching back seasons of Dexter
  • the effects of deep conditioner on my locks
  • Crepes with Nutella (let’s be honest, ANYTHING with Nutella)
  • People who hold the door even when you’re more than 10 steps away
  • The bookstore. Everything about it. I feel a sense of panic about only choosing a few books. Almost like at the dog pound, I want to take them ALL home. (I finally chose Patti Smith’s memoir “Just Kids” and Mary Karr’s “Lit” for Mexico, even though I walked around petting Steve Martin’s An Object of Beauty for 20 minutes. I also ordered Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses)
  • Oliver, our puppy, goes to the tub, jumps in and then cries because he can’t get out. Every night. It makes me laugh. I swear I’ve seen Atticus roll his eyes at this.
  • Hadley’s CONSTANT and I mean, CONSTANT, singing. She’s been on a Feist kick lately, which amuses me because she changes the words to all of the songs. She’s also experimenting with her vibrato.
  • The thought of a fresh, new year unfolding before me.
  • practicing yoga regularly. It’s going to keep me out of the looney bin, y’all.
  • Planning our next trip. My wanderlust is out of control.
  • Speaking of wanderlust, we leave for Sayulita soon! So excited. I’ll be the super pale one with two bruised, skinned knees and a massively bruised left foot. I fell down the last two basement stairs putting away Christmas decorations. Idiot. I lay there for a few moments crying, then realized I was going to be ok, so I stood up, dusted myself off and limped off to ice everything.
  • This American Life on NPR. It always makes me think or smile or both.

I hope today brings you a welcome surprise or at least a few things that make you laugh out loud.

XO

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Sublime

Kanye West’s 30 minute film, “Runaway.” Have you seen this? I was absolutely mesmerized. It’s beautiful.

 

Welcome to the week, my little candy canes.

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Thursday Loves

Hello dears.

It’s November already. Whoa.

Here’s a smattering of magical bits from the week:

+Bookshelf Porn, where have you been all of my life? So good I can’t even stand it.(via Go Fug Yourself)

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+I’ve been loving Miles Fisher’s blog lately and his FB page as well. The guy is some sort of wunderkind, full of talent and creativity with most excellent links. You must check it out.  It’s been fueling me lately. The pictures are spectacular. He’s the actor who looks like Christian Bale and Tom Cruise had a baby. He also made this stellar video. (originally found via Sweet and Bitter)

+Yogi Green Tea Kombucha has been doing me right lately. A lovely afternoon delight.

+Many thanks to MGMT for getting me through the last week. Oracular Spectacular has been on constant rotation.

+This post by Nerdy Apple Bottom is really good. (found via AD on Facebook) I loved it and it validates the way I feel about my children and how we are raising them.

+Craft night last night with the Briggles and an ELK and a dollop of guest stars. Much needed. And I have a beautifully colored Mandala to show for it.

+The shows Californication and Bored to Death. I watched all 3 seasons of Californication in the span of about 4 days and desperately miss the characters. I love love love it. I’m halfway through Season 1 of Bored to Death. Jason Schwarzman+Ted Danson? Brills. And of course my beloved Zach Galifinakis is in it.

+ the word “brumal", which means “wintry.” You know I’m dying to use that sucker.

Happy (almost) Weekend. Finding the funny on this Thursday afternoon…

 

XO

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The Holstee Manifesto

This is so good I want to make my kids recite it every morning with their little hands over their hearts. (found via DesignCrush and The Bedlam of Beefy)

The-Holstee-Manifesto

Isn’t that so good?

The Bedlam of Beefy calls this manifesto “Awesomesauce.” Who says that? LOVE IT.

The kids are back in school. Sparks of joy are flying off of my body.

Hadley and I are cheering for Mondo to win on Project Runway. The kid is from Denver! He would have been my favorite anyway though. Hadley sagely said “He is so positive, Mom. And I love all of the color in his designs.”

Aw.

After the show, she always flits off to design something. Then comes more begging for a sewing machine! And fabric! And a model form! She’s very detailed about material choices too because she wants it to fit lots of different body sizes, not just “skinny models.” (I’m fully gushing. My little rare bird is just so extraordinary.)

However, while raising a creative little girl genius, I am having to make peace with the fact that she is messy. Crazy messy. I mean when A&E starts filming “Child Hoarders: They’re Real, Y’all” she could be on it. I mean when I go into her room sometimes I just have to leave quickly or else panic sets in.

I can’t get my head around it. I like order. I cleaned my room for FUN when I was little. Just for the excitement of having my mom come see. Hadley laughed in my face when I told her that story, by the way.

Her idea of tidy and my idea of tidy are totally different. We’re working on a happy medium. Wish me luck.

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not a rookie anymore

 

I’ve mentioned before how much I love Tavi Gevinson from StyleRookie. It astounds me that she is 14 years old and I want to bottle her up, turn her into glitter and douse Hadley with all of her magic. I also want to applaud her parents and tell them to give me all of their child rearing secrets.

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She spoke in June at Big Ideas in Toronto. You have to watch it. Could you have done this at 14? Are her speaking skills perfect? No. But it doesn’t matter.  I just beam with pride listening to her, as a woman, as a mother, and as a former awkward, 14 year old girl who wanted/needed to be heard. Her future is so bright.

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The Kids Are All Right, I Guess

 

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I saw “The Kids Are All Right.” (skip this if you haven’t seen it or don’t want to know anything about it.)

I wish I had seen it before everyone proclaimed it to be the best movie in all of the land ever ever ever. I liked it and found it quite lovely but I much prefer seeing things without expectations.

Julianne Moore seemed a little awkward. I know her character IS awkward and insecure but at times I thought she was going to slip into her character from 30 Rock.  Do you watch 30 Rock? She was on last season as Alec Baldwin’s girlfriend from high school with this “wicked pissah” Boston accent. She talks lower like she did in the movie, so I found it distracting.

Then I was totally distracted by Mark Ruffalo’s character’s hot girlfriend because I couldn’t figure out what she had been in before. Turns out its Yaya DaCosta from America’s Next Top Model 2004. (thank you imdb!)

I did enjoy Annette Bening. She was at her best. And there were moments that summed up parenthood and family life really beautifully.

My favorite favorite moment though, and my heart fills with warm gooeyness when I think about it, was when Nic and Jules (A. Bening and J. Moore) were lying in bed facing each other and Nic says “I love you, chicken” and Jules says “I love you too, pony.”

Sigh. There was such a beautiful intimacy to it. I think about it all the time. Not to mention I loved the use of such random terms of affection. Beautiful. 

I thought it was a little heavy handed how Mark Ruffalo was depicted as such a playboy. Ok, we get it. He’s attractive and gets a lot of ass. The hetero sex scenes seemed a bit extraneous and acrobatic while the lesbian couple was completely under the covers. (although that could be a nod to the fact that when you’re married, things are just not that exciting.)

I really wanted Joni to wash and brush her hair, although I found her adorable and sweet. Same with Laser. Such a sweet kid.  Except the part where he “discovers” his friend is a douche. I’m sorry, the friend SCREAMS douche long before he even suggests they pee on a stray dog.

Overall, I enjoyed it though…especially the Heath bar that I ate greedily like a kid who snuck out of fat camp.

Did you see it? Did you like it?

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lu lu lu lupus face

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Ok, so I don’t know if any of you heard or read all of the hoopla in late May about Lady Gaga having lupus. It’s not clear if she does or not. She says she has “borderline positive test results,” which is confusing to me but so is lupus so there you go. Her aunt also died from lupus.

If this is actually true, then hip hip hooray! You feeling me? I mean, I’m sorry if you do have it, Gaga, because lupus sucks. I can vouch for that. However, giving lupus the face of Lady Gaga would be fantastic as far as education and awareness.

She recently donated the necklace she wore in her Poker Face video to the Lupus Foundation of America,  which I thought was really cool. 

And now, Snoop Dog has come forward to say his daughter has lupus. Poor dear. While I feel awful for her and hope she is doing well, BRING ON THE PUBLICITY!

In my corner of the lupus world, all of my stomach tests came back fine. The ultrasound was fine. The tech even said “My, you have a beautiful pancreas!” (I shit you not.)

They now think it is my lupus meds causing the problems, specifically the ones that help me feel human every day. Awesome! (sung in really high operatic voice) I’m tapering down off of them slowly but UGH, it sucks. I’m sure that’s where my stank mood is coming from. Pain has a tendency to make you hate everyone and everything.

On the plus side, my stomach issues are getting a little better. Sounds bizarre to say that’s the plus side. I’m still particularly enjoying food at all. It’s just fuel.

I have a call into my rheumatologist to discuss the next steps with my treatment. Lessening stomach pain = great! Constant pain and super achy joints = not so great. In the morning, before I take my pills, it’s difficult to grip my tea mug. I mean, I can, but it hurts. Mornings are tough. It takes me a bit to get going and now that some of my drugs are being cut out, it’s taking me a bit LONGER to get going.

 

Seeking out humor last night, Peter and I watched Daniel Tosh’s Completely Serious. You can stream it for free on Netflix too. The demographic is very obviously men 18-42, but throw me in there too because the guy is hilarious. I love him. Warning: He is wildly offensive. Wildly. Did I say he was offensive? Yes. He is. He’s also super smart, kind of geeky and has fantastic random pop culture references. So now, I love him.

I’m sure I’m late to the Daniel Tosh party but he has a show on Comedy Central called Tosh.O. I haven’t seen it but after checking out some clips of the show, it looks hilarious. Sort of Talk Soupish. Remember when Greg Kinnear hosted Talk Soup in the olden days?

School starts tomorrow. Hell to the yes. Although excited to be free of the blue eyed devils, I have caught myself being a bit sad that I won’t have Finn with me during the day anymore.The things that we would do during the day sometimes after I picked him up at 12:30 (museums, parks, shows, etc) will no longer be an option for us. He and Hadley don’t get home until 4:15. (Note: Upon closer inspection of my memories, I am now remembering Finn mostly squawking about being bored and wanting to go home to play Mario. So don’t think it was all sunshine and rainbows. The kids a professional whiner with a penchant for sweets. He’s lucky he’s gorgeous.)

Sad. And weird. But good. Change is good. Or so they say. (I didn’t say that last night when Peter was installing new software on my computer. I sounded like ET when he screams at Gertie. Change! AHHHHH! CHANGE!!!!!!) It was very gutteral. Not cute.

 

Next Chapter: Provosts – The Elementary Years.

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Respite

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Anxiety, Irritation and Frustration have been the flavors of the week lately. For the last 4 or 5 weeks, actually.

I’m just over summer and the kids and I are sick of each other.

But I’m over being a cranky ninny. Time to blow the stink off, as Peter’s grandmother would say.

Today was different when I woke up.

I would like to attribute it to a lovely ladies night out last night with my faves, where my cracked, empty cup was glued back together and filled to the brim with goodness and fun, leaving me feeling whole again. I also was wearing a dress with shoes that are not a flip flop, had make up on and my hair up. I can’t remember the last time I felt so grown up.

All four of us went to school this morning for a Rise and Shine breakfast. (Note to organizers: Don’t call something “breakfast” if it’s really just tiny blueberry muffins from Costco and watery lemonade. I mean I didn’t expect Eggs Benedict but c’mon.)

Finn and Hadley met their teachers and dropped off supplies. Finn seemed a bit overwhelmed. Shit, I felt a little overwhelmed. It’s so crazy and crowded and squawky.

We came home at 9:30am and I set up the slip n’ slide in the backyard. I put on the Beach Boys and set up camp in the shade with iced tea, cantaloupe and magazines. At noon, I announced we were having a picnic! (in my excited, overly caffeinated voice) I carefully arranged fun little lunches and they ate outside in the sun, delighted to be doing so.

We JUST came in at 1pm.

Now, they are playing castle upstairs and are dressed as the “meanest couple in the world.” Hadley looks super chic in a black shift of mine and a headband. Finn’s wearing a cape, bien sur.  There hasn’t even been a mention of TV or video games. This is a huge success for me, people.

The fighting has been minimal. I am declaring this day a raging success.

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