Great philosophers of MY time.

While watching He's Just Not That Into You the other day, I couldn't help but laugh at the opening scene. A little girl gets called dog poop by a little boy at a playground and then her mother proceeds to tell her the only reason the little boy called her dog poop was because he liked her. And that is where all girls get screwed! If someone treats you like crap, then he probably doesn't like you, but according to the movie, it means he does. It means he REALLY likes you. Ha. So, what's the point you ask? We have all seen this movie if not read the book it was adapted from. Well, I think we actually got some pretty great advice when we were kids and from an unexpected source. It is weird to say, but some of the best advice we could give our friends, family, and omg do I dare say, ourselves (!!??) these days comes from our childhood. To think, we had it all figured out when we were just five. It is easy to forget so here are my favs to remind you of some very simple, logical rules to live by.

"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." - Winnie the Pooh
Oh Pooh bear, how I adore thee! This is PERFECT for so many reasons, but I will share one. I have SO many friends that are single right now. People from high school, college (yes, there are a few of us from SC that are not yet married!) and other parts of my life that have yet to find their person. Many of these people are kind of lonely and are just waiting for Prince Charming to come sweeping in on his white horse. Well, first of all, I am pretty sure I already snagged him so keep dreaming ladies :) Secondly, take Pooh's advice. Go get your man! Or your woman, or your dream job or whatever! Pooh has been telling us since our wee years that we cannot just sit around waiting for things to come to us. We need to go out there into the big, dark, scary world and grab it for ourselves. Whatever it maybe. Me likey.

“I used to believe in forever, but forever is too good to be true.” - Winnie the Pooh Sad, but true. Forever doesn't happen. Today might be your last day. So tell the ones you love that you love them and savour each moment. Make today the best day you can have. Smile. Be happy.

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." - Velveteen Rabbit
It takes each of us a different amount of time to really discover who we are and what we are all about. Once you do uncover the Real part of yourself, embrace them. Be yourself. Because those who truly care about you will find those parts of you beautiful. When you are happy in your own skin, in your own mind, in your own beliefs, that is when you are the most beautiful.

"Two rights don't equal a left." BFG
Well, I really think that needs no explanation :)

Mussels are people too.

At the risk of sounding completely incompetent, am I the only one on this tiny ball of dust we call earth that didn't realize mussels were alive?! I mean, I knew they were alive at some point in time. They were alive with their little mussel family deep in the salty sea blanket of protection and life. They were alive with their little mussel boyfriends. They were alive with their little mussel mania conventions. They were alive. I get it.

I just thought that by the time they magically and humanly appeared in my local grocery store they would be dead and ready for consumption. Not.so.much. I preface the remainder of this murder confession, I mean, blog post by saying I am not a vegetarian by any means. I eat hamburgers, hot dogs and lord knows what else with the best of them. I do not cry when Wilber appears perfectly fried up on my breakfast platter next to my eggs Benedict nor do I shed tears when Mary's little lamb happens to be oh so scrumptious that she ends up nestled safely, warmly in my tiny tummy. However, I have never cooked anything that was technically still alive. Me no likey.

While carefully selecting my mussels on Sunday, the fish monger asked if I would be preparing the tiny children today. Since I already had a planned menu for that night, I told him my intention was to steam em on up Monday. He proceeded to bag, tag and hand over my small pound of noms and then told me to be sure I stored them in a bowl with a tiny bit of water and open lid so they can breathe until it is cooking time. Excuse me? They can breathe?!?!?

Ugh. I swear the entire time I was preparing my garlic, butter and wine sauce on the stove Horratio, Horris and the whole gang (clearly they had been named by that point) were looking at me. I had to place a towel over the bowl to get some privacy. And then apologized as I slipped them one by one into the pit of despair aka the sauce pan. Sigh. I am a murdered.

I ate 2. I assume it was my dear Horratio and Horris - the twins. And then I become so upset I had to stop and force the bf to stop as well. They were taken out to their final resting place soon thereafter. I hope they like the city provided trash bin. Moral of the story - Mussels are meant to be eaten at restaurants. Not at home. Write that down.

Good day.

Housewarming Gifts

Today, a friend asked for housewarming gift suggestions. My first instinct, like any sane person, was to suggest this golden ticket. Apparently, we were looking for something more serious so the search continued. Google affords us lightening fast information so naturally, that is where I began. The Internet is a scary place my friends (or stalkers whatevs). So besides Billy, which clearly is the front runner, here is a delightful sampling of what cyberspace thinks people actually want for their housewarming gifts...

I must admit I love housewarming parties. The main and most crucial reason my heart swells with joy at the site of a housewarming evite or perfectly printed paper invitation sent through the oh so vintage Pony Express is this: housewarming parties are equal opportunity employers. Gentleman, bear with me. Ladies, let’s go. This reminds me of the episode of SATC when Carrie realizes she is constantly celebrating the life choices of all her friends and said choices are inevitably those in which all the single ladies are left out of - sorry Beyonce. Alas, there is always the housewarming party. Whether you are single, married, divorced, its complicated (oh gee thanks facebook!), or anything in between you, YES YOU, can have a housewarming party too. Oh and you can warm anything from your fabulous new purchased abode (where nothing will be furnished for the next 5-10 year because you just spent every last jager bomb penny on your down payment) to your perfect little cookie cutter Post Property that we have all lived in. That is one of the highlights of our early twenties kids! Everyone is constantly moving and yes, it sucks when it is you, but when it's not you, you get to party. And when it is you, you get gifts and lets all be honest, gifts are glorious.

So for those of you looking forward to our next housewarming, book your tickets to NYC for summer 2011. And you can forget the wall mounted fish bowl (however, I know a few friends who will absolutley ask where they can get that fabulous knife set). Bring your shining face and a good bottle of carmenere and we will be besties for life.

Happy housewarming!

Half way through my third decade…

Technically, I am still in my mid twenties which is just how I like things…in the middle. I don’t particularly care for summer or winter, I like autumn and spring. When it comes to my mattress, I prefer something not too firm and not too soft or my back begins to feel like an old woman. Oh and ice cream? No thank you…too icy and frozen yogurt is too creamy. I choose gelato every time if available. Right in the middle.
So here I am in the middle and loving every moment. I think I am supposed be more of an adult nowadays, but I certainly don’t feel like that. I guess if I actually felt old then I would be freaking out about each birthday. Good thing reality hasn’t had a chance to set in yet. Catch me if you can!
This birthday was exceptionally amazing. I am tempted to hack into thesauruses.com and type a laundry list of words that mean exceptionally amazing, but hopefully you can live without and feel joy through the screen of your tiny little window to the cyber world.
Part uno of my bday to rival all bdays was a small trip over the other side of the pond to an island you might have heard of…JAPAN! BAM! The bf and I boarded a plane at oh way too early o’clock a few days prior to the magical day of my birth to saunter over the Pacific and land safely in cherry blossom heaven. Tokyo was amazing. The city is MASSIVE. Think of New York City. Got it? Now multiply by 20 and you might be close to the size of Tokyo. We spent 5 days there and barely scratched the surface of what this fantastic place has to offer. It is hands down the cleanest place I have ever visited and home to the nicest people ever made. The food was interesting, but tasty nonetheless; however, there wasn’t as much sushi as you would think. I expected to be so over fish by the time we arrived back in the states, but the big to do over there is not the sush…it is the noodle caboodle. We both tried baby squid and just to save you some time, money and embarrassment from tossing your cookies in a fancy smancy eatery take my advice: skip it. Maybe adult squid is more up my alley, but that riddle will have to wait to be solved until the next trip. A photo montage for your viewing pleasure.

Part duex of my bday to rival all bdays was a super fun celebration with my VIPs attending the midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in full on costume. Instead of attempting to describe the pure craziness of the night in my own words, I am going to take advantage of my bestie and allow her to tell you all about it. Click here to read all the dirty dets!

Pullman Yard

A few months ago, my dear Sil heard that there was some abandoned train yard hidden in downtown Atlanta. We fully intended on finding said yard at that time, but alas, life gets in your way and it is now APRIL. Sil had to work this weekend, so with bf in tow we ventured out on yet another adventure. Life is good.

Daniel used his amazeballs investigative skillz to track down the exact location of the yard and we were off! For those Atlantans reading, you can find the yard on the edge of Kirkwood just passed the Arizona Lofts. At first glance, I was a bit apprehensive of all the NO TRESSPASSING signs. After all, I am kinda a stickler for the rules. Onward we marched until we found a break in the chain link fence and barb wire where we easily squeezed through – thank god we are skinny.

And there it was.

We spent the next hour or so in awe of this amazing place that was completely abandoned. The main office was trashed, but still had big red Christmas bows on the ground surrounded by mounds of paperwork. The entire property is comprised of several buildings including the main, very large warehouse where we discovered an old Amtrak train that was awesome. It was completely graffited on the outside and we were tempted, but too scared to go inside. It looked as if the old train might have a newer occupant as we saw a couch, table and bottle of booze from the doorway. We decided we would save that for the next trip. The crumbling brick buildings were punctured with trees squeezing through the slightest crack and exploding on the other side, the glass windows have long been broken and leave light pouring through the side buildings while the main warehouse is graffited to the max, dark and haunting. The slightest breeze and you would hear things that gave you goosebumps simply from the huge, echoing rooms.

This place really was amazing and I am so glad we got in, got out and didn’t get caught. A photo montage for your viewing pleasure.

5 things that I would get if money was NO OPTION

I saw this on another blog this morning and am stealing it. No apologies.

1. Macbook ~ I cannot tell you how many times this little gem has appeared in my shopping cart on Bestbuy.com, the Apple store and mentally in my mind on a daily basis. I am literally one more glass of wine away from hitting the check out button.
2. A trip around the world with stops in: Fiji, Venice, Malta, Bali, Sydney, Venice, Singapore, Bangkok, Laos, Vietnam, Venice, The Seychelles, Joburg, Morocco, Egypt, Barcelona, Paris, Mykonos, Venice, London, Dublin and did I mention Venice? http://www.staralliance.com/en/booking/book-and-fly/#
3. A faboosh LAMB handbag that I cannot find anywhere besides ebay.
4. This to.die.for chair from Paris on Ponce. Seriously, who wants to give me $1400?
5. The entire Le Creuset enameled cast iron cookware line…in every color. When it comes to cooking there are a few rules I live by. I believe in garlic, I believe in cooking while drinking red wine, and I certainly believe that this gorg cookware adds a little magic to each dish and thus tastes like you truly are Betty Crocker. What would you buy today if money were no option?

Reunions are so pre-millennium

I have been a member of the RHS Class of 2002 Reunion group on fb.com for about a year or so now and I honestly do not know why. Here’s the deal kids: I really don’t see the point of class reunions for our generation anymore. Shocking, I know. I always thought I would be gung hoe to attend the big shin dig every 10 or so years because…gasp…I actually really enjoyed my high school experience. Seriously, I did. I loved high school so much that I actually CRIED when my parents were driving me up to college because I figured life just didn’t get better than good old Roswell High. Try to contain your laughter, please. Well, I certainly learned differently and while I will always have fond memories of high school I am now a tad apprehensive to jump on the whole reunion bandwagon deal.
I always thought the purpose of reunions was to reconnect with old friends, network and be nostalgic. Or see who got fat and bald. Whatevs. Well, nowa days with the advent of fb.com, I already know who got fat, knocked up and failed to graduate from college sooooooooo what’s the point? Ok ok, you say the point is to reconnect with old friends right? Well, again, with fb.com I am in touch with the people I want to be in touch with and have access readily available to those I might find interest in at some later point in time. So I just don’t see the point of the high school reunion anymore.
I guess that makes me a Debbie downer or cynical or just plain lame, but I really do not foresee myself shelling out the standard $75 for two drink tickets, bad buffet food, a cheesey DJ and embarrassing slideshow so me and the bf can talk to people we already talk to and avoid the ones we don’t.
I can safely say for certain: I am just too cool for school.