I spent 13 hours yesterday with the guys who made this, and it was so much fun. I love my job so much!
Somewhat related (because if you give me awesome food, I will destroy it as demonstrated above), this is the last week I have to shrink before my fitting–AND I have to save up a billion dollars for my surgery–so if you need me, I’ll be at work, at the Y, or locked in my loft watching Dr. Who.
Filed under Uncategorized
And I will cost $2,000 and three days off work to fix!
The bad news (I mean, the other bad news) is that the cyst goes all the way back to my palatte and up to my sinus cavity. I saw a 3D x-ray of my skull; it was f*cking horrifying. The good news is that my surgeon thinks the bone can heal itself, so he’s just going to rip open the roof of my mouth and clean it out. I don’t have to go under if I don’t want to, but I probably will (after a minor panic attack).
Maybe the guy who dropped me on my face has won the lottery since the last time we spoke? That would be nice. At least I get to eat ice cream for three days straight.
And I’m not melanoma!
And I have pre-cancerous cells, which are spooky but very common, and 7 out of 8 times they go away. F*ck off, pre-cancerous cells!
And I am all kinds of f*cked up!
Having tons of trouble sleeping, but I’ve also gone over 11 months without prescription sleeping pills, so I’m just going to be even more disciplined than usual and hope for the best.
And I can run 6 miles in 63 minutes! F*ck you, Cyst!
*You can tell how I’m doing financially by how many F-bombs I drop in an entry.
Filed under Uncategorized
When I was in London in 2001, I roomed with this awesome girl named Kacy. She suggested Harry Potter to me any time I needed a new book, but English majors can be dickishly superior about popular books, so I would always turn her down. That is, until I flew to Rome for Fall Break. I read the first one on the flight over and was so hooked that by the time we landed, I shelled out about 50,000 lire for an English version of book 2. After we got back, I locked myself in our room for about a week and finished books 3 and 4.
So when Kacy asked me if I wanted to go to the World Premiere a few days later, I said sure. For some reason, I thought we were going to watch the movie. Little did I know that we were heading down to Piccadilly Circus at 10 in the morning to watch them set up and hopefully grab seats in the grandstands.
We ended up hanging out with this kid named Simon who was dressed like Harry. All the reporters wanted to interview him, so that day you could see Kacy and I grinning in the background like fools on channels all over the world, including Telemundo. We were there so long that we ended up flirting with the bobbies and got wristbands to the grandstands–second row, right in front of the door!
I actually took home one of the posters below and kept it in my room til the end of the semester. If I had known what I know now, I would have paid to ship it home. Ugh.
We had primo seats to watch all the celebrities pose for the paparazzi. We only knew half of them, though. The little girl in front of us thought she was the shit as she haughtily explained who the people were. “She’s on Footballer’s Wives. He plays for Arsenal. Do you even know what Arsenal is?”
I had my boyfriend Tim’s camera, which took pictures on “film” that you had to “develop”. Also, you had to look though this little hole to see, and it did not zoom. So below are pictures of celebrities, some amazing and some awful. Some celebrities that were there that I didn’t get pictures of included Helen Hunt, Jessica Simpson and Ben Stiller.
I could show you which face is Daniel Radcliffe if I had MS Paint on this thing.
Hermione!
Ron!
Hagrid! Robbie Coltrane was so awesome, the crowd ended up chanting, “Robbie! Robbie!” over and over, and the paparazzi took tons of pictures of us.
Fuzzy J.K. Rowling!
Madame Hooch!
Fuzzy Warwick Davis!
Fuzzy Fergie!
Baby Spice!
STING! AGH!
The highlight of the night was when Daniel Radcliffe started walking toward the front door. “Harry! Harry!” we all yelled, as his publicist shielded him from us. But just when he seemed like he was heading our way, we noticed something out of the corner of our eye. “Harry! Harry! Ha-CHER! OH MY GOD IT’S CHER!”
Cher looked as excited to see us as we were to see her. She looked amazing up close. She high-fived tons of people, INCLUDING ME, and then I got the most awesome picture of the day … so awesome that when William (the receptionist at Regents) saw it, he said, “You bitch.”
So that’s my story of the first Harry Potter. And last night I saw the last one with Jen, Ron and Justin. It was amazing, and not just because Neville Longbottom kicked ass.
I showed Justin all the previous films over the past month or two, and it was great reliving the whole thing and getting to experience the last one with him sitting next to me. (Good thing; I needed a shoulder to cry on and Jen was too busy crying on Ron’s.) This has been a huge part of my life for the last ten years, and even though I knew how it ended, it was touching to see it brought to life by these actors we’ve watched for the last 10 years, too. The fact that the entire cast was on board for eight films is pretty remarkable.
Oh, and SPOILER ALERT: Continue reading
Filed under Almost Famous, London
Lynne Stone
About once a year, I’m reminded of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and I remember how much I wanted to be Helen Hunt’s character from that movie. A workman onesie with a scarf and a Davy Crockett hat? Lynne is more than a fashion inspiration; she’s a role model.
Tortoiseshell Watch
AAAGGGHHH! You guys! I’ve always loved tortoiseshell and have been dying for a tortoiseshell watch ever since I knew they existed. However, most tortoiseshell watches include either a gold face or fake diamonds all over it. Ew! Well, I finally found my dream watch, a tortoiseshell boyfriend Fossil with a black and silver face.
I’m on Fashion Cloud 9 over here. Most importantly, it matches my Abe Lincoln vs. Bigfoot t-shirt.
Veronica Mars
Justin suggested watching a few episodes of this to cheer me up the night before my biopsy-thingies (what is the word for when they chop you up and take pieces of you to run biopsies?). AAAAND now he’s hooked. We’re three discs in and I’m a happy lady.
(via starsweptnight)
Harry Potter Mania
There are a billion Harry Potter fans on Tumblr, and they’ve been filling up my dash with HP gems like this:
I can’t get enough of it. I will be seeing the last movie this weekend with Jen. She and I have seen five of the films together in the theater! (The other two were seen with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.)
Did you know I was at the world premiere of the very first Harry Potter film in London in 2001? Those pictures are mostly fuzzy and awful, but scanned and coming soon.
Grown-Up Neville Longbottom
HAY NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM:
Friday Night Lights Appreciation
The internet is also FNL-crazy, thanks to the end of the series. And my girl Tami Taylor, aka Connie Britton, has been nominated for an Emmy along with her TV husband! Isn’t that awesome, y’all?
Google+
That’s right, I’m plus’n. I’m having tons of fun with my 18 friends, thankyouverymuch. It reminds me of the very early days of MySpace where it was me, the Jersey Boys and half of LA. There were about 30 people from St. Louis on MySpace in the beginning, all strangers to me at the time, and I’m still friends with most of them.
Long Hair
I’ve been growing out my hair for my cousin’s wedding, and I’m having so much fun with it. It’s especially nice to wear it up at my new job, where I have to walk outdoors through a wind tunnel to get to meetings. Wind and heat will destroy my hair in 3 seconds flat. Speaking of, I’m enjoying the freedom of venturing outside in 102˙ weather and managing to look … well, not cute, but no worse than everyone else.
Who knows? I may grow it as long as it was in London! (I will part it from the side this time, I promise. And throw in some mousse. Middle Part. Never Forget.)
Terrible Movie Mondays
Justin is now working Monday nights, which means I go to the Redbox and get awfully-awesome teen movies that I would totally eat up on cable, if I had cable.
Guilder Nostalgia
I was trying to explain to someone how wonderfully fun Europe was pre-Euro. He was on the fence til I googled the Guilder. Look!
The watermark for this one was a bumblebee. I would be so good at saving money in a world with the Guilder–I would want to keep them all on my wall!
(Image from here–click for an awesome watermark picture!)
Charlie
Always.
It’s been one year since my Dad died.
I’m taking a half day so I can check out the other Y location and get some running in. It’s still World War Fat, so I don’t plan on drowning my sorrows with wine or eating a lot of comfort food.
When the heat wave dies down–if it ever dies down–I plan on taking a solo trip to our family cabin to do some writing. I’ve been there many times, including to spread his ashes, but I feel like it’ll do me some good to be alone. (And it’s always relaxing when you have a stretch of the Meramec River all to yourself.
I finished Life by Keith Richards last night. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s worth mentioning here because my Dad’s favorite band was The Rolling Stones. Honestly, the whole time I read it, I kept wishing that he was still alive or that the book had come out earlier, so I could’ve read it to him. I feel like it would have made that last year a little less miserable.
It’s not fair, but it will never stop being unfair and I’ll never stop wishing that he was around. I’ll just have to get used to that, I guess. Here’s his favorite song:
Filed under Sam I Am
So … right after I declared The War On Fat, the Y decided to SHUT DOWN THE WEIGHT ROOM – with ALL THE TREADMILLS – for the rest of the month.
I could still run at the other downtown location, but I have to pay to park and it’s closed on weekends. It’s too hot to run outside, and too unsafe when you live downtown, anyway. I hate the idea of driving 15 – 20 minutes one way just to run, ‘specially in this heat.
Besides, after my two (PAINFUL!) procedures yesterday for two separate biopsies? I plan on spending all weekend laying on the couch.
I’m still going to work out–I’ve missed you, Insanity!–but this means my goal of a 1,000 calorie deficit is nearly impossible. So, I’ve decided the War on Fat is my goal for July. Just in time, I might add. Just in motherf%*^ing time.
The War on Fat has gone nuclear, my friends:
Oh, a free Qdoba nacho bar in the lobby at work? SKIPPED IT.
A lunch meeting at Rosalita’s, which has the best chimichangas in the world and where this has been known to happen? Veggie-only salad, while staring down guacamole and queso.
Justin just went on a couponing binge and bought 2 bags of tortilla chips, 10 boxes of cereal and s’mores fixins. What an asshole. My goal for the weekend? Ignoring all that shit all up in my kitchen. Can I do it? (Can I? I really don’t know about this.)
Filed under The Year Plus
I’m declaring war on anyone who tries to give me crappy food or alcohol for the next few weeks. I mean, despite what I demonstrate 90% of the time, I do have willpower … but not when it comes at me from all angles, every single day. From meetings to celebrations to just escaping the heat, I can’t go anywhere without people shoving food in my face, and it’s too hot for me to work it off with two hours at the Y.
Y’all has pushed me to the limit. I will be saying no, with violence if necessary.
Do I want dessert?
What about Happy Hour?
Another lunch meeting?
Oooh, who brought kolaches to our brainstorming session?
So, it’s your birthday?
Bachelorette party?
Bridal shower?
Oh, the frat boys are in town?
You bought how much ice cream at the store?
You baked this just for me?
What am I doing Saturday night?
Seriously, guys. Until it’s cool enough for me to rock 8 mile runs again, this nonstop food and booze wave is my enemy, and most likely so are you.
Filed under Botheration, Moodboard
Here’s what’s up with some of my favorite guys:
Jason got married!
My friend Steve is in Spain because his job is paying for him to run with bulls or something. What on earth.
Prom Date Ty got a new job and is moving back! Hooray!
And finally, Justin is building us new shelves today and is still cute:
Filed under Uncategorized
I’ve been living inside of this song for about three weeks. So good.
The story and production behind this song are so interesting, and I was surprised to learn how many songs sampled Bonham’s stairwell beat (Björk!).
Filed under Uncategorized
Thank you for tolerating my Lucy-themed entry and comments for the last few days, as I’ve never posted one before. (As far as the internet is concerned, I’m a virgin and I plan to stay that way forever–like in real life, of course.) As a token of my gratitude, I give you this:
P.S. The bitchslap at :24 is perfect.
Filed under Videos
Finally, the Napa Valley recap that tens–literally, tens!–of you have been waiting for!
My inspiration for my trip to Napa was the most fabulous wine drinker of them all, Ms. Tami Taylor of Friday Night Lights.
Tami is always drinking these massive glasses of white wine (which is never acknowledged on the show but certainly online), and if I ever have to be a wino, I want to be her.
As my own personal Sasha Fierce, I’m awarding all these wineries with Tami in mind. Hence, The Tamis.
Ready, y’all?
Artesa was the first winery we stumbled across. It was gorgeous on the outside but pretty pretentious, cold and quiet on the inside. It looked like an art gallery, and not the kind where my friends have art shows. The fact that we had been on a plane since 6 in the morning may have had something to do with our disapproval.
I had a $29 steak, and it was worth every penny! It was a beautiful place, too. But surprisingly, this wasn’t the best meal we had.
We liked the tasting and tour at Cakebread because it was just us and our guide, surrounded by chilly barrels. I would recommend this tour on a very hot day.
Robert Mondavi is one of the few wineries that I actually recognized from the label … and I think everyone else in Napa felt the same way, since there were tons of tourists running around with cameras. The vibe was so touristy that we didn’t even stay for a tasting, though we did stay long enough to pose with the naked statue.
Raymond really tripped us up. On the outside, it was very traditional and family-oriented–in fact, there was a Father’s Day barbecue happening when we got there. But on the inside, there was this dark “Eyes Wide Shut” room covered in steel, crystal, and mannequins in lingerie hanging from the ceiling. We probably would have run out of there if our guide wasn’t the same girl from Cakebread.
Very pretty, but very boring. Our guide knew someone else in our group and kind of ignored the rest of us. Also, we asked this old guy if he would take a picture of us, and he said “no”, forcing us to mock him for the rest of the trip.
This was a sparkling wine winery on the most stunning property, surrounded by plants and art. This was personally my favorite winery. Unfortunately, this is also where the day’s wine started to kick in, and Serena and I decided to nap in the van for a half hour. It was so breezy and gorgeous that it was worth it, but sadly we missed a boyfriend/girlfriend fight. Bummer!
Possibly tied for my favorite was Rubicon, Francis Ford Coppala’s estate. Our guide Lewis was so awesome. He recommended a place for dinner and even called the owner to reserve a table for us. The gift shop was like wandering though Anthropologie. And the tour was amazing! Rubicon (which will soon return to its original name, Inglenook) has such a rich history–the fact that the Coppolas own it turned out to be one of the most boring parts of the story! Also, I like Rubicon because they make a Riesling–it’s my favorite wine and it rarely grows in Napa, which saved me from a lot of hangovers. Amazing place.
$125 stone cheeseboard that I wanted so bad.
From the crowds to the barbecue to the shady trees to the long picnic benches, this place made us feel like we were back home at the wineries in Augusta. Plus, there was a packed Italian deli inside, which reminded us of The Hill. Loved it!
Most of you know that I’m not much of a jewelry person. It looks decent enough on other girls, but personally I think most jewelry out there is ugly. HOWEVER, this place Baksheesh was recommended to us. We were in a hurry and only had 15 minutes or so to shop … and you guys, I was in heaven. Every necklace, every bag, every knick knack, and even every pair of earrings–Me! Earrings!–was gorgeous. I blew through that place like a tornado and spent so much that I got a free tote bag. Fair Trade jewelry, y’all. I’ve found my calling. I’m already saving money for a shopping spree at a similar shop here. I mean, I was so happy that I sprouted crows feet:
Oh, we stopped by an outlet mall the next day, and I found like 6 great tops at Banana Republic. Somehow, on a trip with 6 chicks, I was the most impressive shopper of the bunch? I blame the wine (and Tami Taylor).
She’s a stow and go!
Honorable Mention goes to this student driver vehicle:
Remember when I said Lewis got us a table here? Well, holy crap. All the food here was amazing. Jane and I both ate an Ostrich Burger with Truffle Fries. We were all so stuffed by the end that we shared desert: a flambe chocolate banana concoction called the Happy Ending. Yes m’am. The co-owner Steve stopped by our table with free glasses of Innocent Bystander wine from Australia, and later Lewis stopped by to say hi, too!
And finally …
We stopped by Domain Carneros on our first day, and we loved it so much that we made it our last winery visit, too. This is the place where we got the church giggles and laughed at everything from the “long creamy finish” to “semi-hard and semi-soft cheeses”. It went so far that Kendra asked our waiter Brandon to give us “equal amounts of head” when pouring our drinks. Immature? You betcha. But I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. We tortured our waiter Richard on the last day in a similar fashion. We loved that the patio had a gorgeous view, was quiet enough to sit and talk, and they had wine and cheese samplers for people who love red wine (Jane, Kendra and Jenny) and people who love sweet, sparkling whites (Ginger, Serena and me). Highly recommended; I get a little homesick just writing about it. Both of these visits were probably the most fun the six of us had in Napa.
And that’s it! I want to thank Kendra again for putting this together (and driving all weekend)! From beginning to end, it was such a fabulous time that I will never forget.
(P.S. If you’re my Facebook friend or friend-of-friend, you can see all my pictures there!)
Filed under Adventures, Picture Pages
Jen and Ron had a super fun barbecue last night and I had a lot of fun, but this dude who used to pretend to like me was there. I haven’t cared about this for almost two years but for some reason every time he opened his mouth I was like … well, there’s probably a German word for what I was feeling, but no English ones. And so:
At the end of the night he complimented my fruit salad and I was all:
Usually when I see him I’m fine, so I don’t know what my deal was last night. Did I drink too much? Not enough? Anyway, ugh.
And now, a tiny moodboard for today:
Filed under Moodboard, Pop Goes The Culture
Last night Justin and I went to Elvis Costello! It was fantastic! He brought along his Spectacular Spinning Songbook; audience members got to go onstage and spin the wheel to see what he would play. (They could even dance in the go-go cage if they wanted!)
The best part, however, was when he started covering “Substitute” and out of nowhere, Eddie Vedder joined him! (Erin T., I thought of you.) He was in town on his ukulele tour and rushed over from The Fabulous Fox during his opening act. I only had my crappy phone, but YouTube user SuperJCS2009 posted an awesome video of it:
Afterward, Eddie spun the wheel. It landed on “Pump It Up” and the crowd went crazy.
It was one of the best shows I’ll ever see. Elvis played for THREE HOURS! No opening act! You can’t tell from the video but the backdrop was a giant TV; the whole setup was so fun. He walked through the pit a few times and sweated on my friends Kim and Nancy Jane!
Justin was beaming the entire time, so I think my present was a success! We ate at Thai Country Cafe before the show and walked all the way down to see the installed-that-morning Chuck Berry statue. Hooray for Date Night!
The party continued this morning when I heard a drum circle outside my window at about 9 am. I looked out my window and saw an Indian wedding procession! (I live next to two reception halls, but usually I only see gawking guests and puking groomsmen late at night.) They were dancing and drumming and so happy and it totally made my day. Oh, and they were nice enough to have a dance party in between the trees for like 20 minutes so I could see them!
I’m supposed to go to two parties tonight, but we’ll see. I have a BBQ tomorrow and fireworks Monday, and I really only have time/energy for one. Oh, and today I finished Friday Night Lights! I highly recommend it (and you know how much I hate football. Trust me. So good). Up next: the latest Dr. Who! I love only watching TV one show at a time.
Filed under Pop Goes The Culture
I have a few different ways to add a minus to July.
I’m still a little concerned about that bridesmaid dress that I ordered in a size too small, so the first involves my BodyBugg. Usually I aim for a calorie deficit (the difference of calories I burn vs. calories I eat) of 750, but this month I’m going for 1,000. Usually I hit 1,000 about 10 times a month. It would be impossible for me to hit 1,000 every day and still have a life, so I’m aiming f0r 20 days. (You do realize that in order to do this, I’ll probably have to run 100 miles again? I hope so; that was fun!)
The second is speed. I usually focus on how long I can run, now I’m going to see how fast I can do it. Today I ran 6 miles in 65 minutes; let’s see if I can run comfortably at 6.0 by the end of the month!
The third was going to be kicking my debt’s ass, but with upcoming oral surgery, a biopsy, and four weddings (one that I’m in, one where Justin is Best Man), I can’t do that any more. However, I can attempt to at least break even, and that involves the same method I had before – a budget! A strict one.
All of this means I won’t be much fun this month, but it’s totally gross outside as usual–I’m always lame in July.
Filed under The Year Plus
Secretly Stephie 
