Freshers by Stephie

I doubt I’ll have time to write before we leave early tomorrow (unless Justin gets locked into another Nintento RBI Baseball vortex), so I wanted to leave at least a tiny new entry before I embark on my Amish Thanksgiving.

My co-workers and I sometimes get together after work to draw Free Crappy Portraits. The site sends you a picture, you draw some crap and send it back.

They sent our friend Doug a picture to draw. But, uh, Doug isn’t real? Doug is the fake Facebook twin brother of my friend Ben. Doug is a long story.

So here’s the free crappy portrait I drew for Doug.

(I almost drew the guy in the sheik costume laying in a pool of blood, with a thought bubble that said, “I’m dead because I’m racist”)

Sorry for the long break. I’m still recovering from my Felicity marathon and I love torturing Ron. Also, I’m still adjusting to life as a person with glasses. I got my first sexy librarian comment yesterday. Who the fuck says shit like that? Who cares? I love my glasses!

P.S. I forgot to tell you that at my new job, we have a Halloween Pet Parade. WHAT? YES:

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Heads Up Girl, You Can Rule This Place

It’s hard getting back into the groove after being so busy and then so sick. Right now I’m just trying to catch up with as many friends as possible (Jen, Jane, Kendra, Vee, Heather, Erin and Ty, I’m looking at you) as well as getting back to running 5 miles a day. It gets dark early now; I miss my city walking and it’s a scary trip to the Y at night. I’m trying to fill up my iPod with as much new music as possible to keep me motivated.

(I wish that guy could give me a peptalk in the mirror every morning.)

Speaking of “being busy with my job and my gay friends/laughing and drinking with my one night stands”, I’m 80% through this life-changing Felicity marathon. I’mnotreadytotalkaboutitjustyet.

 

Martha Marcy May Marlene Marvelous

Ooooh gurl. This movie is so amazing! I’ve been looking forward to this movie since Sundance and it’s finally here. Justin and I were both silently losing our shit during the whole thing–him for the stunning direction, me because I love cult movies and John Hawkes, and both of us because Elizabeth Olsen is freaking incredible.

If you get ooked out easily or you need quick pacing or you hate weird endings, then this isn’t for you, but for everyone else, go see it!

Do It For Torty

I got my new glasses. You guys! They are so cute!*

I had planned to only wear them while driving or at meetings. But, like most people who get glasses, I had no idea how visually-impaired I actually was until I put them on.

“How do they look?” the guy at Lens Crafters had asked me.

“Oh wow,” I said calmly, nodding at a poster across the store. “These are great.”

“Look out there,” he said, pointing behind me, out into the mall.

“HOLY $*&@!” I cried, with children nearby.

Did you know that I’ve been seeing things through a Barbara Walters Special fuzzy filter? I didn’t, until last night. I can still see things within arm’s reach (or slightly longer; my arms are short) at a 20/20 level, but anything further is appallingly cloudy.

I would love to wear them 24/7 (or I guess 16/7), but I’m very new to glasses and very prone to motion-sickness; if I’m not looking straight ahead while moving, I get a bit nauseous. Justin said I should pick all day or short spurts and just stick with it, but I’m still on the fence.

*The tortoiseshell frames match my tortoiseshell watch perfectly, so my co-workers decided that I now have to sit with my hand under my chin at all times.

P.S. That’s one of my new Anthropologie sweaters!

Out of Order

Life has been pretty lazy and miserable for the Tollivweirs this week. Our sinus infections turned into crazy poofy allergy eyes. Justin’s eyes are almost healed, but I still have to ice down my eyes with two beer cans for a half hour every morning before I’m even remotely presentable. (This is how sick we’ve been–we’ve had a 12-pack of beer sitting in the fridge for 10 days, untouched.)

I have an appointment with my allergist today, but I’m telling you right now: if this is some belated reaction to the cat, then this is how I’m going to look for the next 10 years because there’s no way in hell we’d get rid of him. The same thing happened to me two years ago, though, and it just randomly went away, so I’m hoping the same thing happens now. (I have no idea of the exact dates or how long it lasted, so if any of you have stalked this blog to the point where you remember an entry about it, I’ll give you a Free Creepy Pass. Please share.)

Update: Not the cat! It’s just–get ready for a boner–my sinuses draining. *wink*

Even Better: I was so happy about this that I hugged Chauncey forever and got hives in my cheek.

The one great thing about this ordeal is that Justin couldn’t wear his contacts, so we had to go get him an actual pair of glasses. And while I was there, I fell in love with these tortoiseshell frames:

I’ve needed glasses for a while now; I’ve become a bit near-sighted, to the point where I can barely read street signs and power-point presentations. So I’ve scheduled an eye exam for this week; cross your fingers that the frames are still there! Yes, I know that Polo is a men’s brand–women’s glasses usually have some huge ugly/shiny logo on the side. Yes, they are borderine hipster, but tortoiseshell is my favorite thing in the world and you would not believe how adorable I look in these things. Bonus: they sort of mask my allergy poof.

Other stuff:

• I love my TOMS so much that I’ve already bought another pair. They only look like elf shoes when I wear them with my fat pants, which I like because it gives me the incentive to stay out of my fat pants.

• The sinus infection appeared two weeks into my 100 Miles 3 Weeks goal, so I had to abandon it. I’ll attempt this one more time, probably in January. I did, however, win another t-shirt at the Y (my third!) for running over 75 miles in 5 weeks.

• The featured Netflix Marathon of the Month is Felicity. I’m halfway through Season 2 and completely obsessed.

• Jersey Boys entry will still be written, someday. I swear.

• The other day I hung out with some friends from high school that I haven’t seen in years–one in almost a decade. The four of us have all been through a rough ordeal in the past few years–a bad divorce, a custody battle, a very premature (but now healthy) baby and taking care of a terminally-ill parent. So being together, even for a few hours, was the most therapeutic thing I’ve done in a very long time. I hope we get to do it again soon, once these poofy eyes go away.

• The Sunday after Fall Daylight Savings is the best night of the year for someone with Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. I’m as fresh as a daisy today (or rather, a well-rested daisy that’s been punched in both eyes).

• Radiohead is coming to St. Louis! I’m thinking about surprising Justin with tickets for his birthday. My friends always go to these cool shows and never invite me, so this time I’m being proactive and taking my own damn self.

• If Justin can get off work for Thanksgiving Weekend–and that’s a huge if–then one of our Thanksgiving dinners will be spent eating a genuine Amish meal made by actual Amish people in an actual Amish person’s home. This is a dream realized. Cross your fingers and braid your beards that this actually happens. The other dinner will unfortunately involve a post-turkey game of dodgeball (again).

I See Red People

Well, this happened:

Want to know what it’s like living on the craziest street in downtown St. Louis on the night the Cardinals win the World Series? Well, here’s a nice relaxing stroll down my street over an hour after the win:

I was going to write some big long entry worthy of such an epic win, but guess what? My street was up honking and screaming until 4am. And remember that legendary Game 6 the night before? Honking til 3 on a Thursday. That lack of sleep, combined with standing in the cold for hours and high-fiving one million strangers equals a mother of a sinus infection. Justin and I are laying on the couch as I type this, coughing and groaning and whimpering.

So here’s some pictures in a lazy slideshow. Keep an eye out for some pictures of our street–after I shot that video, the police closed off the street and firetrucks showed up “just in case”. I also threw in some pictures from Game 1, where we sipped tumblers full of wine, and hung out with like 12 people on the corner outside the stadium (as opposed to the 20,000 you will see below):

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