List #fail

I'm super bad at completing projects.** Like really, really bad. Even when it's something I love. Take scrapbooking for instance. I can spend days on end working on a scrapbook and be a very happy girl. Aside from reading, it's one of my favorite solitary activies (that can turn into a group activity in awesomness :)). But I have a couple of older scrapbooks that still aren't complete. One stands out as being completely unfinished. A few more lack some finishing touches - and rarely do they feel done.

I'm also super bad at completing lists. I love making lists - almost to the point of being ridiculous. Yes, I'm one of those who starts a list and adds things I've already done to it - just so I can cross them off. And typically I end up losing the list before I finish all of the items on it. Unless it's a packing list... those are pretty straightforward.

Unfortunately, when you put a list online for all who care to rad it, you seem to be more of a failure for not completing it. And that's where I stand with this whole 30X30 list that I put up here almost a year ago. Barf.

Of course, I did complete a few items on the list. Uhm... but see explanation for adding things because I already knew I would complete them. So yeah. #fail.

Honestly, I really like all of the items on the list. I think it would be a fun one for anyone to attempt. I'm wondering if I should bother making it more of a life goals list. I mean, I could add a few things on there that I knew would never happen in a year (as though any of it did). I'm not gonna commit to that here online... as we know how well that went the first time.

I almost forgot. I have excuses prepared for my noncompletion of said list!
Well... one big excuse, really.
Starts with a "wed" and ends in a "ding." :)
Seriously, who knew that would be such a time and brain drain?! Everyone, I suppose. I was just hoping that it wouldn't consume me. And it did.

Speaking of the big event, I'm gonna have pictures to show off! I've seen the proofs and we're waiting on the CD. So I can pretty much promise that the next update is going to be all wedding related. And picture-fied.

Until then, my little chickadees. :)


**I will say that this doesn't seem to carry over to my work life. I always seem super successful at completing stuff at work. Odd.

Lobster Time!

If you all remember, number three on my "30 by 30" list was to have lobster in New England. That's what you do in the summer in New England, right? Right. Luckily, I have connections up there - since my fiance is from Rhode Island and all that.

This past weekend, we went up to visit his family and thought it would be the perfect time to get my lobster. So on Monday, we headed to one of the many local seafood joints for lunch. It was a place near the beach called Cap'n Jacks. Pretty original, huh? Well, apparently it's known around town, so I was up for an adventure.

So.... Here's my lobster.

I'm just gonna say this... It was very, very stinky. Like, eww gross - I'm supposed to eat that smell?? Nasty. Uhm, also... I had a bit of an issue with the little beady eyes still on it. I made Jimmy pull them off for me before I could do anything. He thought it was hilarious. The nerd.

Luckily, the lobster didn't taste like it smelled - like steamed arm pit. :) I was suuuper relieved to realize that the meat of the lobster was very tasty. It was much tougher than I thought it would be. I think I was expecting a shrimp consistency. I guess that's a question - is it like steak like that? Is the quality determined in the toughness?

Anyway, it was yummy. I liked it a lot more with the butter stuff. That made it much more tasty. I may or may not have had way too much fun playing with the claws. I was tempted to take one with me to scare people later, but Jimmy reminded me that they would get really stinky. Only I wouldn't think about that. Sigh.

So this place was a lot of fun. They even had lobster cupcakes!! How cute is that?!? Luckily they weren't lobster flavored. That would be gah-ross. But they were massive. that body of the lobster? Yeah, that's a Twinkie. As fun as that was, it was humongus. And really, really messy. My fingers were really red for the rest of the day. There was a shark one too, but I'm glad I didn't get that one (the icing was dark gray - could you imagine how black my mouth would get?!?)

All in all, the lobster experience was a fun one. I was happy to spend it with people who knew what to do - like instructing me that the claw meat is the best. See? What would I do without them??

One thing down... 29 to go!

Journaling

I should have examined my list of thirty things a little better. I had kinda forgotten that a couple of them are ongoing things - to be started, well, immediately. It's not like I didn't know they were immediate things when I made the list... I just didn't realize they immediately started then. :)

Yesterday I was wandering through Target (as I tend to do more than I should), and I spotted the journals and had a flash of the "uh oh!" I had completely forgotten to start my journal that I was going to write in weekly.

So I hurriedly looked through their journals and purchased one that looks sorta 30-year-old sophisticated. I had to put down one that had sparkly stars all over it... that probably wouldn't have been appropriate.

I have spent a lot of my life journaling - it's one of the things that got my brain through college. It's been disappointing to realize that I've pretty much given it up (unless you count blogging, and I really don't). So this is an attempt to get that ball rolling again. It's very therapeutic and I always love looking back on my old journals.

So... thus it begins. A week late. But it begins, nonetheless. You probably noticed that I set my standards pretty low (ie "write once a week"). This is because I'm not sure how well I'd do with daily or something like that. Then I'd just get irritated, probably :). So, less irritation, more making it work!

A few of the other items are immediate as well - things like budgeting and all that. But I'll probably seriously start those in a couple of weeks. I'm trying to make it through the summer at work - only two more big programs and I'm done! Anyway, stay tuned for more 30 by 30 stuff :).

30 by 30

I have one year until I turn 30. There are things I would like to have accomplished before then. Here is my bucketlist:

1. Get Married
2. Go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride
3. Have lobster in New England
4. Get another tattoo
5. Begin learning another language
6. Buy a lottery ticket
7. Pay off my credit card
8. Learn to drive a manual car
9. Write a short story or novel. Submit it and frame the rejection letter.
10. Go snorkeling or scuba diving
11. Visit Disney Harry Potter
12. Go on a Day Cruise
13. Take an art/craft/cooking class
14. Go Bungee Jumping
15. Start journaling again - weekly
16. Watch IMDB's Top 100 Movies
17. Visit a Psychic/Palm Reader
18. See Wicked on Broadway
19. Visit a Primary Care doctor when I'm not sick
20. Go to a taping of a T.V. Show
21. Learn a new recipe monthly
22. Go on a carriage ride through Central Park
23. Go whale watching
24. Ride a Motorcycle
25. Create a budget and stick to it
26. Volunteer for 30 hours
27. Swim with dolphins
28. Create a weight goal and get there
29. Go up the Empire State Building & Top of the Rock
30. Get a professional massage

Bonus: Dye hair a fun color

I know some of these things seem really easy, but I only have one year, people! Hopefully I can get it all done. My intention is to blog about each of these things as I check them off.

Do you have anything I should add? Nothing terribly expensive, of course. Gotta budget! :)

The Big 2-9

I am one of those people who believes in taking days off of work for your birthday. So, of course, I took off the entire week last week. I think I planned it pretty well, if I do say so myself. I had a few days to detox from work... then a few days in Nashville with the family... then a few days to detox from that... and then back to work! Ta da! I think it works out smashingly :).

So on Tuesday, Jimmy and I flew down to Nashville with wedding planning on the brain. One of the reasons we went down was to have a few wedding-related appointments and get some things done. Always practical. His mom came with us as well - but she was on an earlier flight, so we met up with her in the airport. But both of our flights were in the morning, so our afternoon was pretty well planned out.

After changing an unfortunate flat tire, we went to Southern Bred for lunch. We have always loved that restaurant and if you haven't gone, you need to immediately. The woman that owns it, Sharon Johnson, is our caterer for the wedding. So it was sort of a working lunch :). We spent the afternoon getting me a new phone (Jimmy's birthday gift to me - a iphone 3g s) and mom a replacement for her dinosaur. Then we went out to Two Rivers Mansion (our ceremony/reception site) to do our follow up look around. Top the day off with dinner at Big River Grill and silly stores on 2nd ave. A great first day.

Wednesday was full of appointments. Actually, the day was pretty set in stone. Morning appt at a bridal place, lunch, another appt at another bridal place, then a later afternoon appt with a cake person... then birthday dinner :). I knew what dress I wanted by about 11am. It was the third one I tried on. Didn't need to go to the other appt, but I did anyway just to make sure. So... dress acquired! The cake appt went wonderfully. Delish! And birthday dinner? Well:

There were crazy birthday glasses and extremely wonderful crepes! My faves :).

Thursday was my actual birthday. I celebrated by spending my day with my wonderful group of girls at Puffy Muffin. Yummm. I love those girls - I wish we lived closer together! Alas. While I was playing, Jimmy and his mom had a meeting with a possible rehearsal dinner place. Such a good fiance, he is.

Thursday night we went out to dinner with Grant and Megan at O'Charlies. I'm addicted to one of their salads, so that was totally my choice. The waitress was.... weird. She decided to become part of the family for the night. But whatev. We had a good time and I got a free dessert:

The waitress said there would be no singing, but Grant couldn't help himself. So that was that.

Friday was our open day to get anything else done that we needed. This turned out to include shoe shopping, dropping my dress at Blake and Mo's house, lunch at Calypso... and heading to the airport to sit around with delays.

All in all, I thought it was a really fun time with the family. I don't think we got everything done that we wanted to, but there was still a lot of stuff that got accomplished. I'm feelin good about it.

Now I have a few more days before heading back to work (oh, I say that and I realize I only have two more. Drat.). But it's been a nice vacation. I suppose it's time to go back and put out whatever fires have happened at work. :)

I know this post was boring - but I just wanted to get all that out there. There will be a much more interesting post soon. Promise promise.

Excuses, Excuses

The time of making excuses has finally arrived. It's been.... a few months since I posted anything. Which would beg the question, "what exactly have you been doing that you couldn't simply update a little blog?!" The answer is nothing and everything. That doesn't make sense, does it?

I'm just gonna go ahead and list my excuses and hope for better things in the future. Here are the numerous reasons I've been lame lately:

Reason #1:

The Rough Winter

Yes, this is a real reason. Sort of. Spring is finally here and now I can "look back" on the winter and think, "Thank God that's over!" Did the winter keep me from blogging? Sure, yeah. Why not. Okay, no. Why don't I blame the winter for being depressing and that is what kept me from blogging. Ta da! See how well that works out?! Ahem.

Reason #2:

Wedding Planning

This one is real! w000t! I'm pumped to have a real reason. See, now. Wedding planning has taken over my life. For realz. Okay, maybe it didn't warrent the "z," but I have spent a lot of brain power on it. I even have made one of those "The Knot" websites... because apparently that's what you're supposed to do. Ours needs to be updated, actually. see? Something to do! We've made a few decisions, so things are progressing nicely. Location? Check. Date? Check. It's actually one year from today. Convenient, huh?? I sure thought so.

Reason #3:

Erm. Neighborhood Drama?

Yeah, this isn't a reason. I just wanted to put this picture up. One day a couple of Saturdays ago, there was some big fire in one of the buildings on my street. All of the residents were outside and we kinda, maybe had a front row seat from our window. I don't think there was tons of damage or anything. Everything seemed to work out okay. This picture was when they were putting everything away and it took more people than I would imagine to put away the fire hoses. So yeah. That's what that is. Again, not a reason.

Reason #4

Family Visits

This is another one of those semi-legitimate reasons. It's legit because we have had to take trips to visit people - a few times to Rhode Island and once to Tennessee. Those didn't take up so much time that it made a difference, but I'm listing them anyway. Picture on the left is me on the train to RI (I think it was freezing)... picture on the right is of our insane, impulsive roadtrip to TN. All of which included wedding conversations, so technically these could be included in reason #2. But I'm going to move right along...

Reason #5:

We've Done Stuff

I know this is going to come as a shock to some of you, but we've actually gone out and done some stuff in the last few months. This includes awesome things like seeing comics like John Caparulo, going to Knicks games, etc. See? Awesome NYC-ish stuff :). The plan is to continue doing said things - there's lots of stuff we need to do before we move away (in a few years (assuming the economy cooperates)).

Reason #6:

Work!!

This is a pretty good excuse, if I do say so myself. It's been crazy around the library lately. A good crazy, I think... but most definitely time consuming and constant (a good thing that I don't want to change!!). Oh, and this picture is from the subway station I get off at every day to go to work. I wouldn't recommend going to the station... it always seems to smell like pee. Very, very gross. Again, not recommended.

Reason #7:

Uhm. Videogames?

Okay, so I may or may not have gotten addicted to the latest Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. And by that, I mean, "I definitely got addicted." My poor little thumb can attest to that. I couldn't feel the end of my thumb (or it was all crazy-tingly) for about 48 hours. Children, this is the risk you run when you game for more than a few hours at a time! Ahem, I don't even know how long I worked on it. But I beat the game! At least, I saved the princess. Now I have all these other things I gotta do, but I'm not so obsessed with doing that asap. But yes, I spent hours and hours on this game. Hours I could have been blogging. Shame on me. shame.

Reason #8:

BOOKS!
Another SUPER-LEGIT reason! Seriously. I've read... what, 32 books so far this year? Something like that. Which is averaging about 10 books a month. Not too bad, I'd say. At this rate I'll have 120 before it's all said and done. But the point is that reading all of these books takes a LOT of time. My "to be read" pile hasn't gone beneath 10-15 books at a time. I guess that's a good thing - gives me lots of options for things to read! Note: the picture here is not one of my piles of books. I got it online. But my stack of books feels like that sometimes! It's a good thing I don't spend my own money buying them - I'd be broker than I am already! :)

I think 8 reasons is good enough, right? I'm just going to go with it. I suppose this is sort of "Our Spring in a Nutshell." It's a big nutshell, but nonetheless.

Best Books of 2009

As most of you know, I have a serious book problem habit. In 2009 I read something like 115 books (which isn't as many as some people, but still). Any time I that, it's inevitable that someone will ask me my favorites from those. It's a logical question, but it's kinda hard to answer - which is probably the librarian in me.

I tend to like just about everything that I read. It's very rare that I'll find a book that I just loathe (it's happened... just not often). I like to find their redeeming qualities :). But I always can think of favorites, so I've decided to make a top ten list. It's a little different because I split it into five series and five stand alones. Hopefully this will all make sense for y'all... so here it is:
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Top 5 Series

These are the latest book in a series that I read in 2009 - generally it's a love of the series that gets it listed here.

Splendor: a Luxe Novel

by Anna Godbersen
This is a historical fiction series that is set in the late 1800s in New York City. You can kinda think historical Gossip Girl for this series - it's very much about propriety, status, class, and those sorts of things. Very cool story. Not to mention how pretty the covers are! I just love them.

Splendor was the last book in this series (of four)... so now that it's a complete series, you should pick it up! The rest are: 1. Luxe 2. Rumors 3. Envy 4. Splendor

The Van Alen Legacy: a Blue Bloods Novel

by Melissa de la Cruz

This is just one of the many vampire series' that I read whenever a new one comes out. I think one of the things that I love in this series is that it's set in New York City too. This one really uses the city as almost a character - it's wonderful. And it's one of the best vampire series out there. Promise!

The rest of the series: 1. Blue Bloods 2. Masquerade 3. Revelations 4. Van Alen Legacy

Blood Promise: A Vampire Academy Novel

by Richelle Mead

This series is fantastic - again one of the vampire series that have been around lately. It has a bit more of the romance aspect in it, but I think the twist on the whole vampire stuff is very interesting. It's more about the guardians of the vampires than the vampires themselves and all the drama they go through. I love it - it's one of my favorite series ever. Check it out!

The rest of the books: 1. Vampire Academy 2. Frostbite 3. Shadow Kiss 4. Blood Promise

Death By Bikini by Linda Gerber

I added pictures of all the books in this series (so far) because I had them pretty accessible :). Death by Latte and Death by Denim are the second and third books in the series. They are one of the few mystery series written for teens - and it's written wonderfully. It's a very fun story that will keep you guessing till the end. I read them all in 2009, so that's why they're all here :).

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

If you haven't heard of Hunger Games, you need to go to your local library immediately and check it out. It's fantastic! It's one of those books that everyone needs to read in their lives. It's a science fiction series (There are the two books so far), but it's almost so realistic that it's spooky. Realistic as in... it could happen, maybe. I don't think a sentance of explanation could cover it, so I'll leave it to you to look up. It's great though - and even adults will love it. I promise!

Other series to look out for:

House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Maximum Ride by James Patterson

Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong
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Top 5 Stand-Alones

These are all books that aren't part of a series, but they're ones that I loved this year. I'd recommend any one of these!

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

I don't know if anyone has read the other series by Libba Bray (Great and Terrible Beauty and all...), but this is completely different. This one is about a boy who has mad cow disease and his adventures while looking for the guy with the cure. You never know whether the story is real or taking place in his head, so it's very interesting - a little trippy. Actually, a lot trippy. It's well written and I'd recommend it.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

I will read pretty much anything by Scott Westerfeld - after Uglies, I'm pretty much a fangirl. I could be wrong about this not being a part of a series... but I'm going to go with it for now. This book fits pretty firmly in the genre of steampunk. Or maybe... a metal science fiction story. All very technical and a little hard to follow. It's high adventure, so you end up devouring each page. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves technical things - or just loves Westerfeld as much as I do.

Tyrell by Coe Booth

This one is completely different from stuff I'm used to reading. It's very much urban fiction - takes place in NYC, but it's a really hard story (not as hard as Push, if any of you read that one). It's one of those books where you feel sort of hopeless through it, but it's really well written and you really end up caring about the characters. If you're looking to get into any urban fiction, I'd definitely recommend this one.

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

This book is hilarious - through and through. I seriously laughed my way through this one. It's a bit of a love story, but it's more about this girl and how she deals with things. Basically, the girl broke up with her boyfriend and the guy ended up writing a song about it - and became famous because of it. I'd definitely give this one to anyone wanting something light and chick lit-ish. It's great!

Same Difference by Sibhan Vivian

I don't think this book is going to make any official top ten lists or anything. It's almost pretty basic, but there was something about this story that I really loved. Perhaps it was just written well, but I really cared about the characters after the story was over. It's about a girl who goes to art camp over a summer and realizes shes a totally different person than she thought. It's really all self discovery and friendship. Try this one out!

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Well, those are my top ten books I read this year. Even if you didn't want to know.

Also, I'm a book blogger... as in, I blog about every book I read - giving it reviews and such online. It's mostly for my information, but it's kinda fun to look back at those blogs and see what I'll I've read. And I've got the whole list of books that I read this year, if you want to see.

Here is that url: The Ninja Librarian

Have fun!

Best Christmas Gift Ever!

Once upon a time... life started to feel like a fairy tale.

On Friday, December 25, 2009, my best friend, my love, my one and only asked me to marry him. I, of course, said yes!

The first thing people have asked me lately is to tell the story of the proposal. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I don't have a huge story to tell. But that's perfect for me :). But here's the info I have - which, I suppose - could be considered a story:

Apparently, Jim had known since Thanksgiving that he was going to ask me to marry him. My family was all up here for that holiday, but he said he couldn't get my parents alone to ask them. He did ask my brothers, though... they had a whole guys-moment-thing going on. I suppose they both gave him the thumbs up and he continued to plan.

At Christmas time, he finally got a chance to talk to my parents - or more specifically, my mom. It seems like I was hovering a bit, because (again) he couldn't get them both at the same time. So he talked to mom and she talked to dad - is what I heard. But I suppose it all worked out for the best!

On Christmas day, we did our normal gift opening and then my grandmother (dad's mom) came over for a yummy lunch. After she left, I figured we would be settling in for a quiet afternoon before the Titan's game that night. But Jim pulled me into the room he was staying in and told me to cover my eyes. When he told me to open them, he was in front of me on one knee.

He simply said, "Will you marry me?" I don't remember if I said yes right away, but there was no hesitation in my head. I'm pretty sure Jim was expecting tears, but I was too excited and happy - more smiley than weepy!

He said that he didn't want to make a big production out of proposing to me - because I'm not a fan of being the center of attention and all that. It worked a lot better for me to be just the two of us. Nice and easy! See how well he knows?!

The ring is from his family and is gorgeous. Much more than I would have ever wished for. I am going to have to get it resized, but it's pretty darn near perfect! Apparently it was hidden in our kitchen since Thanksgiving. Shows how observant I am!

A lot of people have asked if I knew it was coming - the official answer is no. But there were hints... and I kinda thought it might be coming. One being that Jim was way too excited about Christmas - like every once in a while doing the "it's almost Christmas!!!" That's not so normal for him. And there were other little things, but I'm gonna go with "no, I had no idea!"

I know that the next questions people have are all about the wedding. And I would just like to say here that no plans have been set yet. As in.... I dunno what date, I dunno where, I dunno how.... nothin. But we're open to suggestions!

Guess that's all I have for now. This has all been the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten (and will ever get, I'm sure). It's still sinking in, but I'm getting more excited the more I realize - even if my "to do" list just grew a lot.

Backtracking to Thanksgiving

Before I get too deep into the Christmas season, I feel like I need to just give the Thanksgiving rundown. This is mostly because we had such a fun time and I'm fairly likely to forget what all we did and where we went. So, this is backtracking a bit, but I thought I would share anyway.

My family all came up for the Thanksgiving holidays. As in, my mom, dad, both of my brothers and their wives. It was quite the crew! Luckily, they weren't all staying with me! I don't have that kinda space :). Helloooo studio! Anyway, they found a great hotel in Chelsea that was a great location and was right next to trains as well. I was impressed :).

They came into town on Tuesday night (the 24th, I believe). Jim and I met them at the airtrain and took them straight to the hotel. I was already wiped out cause I had worked that night - so we just left them there. On Wednesday morning, they all took a stroll through Greenwich Village down to Houston. We met them at Katz Deli - one of our favorite places to get a great sandwich! Then we walked down around Chinatown, but it started raining... so we did a little shopping and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.

Wednesday night we went up to see the parade balloons being blown up. It's such a cool thing to do! I had seen it before, but the fam needed the experience. It was misting quite a bit by then, so we really didn't stay long. We then headed back down to the Theatre District because we were seeing Jersey Boys later. We stopped at Rosie O'Gradys for some warm-me-up foods and headed on to the theatre.

I have to say that Jersey boys was amazing! The music was just spot on and my entire family was pretty much singing along. I'm glad we got to see it! I have to agree with whoever said it wasn't exactly a musical so much as a musical timeline. But it was still wonderful and I'll recommend it on to others.

After the show, we went down a few blocks to Times Square to take a few pictures and things. We decided to go somewhere for dessert - and conveniently there was a place called Roxie's that was perfect! I think some people were itching for some "NY Cheesecake." I know that wasn't me! Anyway, we took lots of pictures and walked ourselves back down to the hotel. Had to get to bed early to be ready for the parade in the morning! :)

On Thursday morning, we were out and about early. We went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I believe we ended up standing around 40th on 6th ave. It was a great spot, really... I think we got really lucky! They had lots of stuff blocked off, so we had to do some maneuvering. But the parade was wonderful and the weather was pretty mild. I'm happy to report that we stayed for the whole thing - even though there was mumbling to the contrary.

Afterward, I had made reservations to have Thanksgiving Dinner at one of the restaurants in Grand Central Station. It's the one in the actual concourse that looks out onto the station- Metrazur. The food was fantastic (a lot better than I was expecting), so I think everyone was satisfied. The only thing missing was leftovers for later!

After dinner, we headed out to Queens so I could show everyone our apartment. We have tons of video games (thanks to boyfriend extraordinaire), so we set up rockband and some wii bowling and everyone went to town. That was a nice, quiet evening. By that point, I think everyone was starting to feel a bit of the tiredness of walking around the city for a few days.

On Friday, everyone sort of split up to do their own thing. Dad and Blake went to the Guggenheim, Grant and Megan went to Battery Park, Mom and Moriah went shopping in the scary Macy's :). Jim and I met up with the later and walked down to SoHo with them - specifically to go to the MoMa Store.

We all met back up in Little Italy to get a late lunch. Jim's mom actually came down from RI to have lunch with us. That was a good time and our parents got to get to know each other. After eating, I took both of our moms to see about getting some fakie purses - I may have shocked my mom though :). It's kind of a crazy area and lots of crazy people to deal with.

Mom and I took Jim and his mom to Penn Station because they were headed back to RI for a memorial service. Then I met up with my brothers, etc to go see Ragtime that night. It was pretty good! I didn't realize it was still in the first stages of being on Broadway and all that, but it kind of makes sense. It was well done (except for a few things), but it's a fairly depressing story. We stopped at a brewery on the way home and had a nice evening of chatting and such :).

On Saturday morning, Grant and Megan left early. They had the early flight that day. Everyone else did a little shopping and Dad went to the Met. We met up for lunch (minus dad) in Hell's Kitchen and went back to a place we had been to before and loved - Five Napkin Burger. Yum! We wandered around a bit more before we had to go to the airport.

It was so nice to have them all around for the holiday! We had such a good time. I wish they could come up more often! Alas. At least I'm headed down to see them at Christmas time. I was going to add pictures to this post, but it's definitely long enough without it. I have pics all over my facebook stuff, so check around to find them. There are definitely some fun ones :).

Anyway, here's to a great Thanksgiving and looking forward to Christmas!

The schedule goes BOOM!

It's kinda crazy how you can have a whole lot of nothing going on for weeks at a time... then bam! Your social calendar explodes! Well, maybe the term "social calendar" is used very loosely here. More like... we had places to go. :).

This last week has turned our normal, low-key lifestyle on it's head. Last Saturday was Halloween. And being good New Yorkers, we decided to go to the Village parade. I went a few years ago, but it's always insane. It's nice to seee the crazies gather and realize how sane you are :). I posted some pics up at Facebook - but those were only a small tasting of what it was like.

I just love that even in a parade of crazies, there is still a crazy person!!! This dude had a dog in a tutu... himself in some sort of gypsy/nomad getup that I'm not convinced was a costume... and a live bird on his head. Ahem. And he kept coming by.

This was Jim's first time at the parade and he loved it. Especially the many superhero characters, the ATHF crew, and a cobra commander. He even got so excited about a zombie Captain America that he took a picture with him.

Perhaps we just need to get out more :).

But our week of fun didn't end there! Oh no. On Wednesday we got to go to our first Knicks game! The tickets were actually free to us, so that made the game even more enjoyable. Even if the Knicks lost. It was a night of intense amounts of cotton candy, pre-torn Knicks hats, and cup columbusing. A good time was had by all!

The very next night was another event - we saw Ricky Gervais LIVE at Carnegie Hall!! That was one of my birthday presents to Jim. He's a huge Gervais fan - as in he listens to all the podcasts and performances multiple times. Not to mention he loves The Office (British version only, natch). It was also our first trip to Carnegie Hall, which was really cool. It's extremely posh and we were extremely underdressed. But our seats were great (in one of the tier boxes) and it was a great show.

The encore was Ricky singing New York, New York with ELMO! I mean, the actual puppet. Isn't that crazy? I was shocked, but they did a great job. From our vantage point, we could actually see the workings of Elmo... which was kinda weird. But it was a lot of fun, and laughs were had by all!

To top it all off, we went up to Rhode Island this weekend to see Jim's family. His birthday is coming up (see early present, aka Gervais), so we headed up so they could celebrate with him. One thing that's great about visiting families is that we end up coming home with lots of yummy leftovers - specifically his aunt's homemade banana pudding. YUM!

Tonight we're headed to a midnight release of the latest COD video game - Modern Warfare 2. Jim's been amped about this for a few weeks, so tonight should be fun. This is the second release I've been to... so I'm expecting lots of nerdy and socially awkward dudes. Pictures? I hope so :).

Inadvertant Design

You wouldn't think it, but being a Librarian has given me way more variety than I ever thought possible. Obviously the whole reference question thing is the basis of it all... but it only blooms from there. One minute I'm a computer tech and the next I'm an event planner.

Our latest event has turned me into something completely different - a fashion show coordinator. This is, of course, something I would have never expected. Particularly as fashion is obviously not my forte. Though, perhaps I can claim craftiness.

But thankfully it's not just the fashion thing (I love Project Runway as much as the next person... but I'm no guru. Obvs). Of course, I didn't realize how much more it would take to plan a fashion show rather than one of our regular programs. It significantly more, actually.

To be specific, the program is going to be BUBBLE WRAP FASHION!!! YAY! What a great idea, huh? I can't claim it - is was one of my coworkers. Genius, I say! (ps i have no idea who this chick is... it was the only non-risque pic of someone wearing bubble wrap.) Anyway, this program is going to be awesome.

That is, if I can get it together. This means picking music, decorations, prizes, etc. so much more than I really wanted to get myself into... but there it is.

It just reminds me so much that being a Librarian (specifically for teens/kids) is just tons more than just answering reference questions. I guess I'm thankful for that - at least, I will be when the stress wears off from doing these programs.

Whew! Fashion design, here I come!! w000t! :)

Fall is Upon Us!

Contrary to what you may believe, I do actually pull my head out of books sometimes. Today I've realized that Fall is upon us. I am, of course, shocked by it... because I'm pretty sure I was thinking about how hot it was days ago. And when I say "days," it's possible that I really mean "weeks." That's how time is moving for me at the moment.

I suppose it hit me mostly this morning when I woke up freezing - and then came to work to hang my Fall-themed sign for a display. Go figure. The taking-out-of-the-AC-unit yesterday only gave me a vague notion that it might not get hot anymore... but it still didn't hit home. I guess I'm unobservant like that.

Of course, Fall means that work is back in the groove of having our after school kids coming in... and then being kicked out. Always fun. I've only been cursed at twice so far - so I'm doing pretty good! And our programs and stuff are about to kick off (which has been stressful, but it will be a nice chance of pace once we get things going).

I'm really not used to needing a coat in the mornings - which has resulted in me being very cold walking to work. Maybe I'll start hanging some sort of coat on the door handle so it's impossible for me to leave without one. Knowing me, that probably won't work... but doesn't hurt to have good intentions.

Speaking of good intentions - I've given up candy. This doesn't sound like that big of a thing... if you don't know me. Lately I've realized exactly how much candy I'm attacking and it's just not good. My teeth are pretty much going to fall out, I'm sure. But yeah. I'm on day four right now - and it hasn't been easy. The darn vending machine at work has decided to be stocked with some of my faves. It's totally against me. But I'm staying strong and hoping I don't die of lack-of-sugar-poisoning :). I'm sure that exists.

Complaints, Etc.

There is something so brain-numbing about waking up early for work. By early, I mean 6:30am. I'm used to doing 7:45 or 8... but this early stuff is killing me. Especially when I worked till 9pm the night before...

You know, I used to get up early every day. My previous job was in a school, so I was always up around that time. Sure didn't take me long to get used to sleeping in. I think one of my other problems with this early stuff is that I only have to do it once a week. Meaning, I'll never get in the habit of doing it. I'd rather not... but still.

Enough complaining. This weekend I went to see 9.

Honestly, I really liked it. I didn't know much about it - but really the trailers don't give much info. I thought it was really well done and I'd definitely recommend it if you're into animated movies.

It was a lot more "steam punk" than I expected it to be. Kind of a what-would-happen-after-humans-are-taken-over-by-machines story. It was more in the action/adventure/almost thriller.

Anyway, I liked it and recommend it.

I'm really just writing about it to keep my brain-juices flowing and not drop my head on my desk for a nap. It doesn't help that our office is FREEZING. As in, I almost brought in a scarf and cap to sit in the office with. Unnecessary blowing AC is very unfortunate. I'm hoping I don't get sick from it. Alas.

I'm off to get some work done, I suppose. Wish me luck!

Milestone Time!

I've had a bit of a milestone around here. Yesterday marked two years that I have lived and worked in New York. Kind of exciting, huh?

Luckily that anniversary is pretty easy for me to remember. On my first day, there was a special activity that only happens once a year - the staff appreciation breakfast. It always happens around the same time - so really.... the breakfast is for me to celebrate my yearly anniversary.

Some days I really can't believe I've been here that long. Others, I feel like I've been here much longer. I suppose that's how it is everywhere... and everyone thinks that... I was just having my moment :).

Reading Challenge

In past years I've tried to set a number of books to read in that year - really it's taken the place of my "new years resolution." Last year I read 80 books... and i was pretty proud of myself. I think I'm still just excited to be able to read without having school stuff get in the way. Everything I've read is because I want to. It's a wonderful freedom.

This year I found an online book challenge to give me a different sort of goal. The 999 challenge. Sounds daunting, doesn't it?

The whole thing is that you read nine books in nine categories in 2009. That would be a total of 81 books - giving me a little lead on last year's number... but some people also took another level of the challenge and tried to do it by 09/09/09.... yesterday. I almost made it. I lack two books (both classics, of course). But I've read more than 9 in some categories... so perhaps it still counts as complete. Right? Right.

I figured I needed to branch out of my fantasy/sci fi/favorite authors stuff and read something else. And I have to say, it has made me a better librarian for it. I've actually been able to talk about books that I wouldn't have had any idea about before. I would totally recommend doing this to anyone who is an avid reader. It totally broadens your scope.

So I guess I'm going to write my book list here. I'll put stars next to the ones that I loved the most :). Those aren't the only ones I recommend though. Enjoy!

Young Adult Fiction Challenge

Realistic Fiction

Caught Between the Pages - Merlene Carvell

Undone - Brook Taylor

Cracked Up to Be - Courtney Summers

Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta

Peeled - Joan Bauer **

Beauty Shop for Rent... - Laura Bowers

Boot Camp - Todd Strasser

Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress - Maria Padian

Same Difference - Siobhan Vivian **

Mystery/Adventure

Dead is the New Black - Marlene Perez

Dirty Laundry - Daniel Ehrenhaft

School for Dangerous Girls - Eliot Schreiber

Dead is a State of Mind - Marlene Perez

Max (A Maximum Ride Novel) - James Patterson

Death By Bikini - Linda Gerber

Princess of the Midnight Ball - Jessica Day George **

Gentlemen - Michael Northrop

The Awakening - Kelley Armstrong **

Death by Latte - Linda Gerber

Science Fiction

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins **
Skinned - Robin Wasserman **

GemX - Nicky Singer

Dangerous Days of Daniel X - James Patterson

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld

Neptune's Children - Bonnie Dobkin

The Carbon Diaries - Saci Lloyd **

The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E Pearson

Fantasy/Horror

Dragon's Keep - Janet Lee Carey

Generation Dead - Daniel Waters **

Gregor the Overlander - Suzanne Collins

Lord of Misrule (A Morganville Vampires Novel) - Rachel Caine

Shadow Kiss (A Vampire Academy Novel) - Richelle Mead

Sucks to be Me - Kimberly Pauley

Fragile Eternity - Melissa Marr

Persistance of Memory - Amelia Atwater Rhodes

Impossible - Nancy Werlin **

City of Glass (Mortal Instruments Series) - Cassandra Clare **

Hunted: a House of Night Novel - PC and Kristin Cast

The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan **

Evermore -Alyson Noel

Historical Fiction

Ivy - Julie Hearn

Envy (A Luxe novel)- Anna Godbersen

The Season - Sarah MacLean

Newes From the Dead - Mary Hooper

The Red Necklace - Sally Gardner

The Smile - Donna Jo Napoli

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing...- M.T. Anderson

Ten Cents a Dance - Christine Fletcher

A Voice of Her Own - Barbara Dana

Graphic Novels

Watchmen - Alan Moore

Breaking Up - Aimee Friedman

Plain Janes - Cecil Castellucci

Life Sucks- Jessica Abel

Cairo - G. Willow Wilson

The Good Neighbors (Kin) - Holly Black **

Japan Ai - Aimee Major Steinberger

The Umbrella Academy - Gerard Way

Heroes (Companion to the TV show) - various authors

Urban Fiction

Hot Girl - Dream Jordan

Work What You Got - Stephanie Perry Moore

Tyrell - Coe Booth **
Shortie Like Mine - Nini Simone

Hotlanta - Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller

Push - Sapphire

Jason and Kyra - Dana Davidson

Shooter - Walter Dean Myers

Messed Up- Janet Lynch

"Chick Lit"

At Face Value - Emily Franklin

Girl v. Boy - Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

Jet Set - Carrie Karasyov

Gamer Girl - Mari Mancusi **

Being Nikki - Meg Cabot

The Girls - Tucker Shaw

Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks- Lauren Myracle **

Oh. My. Gods. - Tera Lynn Childs **

Audrey, Wait! - Robin Benway **

Classics

Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

1984 - George Orwell

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest - Ken Kesey

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

A Separate Peace - John Knowles

The Stranger - Albert Camus

(two more classics to be added... once I read them :))

Sorry for the length... but that's how it goes, I suppose :).

Danger Cart Activities

I've been meaning to write about this for a while now. It's something near and dear to my heart. You see... my Danger Cart and I have been in a great, working relationship for over a year now.

And it just baffles me when I see Danger Carts being mistreated.

Seriously, I love my Danger Cart. For those of you who have cars and whatnot, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Some people call them Granny Carts... I believe the official term for them is "laundry cart." But mine! Mine is the Danger Cart!

It may not look so dangerous, but don't be deceived. It's totally dangerous in it's own way. It can totally run people over. I know. I've done it..... Kidding. Kinda.

Now, I do realize that the advertisements for such carts say things like, "has countless uses..." or "for a multitude of chores..." But there is one thing those advertisements need to specify (as silly as it may seem).

THIS IS NOT A RIDE FOR CHILDREN!!!

I know it may look like a stroller (use your imagination), but it's really not. Lately I've been noticing an increasing number of children riding along in their parents danger carts. This is NOT OKAY! We have begun to affectionately call it "Rollercoastering." The kids sometimes look like they're having too much fun.

Let me tell you - it's pretty hard to get a picture of this without looking like a stalker or something. But boyfriend extraordinaire pulled it off. I don't know if you can see it, but there are THREE kids in that poor danger cart.

I don't have proof cause my little camera phone couldn't hack it, but I have actually seen a DOG rollercoastering. It was in a kind of scared/surfing stance and pretty much frozen with terror. I would be too, little dog.

There is one other danger cart activity that I would like to take issue with - Columbusing. It's mostly seen in this area, but it's a bit disturbing. The image you are about to see could cause mental damage. View with caution.

There are people in this neighborhood that do a version of dumpster diving that has apparently been accepted as okay around here. I suppose it's easier as everyone's trash sits out on the sidewalk on trash days (twice a week).

You may be looking at this cart as a great recycling tool - look at all those cans! But in reality, those cans are going to be traded for coins. This is how you know you don't live in the most high income area. Ahem.

The moral to the story is...
If you see danger cart abuse, please report it. We've got to work together to save these useful and wonderful creatures. They don't deserve this treatment. Won't you call to sponsor a danger cart today?

Birfday Week!!

Back when I was making my vacation schedule, I did something smart. I took off an entire week for my birthday. In past years, I have taken off the day of, or a few days surrounding it... but never the whole week. And let me tell you... it's been blissful!

The first few days, we just took delight in sleeping in and playing video games and reading (well, the reading is just me). I think I've finished four books on this vacation - and started a fifth... ahem.

Then on Monday we opted to get out and go somewhere.... namely Coney Island. I had been down there before - but that was all before the big move to the city. Boyfriend extraordinaire had never been there and was anxious to see it - even though it did make him nostalgic for living five minutes from a beach (which he has had his whole life until now). We didn't so much get into doing a beach day as we did walking the boardwalk and people watching - of which there is TONS. We also found an arcade that has his ultimate, favorite, most wonderful arcade game ever... it's an xmen six player game. Apparently we're going to own it one day. Ahem.

Tuesday was really a shopping day - my choice... which it usually isn't. But I had some coupons (of course), so I decided to treat myself. So we shopped and that night we went to see Bruno. It was... uhm... interesting. That was the boyfriend's choice, but he was also a huge Borat fan. I'm indifferent, I suppose.

Wednesday was my actual birthday - and we went down to the Lower East Side to go to a restaurant I've been wanting to go to. It's called Peanut Butter Co... everything they have is some type of peanut butter sandwich. yum!!! We also went to a video game store that specializes in old stuff... and there's tons of it. Boyfriend was in heaven. I also got one of the worlds best fruit tarts for my "birthday cake" slash treat. This is why I love Martha's Bakery!!

Anyway, on Thursday I did a massive amount of laundry that I had been putting off... then I spent the afternoon being pampered. Hello mani/pedi! The place was wonderful and fairly inexpensive. I'm totally going back sometime. Then I had to pack and pack some more.

On Friday I traveled to Nashville to visit with my family for a few days. I got to see everyone I wanted to see... which is a miracle :) - even if some were only for a moment. I also got to see my lil' brother's new pad... I am jealous of all the space in their apartment... but alas. I did birthday dinner with the whole fam, which was awesome. And it was made even more awesome by chocolate mousse crepes with raspberry puree... my prefered birthday "cake." I also had the charge of going through some of my boxes that I left down there - mostly of books. I went through a few, but the boxes seem never ending. But I suppose that's the way it is sometimes.

I had the flight from Hades last night trying to get home... let's just say I finally got back about an hour and a half later than we were supposed to. I'm just glad I had a good book to get me through!

Now I have one last day to be lazy and peaceful before I throw myself back into work - which is not at all going to start off slow. It will be more like being shot from a cannon. Looking forward to that. Ahem. I'm off to enjoy my last day of freedom!

Harry Potter Wonderfulness

So, I saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince yesterday after work.

(this is my fave poster I've seen in the subways)

My wonderful boyfriend spent the better part of his day getting us tickets - which is lucky cause they were all sold out by the time our movie was letting in. So props to the bf!!

I've been a Potter fan since basically the beginning. Every time a new movie comes out, I've reread the books before I go see the film. This year, I opted out. The problem is that I get so aggravated at the movie because I just read the book and I know exactly what's missing. I usually hate the movie the first time I see it... and then I see it a few more times in the theatre and decide I actually do like it. It's quite the process.

So this time I decided I'd not reread the books and just see the movie with a fresh look. And that was a great choice. I do realize some of the stuff that was changed/missing/etc, but it didn't bother me quite as much this time. I honestly didn't realize some of the issues until this morning when I was discussing the movie with a coworker - then it bothered me a little, but not enough to change my opinion of the movie.



I truly loved the film. I laughed, I cried, I felt the warm-fuzzies.... it was just great. I really enjoyed that they made the teen-angsty/lovey stuff come through more for this one (which is pretty well in line with the book). There was also a bit more snark in this one - which is always fun. I already loved the story and the movie just put it on the big screen for me :).

So yeah. My vote is that this is a great movie. Now I have to decide if I want to see it again in the theatre (yes) even if I'm not having to convince myself to like it. I probably will - cause that's just what I do.