things i love about life right now

my recent trip to Paris and the south of France
a new job at Aspire Pacific Academy in Los Angeles
a yellow tote bag for summer
moving in with Keith
our upcoming cross-country road trip
really delicious raspberries
quality time with my Kindle
new possibilities
following my dreams

lit nerd alert

The classic literature tees at Out of Print are nerdy and wonderful.

These were all designed by Mikey Burton, who is a graphic artist who graduated from Kent State. For his thesis, he redesigned the book covers of some literature classics to appeal to junior high aged kids. You can see them all here.

hello sallie mae, goodbye cable television

It has been about 6 months since I finished my Masters Degree, which means I started getting mail from all my student loan lenders, cheerfully letting me know that the time has come to pay back all the money I borrowed from them. Student loans are great because they allow you to get an education even if you don’t have thousands of dollars sitting around in your bank account. However, the downside of student loans is that I will be paying them back for the next 30 years of my life. I don’t regret getting my Masters degree. I feel awesome, proud, and accomplished. This is only slightly diminished by the fact that Education is quite possibly the only field I can think of where further education and experience is a detriment rather than a benefit. Instead I am trying to focus on the idea that one day I may actually score a school counseling job where I can make a difference and help teenagers, thus saving the lives of the youth of America . That might be worth thousands of dollars, right? 🙂

Anyway, I have to scrape together an extra $300 a month to pay my student loan payments. One of the things I cut out of my budget was cable, saving myself $80 a month.  If I was being honest with myself, the only thing I really cared about on cable was The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert, which I can watch online at Comedy Central. Most of the other channels I watched, like Food Network and HGTV, made me obsess about food and freak out about how I will never be able to afford to buy a house. I used to put on the TV as soon as I got home from school until I went to bed at night, getting sucked into hours of mediocre programming and wasting my life. Not good. It just wasn’t a very healthy thing to do.

I did go to Radio Shack and spend $35 on HD rabbit ears, so I can get NBC, ABC, and CBS, allowing me to watch How I Met Your Mother, the Big Bang Theory, The Today Show, and lots of Jeopardy (This week there was a contestant on the show named Eureka – with a name like that you’re pretty much destined to be on Jeopardy). Also I have been watching more PBS than I have watched since I was a toddler. Antiques Roadshow has been on a couple times, and I watched a documentary about Ronald Reagan the other night. I have been without cable for a week, and so far the only time I felt mad about it was when Jennifer Hudson was on Oprah and I had to miss it due to detention duty.

All in all, getting rid of cable hasn’t been much of a sacrifice.

it’s just the doorbell, the freaking doorbell

I’m going to learn to play the ukulele so I can sing this song to Penelope.

the movie project

I really like movies and have seen a lot of them. But there are many iconic ones that I seemed to have skipped over somehow. My lack of pop culture movie knowledge has become a major topic of conversation with me and my friends at work all year. It usually starts with someone hilariously quoting a line of some movie I’ve never seen, followed by a blank stare from me, and then other people saying, “WHAT?! You’ve never seen __________?” My friend Cassie says that since my boyfriend works in Hollywood, it’s now my obligation to see all these famous flicks. And I am up for a challenge (especially during the winter when I will likely be marooned in my apartment due to snow and frigid temperatures). Plus, I will probably get more jokes and be able to tell them, causing everyone around me to burst into raucous laughter.  Missy consulted with several of our friends at school, and then she and Justin compiled a list of movies I have to see, ranked in three tiers (I have no idea how the tiers were chosen, but I’m sure there were some really important criteria behind them). Here they are:

Tier 1
Star Wars (Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi)
Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade)
Casablanca
Princess Bride
The King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters
A Few Good Men
Sixteen Candles
Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Tier 2
The Godfather (All three, especially Part II)
Silence of the Lambs
Top Gun
Groundhog Day
Bull Durham
Field of Dreams
Caddyshack
High Fidelity
Casino Royale (a James Bond movie)
Psycho

Tier 3
Fargo
Kill Bill, Vol 1 and 2
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Jaws
When Harry Met Sally
Pillow Talk
Rock (1 and 4)

First up on the list: Sixteen Candles and Raiders of the Lost Ark

recent vintage goodies

I’ve been collecting vintage kitchenware for about five years or so. I’ve been gradually replacing my plain dinnerware, mixing bowls, and baking casseroles with more colorful and interesting versions from the 1940s and 50s. They go with my mid century modern style, and with all of the reports lately about exploding modern Pyrex, vintage dishes (which are often made of different materials) might even be safer. Plus, I just love vintage dishes. When one arrives at my doorstep or I spy a great piece at a flea market, it makes my day! Here are my most recent purchases:

Pyrex: I follow several Pyrex fan blogs online (Pyrex Love and The Pyrex Collective) and a lot of people buy their Pyrex mainly at thrift stores. I haven’t had much luck at the thrift stores around here, and when I do find Pyrex there, it is usually damaged (death by dishwasher). So most of my Pyrex comes from Ebay, vintage shops, and flea markets. I probably pay more for them, but they are better quality.

These are Pyrex baking dishes in the Flamingo Pink color. I got the pie plate at Flower Child in Cleveland, and the casserole came from Ebay. Both were a little grimy when I got them, but you can clean the white parts of Pyrex with the Mr Clean Magic Eraser, and it works pretty well.

These two mini baking casserole are often called Pixies, in turquoise and yellow. These are from Ebay. I’m sure I squealed with cute delight when I opened these 🙂

Fransiscan Atomic Starburst: I’ve been coveting these dishes since seeing them on Alton Brown’s show Good Eats, and I found the serving platter at the Rose Bowl Flea Market when I was visiting Keith last summer. Of course, I bought it. (Keith said he knew I was going to buy it because of the way I was hugging it!). After that I decided that I was going to collect it as my main everyday dinnerware. It’s hard to find anywhere except Ebay, and it’s not cheap.

So I’m collecting it every so often. I found these saucers at Flower Child here in Columbus, and the cups I got on Ebay. For Christmas, I also got two dinner plates in this pattern.

Blue Heaven: There is a whole set of dinnerware in the Blue Heaven, but I only really care for these small highball glasses. I bought them specifically for making amaretto sours!

i heart mad men

I just finished Season 1 of Mad Men this fall. Everyone who knows about my mid century modern obsession kept telling me that I would love it. I got it for Christmas last year, but I kept putting it off because I didn’t want it to be over too soon. I do the same thing with magazines. I buy these magazines that look really good, and I put them in an organized stack in my closet, just waiting for the perfect time to read magazines, and then I never read them (When IS the perfect time to read magazines, anyway?). On a plane trip to Los Angeles, I took the first disk with me and watched it in flight. It was dark outside, and the lamp light in the plane was warm and cozy. By the time the credits rolled behind “The Street Where You Live,” I was hooked.

It’s a curious show. And I think that’s why I like it so much. There’s something subtle about it. They leave a lot for you to figure out for yourself, and I don’t really like many of the characters. But I want to know why they behave the way they do. Also I love geeking out about all the vintage sets and wardrobes. Awesome! I’m wishing for Season 2 and 3 for Christmas, and this time, I won’t wait so long to watch them.

happier christmas

I have always felt warm and fuzzy about Christmas. When I was little, my parents made it a really special season full of tradition and fun. We put up our tree as a family, made Party Mix together, and visited Roscoe at the living Nativity. Christmas specials on TV were major events. On Christmas Eve, we would squeeze into the pews at mass and sing carols, and everything was warm and smelled like incense. On Christmas morning, Jennifer and I would wake up at the crack of dawn and have to wait in the hallway until Mom and Dad “checked to see if Santa came” (which really meant make coffee and turn on the tree lights).

Christmas last year was full of sadness for me. It was my first Christmas after getting divorced, and I felt alone in the world. I went through the motions; I put up my Christmas tree, made paper snowflakes, and made Party Mix, but my heart wasn’t really in it. Most of my friends have kids and were doing fun holiday things with them. I missed my mom more than usual. My dad and my sister had their own new families, and I was just trying to heal and survive the whole holiday season. On most normal days of that year, I was strong and held things together as I figured out my new independent life. But I was a mess in December. All I felt was loss. It is painful to even think about it now.

After mass on Christmas Eve, my dad brought me a piece of straw from the Nativity at the altar. It is supposed to be good luck for the upcoming year, and we both knew that I could use some happiness. I felt relieved when the holidays were over. I considered it a personal success that I survived, and I put the straw in my wallet. I didn’t really know what would happen to me in the new year, but I had hope that it would be something good. Then on New Years Eve as I was driving home from a friend’s party, I got an email from Keith.

Recently while cleaning out my nightstand, I found this little note I had written to myself. It said, “You will be happy again.”I was totally right. I feel more hopeful now than I have been in a long time. My 2010 was full of new experiences. I earned my Masters degree, I started a new relationship with a really great man, I became a football fan, I drove on the LA freeway and did not get killed (just honked at!). I learned how to enjoy time spent by myself. I lost 10 pounds and exercised for 70 days in a row. I feel strong and brave, and my life seems full of possibilities. This year for Christmas I am going to Chicago to spend it with Keith and his family, and when I decked out my little apartment for the holidays, I felt relief and happiness. I can’t wait to see what this year brings 🙂

apology

I got an apology note from a student today. And even though I’m sure he had to write it as part of a consequence, it was still nice to get.

borders books

I love bookstores. I love the smell of them. I love collecting a big stack of books, finding a comfy chair, and reading for free. I love sitting in the cafe and drinking a pumpkin spice latte. I love seeing what other people are reading. When I don’t know what else to do, when I’m lonely, distressed, inspired, or feeling daydreamy, I go to the bookstore. When I die, I want to be cremated and have my ashes spread in Barnes and Noble (You would have to be really sneaky about it, but it could probably be done somehow!)

Growing up, I spent my allowance at tiny little bookstores like Wadenbooks and The Little Professor, which were about the size of my bedroom. But my true love for bookstores started on a trip to Chicago when I was in high school. While shopping on the Magnificent Mile, I visited my first Borders store. Three floors of books and music! I remember practically running up and down the escalators with glee. I bought a Paul McCartney biography, which I never ended up reading. (But how could you go to a store that awesome and not leave with a book?) This is when I also discovered that there were better things in big cities.

I saw that this particular Borders store is closing in January, which to me is a little sad. No other 16 year old girls will get to discover it on their first big city trip.