The ramp up

Wedding planning is starting to become a real thing to me, I think. While we have the big stuff nailed down (church, reception, dress, bridal party), we haven't even begun to tackle the million other little things that make up a wedding: photographer, guest lists, invitations, flowers, limo, etc.

Another thing that's beginning to build: school. A lot of my curriculum this semester is based on independent study--which means that I have to self-motivate for a huge part of these next few months. A 10,000 word directed reading is only the beginning.

I say this every year, and I totally mean it every year, but THIS IS IT! This is the time when I buckle down and start getting my life together. Yes, it's true, I do float through the world as a kind of self-contained chaos bubble, but this year is the year I organize some of that chaos. It's all about motivation, actualization, and desire! (No clue what that means but it sounds good). To that end, L. and I have embarked on the Couch to 5K running program--it promises to whip us into running shape in 9 weeks. Today was the second day of the first week, and I have to say that it was a lot tougher than the first day. Hopefully it will get easier. The program itself consists of interval training, jogging/running for different periods, in order to build our endurance without burning us out. I'll post updates as we improve.

Finally: I have started a project that hopefully will pan out within the next year or so. I don't want to go into details because there's a good chance it will all come to nothing, but declaring myself (at least partially) to the world is a good first step to holding myself accountable.

Dispatches to follow as events occur...

(As a side note: in the fifth grade city-wide spelling bee, I was eliminated on the word "occurred." I spelled it with only one "r." I'm still a little bitter, as you can tell.)

Absolute loathing

I hate crickets. HATE. THEM.

Once I have removed all the crickets from my house (or what I think are all the crickets) it seems like one or two just start hopping in! I feel like they are stealth, choosing the minute before the door closes to sneak in.

Crickets, take this as a warning. Do not enter this apartment. I will spray you, I will corner you, and I will squash you until you stop kicking.

That is all.

A (somewhat) clean slate

I have a zillion billion articles of clothing. Like, whoa. It is ridiculous to the point that I am semi-disgusted with myself that I refuse to throw away those baby tees I wore when it was a) fashionable and b) attractive for me to show my midriff.

My thought process is sort of fascinating. The breakdown:
1) Pick up tiny pink tee shirt that hypothetically might (MIGHT) fit over my head.
2) Evaluate whether or not I will ever wear it again.
3) Put it in the Goodwill bag.
4) Move on to other articles of clothing.
5) Take tiny pink tee shirt OUT of Goodwill bag because my brain has convinced itself that I might someday need to wear it as part of a Britney Spears costume should I ever lose 20 pounds and become seriously ripped.
6) Put tee shirt back into the closet.

Repeat 6 months later.

I am trying to be ruthless. Really, I am. It is completely irresponsible to hang on to jeans that I can't even squeeze a leg into, not to mention a waste of space and a contribution to needless clutter. I've done a good job keeping my downstairs relatively junk-free (or so I fool myself) but the upstairs is an entirely different matter. If I can get my closet organized by the end of next week, I'll be proud of myself, not to mention utterly amazed. Fingers crossed.

All good things

Tomorrow morning I drive back to Indiana and school. This summer has been amazing and a great preview of what "married life" will be like once T. and I get hitched next summer.

Surprisingly, I managed to pack nearly everything this afternoon so there will be no scrambling around, last minute, to ensure that each power cord and half-empty lotion bottle somehow makes it into my vehicle. I've been spending the time snuggling and hanging out instead and I can't bring myself to believe that tomorrow morning, I'll wake up, drive away, and T. will come home from work and I won't be there.

This is going to be a massive adjustment. This is the last year that we'll have to do this sort of thing though, so I'm hoping that it goes by quickly. At least school and friends will provide a welcome distraction.

Well, wouldn't you know

Just as I blog about not having anything to blog about, I realize that I do have something to blog (the bloggiest sentence ever blogged, I think). It's time for the Summer Round-up List!

Books I have read:
-Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill*
-Year of Wonders by Gwendolyn Brooks*
-People of the Book by Gwendolyn Brooks*
-A Simple Plan by Scott Smith*
-Gunslinger (The Dark Tower Vol. I) by Stephen King*
-Desperation by Stephen King*
-Candles Burning by Tabitha King and Michael McDowell
-Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn*
-Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
-Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer

Books I have re-read:
-The Lost World by Michael Crichton
-IT by Stephen King

Books I have started to read but have not finished (and the forecast isn't good):
-The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
-A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott
-The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
-

Movies I have watched:
-Star Trek (x2)
-Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (x2)
-Downfall (or Der Untergang)
-Rachel Getting Married
-Dave
-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Movies I have re-watched:
-P&P (both versions)
-Quantum of Solace
-Enemy at the Gates
-lots of other piddly little ones I don't feel like listing

This summer's signature food: homemade pizza

This summer's signature beverage: water from the fridge (bottled b/c the municipal water tastes like crap)

This summer's shoe: the Steve Madden Astro in black (seriously so comfortable)

This summer's anthem: Good Girls Go Bad, Cobra Starship feat. Leighton Meester

This summer's album: Fearless, Taylor Swift

Phew! The last three months in one post...not an easy task, my friends. I probably forgot about 27.64 things.

Terrible, the blogger

I suck at blogging; unfortunately I have nothing interesting enough to write about, so my small audience will just have to wait for my next semi-attention-holding post.

Joining the clubs

As of this moment, I am the proud owner of the following shop club cards:
-CVS Extracare
-Martin's Shopper's Card
-ShurFine Gold Card
-Giant Card
-Food Lion MVP


Why? I ask you. Each of these cards saves me probably at least $10-12 every time I shop, but I don't understand the logic. It takes me 22 seconds to fill out one of those forms and then the membership is free. They make no money off of me by forcing me to get a card. I shop where the sales are good. The little plastic tab on my keychain does nothing to buy my loyalty (although they do look awfully cute swinging back and forth from the ignition). Stores are weird.

Other news: car was a little broken, and now is fixed (after a whole lot of inconvenience). The giant bag of popsicle tubes in the freezer is slowly decreasing. I think I killed my second basil plant (actually, I had forgotten about it until just this second). The new hair stuff I got from Victoria's Secret makes my locks lustrous and shiny smooth. I loathe wearing pantyhose in the summertime. I found the perfect Americana dress for Fourth of July (black and white plaid) that I can easily put jeans under and a sweater over for fireworks at night. We found a place to host the wedding and I LOVE IT.

Um...dispatches to continue upon occurrence of interesting events.

Slightly abashed, with a change of plans

Yeah, so...anyone who was excited to see Basel (on the edge of your seats, I'm sure) will just have to wait until I make it out to the farm stand for Basel 2.0, because the original Basel is now shriveled up and kinda, well, dead. I have no idea what happened! Except that I forgot to water him and then it stormed so he sort of got tossed around on the balcony and then it was super bright and he dried up. Yeah. Anyone who wants to trust me with a plant or a fish can take a number.

In other news, T. and I have hit up Annapolis twice in the last week and holy goodness, I want to live there. As I told T., it is the perfect mix of yup, prep, and hip. The downtown area has lots of historic rowhouses and cobblestone streets with original brickwork and I can already picture my idyllic life, sitting on my stoop with a glass of wine and walking down to the harbor to get ice cream and wander around at dusk with my adorable and well behaved dog Zeke, who is affectionate and well-liked by all my neighbors. Somehow in this fantasy I have also won the lottery and can afford a historic townhouse with all its traditional details preserved, bright and filled with vintage posters, stainless steel kitchen appliances, and solid wood bookshelves.

Sigh...keep dreaming....

A brief introduction

Having tried my (unfortunate) hand with two fish, and not being in a position to acquire a doggie of my very own, I've decided to take a different tack with small, living things dependent on my care. T. and I have adopted a little basil plant, who now cheerfully resides on our balcony. His name is Basel (pronounced Bah-zul), and please, no comments from the peanut gallery about the imaginative name.

Yes, it's true, I've changed class (phylum? genus? something like that. Bio was a long time ago). He seems to be doing well but when we first got him he started looking a little peaky. Some internet research informed me that a shady, air conditioned apartment was not the best environment for him, and he now basks in the full eastern sunshine every morning and is dutifully watered by yours truly at dusk.

It's late so I don't feel like staging a photo op, but rely on a picture of our household's newest member sometime soon.


In completely unrelated news, last night the fire alarm in my building went off at 1:43 a.m. As I shuffled down the stairs in pajama pants a little too big for me, squinting at all my neighbors, I experienced an uncomfortable flashback to all of sophomore year. Jeez. I graduated from college so I wouldn't have to deal with this. Fire trucks showed up, alarms blaring, dudes in uniforms tromping up and down stairs carrying sledgehammers--the whole works. T says that the system has been having some operating problems lately. I'll say.

The start of something summerful

I've been working for three days now, and I can definitely say that it is an adventure! I've gotten some great projects right off the bat and also got to watch a docket call in court and tag along for some witness prep sessions. Due to the nature of the job the attorneys in my office are colorful and quick thinking and I can already tell that I will be learning a lot from them.

Otherwise, I leave work a bit earlier than T. does so I get to do most of the dinner cooking. It's been SO much more fun cooking for two, because I can do bigger and fancier meals without worrying that I'll be eating the same stuff for five days in a row. Probably one of the best parts about cooking for two is that the other person does the cleaning for two...hehe. It also helps that T. can come home for lunch most days, so he helps clean out the leftovers (I can't, because my office is too far away, so I've been packing PB&Js and fruit to get me through the day). My hours are great so I don't mind nibbling on my sandwiches while researching. In fact, I think it's pretty cool...makes me feel like a grown up (although I'm sure I'd feel differently if I worked normal hours!).

To be perfectly honest, I think this summer (work-wise) will be amazing. I already feel my mind absorbing stuff. T. and I also have a lot of adventures planned for the summer — trips to the beach, flea markets, etc. Should be a fun time! After so much time spent apart (we've done long distance for 2.5 yrs now) it's a treat to have so much time together.

A whirlwind of a while

By next Monday, I will have:
-packed my apartment
-driven from Indiana to Maryland
-unpacked
-driven from Maryland to New Jersey
-attended a wedding
-flown from New Jersey to Kansas
-celebrated an engagement weekend
-flown from Kansas to Maryland
-started work

...all in three weeks' time.

Everything has been wonderful, despite the frenzied pace. My cousin's wedding was lovely — very romantic and an excellent starting point for my own wedding (T. and I took quite a few notes on things we liked, didn't like, etc.). Interesting and trivial things that have occurred in this same time:
-Dad suggests both a traditional Vietnamese band AND a Polish band for the wedding.
-I shot them down.
-I ate my weight in strawberries.
-I met my cousin A.'s dog, who is cute BUT NOT EVEN CLOSE to being as cute as Honeycomb and Lucky.
-I played with Honeycomb and Lucky a lot.
-My uncle sent me two kangaroos from Australia (stuffed, not alive)
-I learned that kangaroos cannot jump backwards
-I am a little aghast at my list-making tendencies

The engagement weekend was really fun, although it was a whole lot of shtuff crammed into a whole not lot of time. I wore a traditional Vietnamese gown and T. wore a suit. We took a lot of pictures. There were a lot of things wrapped in red cellophane. And as always, there was a whole lot of food involved.

Apologies for my delay in updating but I will try to be better about in future. Hopefully, this summer I will do many interesting things to provide me with plenty of blog-fodder (blodder?).

The real world, aka boredom, layovers, cooking dinner

Life has finally settled down a bit--I've arrived at T's and am pretty much at home...except for the spare room that has essentially turned into an explosion of all my clothes. A few days here resulted in some delicious experimental pasta dinners, some massive shopping for summer suits, and a lot of sitting around being bored. All necessary activities for post-finals recovery.

Today we leave for NJ: my cousin is getting married on Saturday. Then I leave to go to KS for a week and a half (during which time engagement events will commence and doggies will be snuggled), and then I come back. And then I start work (hopefully, considering my funding hasn't come through yet). And then the summer will go by quicker than you know it.

Phew! Two paragraphs of recap and I'm off to pack. Happy summer!

Studying, or: How I'm done for

I have a lot of stuff to be doing now. All the time. Which may mean I blog less or may mean that I blog more. We'll see how this goes. Apologies in advance if it turns out to be the former.

The saddest sight

Behold. The banana chocolate chip mini muffin I forgot about and left in the oven for half an hour. It is both hard and gummy. I could play marbles with these guys.

Dress up in you

Or, rather, dress up in the dress!

Ever seen that episode of Friends where the girls all sit around in their apartments wearing wedding dresses? It is taking so much willpower for me to not do that. You don't even know how much. So much, in fact, that it's sucked up all the discipline I had dedicated to not eating too much chocolate and not watching TV.

Spelled asleep

Due to an unfortunate (and irresponsible) combination of too much caffeine, nerves/a little bit of stress, and the excellence of late night television, I've been having some interesting sleep issues over the last few days. By issues I mean: Saturday = 5 hrs of sleep, Sunday = 2.5 hours of sleep, Monday (afternoon and night) = 12 hrs of sleep.

Yesterday (Monday) I had class at 8 a.m. and a presentation later in the day that keyed me up so much I was unable to fall asleep the night before, until I finally smothered myself in pillows and blankets and forced my brain to think about the number of squares on a chess board, combined with mentally putting together the outfit I would wear if I were a spy who was going undercover as a fashion editor in Paris. I fully recognize that my brain is weird.

I got home from school, scarfed down some delicious Chinese food and decided to "just close my eyes for a little bit," with the best of intentions to wake up in about half an hour. This was at about 6:32 or so. I woke up from a dream in which I was late for class to squint at the clock and realize that it was 9:45 and I had slept the sleep of the martyred dead, mouth open and hand still clutching the TV remote control, for approximately 3 hours. Called L. back (she'd called while I was unconscious) and, taking her excellent advice, dragged myself up to drink a couple glasses of water, watch a couple episodes of SATC, and then collapse back to sleep.

This is a clearly unhealthy and highly unproductive way to live. I clearly need to figure out a way to get my sleep schedule back on track. Before finals come around, because once those arrive all bets are off.

I hurt all over

In the interest of getting back into shape I did the Jillian Michaels 30-day shred workout on OnDemand cable. Please, let me just say, that if my muscles were trembling anymore today I would be a quivery puddle on the floor. I cannot even type without a slight shake in my arms. Ahhhhhhhh....

Playing dress up

Because I (a) no longer have a fish, (b) am sick of looking at the same old layout, and (c) am sort of at a cross-roads in my life, please welcome Magical Realist's new look. A round of applause for my rudimentary photo-editing skills!

School Time

Apologies to the five or six people who read this blog, but due to a little thing called law school posts may be sparse on the ground over the next few weeks. Updates on my life thus far:

-Barrister's ball was awesome! I had a great time, especially since T. trekked long, long miles just to be here for the big event.
-It's almost April. Crap!
-...I got nothing

When more interesting things happen I'll be sure to post. Until then, rest assured that I've settled into a boring, but necessary, routine of study, study, study, interrupted by forays into healthy snacking (yeah right) and the occasional nap.

I want a dog

It may seem ironic that I am posting this immediately after a notice that my fish has died, but I don't care. I want a dog. The desire is now full-blown, completely and totally out of control, to the point where I'm trolling the internet on Petfinder looking for dogs to adopt even when I know that I can't adopt one right now.

I can't wait until I'm "grown up" and know where I'm going to be, and am finally in the position to have a dog of my own. I know I'm not ready to have one now--at least, with all the craziness going on in my life, it wouldn't be the ideal time. Also, I want my dog to know both me and T., and for that to really happen we'll have to get the dog together.

At the same time I just want something warm to cuddle with when I watch TV and play with and take care of. Not sure what it says about me, but my apartment was actually neater and more organized when Honeycomb and Lucky were living with me — I couldn't leave stuff around because I knew they would get into it. It's nice to have something to take care of that will love you unconditionally.

I can't wait until I can have a dog of my own!