Best Part of Being an Adult No.2

One of the best parts of being an adult, you ask?  One of the best parts of being an adult is owning (almost) a car.  Sure, I have a car payment (thus, the previous "almost"), car insurance, car maintenance and gas to pay for...but, I get to leave places I don't want to be.  I also get to drive to the places I would like to visit, jam to great songs, listen to NPR, and have some occasional sex in my very own car.
I have anthropomorphized my car to an almost unhealthy extent.  His name is Warren Sapp.  He looks like a football helmet, which is why I named him after a football player, and when rocks hit "him" I say "ow," because I instinctively think it hurt his "face."  I'm a little weird sometimes, deal with it.  My little Toyota Yaris sedan can park anywhere, gets between thirty-four and forty miles per gallon, and is cute as hell.  The payments and gas are worth it.

Having a car is a really great part about being a very fortunate adult.  Afterall, Saudi women aren't even allowed to drive, because if they start to drive the country will lose all of its virgins (wtf?, who knows? read about the claim here).

NYE

I wanted to post this incredibly awesome photo of our New Year's Eve celebration.  I couldn't have spent the night with better people.  Personally, I think our 90s attire was 2 Legit 2 Quit.

Two Months

It has been almost two months since I have updated this damn thing, and quite a bit has happened during that time.  I finished a semester of school and made major goal changes for graduate school.  Law school is a dream of the past and now I'm looking at the Master of Public Administration program at the U. I'm excited an nervous to graduate in May.  My goals are within reach and plans must be made for the future, which is both exhilirating and exhausting.

I made a wreath for Christmas and we celebrated the holiday with new decorations for the house and gifts aplenty.  I don't think I will ever attempt to make something decorative again, it was a long process and I've decided that I'd much rather pay someone to do that stuff for me.

My parents bought us a 55" LCD HDTV, Ben bought me a Nook Tablet (which I adore), and I snagged Ben some goodies like a new iPod.  We went to a 90s themed New Year's Eve party and had a blast.  Basically, the holidays were good to me and Ben.

In the past two months I have acquired some recommendations: "The Visible Man" by Chuck Klosterman is worth a read; Kimya Dawson's new album "Thunder Thighs" is worth a listen, and the new Sherlock Holmes movie is worth a view.

Currently I'm gearing up for a fifteen credit hour semester and I'm working on putting together a six week, ladies self-defense seminar with my coach.  He has graciously offered his time free of charge, so I'm making arrangements to get everything done.  More on that when I have details.  I need all of the participants I can find to insure a good turnout.  Ben leaves for Hawaii on Monday and he should be back within a month.  He's not looking forward to leaving, but he is excited for the money it will bring.  Basically, life is good right now.  Things are moving like they should and I'm happy.  I hope all of my friends had a great holiday season and I wish everyone a wonderful year to come.  I'm going to try to become more regular with my posting again, but we'll see.

I Want

I want.  I want.  I want.  Seriously though, I can't decide: Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, or (bite the expensive bullet) iPad?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Best Part of Being an Adult: No. 1

Sometimes, I need a little reminder that being an adult (with all of the stresses that title entails), is actually  truly awesome.  Case in point:

I didn't have to ask to lick the beaters.  I scraped the bowl clean, and it was 10:15 p.m., on a school/work night.  Being an adult has its perks.

The contents of the bowl are going to be a delightful birthday present for my coach, Rob Handley.  You should try making it one day, seriously, like, tomorrow.  It will totally be worth it.

Great Things

Remember the Halloween party we put on?  The one with all of the little kids. The one that was so much fun, but affirmed my fears about children ("baby, we can finish what we started in the car after the kids are asleep" *horrified looks**life changing.split.second.silent decisions*), yeah, that one.  It was totally worth it, because we received this in the mail:

 dear Chelsea and ben: thank you for inviting me to the parrty and for the pizza.  thankyou for leting me sleap over, I had a lot of fun.  thank you for the awsom goodi bags


love, Jarom

Jarom is such a brilliant little man, who is so lucky to have parents that are instilling old-school manners in him.  Really, the "thank you" card is virtually lost in our society, but this six year old makes it look so good.

Speaking of awesome.  Jarom's  fabulous mom bought us a really great piece of calligraphy on Etsy (I wish I knew the name of the artist, but I don't), and I am finally getting around to hanging it on our wall.  (Sorry, Tse, you know how hectic life can get.)  The picture doesn't do it justice, it is so beautiful.

"The library connects us with the insight and knowledge gainfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contributions to the collective knowledge of the human species.  I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries." -Carl Sagan, Cosmos

Roku for the Win

Steve, thanks for moving in with your awesome boyfriend.  It is because he already owned a Roku that you gave us yours for free and we are eternally grateful.  The Roku streams our Netflix on our wonderful television.  It also streams Hulu Plus and loads of other free movie channels.  You can even purchase the UFC events.  I think we pay sixteen dollars per month for Netflix, which is sooooo much cheaper than cable; so, despite the fact that I really miss the Food Network, TLC, and HBO, we'll stick with this magic little box and Netflix (regardless of the new price increase).

Oh, and Steve, congratulations on the happy, healthy relationship.  We love Bryon too.

Happy (Late) Halloween

     We had a Halloween party for the nieces, nephews and Jarom on the 15th: it was an absolute blast!  We ate Jack O' Lantern pizza, drank witches brew and decorated cookies.  Like any good party, we played games including: the mummy wrap, doughnut eating, and pin the smile on the Jack O' Lantern.  The kids each received a goodie bag with gummy pumpkins, fangs, fingertips, spider rings, googly glassses, flashlights and temporary tattoos. We ended the night with Disney's "Halloweentown," and because that freaked the kids out, we followed it up with "Despicable Me."

     The next morning, Ben cooked the kids chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and eggs.  It was a great end to the festivities!  I sure do love those kids, but let me tell you, I am never having children.  One night was definitely enough.  Definitely.

The Night Circus

I recently finished reading Erin Morgenstern's, "The Night Circus," and I can't recommend it enough.  The story follows two young magicians (Celia and Marco) on a magical tour of the world in the fabled Le Cirque De Reves (Circus of Dreams), where the two are engaged in a perpetual exhibition/duel of their magical abilities.

Morgenstern paints such a vivid and fanciful picture of the black and white circus, that I found myself wishing that it was real.  I also found myself wishing that this book would be made into a movie.  Apparently, Summit has picked up film rights, I hope they do it some justice (the Twilight series was their doing, so I'm feeling some trepidation on that front).  I fell in love with the characters.  I cried when one of them died, smiled when two of them were born, and I rooted for the magicians in love. 

"The Night Circus" has such broad appeal with its dark elements; Prospero the magician teaches his young daughter to heal herself with magic by slitting the tops of her fingers open, and its romantic side, which allows us to peer into a crowded ballroom as Marco grasps Celia in her color-changing gown for a lustful kiss. 

This book won't disappoint.  If it takes you more than four days to read, I will be surprised (I found myself stealing time to read every chance I could).

Just Like Me

This is a must read.  Well-written, beautiful, and not the least bit presumptuous. And yes, it has to do with Glee.