when i was in 2nd grade, my parents told me that i could redo my holly hobby room with newwallpaper and new carpeting and new bedding and new curtains. their only advice was to remember that this was what my room would be like for many, many years. in fact, they told me it would be the room i stayed in when i returned for college breaks, so that i best choose wisely and definitely not something i would tire of or outgrow. i perused the sherwin williams books and heeded their warning. i just knew i would NEVER EVER get tired of those cute little brown bears with their pink hearts. (if you look very closely you can see them). pink was obviously my favorite color and OBVIOUSLY that would NEVER change. um, so yes, i chose pink -- pink carpet, pink striped sheets and comforter, pink curtains (that mom actually made from the same striped sheets), and yes, a pink sky (because i do, and have always, loved clouds)!
my 2nd grade self may have been my own downfall. her beliefs in love at first sight and romance and soulmates and that she would never tire of pink still haunt me today, even though i try to rationalize what life and love really are. still, it's refreshing to return home and see that my pink room -- with its disney romance movie posters, the cross-stitch i made when i was in 8th grade claiming that "love is neither black nor white," the official star registry when brett bought that star for me and named it "por sempre," mom and dad's treadmill (because my room is now their workout room, paige's crib (because that's where paige and baxter now sleep) and of course my pink sky -- still represents who i am and was. do i still love the pink bears? of course i do.
eva posted about my post about her (read her post)! aaaawwww. we're so halmarky cheesy corny, it's enough to puke. how come nobody ever comments on my blog except eva, lani, and me? come on friendly readers, make a blog girl's day and write some comments!
eva has left the flynn! when i first interviewed with the flynn's education department, eva immediately struck me as someone with whom i desperately wanted to be friends, but someone with whom i was just probably not cool enough to actually be lucky enough to become friends with. little did i know. she wore bright, hip clothing, was artsy and confident, and had a certain je ne sais pas...
in my first days at the flynn, eva celebrated her birthday and went off to what i soon learned was her annual exodus to shelburne farms -- her dream home in which she escaped reality by going back in time to antebellum tea times, lounging on gorgeous day couches, reading musty books, strolling through the gardens, playing billiards in the game room, wishing that every other guest would go away so that she, her sister, and her mother could enjoy their lovely home to themselves. while i had been to the farms, i had never realized its vastness or that there was an inn with different colored rooms and a black and white tiled floor parlor in which to eat! eva brought back a calendar from her trip and got me hooked on shelburne farms -- one of the first things eva introduced to me.
next i was to find out that eva had her very own public access show -- the deadbeat club. she filmed this monthly, hour-long show with her sister and mother, and produced, edited, and snipped it to perfection with her own skill, experience, and pure inspiration. her show includes weekly updates, news reports on today's hottest and dumbest stars, impersonations of said stars with their faces taped on to barbie dolls and voiced over by eva and her sister, tales of life in california, babes of the month, dance, picture, and music montages of every theme imaginable, and oh so much more. my first thought was how i would LOVE to get to cameo on her show. would i ever get to be good enough friends with her to get to be on the deadbeat club? i was given pins, and then a t-shirt, and then finally, eventually, i was given a cameo on the show! i felt so honored and excited -- i got to wear authentic 70s & 80s thrift store finds from eva's closet, make myself up with some of the reddest lipsticks and bluest eyeshadows, fashion some very large earrings, and be as dramatic as i could possibly be. watching eva work, whether it's behind the camera, in front of the camera, or at her very large computer screen that is also connected to a tv and to about 8 hard drives that she's named jane austen and bronte and other such names, is inspiring in itself. and then, getting to see yourself in her eyes -- well that just takes the triple chocolate mousse cake! check out some of eva's masterpieces that i got to star in and then check out the rest of her youtube vlog creations:
eva's blog & vlog have been mentioned in seven days and in the burlington free press, and she is going to make it bigtime sometime soon, i just know it! eva is the one who introduced me to blogging and encouraged me to start my very own somethingsomething blog. she taught me how to create links and embed youtube videos.
let's see other things about eva: she beats me hands down on sex and the city knowledge (and i thought i had that one in the bag); makes a killer mojito; speaks in a british accent flawlessly; dances cabaret jazz like fosse; sings "diamonds are a girl's best friend" better than marilyn monroe herself; loves the sunshine; reads more books, watches more movies, and drinks more tea than anyone i know; knits personal wrist warmers for her dear friends; frequents mirabelle's just as often as me; is the best damn secret IM/chat partner i've ever had; is deeper than the deepest chasm in the ocean; is the best listener and crier EVER; is incredibly strong and inspiring; and many many other things. you'd have to be crazy (or on cocaine and a fugly loser nobody sex-fiend) to let this girl go. (she would be my lover and my betrothed if it weren't for our being straight and all).
that's why i'm so glad i don't have to let her go. eva's not gone -- she's just going back to school to follow her dreams of web design and to feed her technological hunger. mark my words, we'll all be seeing her soon!
good luck eva! i'll miss you in the offasty, but am happy to know that you're much more happier out there than in here!
snow, glorious snow! we finally got some, and with a long holiday weekend ahead of us, julie, danielle, em, oli, ella, and i were ready to hit the white stuff.
friday, day 1: sugarbush. this fall, danielle and i decided we would dedicate our winter to skiing at stowe and we purchased season passes before the fall discount opportunity passed us by. we bought the "stowe 6," which meant that we just couldn't ski on saturdays and the very very fine print informed us that we also couldn't ski from 12/25-1/1. back in october we had seen this and scoffed: "oh well, that's when we'll go skiing at the other mountains -- we'll be getting in so much skiing at stowe, it won't even matter, and besides, we won't want to be there with the crowds anyway." well, with the globally warmed winter that we've had so far, danielle and i have yet to make it to stowe and felt ever so frustrated to have to pay $50 for a day at sugarbush. but pay we did because we just had to get in our skiing/riding fix. and we were lucky enough to have jules join us. it was a blast of a day. serious skiing/riding was done by all. so serious in fact, that to avoid the lines, we rode up as singles. a great suggestion by danielle, because not only did we get up the mountain that much more quickly to get in another run, but i also met a cute boy! despite said cute boy, a sunny day, new snow being made by the millisecond by alarmingly scary snowmakers, and warmly frothed hot chocolate by that machine that we all wish we had in our kitchen because no matter how hard you try, you just can't make hot chocolate taste as good as the machine does, by 1:30 our legs had had enough and we headed happily home for some apres ski napping.
saturday, day 2: cross-country skiing at lake iroquois. after our friday of down-hill skiing, jules met her friend emily in new hampshire (visiting her parents from nicaragua) and brought her to vermont for some winter fun before she flies back to the tropics. the snow was falling when we got up and continued all day. the temp was mild and we wanted to get the dogs out for a good run. we hit the cross-country trails kindly maintained by the lake iroquois recreation department. the cover wasn't the greatest and our skis might need a waxing, but huffing up those hills, screaming down those hills, and seeing the dogs joyously stretch their legs was well worth it. so nice to get fresh air in the middle of nature!
on a side note, later that night ella's hind leg seemed to be bothering her so much from her day's exertion, so i gave her half an advil, only to be reprimanded later by both sisters: "are you an idiot? that could cause renal failure and internal bleeding!" after which a frantic call to the vet was made and i was told not to worry -- i hadn't given her enough of a dose to cause renal failure, but i could make her throw up by giving her some hydrogren peroxide. poor ella! stupid me! but all is well, not to worry and she's walking fine now after a day of recuperation. next time i'll make her ride in the carrier for longer.
saturday, day 3: sledding @ the golf course. new year's eve day was another beautiful sunny mild day. i spent much of the day inside the flynn, greeting first nighters, signing them up for classes, and answering most of their questions with an "i don't know" when they asked me about particular first night events and venues that i had no idea about and luckily didn't have to authoritatively know any of the answers. a day of work needed to be rewarded with an hour or so of play and i desperately needed a kid fix as i geared myself up for my solo nye, so i headed to j & d's where the cuties were already getting suited up. (julie was meanwhile torturing oliver with a shock collar, trying to figure out how we were going to make it through nye without officially pissing off my neighbors -- more on that story and oliver's troublesome visit to aunt suzie's house to come in a future post). we headed to the golf course and took many trips up and down the hill. many other people had the same idea as the hill was crowded with merry red-cheeked sledders -- there was a shared happiness of getting to be young again in the air. baxter's laughter and screams of delight filled the air as well. that and paigey's chubby cold cheeks that i kept kissing and kissing refueled me for my evening of debauchery.
thank you snow. thank you sun. thank you snow playmates.
i'm not usually a big fan of new year's eve. i mean, it's just the turning from one month to another. it's not like we celebrate when january turns to february or when march turns to april. besides, there are so many different calendars out there, who's to say it's a new year? but mostly i'm not a fan of the evening because i usually don't have any special plans and i'm always convinced that everyone else in the world (who celebrates new year's on 12/31) is having way more fun than me. plus this year i was to spend nye as a single, with no one to kiss at the big ball drop. poor me. so, i actually made plans this year. big plans. with lots of girlfriends too. the ECHO center down at the waterfront, a science museum/aquarium hosted a party at their amazing venue. $25 to party with the sturgeons and the turtles! five different genres of music (80s, hip hop, funk, techno, bands, etc.) were pumping from dj stations tucked in different nooks and crannies throughout the museum. my favorite place was the bow of the sunken boat, so dark and cavelike. the perfect place to spike our $2 sodas with the rum and gin filled flasks we'd snuck in for economic purposes. fireworks at midnight and then an incredibly slippery freezing ice storm topped off the evening. the cab ride home was hysterically drunken with danielle, sarah, julie, em, and i making friends with the cabbies and the other passengers. this morning was spent lounging around, reminding each other of what actually happened last night, discovering bruises, and nursing hangovers with coffee and sticky cinnamon buns, movies, and more lounging. while i may not have had someone to kiss last night, i had my girlfriends and may i just say how happy i am to have all of them. i made it to the new year. hoorah! as much as i love the holidays, i'm also relieved to see them wind down and for life to go back to normal. my charlie brown tree is gone, pine needles vacuumed, and holiday decorations put away for another year. a yummy chicken parm and brownie hot fudge sundae dinner cooked by jules and me awaits the family for a new year's day celebratory dinner. really, what more could i ask for? hello 2007! (post script: just wanted to leave you with this fabulous image from last night. hope this guy made it up the icy hill alright!)
when i was in 2nd grade, my parents told me that i could redo my holly hobby room with new
wallpaper and new carpeting and new bedding and new curtains. their only advice was to remember that this was what my room would be like for many, many years. in fact, they told me it would be the room i stayed in when i returned for college breaks, so that i best choose wi
sely and definitely not something i would tire of or outgrow. i perused the sherwin williams books and heeded their warning. i just knew i would NEVER EVER get tired of those cute little brown bears with their p
ink hearts. (if you look very closely you can see them). pink was obviously my favorite color and OBVIOUSLY that would NEVER change. um, so yes, i chose pink -- pink carpet, pink striped sheets and comforter, pink curtains (that mom actually made from the same striped sheets), and yes, a pink sky (because i do, and have always, loved clouds)!
