No one, I think, is in my tree....

I just finished reading Cyndi Lauper's autobiography. I don't really feel like reviewing it. It was good, I enjoyed it. I love her music, her style, her dedication to her craft and cause. While this isn't one of "her" songs, I think she did a beautiful cover. It's hard to hear a Beatles' cover I like, let alone love. I love this.

"Make a wish..."

"It already came true"

*SWOON*

No such girl

I adore this song so much.

Just Dance

Day 4:

I'm thankful for dancing. Of course, this comes back around to Oz because there is no greater part of my day than when he looks at me and says "Mama! Dance!"  pointing to the computer to get the music on so we can start our party.

He loves all sorts of music and keeps great rhythm. And now he is really enjoying music in the car, and I'm sure Greenville is getting an eye fool of me dancing a fool in my car.

Tonight, the Ipod was on shuffle and we were having a dance party to Lady Gaga...earlier tracks included Jackie Wilson, ELO, Foo Fighters, and Kate Bush. I like to keep things diverse.

We've had a shit day.

Today can totally blow me. It started awesome, and then got shitty real quick. Thank Maude for music. And Blogger. I hate vauge-booking so I try to avoid it, but this is a personal enough space that I can be vague about having a shit day. Morning really, it's only 12.30. Day isn't nearly done. OY.
...I'll be thankful later.

Thirty

Thirty is nothing like I thought it would be. I remember how old it seemed when I was 15. How adult. I don't feel thirty. I don't think I look thirty. I'm most certainly not where I thought would be at thirty.

But despite that, I have felt nothing but overwhelming joy and excitement about my age, about my journey- they places, high and low, that I have been and the path that I am traveling on. So for the month I have done quite a bit of celebrating...

At the beginning of the month I took my eldest nephew, Erik, down to Dragon*Con. I made the trek into Atlanta, a place I usually avoid like the plague. (It's growing on me tho). Because we made it down there for Friday, it was busy, but not CRAZY busy. It took us virtually no time to get through payment,  information and getting our badges. Luckily, I had printed out the entire book of events and had given it to my nephew the night before. We were able to make a crazy awesome time table of the things we wanted to do, and we did pretty much everything we wanted to on Friday. We stayed late into the night, enjoying all the costumes. It's an awesome place to people watch, and furthermore, people are NICE. We met people every time we went to a different panel, or when we sat to eat. People were just talking and friendly. It was a brilliant atmosphere.

Unfortunately, our hotel was about 30 minutes outside the city and it took about an hour to get there. We woke up late the next morning and the line to get in for the 2nd day was just too long, so we had to leave. MAJOR SAD FACE. I felt like I had really let Erik down, but we both really enjoyed Friday, and both agreed....NEXT YEAR, we are staying at one of the 5 host hotels and we are staying the whole weekend. Of course, next year, I will have to bring along Griff and Oz. I missed them way too much!

Then a few days after that we started our drive down to Tampa for my cousin Hayley's wedding. But we couldn't just do a wedding, no way. We were also going to spend a day at the aquarium with imaginary friends (awesome!) and then spend another day swimming with manatees...which ended up being less then stellar. I teared up at my first glimpse of one. He brought his beautiful snout out of the water for air, and I could have kissed that squishy manatee face. I really could have. But our tour guide was extremely obnoxious. I have rarely seen Griff so annoyed by someone. I think what really did it was when he was talking about some musician I hadn't heard of  and he said "Well, I wouldn't expect someone from your generation to hear of them". SERIOUSLY. That is what you say to someone who is turning 30?!?!?! FUCK YOU, DUDE. So Griff decided NO TIP.

It was getting near the end of our tour and we *still* hadn't swam with a manatee, when he finally found one and was like "Into the water". Immediately the manatee swam away. *sighs* So next time, we are going with a different group. This one was very disappointing. But there were a lot of great things. Oz loved being on the boat, took a good long nap, and was just really enjoying the boat ride.

The wedding was lovely. Slightly stressful for me as Oz was in major tantrum mode all the way up until it was time to walk down the aisle (he was ring bearer). But he was all smiles and giggles and gave an adorable "O MY" during the ceremony. The reception he was all about the cupcakes and dancing. Of course, a major plus for the trip was visiting with my cousins. I love them a lot, and I love that even with all the years we missed together, it is so easy to hang out and laugh. They are awesome, amazing people and I love being related to them.

SO then we're back in the Upstate and it's my birthday. And I did nothing. It was so chill, and quiet and just...another. day. It's amazing how that comes to be as you grow older, and how it becomes more and more okay. We had dinner with family the next night, and it was just nice. We made a trip down to Columbia on the Friday to see an event of writers telling stories. Of course, the main draw was Neil Gaiman, but I was surprised at how much I loved all the story tellers that evening. It was a room full of people who love books.

THEN that weekend it was back to Atlanta to meet more imaginary friends and go see Amanda Palmer in concert. It was another amazing weekend. The entire Amanda Palmer show was amazing. I usually don't enjoy opening acts, but no lie, I enjoyed every single moment of that evening. I left feeling...in love, rejuvenated, longing to create. And of course, completely pissed that I decided not to buy a t-shirt. This is a problem I have. I will hem-haw over things I would really like and say "I'll come back to it" and then I miss the opportunity. But here is a link to her performing my favorite song "Bottomfeeder" on her new album "Theatre is Evil". It's not the whole song, but just a glimpse of what a wonderful performer she is. She loves her audience. The feeling is so mutual. I can. not. wait. to see her again.



(Also? This month, I spent the most time away from Oz that I ever have. It's nice to know that I can now leave him with people who love him and he loves, but O how I would miss him. 2 is a hard age, so as much as I sometimes feel like running away screaming tearing out the little bit of hair i have (run on sentence much?), he is so awesome. It's been a weird period of growth between mother and child)

And then this week. This week we bought bicycles. SCARY. We went and rode them on my birthday and I felt 12 again and Griff was so excited and happy we've spent the last few weeks researching everything we need, and a trailer for Oz and yeah...WE BOUGHT BICYCLES.

Why no photos? I don't have my computer yet. It's still at mom's. O yeah, still unpacking and moving. With this crazy month you didn't think we'd be settled, did you? So I will try and have some photos of THINGS soon.

But I guess the point is, there are a lot of scary things about turning 30. My body is so different, but I am coming to terms and trying to love it. I am not thrilled that we are apartment living, but we are discovering things about ourselves as we unpack. For example, we have too much stuff. We are unloading tons because--surprisingly- one thing we apparently took from our travels is that we don't *NEED* to be surrounded by so much. We still have a lot of objects, but we can easily fit in a small space. We are also going to try a new resolution next year...but I think I'll wait till New Year's for that big reveal. There's still so much I want to see. Griff and I miss the road. We miss exploring and seeing people. I am fortunate that I can now say I know someone in almost every part of this country. And a few in Canada. And more than enough in England. And hopefully if we can ever make it to Australia we will know someone there. I feel like our resolve as a couple is to try and experience as much of life as we can, while still trying to find the compromise of a home and feeling comforted. It's a strange goal, but we are constantly evolving. I think that is a good thing.

So hello, THIRTY. Let's move forward.

Shut me up.

Evil

Music Monday

Yeah, I posted Beastie Boys the other week and I'm about to do it again. I can't help it. I keep hearing their music everywhere and whenever they come on, it always feels right. So enjoy, my Music Monday friends.

Treasure

I wish you could buy this song. It's my favorite from Yo Gabba and I love to sing it to Oz. *sighs*

SO the whole time I was living in England I never ever watched a single episode of Dr. Who.

I asked Griff about it a few times. Should we watch? Had he watched it? He always said he didn't like it really and so I never pushed the issue. Whatever...we watch enough TV. I didn't *really* need a new show. But there ya go...

So I'd noticed it was on Netflix and a fair few people I know watch it. I couldn't take it anymore and asked Griff if we could PUH-LEASE try watching Dr. Who. I had to know what all the fuss was about.

And stupid me, I HAVE BEEN MISSING OUT. It's fantastic (albeit, we are only watching the new series available on Netflix. I am going to have to search out the old ones). Anyways,  it's a bit of a different choice for Music Monday, but I love the theme and yeah, I've been hearing it a lot lately.

Music Monday: It's only Make Believe

I am so freakin' obsessed with this song right now. I think everything about this song is simply incredible. Also? Check out that hair! You know it doesn't move. EVER.

Music Monday.

Fire

SO I'm on a bit of a music kick at the moment. I posted this song on facebook the other day and no one commented and we all know that comments = love. I was driving to kindermusik yesterday and heard this on the radio and my mind was just BLOWN. Also? Why hasn't this been on Supernatural yet? It's a perfect song for the show. Well, during season 3 or 5 anyways.

So I went to Itunes to buy it (because I'm the idiot in the world who BUYS their music. *sighs*) and you can't buy it! What sort of witchcraft is that?

Pretty In Pink

I've been putting it off for weeks, but I am dying for a Pretty In Pink fix. This is also a 100% full-proof way to get Griff to clear out. He says he likes the brat pack movies, but I'm not convinced. I can not think of a single thing wrong with that movie. Molly Ringwald? Check. James Spader? Check. Great fashion? Check? KICK ASS SOUNDTRACK? Check-ity Check Check. SO I'm going to try and make some time for that.


I'm also going to try Music Monday to get back in the swing of this. Hello, Monday. Let's dance.

10, 11

The one above was Saturday's list. Saturday was a pretty great day (until Oz woke up close to midnight and refused to go back to bed, but you know, you can't win them all!).



List 11 was written while Oz was napping on Sunday. You may be wondering to yourself, "What the hell is 'Lost Control'? I don't know that song.". Well, it's an 80's song. Not a great one, but it came on when we were out to lunch on Saturday and my younger sister and I were having a great time singing and dancing and remembering that we really liked the song when we were little. So I'm providing you with the music video. Again, it just reconfirms my feeling that 80's hair does NOT need to make a comeback.

Yeah I'm here.

You know something? I check blogger everyday. I do. I love to read other blogs and it's the best way to do that. And I always think "I should post something" and then I'm lazy and go back to facebook. You can see how easy it is to let something like this fall by the wayside. With facebook and twitter, you can the thought of the moment out quickly and you get almost immediate response. Blogger? Not so much. You sometimes feel like you're talking to a void and *maybe* someone is listening. Plus, I feel like as much as I tweak here and there, it never LOOKS like I want it too and I'm too lazy to learn more about programing and design.

Anyways, I've been on such a music and movie kick lately. It's been nice. I have also been trying LOADS of new recipes that I'd "pinned" and had a lot of success with that. Griff and I are trying to set up an etsy shop, so that's been...well...interesting. We make progress and then kind of walk away from it and work on something else. I should set a task to have it "Open" by the end of the month. So if you read here, make sure you ask about that at the end of the month.

So here's some music. I heard this on the radio and lost my shit and rocked out. Why don't I have this song??!?! It's fucking fantastic.

Hey Jupiter

Man On Wire

Like the book rut, I've been in a film rut. It's hard for me to watch anything new. I used to try and watch something new every week, and now, lately, I just don't have the energy or motivation. It's sad because I love film. I've DVR'd several movies I've been dying to see (or haven't seen in years) and just haven't watched them.

Last night, I picked Man On Wire to watch. I've been wanting to watch a good documentary, and I had been told years ago (in school) to watch this one. I believe Griff bought it for my birthday 2 years ago. (Honestly, you wouldn't believe the list of films I have that I haven't even watched yet. Bad, Film Student, very Bad!).

It's about a frenchman who is a wire/tight rope walker. Much like you have flash mobs now, he would walk on very large, famous public structures. The World Trade Center was his ultimate goal, that which he wanted to walk more than anything and the film is about how he and his accomplices went about making it happen. Because they couldn't do it legally.

It was breath taking and inspiring.

...It also had a phenomenal soundtrack. Predominately, it used a specific track by Michael Nyman which I recognized immediately because it is used throughout The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover, which is one of my favorite movies EVER. I can not express enough how a good soundtrack enhances a good film watching experience. "Memorial", in particular, is a composition that brings a lump to my throat. It's one of those "heart exploding in your chest" pieces for me. So I will leave that here as well. But please, if you want to watch something that is simply amazing, watch Man On Wire.

Look to the Future

I've started and deleted this entry a few times. I'm homesick. For England.

Wha...Wha...HUH?

That doesn't make sense. I wasn't really expecting it to fall on us this hard, but Christmas has always been a *HUGE* deal for us. We go completely overboard on the decorations, the food, the presents. We always talked about how big and tacky they do it in the States and we always looked forward to the day when we'd be here with our kids at Christmas. So why does it feel so weird this year?

Well, we're not settled. All of our decorations are still packed and we just don't have our "home" yet. It's lovely to be surrounded by family, but I guess for nest-ers, it's difficult to be out of one's nest.

I looked this song up on YouTube tonight because in the UK they play it nonstop this time of year and I miss it. So here it is, Merry Christmas.