At least it's not Detroit...

Frank Lloyd Wright

"The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes." -- Frank Lloyd Wright

Recycling: it's so hot right now

I intended to post this in honor of Earth Day, but a final and two group projects followed by one gloriously sunny three-day weekend got in the way of even my best-laid plans...

At any rate, my most recent purchase is super exciting: four 14-gallon stackable recycling bins! Despite the fact that it took me two trips to fit all four in my car, they're definitely one of the best purchases I've made in a long time. I've been wanting to recycle since I moved down here, but I never had a) bins b) somewhere to put the bins c) someone to take the bins d) somewhere to take the bins.

After much searching, I've found somewhere to take my goodies AND coerced James and the big white bus to take them. But the hardest part was the bins -- I'm sure I could have found some or just used some kind of plastic storage container, but the challenge is finding the space to keep four to five of them. My dad built a handy dandy rack at the old house and now has brackets on the wall at the new house. Unfortunately, we have neither the interior space to do this, nor the exterior walls that can take nails (stucco and hardy plank are HARD).

Then, one day, at the store at work -- there they were! Beautiful green and black recycle bins with lids, that stack!. Now we're the proud owners of four neat, clean, stacked bins for paper, glass, plastic and cans. Call me a nerd, but it makes me feel a lot better to know all that garbage isn't going into the compacter each week! :)

LiLo's 6126

I was browsing the Ellen Web site, looking for what day our Graco products will be featured as part of the Mother's Day celebration, when I came across items featured on recent shows. One of the logos was for something called 6126, and featured a golden silhouette. I was intrigued so I clicked through. Seeing Lindsay Lohan on the home page was a slight turnoff, but I thought I'd give the clothes a look anyway.

The "Super Stars" page was only leggings and one pair of leg warmers. Leggings are $99-132. Spring Style leggings are $68-130. The denimn-look "Velvet Rope" leggings are $110.

And that's it. I remember hearing that LiLo had a line of tights -- but ONLY tights, and at that price? No way. The line's so-called muse, Marilyn Monroe, would be dissappointed.

I am the Grammarista

This is the perfect example of why we all need to proofread and then proofread again.

It was about time

It's been a while sine there was a big protest/riot/incident at Kent State, those on par with the May Day celebrations of the past that kept my frieds and family away from Kent for the whole weekend.

Now May Day hasn't even arrived and it's already happened, and it's making national headlines. "Police fire pellets at Kent State rioters" showed up on my Atlanta Journal-Constitution home page today.

I'm embarassed.

I'm also embarassed of the reaction by KSU President Lester Lefton, who when called by a reporter asking for a statement as students were rioting and being arrested, refused comment (that's expected) and told the reporter that it was inapporopriate for him to be calling at that hour on a Saturday night. As the president of the university, it IS his job to take those calls, no matter what time or day it is.

My Friday Night

I wanna go fast!

It's unfortunate that I didn't get that job last year at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, as I've recently developed a large interest in NASCAR. It is fortunate, however, that I love my current job AND it introduced me to NASCAR, all without having to drive to Hampton, Ga., every day.

I've been doing some research and writing on our NASCAR sponsorships at work -- Irwin sponsors Jamie McMurray, Lenox sponsors Jeff Burton and the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, and Sharpie sponsors the Sharpie 500. In the process, I've learned about a lot of races and where they are, and now I'm actually interested in watching.

That, and I do love me a little Talladega Nights.

At any rate, I really want to go to Talladega -- I keep hearing commercials about it being the 40th anniversary of the speedway, and I want to go!

And people think I'm a northerner...

Oddly enough -- as I was just about to push "Publish Post," the announcer in Talladega nights said: "And Jamie McMurray is in first place..." and then Ricky Bobby beat him, driving backwards, and said "Hey Jamie, I have a little something that will lift your spirts..."

Never noticed that before! :)

Popple!

Today, I found something very interesting: a Popple.

I loved my Popples -- all three of them. The greatest thing about a Popple? After you got tired of playing with them, you rolled them up into a ball, and voila! Instant weapon! Hence the reason when I found mine, I promptly rolled it up and threw it at James.

And then I realized a tragedy: James never had a Popple. He didn't even know what it was. Terrible!

I promise, I'm independent

There aren't many places where I will let my political preferences show, but I think this column is well written and gives a stark look at an unfortunate truth.

I am the Grammarista.

This is a noun. Please pay special attention to PROPER NOUNS. Thank you! :)

Just how much is $787 billion?

“Suppose you spent $1 million every single day starting from the day Jesus was born and kept spending through today. A million dollars a day for more than 2,000 years. You would still have spent less money than Congress just did.” That's a lot of dollars.

Lessons of an apartment dweller

It's interesting how great I thought my apartment was when I moved in. I loved everything about it. I will admit that in theory, it seems like a fabulous place. I will also admit that I may just be snotty and have too-high expectations. But what is undeniably true is that my so-called "luxury apartment home" is more stodgy construction and less high-quality abode.

- In apartment-speak, "hardwood floors" actually means linoleum, which is SO hard to clean. No matter what soap I use and whether I use a mop or scrub on my hands and knees, it always has a visible film.

- Cheap paint is just that: cheap. If I remove several layers of paint, leaving a visible spot, when cleaning the walls, it's a problem.

- While white ceramic floor tiles and white granite counter tops provide a bright, clean look, they're impossible to keep clean and show every minuscule scratch.

- Double-pane windows are a necessity.

- Buying the cheapest washer and dryer is probably not the best idea.

- I am envious of fingerprint proof stainless steel.

- I have gained a new appreciation for wiping the baseboards, despite the fact I used to think my mother was a crazy woman for noticing the near-invisible dust that settled upon them. Why you ask? Because when no one cleans then, the maintenance team simply paints over the dust, and it looks disgusting.

- When planning your kitchen, measuring is important, especially when placing a side-by-side refrigerator/freezer with a in-door ice maker next to a protruding window sill.

All of these things taught me one thing: I'm going to be one heck of a picky home buyer.

My Take on the News

With economy in shambles, Congress gets a raise

One word, Congress, one word: DISGUSTED.

Gar, Babies!

A couple years ago, I wrote a blog titled "Say NO to Kids." It detailed all the reasons my 21-year-old head could come up with about why I didn't, don't and won't want kids. My explanations fell into categories ranging from disinterest to vanity, and none of them were particularly impressive.

Fast forward two years. I've been married for 16 months, which is just long enough for people to stop asking me, "So, how's married life?" There should be a news bulletin about how much newlyweds HATE that question. Especially me. That question brought on a harsh reality check every time someone said those four words with a sweet smile on their face. The truth was, I's moved 800 miles away from the only life I've ever known, I had no friends, no job, I missed my family terribly and I'd found that living with my husband was very, very different from visiting every few months. But who the heck wants to hear that? Instead, I became very well-versed in "Oh, it's great! It's an adventure, but I love it!" ::Cue cheesy smile::

So we've moved past that. I've made friends, started my own company, am going back to school and have learned enough about life here that I'm surviving. James even learned to (sort-of) help around the house. Slowly but surely, I see the, "So, when are you having kids?" question beginning to creep into my life. Thankfully, my friends from Ohio know me well enough to laugh that thought right out of their heads. As for everyone else, well, the sugar coating has apparently been sucked clean off this newlywed. I have started laughing, albeit polite laughter, when someone asks me about children. Then I tell them to ask me again in seven years.

When a friend told me that James and I needed to get busy so we could be pregnant together?

Seven years.

When my sister-in-law said she wanted a niece or nephew?

Seven years. Or find a new brother.

I suppose I don't mind that people ask, because I recognize that I'm definitely in the minority with my lack of interest in children. I thought that maybe as I get older, I'll become more interested, but it's not happening. As I hear/read/see more and therefore have a more realistic view of pregnancy and life with a child, I'm even less interested, if anything.

(Thankfully, I have extraordinarily unusual parents and in-laws, who all whole-heartedly support w.a.i.t.i.n.g. I don't know if they'll be as patient in a few years, but for now, at least they don't particularly care.)

What has changed is the fact that I now realize things may be different down the road. I know that there is the possibility that we may decide that it's time to grow our family. In fact, James and I have actually had conversations about babies (Ok, maybe not real conversations, just about how I want to be able to pick what my child looks like. I I want him/her to look like James. Seriously, he and his sister were the most precious children ever, and they grew up into lovely adults, as well.). So while we're not ready now, the point is that we're making progress. We know it's a possibility, and we know that it's up to US and when WE're ready, not when everyone else wants it to happen.

But I'm still Saying NO to Kids... for now.

Celebrity Rant

I have gotten over my love for trashy magazines. While I once disregarded their lack of ethics and credibility, as both a person & a journalist, I finally decided I'd had enough.

I am also a non-fan of 98 percent of reality TV shows, especially those chronicling the lives of celebrities who are famous for little or nothing. Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The Hills, Paris Hilton's My New BFF, and even Run's House (which I do like) are pretty much publicity trains for people with little else going on in their lives.

Q: What's worse than these two things?

A: Trashy celebrity magazines that cover the so-called stars of reality TV.

Why then was I compelled to click on this story about Heidi & Spencer of The Hills? I plead temporary insanity, or maybe I was hoping the headline of "Heidi Montag's mom accuses Spencer Pratt of drugging her daughter" was actually true because that would at least be semi-news--young man drugs girlfriend, takes her to Mexico & forces her into wedlock.

The article did nothing but waste several minutes of my time and inspire me to write this blog (which, face it, is still not the most productive use of my day, but gosh! I'm dragging you down with me!).

Time out for background:I'm a HUGE fan of weddings and everything involved in them. I may be the only person on the earth who L-O-V-E loved every day of wedding planning and seriously didn't stress about, oh, anything. So naturally, I wanted to see Heidi's rock.

So what did I learn? This is quite possibly the worst wedding ring, ever. It's cool if your ring doesn't have diamonds, but what on earth is that thing?

Utterly ridiculous, ridiculously amazing

These are the most beautiful goblets I've ever seen. Please brace yourself for the price tag. So sad.

Tools of the Trade + Steamy Kitchen knife giveaway

One of the bonuses to my flexible schedule is that I can make the time to cook wonderful, creative and diverse meals every day. Perfect example: yesterday, I made pierogis. From scratch. And while I'm not sure I'll ever do it again due to the four hours it took to crank out 50 delicious pockets, it's nice to know I could if I wanted to.

Since I'm doing a lot more cooking, I've also been spending more time investigating the higher-quality, more advanced tools that I could and should be using. I've granted my husband one-time-only permission to give me an appliance for Christmas as I am sure I can't make it much longer without a food processor. Next on my list of must-haves is a instant-read digital thermometer, a la Alton Brown. As soon as I move out of our current apartment into a place where I have more control over water quality (our current water situation has stripped the finish off my pots, is killing the non-stick coating on my baking pans and leaves rust spots on my knives and silverware), new cooking pots and knives will be moved WAY up in priority.

And on that note, I want these.

In the meantime, I'll have to settle for the prospects of winning Steamy Kitchen's giveaway, which you can enter here.

'naners!

On Feb. 21, I posted a blog about a florist in Atlanta called the Banana Florist. It revisited me today because James somehow received an e-mail about the same plant in his e-mail box this week. Coincidence? Not sure what to think, actually.

What I do know, however, is that I love this florist, although I do not know where it is, and I have never been given any flowers from it (I'd remember, apparently, they come with a banana?). But I simply adore their description of the 'naner:

The banana's got it going on. Eye-catching color. Unmistakable shape. In a bowl of fruit, it stands out against the greenest grapes and orangiest oranges. Vibrant, original and immediately recognizable, the banana represents everything we strive for in the floral world. (Not to mention, those things are crazy good for you.)"

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I miss writing fun things.

Lucky for me, there's MommyTalk.com (no, I am not a Mommy, nor do I intend on becoming one any time soon.). Read. Read more.

Then check back every other Monday. :)