Showing posts with label valerie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label valerie. Show all posts

Monday, June 13, 2011

Beautiful Things

One of the best things about traveling is getting to see new things, and the best thing about traveling abroad is seeing all the amazing things that people make! Valerie brought back a lot of beautiful things from Ethiopia, and a delicious smelling bag of coffee!

It was SO hard to choose one! Ana called the purple one, so it was between the turquoise one on the left, the red and gold one and...

The blue and white ones. CLEARLY I wasn't good at narrowing stuff down! 

Valerie found a beautiful selection of silver crosses and a Star of David

They had beautiful detail on them!





This blue and gold one is the one I ended up with-- the light in our apartment doesn't do it justice!

And this is the cross I chose

It has beautiful detail, and all I need is some black silk cord to make a necklace of it!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Oh, Brent

Brent randomly sent me a text message just now with the lyrics to "Safety Dance" that old 80's favorite, which is kind of awesome because it was the one "classic" 80's song I didn't hear on my station tonight. And also awesome because it was just kind of funny and random.

I didn't really get anything done on my to-do list, but I did eat a little healthier which is a good start, I think. I made a yummy salad with field greens, baby portabello mushrooms and carrots and instead of eating more Reeses pieces this afternoon, I had a bunch of Quakes, which are the mini rice cakes Quaker makes. I had too many of them, but they're still better for me than chocolate and peanut butter! Tomorrow, I'm going to do oatmeal for breakfast, some of the Morningstar Farms "hot wings" and a small salad for lunch, and maybe some meatloaf for dinner to get some protien and some more veggies with the green beans and mashed taters. I also need to run a few errands, including finally mailing off the stuff for Ana-- last week just got so busy I didn't have a chance, which stinks because it also means I forgot to get Jeremy to sign a late birthday card for Valerie! C'est la vie, I suppose.

Started watching "Lie to Me" tonight, which is a pretty cool show actually. It's about a guy who is, in essence, a human lie detector-- he's a scientist who studies facial expressions and body language to tell if people are lying. Of course I'll admit I like anything that could be considered a crime drama, but the premise is nifty and the cast is great.

Time for tea and sleep, so more later. Ciao!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Jeremy's Coming!!!!

First off, Happy Birthday to Valerie!!

I'm headed to bed because Jeremy will be here tomorrow!! The reservations picked up for Valentine's Day last night... 14 in an hour and a half. Seriously? You waited until the day before? Wow.

Jill said that if we get many more, they'll need me, but if they don't get more than like two more than I can have the night off. I could really use the money, but I'd really rather spend time with Jeremy. I know I'll be seeing him for the rest of my life, but right now I'm lucky if I see him once a month!

Anyway, for your random quotient today, this is my re-vamped more random "25 Random Things" meme from Facebook. I decided that the first time around a) made me sound like a mean person and b) wasn't actually all that random. Voila:

1. I think Jack Black is a comedic genius

2. I went to Japan with our band and drill team in high school for nine days, during which time I marched in the local Cherry Blossom Parade, performed (danced) at a famous, historic castle on a mountain top, and played with monkeys.

3. I. remember. everything. I even remember picking up a 12 pack of Cokes and the bottom falling out and they all rolled in to Scott Boulevard (which turns in to Ponce). I don't know how old I was, but since my brother wasn't born I'm going to go with five.

4. When my mother was 9 months pregnant (two weeks to due date) with my brother, I choked on hard candy we'd gotten at my after school program-- she had to stop in the middle of Ponce de Leon so she could give me the Heimlich maneuver. 9 months pregnant.

5. I stayed involved with Girl Scouts up to high school, at which point I switched to Venture Crew which was kind of like a co-ed boy scouts; it was focused more on the orienteering and outdoors stuff.

6. I still have the recommendation letters that Suehyla and Shrader wrote for my fine arts scholarship. Even though part of me feels like I let them down, reading those letters somehow makes me feel like I haven't.

7. In the same folder as the rec letters is a letter Kelly Goad wrote me our sophomore year of college for my birthday. They're all part of an ultimate collection I've labeled "Things that Make Meg Happy" that I look at when I'm feeling down.

8. I like making presents and cards for people-- especially people who have done something extraordinary for me. I've been told it's creepy and weird, but I don't understand what's so creepy about being appreciative.

9. I hate Dickens. Hate him. But I did my senior paper on Bleak House and have contemplated writing a paper on every topic I can possibly think of related to the book. It's just that brilliant.

10. I used to want to study some combination of psychology, neurobiology, and genetics-- ultimately studying the nature vs. nurture question (graduated high school with honors in science). Emory rejected me, however, and that's how I ended up at Rhodes with an English degree...

11. I hate chick flicks. Seriously, the chick-flickiest I get is "When Harry Met Sally" or "Love Actually"-- I hate watching women, especially strong actresses, fit themselves in to a generally whiny and irritating persona.

12. I used to be extremely messy, but somehow I am now verging on type A when it comes to cleaning and organizing.

13. I was going to be named Maureen, but my mother's family pitched a fit-- Maureen was the name of her mother's next sister who died when she was 2 of influenza (most likely, it was 1929) and they were convinced it was bad luck.

14. I was also supposed to be named Re(a)gan, but since Reagan was president at the time, my parents didn't want everyone thinking they'd named me after him.

15. My father is a pretty well-known photographer in Atlanta, and salesman at a well-frequented store. I have had people (in Atlanta and Memphis) recognize me from pictures on his desk.

16. I danced for 15 years, including performances at Seven Stages, and a Fernbank Museum of Natural History (aka, Big Fernbank) fundraiser, and even helped teach a class for little ones.

17. I have an encyclopedic knowledge of movies, tv shows, and actors. I can place almost anyone and I freaking rock at six degrees of Kevin Bacon. You don't want to play me at Scene It-- I will slaughter you.

18. In case you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a night owl. This was a problem at Rhodes because the birds would start singing at 130a like it was 6a and I would freak out and run upstairs to get ready for class... and realize it was only 130a.

19. I have had mono, the flu, and a sinus infection all at once. I do not recommend it.

20. I really hate Tom Cruise. I love Top Gun (who doesn't), but I hate Tom Cruise. His performance as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder, however, may be the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. I can't listen to Flo Rida's "Shawty Low" without seeing it in my head.

21. When I was in "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" in high school, I was the female half of a two-person cast-- our first performance for an audience, I forgot to resurrect Aslan. Luckily, five year olds don't really think about that kind of thing.

22. In high school, I would sit at lunch with Scott and a few other friends and together we would work on crossword puzzles. Yeah, you heard me. What about it?

23. I love comic books, love them. My mom grew up on Batman (who is totally better than Superman) and so I was raised on it as well-- my favorite, though, is the X-Men. I wanted to marry Gambit when I was little.

24. I have always been berated by people from North of the Mason-Dixon line about how racist the South is, but was SHOCKED when I went to Ohio to visit Tim to hear people say things that I have never in my life heard here. I was also severely disappointed at the amount of [reverse] racism in Memphis, I've never been so disgusted in my life in either case.

25. I think that 80's music is a cure-all genre. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or what you believe in-- Rock of Ages comes on and you just don't care anymore. Know why? 'Cause we ALL want rock'n'roll.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Trendfollower

Valerie's been getting these cute little blog backgrounds, so I decided it was time for a change and set myself up with one! I kinda like this one since it's all snowy, but may change it.

Happy Holidays!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Blurgh

Prayers said, fingers crossed, lucky rabbit's feet rubbed and all that jazz...

I had an interview last night (good lord have mercy, is it really nearly 3?! I need to be careful about this finishing a book in one day deal...) at a restaurant called Palate. It's really cute, kinda trendy-- very Decatur. The owner was really sweet, she liked my experience and my ability to take care of the place on my own. There were, I think, two other people to speak with and she'll e-mail us today. Do all of the above and anything else you can think of for me because I would love to work at this place. It's close by, I'd make at least $100 a week with the option to pick up shifts, and it would mean I could get the time off to see Jeremy at Christmas and New Year's which is all I want right now.

I miss Jeremy so much, and it hasn't been that long since I last saw him... the next eight months are going to be rough. Hopefully, though, with a job I can afford to go down there once a month after this and my Christmas/birthday present is to be a ticket down there. It will be nice, even though not as cold in Florida as Mississippi, to cuddle up and watch movies like we did last year. We've chided everyone for starting Christmas before Thanksgiving this year, and here I am talking about it! I blame Valerie for putting up adorable Christmas decorating photos of little Ana. For anyone who doesn't know who Ana is (who are you, where have you been, and do you really ever talk to me?), she's the best little (un)niece I could ever hope to have and just about the cutest little girl I've ever met (and yes, I've seen my share-- goooooo daycare workers!).

They put up her Christmas tree this weekend and she got to wander around with garland on her. I really miss working at the daycare sometimes-- kids can wear on your nerves, but the moment they make you smile it's all forgivable. Just remind me I still need to wait a few years before really wanting one of my own! At least to the point of being able to afford one... though maybe I'll have a girl and snag some hand me downs! ;)

I suppose I should go to bed now. I've ended my election commentary on my other blog, so tomorrow I'll go back to reviewing literature and movies like a good little elitist and included will be Philippa Gregory's novels The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool, both about the Tudor reign in to the rise of Queen Elizabeth I. I gotta tell you, those Tudors were frickin' nutters. Not just the flip flopping of religions, but Henry VIII bedded like half the Howard/Boleyn family, and after beheading the one Boleyn girl (Anne), he went off and relieved another of her caput (Catherine Howard)! I think the only reason Catherine Pharr survived the Queenship was because she happened to outlive him... And they say Americans are debauched...

Anyway, save it for the reviews. Hopefully in the next 12 hours I'll have a celebratory post up, but I'll try not to jinx myself...

Saturday, October 18, 2008

I'm Alpha born, I'm Alpha bred...

I'm sitting around today doing not much other than AOII stuff. Maybe it's dorky, but I do love my sorority very much and would do anything for my girls! So this time around, since I can't help out in house, I'm doing up some goodies. I'm making CDs for bid day bags, cookies for the girls post-philanthropy tomorrow night, and doing up the poem for Caroline's jersey. Wheeee! AOII Makes me Happy! I even did my whole AOII family tree, which is ENORMOUS by now and getting bigger all the time... I can't get the thing to upload properly, so I'll just post it in a few minutes.

In other news, I saw my grandfather this weekend. He's doing well enough, all things considered, just really really tired. I'm heartened by his spirit-- I didn't think it would wane, but seeing him insisting on doing all the things he normally does (or at least trying) is good to see. I also got to see my Uncle James, who is I think 93, and Uncle Hubert-- or was it Hershel? Geez, who knows. I think it was Hershel.

I was supposed to get much more done today than I actually did, like packing and cleaning, but I don't suppose it's any different from any other time I've thrown it all together quickly quickly. Tomorrow morning, we're leaving to head up to Indiana for the MotoGP race this weekend, about which I'm really excited. We're taking my car since Jeremy's is really loud, not that the Toyota is much better. Now that the panda is working again, I'm itching to drive that one instead. If I'd thought about it, I would have seen about renting one from Enterprise since they do a really great weekend rate. Maybe I still can... who knows.

Talked to Valerie and Analia tonight, all the way from Singapore. I feel so bad for poor Ana, she's a year old next week and teething in a part of the world not known for being cool. She does, however, still absolutely adore her Uncle Jeremy-- he came in and made faces at her for a minute or two and she smiled (and kinda looked a little stoned) and smiled for the first time in the half hour we'd had her on Skype, then he left and she got her serious look, and the second he came back in to view she just started grinnin' and laughing all over again! He's the magic trick when it comes to her, maybe I should just get a good picture of him being goofy and send it over!

Anyway, back to burning CDs, hitting Jeremy with a book, and packing for IN.

Ciao.