Fa la la la la

Merry Christmas! Seeing as how it's past 12 am, I am allowed to say this. I've been a horrible blogger lately, but life has been stressful and confusing. I don't like thinking about it because it raises my blood pressure, so here's some jolly Christmas images instead!

Hey, Christmas tree!


Those who know her are aware that my mom is a great cook. She was very excited about the tiramisu she made for Christmas lunch. My mom and I do NOT look alike, but I see myself in this picture. I think it might be the look on her face and her general stance.

My bff Maegan. We've known each other since the 5th grade. She's one of those people who I can look at old photo albums and laugh at with about how awkward we were or the strange things we did as kids. Every year at Christmas we announce that we are getting married. This has happened for about the past five years now.

The table is all set for Christmas lunch. My mom has repeated the menu to me about a million times now: prime rib roast, twice baked potatoes, green beans, asparagus, brussle sprouts, rolls (Sister Schubert, duh), a lemon curd cake, and tiramisu. Did I mention there would only be five of us?

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

P.S. Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a job in Houston and an apartment to call home within at least one month of the new year. Thanks big guy.

Teenage Wasteland

Sometimes I find myself wondering if I am 22 or 15. Did I miss out on something significant in those formative years that has caused this regression? Here are some glaring signals that lead me to believe that I am an angsty teenager caught in an adult's body:

1. My tendency to obsess over celebrities and form severe crushes on them. For example: when I lived in L.A. in the summer of 2007, I spent many a day at my lowly intern desk concocting scenarios in my head that involved meeting and/or falling in love with the objects my infatuation. These scenarios included, but were not limited to, Patrick Dempsey, Orlando Bloom, and Michael Vartan. For latest celebrity love affair, see gorgeous picture below.


But hey, at least I'm not plastering pictures of him all over my walls and various other flat surfaces. Although, I have allowed for the occasional wallpaper on my computer...

2. While we're on the topic of Rob Pattinson: My complete and utter obsession with all things Twilight related. I was a latecomer to the book series, but once I sunk my teeth (no pun intended) into Twilight, I was finished with the first three books in three days. I impatiently awaited the arrival of Breaking Dawn, and a dear friend can attest that I took it in the car with me so that I was able to read it at stoplights and once even made her drive us somewhere in my car so that I could read. I got so wrapped up in the books that I began to relate things in my daily life to the trials and tribulations of the characters. Were these novels a source of literary excellence? Hell no. But where they entertaining as all get out? Hell yes! And of course, I wanted nothing more than to find a man as perfect as Edward Cullen. What's a little bite on the neck here and there? Things got worse with the debut of the first movie, which I saw five times in theatres. Was it the movie I actually liked, or the ethereal beauty of Rob Pattinson as Edward Cullen. Maybe both? At any rate, I can't stay away from magazines that have even the slightest mention of the Twilight series and I have started a personal vendetta against Kristen Stewart for both her portrayal of Bella and her supposed relationship with Rob. Sick.

3. I recently read every Gossip Girl novel. For those of you who don't keep up with the teen book scene, there are 13 books in the series. I read every.single.one.of.them. I don't know why I feel the need to justify my reading choices but I will do just that in the name of my pride. Before embarking on my 13-GG book rampage, I read two Pulitzer Prize winning novels. Therefore, I felt I was allowed some trashy reading. But who are we kidding? I would have read them anyway; my curiosity always gets the best of me. Like Twilight, these books will win no awards, but they are so full of chaos and scandal that I couldn't put them down. The lives of teenagers as portrayed by movies, TV, and books such as these is amazingly ridiculous and I refuse to believe that today's teens actually behave in such ways (though I'm probably just very naive). In GG's case, combine that ridiculousness with overwhelming amounts of money and you get a veritable freak show. Smoking and drinking from the time they were 15, putting $30,000 on daddy's credit card because you CAN, jetting off without telling parents...whoa. For approximately a week I lived vicariously through all these scenarios, even though I am well outside the target audience of readers. Oh wait...so maybe it's because of books like these that teens get the idea that this kind of behavior is kosher? Ok, cool.



4. I have stuffed animals on my bed. Oh and on some shelves. And there are tons more in the closet that I sometimes feel sorry for and feel as if I should display them somewhere. But wait a second, I'm too old for that. In my defense, three out of five of the animals on my bed are very old and have emotional significance. So...there.

(This is Mr. Bear. Holding to my theory, you can see that I am not very mature.)

Thankfully, I couldn't think of a number 5. I am thankful for this because if I had come up with one, I would have almost considered shipping myself off to a therapist for some psychoanalysis. So for now I will live with my four teen-like symptoms and hope that one day they will calm themselves down.

Bite Me

I am a loyal person. Loyal friend, loyal pet owner, loyal fan. So when New Moon came out on Friday and several people told me that I might find myself leaning toward Team Jacob, I laughed in their faces. Never. Though I do love dogs and CGI werewolves are rather adorable, I am solidly Team Edward. I will say that the movie version of New Moon did make me sympathize more with Jacob because as opposed to in the book, Bella was not so forthright in her purely friendly feelings for him. But let's leave Bella out of this. She's pathetic, whiny, and makes women look like creatures who bend to the every whim of men. Anyway. Some people made the transition to Team Jacob because of his brand spakin' new physique. Yes, it is impressive, but too obviously so. His body screams I-worked-out-24-hours-a-day-every-day-and-ate-too-many-protein-bars-so-I-wouldn't-lose-my-part-to-a-beefier-stud. Edward's body, on the other hand is more understated and says something more along the lines of I-work-out-pretty-regularly-and-maybe-even-did-a-light-round-of-P90X-but-also-eat-the-occasional-hamburger-and-I-can't-help-that-I'm this-pale-because-I'm-a-vampire. I like hamburgers, vampires, and normal looking muscles.

Give me this any day.

No Shame

Have you ever had that feeling while watching a movie or a TV show when you become really embarrassed for one of the characters because of the awkward situation they are in? Even though it's all fake, you can't help but feel really uncomfortable for them. This happens to me a lot, and today it happened again...except this time it was not a fictional character I was embarrassed for. It was myself. I was distractedly watching TV/day dreaming and just started mentally going over moments and situations in my life. Make outs, guys I've dated, embarrassing moments, etc. When I came to some situations, I found myself literally cringing and covering myself with my blanket, as if doing so would erase that moment of ill judgement from my past. I will not specifically mention which memories I was thinking of, but some of you can probably pull from some of my outrageous moments and perhaps guess a few of the ones I might be talking about. There are several. What was I thinking? Why did I do that? How in the world did I feel that that was a good decision? Does that other person feel as awkward as I do? These were some of the questions flashing through my mind as I recounted moments from my past. I finally had to give myself a slight little slap to snap me out of my trip down memory lane. But, embarrassed as I may be about some of the things I've done, I know they make me who I am. And of course, made for good stories at the time that they occurred (and perhaps will continue making for an entertaining tale). No regrets?

More dreams

For lack of better things to write about, I will share another one of my strange dreams.

I am in love with The Beatles. They will never go out of style. I guess it helps that my mom is an older mom and was in high school during their American invasion; therefore, I grew up knowing the words to many of their songs. Also, Aaron and I have been watching The Beatles Anthology and have nearly finished it. So it comes as no surprise that they appeared in a dream of mine a couple of nights ago. Taylor, you will appreciate this.

My parents and I are walking through this park. I don't know where it is, but it's just a typical park. Suddenly we hear "All my Loving" playing. We search for the source of the music and soon come upon a small stage where The Beatles are playing. Mind you this is present day, yet George and John are indeed present and looking just dandy. My mom runs over like a fat kid rushing a large cake. She then proceeds to sit on Ringo's lap. He has always been her favorite. My dad just kind of ambles over; he's a very laid back kind of guy. I am just dumbfounded, and slowly make my way over. Upon arrival to the stage, I tell them what a big fan I am and how delighted I am to meet them. I also let them know that I have recently finished watching all of their Anthology. Of course, I then ask to take a picture with them. And before waking up, I turn to Paul and tell him that he is my favorite.

As usual, I woke up very excited that I met The Beatles. Reality bites.

On another note, last night I dreamed that Aaron and I were somehow mixed up with Tony Soprano and his crowd, and Aaron got arrested for trafficking stolen vehicles. I did not wake up from that dream feeling sad that it was not real.

Embarrassing

Let it be known that I love Texas A&M University and am a proud former student. However, a little bit of that pride dies when I hear about the ignorant, close-minded students that A&M is unfortunately famous for.

President Obama will be giving a talk on community service on campus tomorrow with former President Bush (daddy Bush), and apparently this is just too much for some students (and even former students) to handle. Do they see this as an honor that Texas A&M University was chosen as an institution that encompasses the spirit of community service? No. Instead, they see this as a chance to hold protests and embarrass this fine university in front of the rest of the world. It's crucial to point out, however, that when the latest President Bush spoke at the December 2008 graduation, no one made a sound. How strange. The Young Conservatives of Texas, also known as a filthy stain on the fabric that is A&M organizations, are of course captaining these protests. Do they have the right to disagree with Obama's policies? Of course, it's a free country. But what they cannot see is that they are causing more harm than good. In the end, they are only going to make themselves look like idiots and portray A&M as a classless, close-minded university.

I will admit that when I first entered A&M, I hated how conservative it was and I moped around and felt sorry for my liberal self. Through my four years, however, I saw a marked change in the political atmosphere at A&M. Sure, the majority of students were still conservatives, but the fanatacism wasn't as obvious and everyone had RESPECT for each others' views. I was even pleasantly surprised to see so much support for Obama amidst all the hateful t-shirts worn by McCain supporters during the election. But now I am afraid that this progress is being overshadowed by pure ignorance and disrespect.

Texas A&M is an amazing university, and I owe my happiest memories to it. Conservative, liberal, black, white, everyone respects one another because we are all Aggies. So why not show that respect to our president, regardless of whether or not you voted for him? To have a sitting president visit your university is an HONOR. So come on Aggies, show some class and disprove that conservative/ignorant/close-minded stigma that surrounds us. By giving a bad name to this university, you are only hurting yourselves. And plus, do you really want to be seen on CNN as the crazy college student from Texas who couldn't even muster up enough respect for the leader of our country? Grow up.

Fatty

With ample time on my hands, I felt it was high time I took up some sort of hobby. Sure, I like to read, I enjoy the OCCASIONAL work out, but I have never had any sort of hobby, per say. In fact, I think the only solid hobby I ever really had was my 10 year stint as a dancer. So in an attempt to diversify daily activities, I recently took up baking. I figured, hey, I have an abnormal appreciation for all things sweet, so maybe if I start producing said sweets it would make me want to stop gorging on them. Wishfull thinking. I'm real good at that. As you can imagine, baking has only amplified my love of desserts. Now, I'm just so damn proud of myself for my culinary efforts that I cannot help partaking in my creations (and any other foodstuff with a high sugar content). Before I get too carried away with my new-found baking abilities, I must stress that I don't actually imagine up any of these recipes myself. I use my new strictly dessert cookbooks as well as the most fabulous website I have ever been shown. I have been known to browse this website for hours. That is no exaggeration. I find going through each and every recipe to be rather cathartic. At this moment in my life, I have found that it is the simple things that make me the most happy. If you couldn't tell, I'm trying out this positivity stuff. So while my new hobby has failed to kick my sugar addiction, at least I have something new to add to the daily routine.