LOST
Composed by Michael Giacchino
Listen to my Michael Giacchino/LOST playlist here.
xo
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Soundtracks: Michael Giacchino & The Wonderful World of LOST
Those of you who know me, know I LOVE the show LOST. Not just the story and the crazy mind-bending plots, but I love the music. Academy Award-winning composer, Michael Giacchino created a soundtrack/score of the each of the 6 seasons of LOST. They are all good. I can't even complain enough about how much I wish this show was still being aired. Waah. Music in each episode is cry-worthy incredible. He also did music for Up, Star Trek, Cloverfield, MI:III and a bunch more. Check him out.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Drowning is Dying and Men Can't Have Babies
Working with kiddies can sure be entertaining. I'm about to hit my 4th year as a clinical counselor, and each year has been exciting, amusing and oh-so entertaining! It's not a surprise that I've met some pretty colorful kids who say and do 'the darndest things'. It definitely keeps me loving my what I do, despite all of the challenges that come with providing therapy.
I haven't been able to do any "letters to God" with my kids, but I came across a couple and couldn't not add them to this post. Plus, I found a pretty intense "warning letter" to someone who had the nerve to push nature aside for TV. Kids are hilarious!!
My mom {still} has a box of funny quotes and silly things my siblings and I did and said when we were little. Back when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I had to call people to sponsor me for some fundraiser read-a-thon or walk-a-thon I had to do for school. I had my little list of people to call and my little shpeel rehearsed over and over. I called up each person, innocently asking for their money and commitment. My plan was to "seal the deal" by asking for their money per mile or a simple "flat fee". Looking back now, it's comical.. But back then? I was devastated after asking our family-friend to sponsor me with a "fat flea". My little moment of tongue-twisted stage freight has been an ongoing joke in my family ever since.
Like my mom, I have kept track of some of the hilarious things kids have said.
One of the first client's I worked with was a 6-year old who had a ridiculously strange resemblance to a chubby-cheeked Renee Zelweger. He had the cutest speech impediment and for the 2 years I worked with him, he knew me as 'Miss Wanna'. He passionately loved wrestling, break-dancing and mainstream rap music (so wrong!). He was somehow convinced that he had been to multiple movie premieres in Hollywood, as well as claimed to be the inventor of Monopoly. One time I tried to teach little Zelweger and his classmates how to play (even though he invented it..) and I had a migraine for 7 days straight. Another time, we were at the park and he saw an elderly lady sitting on a bench. While pointing and I'm sure loud enough for her to hear, he looked up at me and asked in a worried voice, "Ohh boy...why are her skins so stretchy?"
I worked with another little boy, a 5-year old who was pretty spoiled, but so very cute. He looked almost identical to Freddie Highmore. Not only was he responsible for accidentally locking my car doors - while my keys were in the ignition - with the AC on full blast - but on a daily basis, he demanded his mom make him a full to-go container of hot coffee with cream and sugar (what?!). Working with him in his classroom, I witnessed some pretty funny 'altercations' between him and the boy he called his "frenemy". He often argued about whether or not Spiderman was a "worthy fighter" and the fact that he 'lost all of his friends because he won fourth place in the 'smelly-shoe contest'. He would cry and cry, telling me how "devesmated" he was. Ha! Poor little guy..
One of the most baffling kids I've worked with was a 9-year old girl who said and did some pretty jaw-dropping things. Picture a kleptomaniac, miniature Kathy Kinney (minus the drag makeup). She was pretty set in her ways, as she engaged in different exercises and coping-skill activities focusing on feelings. What makes her happy? Sad? Angry? Disappointed? She answered all of my questions with the same response: Whether or not she got her way. She was a feisty thing when it came to earning rewards and activities. She lost it after I informed her we couldn't "relocate our session to Golden Corral, followed by an immediate trip to Carowinds" (for all you northerners, the equivalent would be Old Country Buffet & Valleyfair). She took her anger out on me during the 12 seconds I stepped out of the room. As soon as I returned, I couldn't miss her bold, handwritten F-word across a picture of Justin and me hanging at my desk. Oh, heyyyo no. Not only did she deny it for 20 minutes, claiming "someone else came in the room and did it quick", but when she finally admitted it, she dramatically dropped to her knees, begging me not to "call the law". Aside from her unpredictable behavior, she gave me quite a few laughs with the bizarre things she would say. During one of our sessions, we watched a portion of Cheaper by the Dozen. During our discussion, I asked her about things she learned.. related to communication, honesty, etc. Of course, she hadn't been paying attention to different communication styles in the movie, but instead she quickly started asking me questions about a scene where the dad was in the hospital for surgery. She began to talk about "his pregnancy" and would have kept going if I hadn't stopped her. Whaat? Trying to take her seriously, I proceeded to carefully remind her of a man's inability to have a baby and encouraged her to talk to her grandma about 'where babies come from'. Bless her heart. Later in therapy, somehow a discussion came up in which she attempted to argue that "drowning was not dying.. It means swimming for a long time".
Another kindergartener who always brightened my day, was a 5-year old mini-me Leonardo DiCaprio. Cutest kid and the most hilarious classmates. His classroom was one of my favorites to visit. One day, they had a substitute - an elderly woman. For snacktime, the sub gave each of the kiddies a bowl of cut-up oranges. As soon as my little buddy was given his bowl, he noticed the woman's wrinkly hands and immediately acted really anxious. With the most concerned look on his face, he looked at me and nervously said, "Was she in the tub too long or was she made that way?!" It didn't stop there. He looked at the woman and slowly reached out to poke her hand, as if he had never seen an elderly person in his life. Thankfully the woman (and I) had a pretty good laugh! Another day, a little boy in his class was talking about his birthday. I asked him when his birthday was, and he confidently replied, "May joonjin in the month-of-the-year.." I asked him a couple more times to repeat himself, thinking I had just missed what he was trying to say. Every time, he gave me the same answer. I sure wish my birthday was that day! Haha!
Just the other day, I was in session with a little, 6-year old boy I work with on a regular basis. We were working on a little craft, when he abruptly stopped and said he needed a bathroom break. After he did his business, we headed back to my office to continue our activity. Once he sat down, he folded his arms and looked at me in all seriousness and goes, "Tell me. Are sweat and pee cousins?" Oh my word! I tried my best to explain (in 6-year old words) where sweat comes from and how the body works. Last year, during one of the days I spent in his classroom, he was "playing house" during Center/Free Time. As I sat at a miniature kitchen table with a plastic piece of pizza and a realistic-looking sunny-side-up egg on my plate, I couldn't help but laugh as he and another little girl aka "his wife" carefully introduced me to his family: 3 baby dolls sitting next to me at the table. I asked what their kids' names were, in which they replied, "Polly, Michael Jackson and Candycane". HA! During another session, I was with him at recess, as he loudly rallied up his classmates onto the slide. While saluting (haha), he instructed all of his friends to "take a ride on this rollercloaster!" So cute!
As if I haven't shared enough, I had to end this post with a couple videos. You remember "Kids Say the Darndest Things", right? I only remember it with Bill Cosby and it was so hysterical!
I can't wait to have hilarious little kids of my own.. I always tell Justin how I can't wait to actually have a conversation with our kids someday. I seriously can't wait. : )
Sources:
"Dear God.." Letters
"TV Before Nature" Letter
Videos - click for source
xo
I haven't been able to do any "letters to God" with my kids, but I came across a couple and couldn't not add them to this post. Plus, I found a pretty intense "warning letter" to someone who had the nerve to push nature aside for TV. Kids are hilarious!!
My mom {still} has a box of funny quotes and silly things my siblings and I did and said when we were little. Back when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I had to call people to sponsor me for some fundraiser read-a-thon or walk-a-thon I had to do for school. I had my little list of people to call and my little shpeel rehearsed over and over. I called up each person, innocently asking for their money and commitment. My plan was to "seal the deal" by asking for their money per mile or a simple "flat fee". Looking back now, it's comical.. But back then? I was devastated after asking our family-friend to sponsor me with a "fat flea". My little moment of tongue-twisted stage freight has been an ongoing joke in my family ever since.
Like my mom, I have kept track of some of the hilarious things kids have said.
One of the first client's I worked with was a 6-year old who had a ridiculously strange resemblance to a chubby-cheeked Renee Zelweger. He had the cutest speech impediment and for the 2 years I worked with him, he knew me as 'Miss Wanna'. He passionately loved wrestling, break-dancing and mainstream rap music (so wrong!). He was somehow convinced that he had been to multiple movie premieres in Hollywood, as well as claimed to be the inventor of Monopoly. One time I tried to teach little Zelweger and his classmates how to play (even though he invented it..) and I had a migraine for 7 days straight. Another time, we were at the park and he saw an elderly lady sitting on a bench. While pointing and I'm sure loud enough for her to hear, he looked up at me and asked in a worried voice, "Ohh boy...why are her skins so stretchy?"
I worked with another little boy, a 5-year old who was pretty spoiled, but so very cute. He looked almost identical to Freddie Highmore. Not only was he responsible for accidentally locking my car doors - while my keys were in the ignition - with the AC on full blast - but on a daily basis, he demanded his mom make him a full to-go container of hot coffee with cream and sugar (what?!). Working with him in his classroom, I witnessed some pretty funny 'altercations' between him and the boy he called his "frenemy". He often argued about whether or not Spiderman was a "worthy fighter" and the fact that he 'lost all of his friends because he won fourth place in the 'smelly-shoe contest'. He would cry and cry, telling me how "devesmated" he was. Ha! Poor little guy..
One of the most baffling kids I've worked with was a 9-year old girl who said and did some pretty jaw-dropping things. Picture a kleptomaniac, miniature Kathy Kinney (minus the drag makeup). She was pretty set in her ways, as she engaged in different exercises and coping-skill activities focusing on feelings. What makes her happy? Sad? Angry? Disappointed? She answered all of my questions with the same response: Whether or not she got her way. She was a feisty thing when it came to earning rewards and activities. She lost it after I informed her we couldn't "relocate our session to Golden Corral, followed by an immediate trip to Carowinds" (for all you northerners, the equivalent would be Old Country Buffet & Valleyfair). She took her anger out on me during the 12 seconds I stepped out of the room. As soon as I returned, I couldn't miss her bold, handwritten F-word across a picture of Justin and me hanging at my desk. Oh, heyyyo no. Not only did she deny it for 20 minutes, claiming "someone else came in the room and did it quick", but when she finally admitted it, she dramatically dropped to her knees, begging me not to "call the law". Aside from her unpredictable behavior, she gave me quite a few laughs with the bizarre things she would say. During one of our sessions, we watched a portion of Cheaper by the Dozen. During our discussion, I asked her about things she learned.. related to communication, honesty, etc. Of course, she hadn't been paying attention to different communication styles in the movie, but instead she quickly started asking me questions about a scene where the dad was in the hospital for surgery. She began to talk about "his pregnancy" and would have kept going if I hadn't stopped her. Whaat? Trying to take her seriously, I proceeded to carefully remind her of a man's inability to have a baby and encouraged her to talk to her grandma about 'where babies come from'. Bless her heart. Later in therapy, somehow a discussion came up in which she attempted to argue that "drowning was not dying.. It means swimming for a long time".
Another kindergartener who always brightened my day, was a 5-year old mini-me Leonardo DiCaprio. Cutest kid and the most hilarious classmates. His classroom was one of my favorites to visit. One day, they had a substitute - an elderly woman. For snacktime, the sub gave each of the kiddies a bowl of cut-up oranges. As soon as my little buddy was given his bowl, he noticed the woman's wrinkly hands and immediately acted really anxious. With the most concerned look on his face, he looked at me and nervously said, "Was she in the tub too long or was she made that way?!" It didn't stop there. He looked at the woman and slowly reached out to poke her hand, as if he had never seen an elderly person in his life. Thankfully the woman (and I) had a pretty good laugh! Another day, a little boy in his class was talking about his birthday. I asked him when his birthday was, and he confidently replied, "May joonjin in the month-of-the-year.." I asked him a couple more times to repeat himself, thinking I had just missed what he was trying to say. Every time, he gave me the same answer. I sure wish my birthday was that day! Haha!
Just the other day, I was in session with a little, 6-year old boy I work with on a regular basis. We were working on a little craft, when he abruptly stopped and said he needed a bathroom break. After he did his business, we headed back to my office to continue our activity. Once he sat down, he folded his arms and looked at me in all seriousness and goes, "Tell me. Are sweat and pee cousins?" Oh my word! I tried my best to explain (in 6-year old words) where sweat comes from and how the body works. Last year, during one of the days I spent in his classroom, he was "playing house" during Center/Free Time. As I sat at a miniature kitchen table with a plastic piece of pizza and a realistic-looking sunny-side-up egg on my plate, I couldn't help but laugh as he and another little girl aka "his wife" carefully introduced me to his family: 3 baby dolls sitting next to me at the table. I asked what their kids' names were, in which they replied, "Polly, Michael Jackson and Candycane". HA! During another session, I was with him at recess, as he loudly rallied up his classmates onto the slide. While saluting (haha), he instructed all of his friends to "take a ride on this rollercloaster!" So cute!
As if I haven't shared enough, I had to end this post with a couple videos. You remember "Kids Say the Darndest Things", right? I only remember it with Bill Cosby and it was so hysterical!
I can't wait to have hilarious little kids of my own.. I always tell Justin how I can't wait to actually have a conversation with our kids someday. I seriously can't wait. : )
Sources:
"Dear God.." Letters
"TV Before Nature" Letter
Videos - click for source
xo
Monday, November 8, 2010
Soundtracks: The OC
It doesn't take a genius to know I love The OC..
Six of my forever-favorite soundtrack albums are Music From The OC: Mixes 1 through 6. Check em' out..
Music From The OC: Mix 1
Featuring: South, Jem, Joseph Arthur, Spoon, JET, The 88, Doves, Turin Brakes, The Dandy Warhols, Finley Quay & William Orbit, Alexi Murdoch and Phantom Planet
Music From The OC: Mix 2
Featuring: Eels, Super Furry Animals, The Killers, Death Cab For Cutie, Interpol, Patrick Park, Dios Malos, Nada Surf, The Thrills, The Walkmen, The Perishers, Johnathan Rice, Beulah, Keane, Jem
and The Album Leaf
Music From The OC: Mix 3 - Chrismukkah
Featuring: Peggy Lee, Ron Sexsmith, Eels, The Raveonettes, Tom Petty, Canta Canta Nino, Leona Naess, Firstcom, Bright Eyes, Guster and Unknown
Music From The OC: Mix 4
Featuring: The Futureheads, Imogen Heap, Pinback, A.C. Newman, Sufjan Stevens, Flunk, Beck, Modest Mouse, Aqueduct, The Reindeer Section, Bell X1 and Matt Pond PA
Music From The OC: Mix 5
Featuring: The Subways, Kasabian, Shout Out Louds, LCD Soundsystem, Rogue Wave, Youth Group, Of Montreal, Gorillaz, Kaiser Chiefs, Stars, Phantom Planet and Imogen Heap
Music From The OC: Mix 6 - Covering Our Tracks
Featuring: Goldspot, Rock Kills Kid, Lady Sovereign, Mates of State, Pinback, John Paul White, Rogue Wave, Syd Matters, Tally Hall, The M's, Band of Horses and Ashtar Command
I Miss The OC
What's Summer Without Music
Soundtracks: I'm in the Mood for Fall
Rooney and the Too-Friendly Hippie
xo
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Flying, Lying and a Broken Toe
I don't think I have been this stressed out, since college. Many of the contributions are my own dang fault, but still. I want to share a few recent are-you-kidding-me moments without sounding like I'm hosting one, big whinefest. By the way.. Thank goodness I started blogging, so I can capture such ridonkulous happenings. It's either this, or write a really random book. Blogging makes a little more sense, plus it's free and is published immediately. Bah!
My sister Vanessa's wedding is a week from Saturday. I am an idiot and a procrastinator. Why do I wait until the last minute to get my things in order? Especially when I procrastinate as much as I do...Why wouldn't I go out of my way to try to prevent stressing myself out for such a huge event?
My list of TO DO's:
Travel - Up until 9pm this evening, Justin and I have had no transportation to MN for the wedding. In my defense, for months we have been weighing our options for flights. We keep debating whether or not we plan on bringing lil' Romeo and deciding if it would be cheaper to just drive instead. A 23-hour roadtrip isn't exactly "fun" when we've done the drive as many times as we have. It's torture. Over the past few weeks, flights have bolted from $300/person to $700-800/person. To fly with a pup, runs $150-200 one way. Are you kidding me right now?! We have begun to open up the idea of taking a train (Ha! How cool would that be?!) but turns out, prices start at $550/person and takes around 35 hours to get there. No way. After all that said, we were checking out flights again tonight and came across some departures from Atlanta, and BAM! We found them cheaper than we've been finding all along. All I can say is Thank you, Lord!
My Dress - This is the department, in which I am an idiot. How many times have you gauged a dress size based on losing a few pounds? I might be the only one. Vanessa chose some really cute bridesmaid dresses from JCPenny's online catalog. They are a really pretty color, and look super flattering too. I ordered my dress back in April, and ordered "about my size", with motivation to make it fit after losing a few poundski's. I don't know why I stupidly neglected to consider the fact that bridesmaid dresses run small anyway, and it ended up being much smaller than I expected. I've been pretty successful in dropping some lbs, but each time I've tried my dress on, I'm not even close. I kept pushing it aside in my mind, quoting the magnificent Tim Gunn, and tell myself, "make it work, Alanna, make it work!" Last week, I tried it on again. Closer than before, but still no go. Trying not to panic, I panicked (because it felt good, OK?!) and began asking around for some alteration suggestions, to see what my options would be. I went to a place nearby for an estimate of how much trouble I was in. If I have gotten a grade for time management, I would have gotten an F. The seamstress told me there was absolutely no room or extra fabric to work with, so 'sorry'. Great. I decided to try to contact JCPenny, to see if there was anything they could do. Yea, I could've done that sooner, but I kept telling myself I could figure this problem out without having to exchange or mess with the hassle.
I gave good ol' Penny's a call. A nice, little, Jersey-accented man, who I'm pretty sure looked just like Danny DeVito, began asking for my info and I told him that my dress didn't fit. Now, what stinks, is JCP has a policy - no returns after 90 days. Fine! I'm not returning anything, just exchanging for a different size. Mr. DeVito informed me that whether an return or exchange, I would have to pay for a whole new dress, since I was past the 90 days. Uhh.. NO! I had to come up with a quick excuse (other than the fact that it didn't fit, because I didn't think everything through). Within a millisecond, I began to bawl my eyes out, in effort to achieve some pity from the little dude. I think he was blindsided, as I proceeded to tell him how the dress didn't fit because I was pregnant (Sidenote: I am not. I repeat, not preggo). I continued to whimper about my desperation for a new dress and whattyaknow? Jersey-DeVito-man began helping me "calm down" by doing breathing exercises and comforting me, saying, "It's gonna be OK! It's not your fault! Try to remain calm, it's not good for the baby.. Heee Heee Hooo.. Deep breaths, ma'am!" Ohh bless his heart! I felt guilty lying, but he totally fell for it. He submitted my "situation" with a request to excuse the fee and told me my new dress was on it's way. I just had to wait for a call from some corporate hotshot, whether or not I would be 'approved' to have the fee waived. Since this conversation took place last Friday, I wouldn't be hearing from anyone 'til at least Tuesday (Thank you, irrelevant Labor Day that I worked anyway). So I wait impatiently all weekend. Finally Tuesday hits. No call. I waited a little longer before calling them to find out whether or not I would have to pay, as well as confirm that my new dress had in fact, been shipped to the store (where I would make the exchange). Some irritable woman answers (just my luck) and overused the word 'unfortunately' more times than I could count. "Unfortunately, the man you spoke to did not complete the order properly. Unfortunately, that dress no longer exists. Unfortunately. there's nothing we can do.." I waited on hold, while she checked every database in the U.S., and supposedly spoke to her 'Superior'. Mrs. Unfortunate had no pity for the fake-pregnant girl. 3-4 times, she said, "Why don't you just tell your sister to choose new bridesmaid dresses." Are you insane, lady? Have you ever been in a wedding? Have you ever been married? That's not how these things work. When a desperate situation comes up 1.5 weeks prior to the wedding, the MOH doen't rearrange every other responsible bridesmaid's plans! The MOH makes it happen. I have royally let myself down with this unnecesary, postponed, "unfortunate" situation. Blagh.
So, I'm stuck. Stuck with the original dress and had to think fast. My friend, Jody, suggested another alterations place and encouraged me to give it a shot. After 2 emotional meltdowns, I grabbed what I needed and headed to the shop. There was a nice man behind the counter, whom asked me a few questions before the Queen Bee - a woman with a heavy German accent and classy style - came to see what my dilema was. I gathered that the woman and the man were married, and she was the main seamstress. She examined everything and told me the same thing Alteration Shop #1 said: not possible. Her first suggestion was to "go to the mall, and find a new dress". What?! What is with these suggestions? Everytime I have blabbed out my desperate situation, I have made it clear that my sister didn't know and that I didn't want to tell her to avoid stressing her out. I can't just 'go find a new dress' and show up like "Surprise! It's me! Idiot Maid of Honor!" I continued to press the need to alter the dress I had, and that it was my only option. Madam Germany seemed to understand, and instructed me to go to a certain fabric store to search for an exact match of the fabrics, so she can add panels to the dress. Uhhmm.. the chances of finding the exact fabrics are nonexistent. Oh good grief. I booked it to the fabric store, searched high and low for the same fabric and nothing. In near tears, I found a woman named Pamm - who introduced herself as "Pamm. [awkward pause] With 2 M's". Pammy totally reminded me of Yvette Nicole Brown, who has made an appearance on The Office and played a few other roles, including the show, Community. She escorted me throughout the store for over an hour, trying to match my dress with anything possible.. even drapery and plastic tablecloths. No matches. All of a sudden, while digging through Clearance, we hit a mini jackpot. We found an almost-perfect match of the outter layer of chiffon. I couldn't believe it. I picked out another fabric for the bottom layer, but couldn't find a match, so I went with the closest I could find. It felt pretty good to return back to The Frau, for her to tell me, "You did good!" It's not quite a 'happy ending'..yet. The dress will be with Frau until at least Monday, so I'm praying and praying it looks good.
Injuries - After coming home from an emotional day of bad news, cries for help and fabric hunts, Justin comforted me, telling me we could relax for the evening and watch a movie. Aughh.. yes, please. I was making something to eat when it happened. I had been talking to Justin, who had walked into the other room, when I noticed he stopped responding. I peeked around the corner, to find him sitting on the couch, bent over and holding his right foot. I assumed he stubbed his toe and asked if he was OK. I could tell he was in quite a bit of pain, because he didn't say much, and just kept telling me to 'give him a minute and he would explain'. After a while, Justin finally told me what happened.. He had turned quickly, and rammed his right-pinky toe on the base of the couch. He said that when he looked down, his little toe was pointing 70 degrees in the wrong direction, and out of instinct, he grabbed it. In that moment, he re-set his disfigured toe and was in so much pain, he could barely speak. He wasn't exactly sure if it was broken.. but since the pain wasn't really going away, we got it elevated and on ice. He made it through the night and attempted to go to work, but no success. He was in way too much pain, so we found a new Dr. (of course, we don't curently have a Doc, as ours recently left to a different practice. Typical.), made an appointment, and went in for an x-ray. Sure enough.. it's broken. The doc said Justin would have to be out of work for 3-6 weeks. Oh. My. Goodness. What are we going to do?
We began to ask around for crutches, since it's beyond excruciating to walk. We keep going through the craziness of how often we stub our toes or bang knees on the coffee table, and we forget about it in 30 minutes. Somehow, this was different. Our buddy, Andy, was able to track down some crutches really quick and was even sweet enough to drop them off at our place. To make a long story short (yeah, right), Justin and I spent the day running to his work to file 'disability' for the next few weeks and set up paychecks. From his work, we were given paperwork which the Dr. had to fill out. We rushed to the Dr.'s office, where we had to pay another co-pay, as they required us to sit with the nurse while she filled 3 pages of Q's. It was the most frustrating thing, because not only was it inconvenient to go to the Dr.'s office at all, but we had to leave and return with an appointment, but it's so beyond painful for Justin to move around, up and down 6 flights of stairs (of course we're on the 3rd level.). We headed back to the Dr.'s office, for the 5-minute paperwork to be completed, so we could wait for 45 minutes, and pay the co-pay, without even being seen by anyone important. Gimme a break.. The only, tiny good thing we can find, is that Justin has time off for us to travel to MN.. which means it's no longer necessary to use his vacation days. Of course, I'd rather him be comfortable and undamaged, than have some 'free vacation days.
Speech - I am so flippin scared to give my MOH speech at the wedding. What is wrong with me?! I can do this.. I am just so anxious and nervous. I have no clue what I'm going to say, yet. This is a major stress for me right now. I'm sure it will work out, but I can't wait for the speech part to be over with. Wahh!
Wedding Prep - I still have yet to print, personalize and assemble my sister's wedding programs, which I am making for her. I'm not as worried about this task as I am other things. Assembling should occur tomorrow if all works out.
So there you have it. An extremely uncondensed version of my status of insanity and panic. Sometimes, I wish I had no responsibility for anything. I just want a little break. Hmmmm.. That'll never happen. I'll keep ya posted!
xo
My sister Vanessa's wedding is a week from Saturday. I am an idiot and a procrastinator. Why do I wait until the last minute to get my things in order? Especially when I procrastinate as much as I do...Why wouldn't I go out of my way to try to prevent stressing myself out for such a huge event?
My list of TO DO's:
Travel - Up until 9pm this evening, Justin and I have had no transportation to MN for the wedding. In my defense, for months we have been weighing our options for flights. We keep debating whether or not we plan on bringing lil' Romeo and deciding if it would be cheaper to just drive instead. A 23-hour roadtrip isn't exactly "fun" when we've done the drive as many times as we have. It's torture. Over the past few weeks, flights have bolted from $300/person to $700-800/person. To fly with a pup, runs $150-200 one way. Are you kidding me right now?! We have begun to open up the idea of taking a train (Ha! How cool would that be?!) but turns out, prices start at $550/person and takes around 35 hours to get there. No way. After all that said, we were checking out flights again tonight and came across some departures from Atlanta, and BAM! We found them cheaper than we've been finding all along. All I can say is Thank you, Lord!
My Dress - This is the department, in which I am an idiot. How many times have you gauged a dress size based on losing a few pounds? I might be the only one. Vanessa chose some really cute bridesmaid dresses from JCPenny's online catalog. They are a really pretty color, and look super flattering too. I ordered my dress back in April, and ordered "about my size", with motivation to make it fit after losing a few poundski's. I don't know why I stupidly neglected to consider the fact that bridesmaid dresses run small anyway, and it ended up being much smaller than I expected. I've been pretty successful in dropping some lbs, but each time I've tried my dress on, I'm not even close. I kept pushing it aside in my mind, quoting the magnificent Tim Gunn, and tell myself, "make it work, Alanna, make it work!" Last week, I tried it on again. Closer than before, but still no go. Trying not to panic, I panicked (because it felt good, OK?!) and began asking around for some alteration suggestions, to see what my options would be. I went to a place nearby for an estimate of how much trouble I was in. If I have gotten a grade for time management, I would have gotten an F. The seamstress told me there was absolutely no room or extra fabric to work with, so 'sorry'. Great. I decided to try to contact JCPenny, to see if there was anything they could do. Yea, I could've done that sooner, but I kept telling myself I could figure this problem out without having to exchange or mess with the hassle.
I gave good ol' Penny's a call. A nice, little, Jersey-accented man, who I'm pretty sure looked just like Danny DeVito, began asking for my info and I told him that my dress didn't fit. Now, what stinks, is JCP has a policy - no returns after 90 days. Fine! I'm not returning anything, just exchanging for a different size. Mr. DeVito informed me that whether an return or exchange, I would have to pay for a whole new dress, since I was past the 90 days. Uhh.. NO! I had to come up with a quick excuse (other than the fact that it didn't fit, because I didn't think everything through). Within a millisecond, I began to bawl my eyes out, in effort to achieve some pity from the little dude. I think he was blindsided, as I proceeded to tell him how the dress didn't fit because I was pregnant (Sidenote: I am not. I repeat, not preggo). I continued to whimper about my desperation for a new dress and whattyaknow? Jersey-DeVito-man began helping me "calm down" by doing breathing exercises and comforting me, saying, "It's gonna be OK! It's not your fault! Try to remain calm, it's not good for the baby.. Heee Heee Hooo.. Deep breaths, ma'am!" Ohh bless his heart! I felt guilty lying, but he totally fell for it. He submitted my "situation" with a request to excuse the fee and told me my new dress was on it's way. I just had to wait for a call from some corporate hotshot, whether or not I would be 'approved' to have the fee waived. Since this conversation took place last Friday, I wouldn't be hearing from anyone 'til at least Tuesday (Thank you, irrelevant Labor Day that I worked anyway). So I wait impatiently all weekend. Finally Tuesday hits. No call. I waited a little longer before calling them to find out whether or not I would have to pay, as well as confirm that my new dress had in fact, been shipped to the store (where I would make the exchange). Some irritable woman answers (just my luck) and overused the word 'unfortunately' more times than I could count. "Unfortunately, the man you spoke to did not complete the order properly. Unfortunately, that dress no longer exists. Unfortunately. there's nothing we can do.." I waited on hold, while she checked every database in the U.S., and supposedly spoke to her 'Superior'. Mrs. Unfortunate had no pity for the fake-pregnant girl. 3-4 times, she said, "Why don't you just tell your sister to choose new bridesmaid dresses." Are you insane, lady? Have you ever been in a wedding? Have you ever been married? That's not how these things work. When a desperate situation comes up 1.5 weeks prior to the wedding, the MOH doen't rearrange every other responsible bridesmaid's plans! The MOH makes it happen. I have royally let myself down with this unnecesary, postponed, "unfortunate" situation. Blagh.
So, I'm stuck. Stuck with the original dress and had to think fast. My friend, Jody, suggested another alterations place and encouraged me to give it a shot. After 2 emotional meltdowns, I grabbed what I needed and headed to the shop. There was a nice man behind the counter, whom asked me a few questions before the Queen Bee - a woman with a heavy German accent and classy style - came to see what my dilema was. I gathered that the woman and the man were married, and she was the main seamstress. She examined everything and told me the same thing Alteration Shop #1 said: not possible. Her first suggestion was to "go to the mall, and find a new dress". What?! What is with these suggestions? Everytime I have blabbed out my desperate situation, I have made it clear that my sister didn't know and that I didn't want to tell her to avoid stressing her out. I can't just 'go find a new dress' and show up like "Surprise! It's me! Idiot Maid of Honor!" I continued to press the need to alter the dress I had, and that it was my only option. Madam Germany seemed to understand, and instructed me to go to a certain fabric store to search for an exact match of the fabrics, so she can add panels to the dress. Uhhmm.. the chances of finding the exact fabrics are nonexistent. Oh good grief. I booked it to the fabric store, searched high and low for the same fabric and nothing. In near tears, I found a woman named Pamm - who introduced herself as "Pamm. [awkward pause] With 2 M's". Pammy totally reminded me of Yvette Nicole Brown, who has made an appearance on The Office and played a few other roles, including the show, Community. She escorted me throughout the store for over an hour, trying to match my dress with anything possible.. even drapery and plastic tablecloths. No matches. All of a sudden, while digging through Clearance, we hit a mini jackpot. We found an almost-perfect match of the outter layer of chiffon. I couldn't believe it. I picked out another fabric for the bottom layer, but couldn't find a match, so I went with the closest I could find. It felt pretty good to return back to The Frau, for her to tell me, "You did good!" It's not quite a 'happy ending'..yet. The dress will be with Frau until at least Monday, so I'm praying and praying it looks good.
Injuries - After coming home from an emotional day of bad news, cries for help and fabric hunts, Justin comforted me, telling me we could relax for the evening and watch a movie. Aughh.. yes, please. I was making something to eat when it happened. I had been talking to Justin, who had walked into the other room, when I noticed he stopped responding. I peeked around the corner, to find him sitting on the couch, bent over and holding his right foot. I assumed he stubbed his toe and asked if he was OK. I could tell he was in quite a bit of pain, because he didn't say much, and just kept telling me to 'give him a minute and he would explain'. After a while, Justin finally told me what happened.. He had turned quickly, and rammed his right-pinky toe on the base of the couch. He said that when he looked down, his little toe was pointing 70 degrees in the wrong direction, and out of instinct, he grabbed it. In that moment, he re-set his disfigured toe and was in so much pain, he could barely speak. He wasn't exactly sure if it was broken.. but since the pain wasn't really going away, we got it elevated and on ice. He made it through the night and attempted to go to work, but no success. He was in way too much pain, so we found a new Dr. (of course, we don't curently have a Doc, as ours recently left to a different practice. Typical.), made an appointment, and went in for an x-ray. Sure enough.. it's broken. The doc said Justin would have to be out of work for 3-6 weeks. Oh. My. Goodness. What are we going to do?
We began to ask around for crutches, since it's beyond excruciating to walk. We keep going through the craziness of how often we stub our toes or bang knees on the coffee table, and we forget about it in 30 minutes. Somehow, this was different. Our buddy, Andy, was able to track down some crutches really quick and was even sweet enough to drop them off at our place. To make a long story short (yeah, right), Justin and I spent the day running to his work to file 'disability' for the next few weeks and set up paychecks. From his work, we were given paperwork which the Dr. had to fill out. We rushed to the Dr.'s office, where we had to pay another co-pay, as they required us to sit with the nurse while she filled 3 pages of Q's. It was the most frustrating thing, because not only was it inconvenient to go to the Dr.'s office at all, but we had to leave and return with an appointment, but it's so beyond painful for Justin to move around, up and down 6 flights of stairs (of course we're on the 3rd level.). We headed back to the Dr.'s office, for the 5-minute paperwork to be completed, so we could wait for 45 minutes, and pay the co-pay, without even being seen by anyone important. Gimme a break.. The only, tiny good thing we can find, is that Justin has time off for us to travel to MN.. which means it's no longer necessary to use his vacation days. Of course, I'd rather him be comfortable and undamaged, than have some 'free vacation days.
Speech - I am so flippin scared to give my MOH speech at the wedding. What is wrong with me?! I can do this.. I am just so anxious and nervous. I have no clue what I'm going to say, yet. This is a major stress for me right now. I'm sure it will work out, but I can't wait for the speech part to be over with. Wahh!
Wedding Prep - I still have yet to print, personalize and assemble my sister's wedding programs, which I am making for her. I'm not as worried about this task as I am other things. Assembling should occur tomorrow if all works out.
So there you have it. An extremely uncondensed version of my status of insanity and panic. Sometimes, I wish I had no responsibility for anything. I just want a little break. Hmmmm.. That'll never happen. I'll keep ya posted!
xo
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Myyy Sandwich?!
Thanks to my dear friend, Marta.. I LOVE FRIENDS. She is the biggest, true Friends superfan I have ever known. I swear she's seen every episode 50 times and could act each one out in a summarized play if her life depended on it. I was an occasional Friends-watcher throughout the years it was aired, but as of a couple years ago, Justin and I finally own all 10 seasons. The show is flippin' hilarious.
I didn't plan to write a post all about my passion for Friends, but an episode came to mind the other day when I was at work. Man, it is so interesting to bring food to work and share a refrigerator with possibly 50 other people - most of whom are practical strangers. How can you trust them not to steal your lunch? How can they trust that I'm not going to steal theirs? Yeah, we're all adults, but c'mon. It's pretty tempting to envy that glorious, ice cold diet coke with Janet's name on it, when I only brought a measley ol' bottle-o-water for myself. No, I didn't steal from the fridge, but I've had things of mine stolen before, and it stinks.
Anyway, the episode that came to mind was 'The One With Ross' Sandwich". Ross is my all-time favorite, so all the more this episode has me rolling on the floor every time.
xo
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Namaste, Losties!
Last summer, I fell in love with the TV show Lost. Of all of the series Justin and I have enjoyed together, Lost was one-of-a-kind. I remember seeing previews for it - 6 years ago - and I remember thinking that I wanted to see it. It looked islandy and beachy and actually really intriguing.
I guess I forgot about it, and kept thinking I still wanted to see it, but I didn't want to start in the middle of the series. Friends of ours had gotten into it (and loved it) so all the more I wanted to see it! The opportunity finally hit me last summer, when I found a used Season 1 for $12.00. Eee!
Justin was definitely skeptical at first. In fact, I had to convince him to watch it with me, just to give the first couple episodes a chance. Even into the 3rd episode, he was still "ehh" about it, and it made no sense, because I LOVED it! He kept watching it with me, and soon enough, he was hooked. All of last year, we breezed through the seasons, getting my family hooked and even Stacie and her family hooked on it too. It was fun to talk about theories and "what's gonna happen?!" moments with other friends who were open-minded enough to give it a chance and agreed that it was a pretty awesome show. Of course, we're disappointed that Lost is done and over with.. the final season (season 6) just concluded this past May. As Justin and I are all about parties and going big, we decided to have a Lost party with our fellow Losties, for one last 'Aloha'.
With any party, we put lots of consideration into the decor, music and food. There are SO many fun things to do for a Lost party.. especially with plenty of resources online (Dharma labels, logos etc.). Here are some photos preparing and from our crazy night:
I think invitations are definitely a huge part of any party. I really wanted to get created for these, plus we wanted everyone to get excited! I found a template online to make boarding pass invitations. We wanted to add some extra information for the party, so I created a "baggage claim ticket" and ticket jackets for the invites as well. They looked pretty realistic!
What's a Lost party without a Smoke Monster?? We created this beast out of newspaper, a big bag of pillow stuffing and loads of spray adhesive. Once we managed to make it all stick together, we covered it with about 2 cans of black spray paint. It looked pretty darn close to Smokey!
We came up with a sweet idea to make the 815 Fuselage. The sheet was a steal - only $3.50 from Goodwill. I just 'googled' the Oceanic logo and blew it up as big as I could to fit on several sheets of paper. I cut it out into a stencil and we spray painted it, along with giant scuff-marks and did our best to make it look as though the front and back of the plane had broken off.
The best place to hang it was above and around our island/bar. We really wanted to cut out plane windows, but since it was so messy hanging our walls, we had to put another sheet behind it. No worries, it still turned out pretty sweet.
For the main/food area, Justin put up a tarp and some bamboo posts we already had (..still setting up!)
There were so many options for what to put on our front door.. but we decided to go with the "Namaste!" All of the Dharma logos were super easy to find online. I made my own "Quarantine" sign for the inside of the door, using a stencil font.
Justin created the coolest Hatch out of cardboard, tape and spray paint. He did such a great job! For trees and plants, we had some help from friends - Tiffany's hubby does landscaping, so he snagged us some real leaves and branches.. Plus were able to borrow 2 large, fake trees after pulling some strings (hehe). To tie it all in together, we bought a few strands of greenery from the Dollar Tree, a live palm tree and a tropical-looking, potted plant.
I guess I forgot about it, and kept thinking I still wanted to see it, but I didn't want to start in the middle of the series. Friends of ours had gotten into it (and loved it) so all the more I wanted to see it! The opportunity finally hit me last summer, when I found a used Season 1 for $12.00. Eee!Justin was definitely skeptical at first. In fact, I had to convince him to watch it with me, just to give the first couple episodes a chance. Even into the 3rd episode, he was still "ehh" about it, and it made no sense, because I LOVED it! He kept watching it with me, and soon enough, he was hooked. All of last year, we breezed through the seasons, getting my family hooked and even Stacie and her family hooked on it too. It was fun to talk about theories and "what's gonna happen?!" moments with other friends who were open-minded enough to give it a chance and agreed that it was a pretty awesome show. Of course, we're disappointed that Lost is done and over with.. the final season (season 6) just concluded this past May. As Justin and I are all about parties and going big, we decided to have a Lost party with our fellow Losties, for one last 'Aloha'.
With any party, we put lots of consideration into the decor, music and food. There are SO many fun things to do for a Lost party.. especially with plenty of resources online (Dharma labels, logos etc.). Here are some photos preparing and from our crazy night:
I think invitations are definitely a huge part of any party. I really wanted to get created for these, plus we wanted everyone to get excited! I found a template online to make boarding pass invitations. We wanted to add some extra information for the party, so I created a "baggage claim ticket" and ticket jackets for the invites as well. They looked pretty realistic!
What's a Lost party without a Smoke Monster?? We created this beast out of newspaper, a big bag of pillow stuffing and loads of spray adhesive. Once we managed to make it all stick together, we covered it with about 2 cans of black spray paint. It looked pretty darn close to Smokey!
We came up with a sweet idea to make the 815 Fuselage. The sheet was a steal - only $3.50 from Goodwill. I just 'googled' the Oceanic logo and blew it up as big as I could to fit on several sheets of paper. I cut it out into a stencil and we spray painted it, along with giant scuff-marks and did our best to make it look as though the front and back of the plane had broken off.
The best place to hang it was above and around our island/bar. We really wanted to cut out plane windows, but since it was so messy hanging our walls, we had to put another sheet behind it. No worries, it still turned out pretty sweet.
For the main/food area, Justin put up a tarp and some bamboo posts we already had (..still setting up!)
Justin created the coolest Hatch out of cardboard, tape and spray paint. He did such a great job! For trees and plants, we had some help from friends - Tiffany's hubby does landscaping, so he snagged us some real leaves and branches.. Plus were able to borrow 2 large, fake trees after pulling some strings (hehe). To tie it all in together, we bought a few strands of greenery from the Dollar Tree, a live palm tree and a tropical-looking, potted plant.
"The numbers are bad, the numbers are bad!!!" - Hurley
We used a few of our suitcases for decor.. One for the plates, napkins and silverware (Notice Hurley's puffy headphones, for an added little touch! Ha!).
We really wanted to create an old-school computer (from the Hatch), but it was too much extra work. Instead, we made a screensaver that looked just like the screen (who cares if it's a laptop!).
No Lost party is complete without decking everything in Dharma labels! Took quite a while, but was well worth it!
Kate's handcuffs...
Justin personalized some of the suitcases we threw around.. Plus we put out his guitar case to look like Charlie's. This suitcase obviously represented good ol' Jack!
It was really easy to find the logo for Charlie's band, "Drive Shaft".. I resized them to fit into a cd case.
More decor.. Locke's bag, including his notorious knives and a couple BB guns for effect! We had to put out Claire's peanut butter and some yummy pineapple salsa..
We had this ceramic rabbit, which we just printed an "8" so it would resemble Dr. Chang's experiemental rabbit.
We had the Season 1 dvd's playing for some memories.. and also had Michael Giacchino's scores from the show playing on my ipod.
We came up with the coolest idea to sketch out the hidden map from the Hatch on our bathroom mirror. I used highlighters for the whole thing, and we replaced the regular lightbulbs with black lights. It turned out really cool!!
I decided to go as "Crazy Claire" -- I borrowed a pellet gun from Jutin's bro and Justin created the creepiest baby for me too!
Justin dressed as Charlie -- We bought some blonde hair spray, but it turned out super gold! He sure rocked his eyeliner and costume!!
We tied Romeo's little stuffed bear to him, and called him a "little-kid Other". He dragged it around, just like the kid did! We really wanted to dress him up as a wild boar, but it didn't work out..
Our friends really got into character with some rad costumes!! Dharma polar bear, Claire, an Other and a Dharma beer (runner up in costume contest)..
Sane Claire vs. Crazy Claire!
Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, complete with a beard and Mr. Cluck's uniform! Jody won 1st place in our "Most Creative Costume Contest".
Posing with Kate
Courtney & Jeff came as the Kate and the Air Marshal - so creative!
Paul came as the Drive Shaft drummer - Rock on, boys!!
Time to eat!! We wanted to get super creative with food, and I think we came up with a pretty good menu..
Sun's Garden Salad --
Locke's Wild Boar (Kielbasa with pineapple) --
Hurley's Mr. Cluck's Chicken (popcorn chicken) with ranch dressing --
Jin's Fisherman Crab Dip --
Along with Kate's Fresh Fruit (mango, pineapple, oranges and strawberries), I made Sayid's Middle Eastern Fruit Dip --
Had to include Claire's Peanut Butter Cravings (cookies with mini Reese's cups) --
Island and Dharma cupcakes --
More decor -- Shells, mangoes and papaya
Posing with Danielle Rousseau
Sawyer & Ana Lucia
Andy as a Mary Statue from Mr. Ecko's plane -- He earned lots of votes for his creativity!
Justin's Hatch lit up with a whopping 500 watt light inside!
Imitating Locke's orange-peel smile!
Group shots --
The night was a total blast! We played a Lost Trivia game, and the winner won an Appollo bar & 2 lotto tickets.. Our costume contest winner got a Starbucks gift card - Everyone looked amazing and it was definitely a great way to say one last 'goodbye' to one of the coolest shows ever aired. I already can't wait to rewatch the whole series!
Namaste!
xo
Credits and Inspirations:
Additional fonts used: www.kevinandamanda.com
Lost labels & Dharma stuff, Lost party inspiration/ideas, prop ideas, Lost logos and symbols
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