Saturday morning shopping

This morning I went for a shopping adventure in Maplewood! The initial object was the Winter Farmer's Market at Schlafly Bottleworks. I met with L for coffee at a little shop which I can't remember the name of, but my latte was delicious. We took our coffee on the road -- er, sidewalk -- and found a neat little shop called Vom Fass, which is German for "from the cask." They sell oils, vinegars, liqueurs, wines, and spirits, and they're all dispensed out of either casks or glass vats, into whatever size bottle you want. Very cool!We also checked out Penzeys Spices, but I didn't get anything. I can't buy any more spices until I have (1) a spice rack, and (2) someplace to put the aforementioned spice rack. We also stopped into a pet store called Airedale Antics. After that, we finally made it to the Farmer's Market, where I purchased some absolutely delicious cranberry-orange goat cheese.

Another stop at Treasure Aisles yielded a green pot in which I can put another plant I will desperately try not to kill. Wish me luck!

What I Watched -- Breakfast at Tiffany's

Breakfast at Tiffany's: an oldie but goodie. True, there's not much there in terms of substance, but Holly Golightly herself is such a fun, fun-loving type of gal, how can you possibly not love her? Probably my favorite parts are the bits where she and Paul (aka Fred Baby, aka Varjak, Paul) go out walking around New York City -- mostly for the shots of the city that you get. And when they go to the New York Public Library, and you get to see it as a library, rather than as a tourist attraction! How great is that?

I love New York! If only they made a t-shirt that said that....

Really? After all this time?

I'm curious about what it is that happens in your brain that makes you mess up something which is totally routine, and which you've done hundreds of times before. Allow me to illustrate:

I get in my car probably at least 4 times a day (to and from rowing, to and from work), plus any errands I have to run, etc. So, let's say I average 6 times a day. I've had my car for about three and a half years. That equals approximately 7,665 times I've gotten into my car. Since the date I bought it, I have used a key fob (actually the big part of my car key) to unlock the car before getting in. In fact, I've done it so often that I really don't even think about it anymore. When I'm approaching the car, I hit "unlock" twice (to unlock all the doors, so I can put my stuff in the back seat), and proceed with my departure. This is all normal.

Until it's not normal anymore. The other day, I was walking to my car. I wasn't unusually overburdened with packages or groceries, but somehow I neglected to unlock any of the doors during my approach to the car. I walked right up to the driver's door an tried to open it, but it wouldn't open. The unlocking process is so automatic that it took me a second to realize that I'd forgotten to do it, and that the problem was not (as I'd thought in that split second) that my door was frozen shut due to the cold weather.

Why did this happen? Was I just distracted? Was I experiencing, as K is wont to do, mental fibrillation? Does this happen to anyone else? Am I crazy? Okay, don't answer that last one. But if you have answers to any of the others, I'd appreciate them!

What I Watched -- The Fog of War

I saw this when it came out; I was in college. But I heard something about it a couple weeks ago, and was interested in seeing it again. I like it.

There's a lot of history, spanning from WWII to the 1990s, and it's interesting for that alone. There's also some political spin (of course), but there's also a fair amount of responsibility-taking, which is nice. And there's also some denial of responsibility. True? Not true? Who the heck really knows. But I think it's especially interesting to see McNamara as an old man, having had many more years of life to reflect on his decisions, but still not totally removed from the political world. And you get to see where he came from, which is always interesting for those who are interested in the lives and legacies of historical figures.

Dinner Parties

This has been a dinner-party-tastic weekend!

Last night, J and I went to L's house. Her sister J was in town, and L made some delish chili, salad, risotto, and rolls. (I contributed dessert!). Everything was delish! It was great to finally meet J, after hearing about her for almost 10 years! She was that wonderful combination of quiet but always right on point when she chimed into the conversation. I wish we had had more of a chance to chat, but I'm sure she and L enjoyed their weekend together.

Tonight (Saturday), J and I went to dinner at L&L's house. We had artichoke dip, buffalo chicken, and mac and cheese. (I contributed dessert! Again!). Everything was delish! (Again!)

Belated Christmas

I used some of my Christmas gift card from Dad to buy a puzzle! When it's finished, it will look like this picture.

It's by Ravensburger (which I love), and 3000 pieces, and HUGE! I had to expand my dining room table in order for it to fit. J and I have been working on it in our free time. The going is slow and steady, and loads of fun. I'm not quite ready to tackle the 18,000-piece puzzle yet, but I'll get there -- as soon as I have a spare bedroom to assemble it in :-)

Belated Birthday Lunch

Last Friday, my dad came out to meet my partners, and we all went out to lunch at the Mexican restaurant across the street from our office!

L to R: our new intern C, partners S and J, me, and Dad

I made a pie!

A cherry pie, to be precise. A little out of season, I know, but it sounded good. And I think it turned out quite well!

Other recent tasty delights include (1) sweet potatoes and pears with tarragon and dijon mustard, and (2) lamb (or beef, if you can't find lamb) stew.

And I've added all sorts of new fun stuff to my kitchen, not that I have space for it. I got a crock pot, a set of Pyrex baking dishes, and some Crate & Barrel baking dishes too! The fun never ends!

What I Watched -- Up

Since I'm clearly unable to keep up with my reading -- I've been very busy complaining lately -- I'm thinking maybe I should start reviewing the movies I see as well. That will give my lovely readers some more material to keep them entertained at work (E).

And while I'm at it, I'd like to give a shout-out to the St. Louis County Library. While there might be long waits for popular movies, you still get to watch them for free! And as I was explaining to J, the long waits make for a nice surprise. Here's what happens: I get all motivated to see a bunch of movies, so I go on the website to request them. I'm number 274 in line, so I forget about it for a while. And then one day, out of the blue, I get an e-mail from the Library saying that my movie is ready for pick-up! How lovely!

Having said all that, though, I must admit that Up was not a library rental. J's dad got it for Christmas, and let us borrow it. And, as with most Disney/Pixar movies, it was cute and clever and funny and sweet and totally worth the time spent watching it. As is usually the case, "Best Animated Feature" is theirs to lose on Oscar night.

Complain, Complain, Complain

I'm not sure what it is, but I'm just in a funk these days. I'm not my normal upbeat self. I'm sick of erging every morning, I'm sick of the short days (although they are getting longer!), I'm sick of trying to find new health and car and renter's insurance; I'm sick of trying to find a gym, I'm sick of having a big pile of stuff on my desk I can't seem to get through, I'm sick of desperately needing to finish cleaning my apartment but never having time for it... The list goes on.

Bottom line: I need some serious motivation. And some of these things need to actually start happening! Because there's definitely a momentum element to all of this, and right now, I have no momentum. But once I get some, hopefully I'll just steamroll through everything that's hanging over my head.

Help!

8 months to moving day!

As I'm sure you all know, I hate my apartment. Actually, let me rephrase that: my apartment's OK; I hate my landlords. So even though my lease doesn't expire until August, I'm already excited about the prospect of finding a new place, because I've seen firsthand what a rushed decision can lead to.

So, I've started a spreadsheet to keep track of the places I look at. I made a list of a lot of my concerns, but I want to make sure I have my bases covered. Some of the things I already have on the list are:
Rent
Utilities
Size of apartment
BR/Bath
Pet policy
Smoking policy
Dishwasher, W/D, etc.
Parking
Storage space
Safety of area/apartment
Neighbors

If you have any additional items to add to my list -- either things you're glad you asked, or things you wish you had thought about at the time -- I'd love to hear them!

HUGE Snowstorm!

Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but you wouldn't think it the way the city ground to a halt. We had approximately 2-4 inches, depending on your location in the St. Louis area (according to my resident weather expert, K). Unfortunately, though, I've been very busy and important, going to court and whatnot, so I have not had time to take any cool pictures to post for my lovely reader. (s)? Is there more than one of you out there? Maybe this afternoon, if things aren't too brown and gross-looking by then.

On the subject of going to court, though:
Yesterday, my client said her (soon-to-be-ex-) husband plays the adult version of a 3-year-old's game: "my lawyer is better than your lawyer because...[insert pointless statement here]." On Wednesday, that reason was because he had his lawyer's cell phone number, and my client did not. However, I would just like to say, for the record, that while my client does not have my cell phone number, I managed to show up to court 30 minutes early, despite yesterday's miserable driving conditions, while his lawyer was 60 minutes late. Who has the better lawyer now?

Just kidding :-)

More Info

This information supplements the video posted to the left and available here:

"She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

It is replaced by a woman's crying face, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns, and the artist throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman's face appears.

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man is standing outside with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye."

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I hope you're having a lovely day!

Addendum -- The Time Traveler's Wife

One more thing I'd like to say about The Time Traveler's Wife, in case it wasn't clear before. Niffenegger is a brilliant writer, at least this book is well done; I haven't read Her Fearful Symmetry yet.

One of the things that impressed me in TTTW was her ability to develop a character in such an economical way. There were bits where Henry and Clare were talking to Henry's father, and he was so fascinating that she could have written another entire book just about the father. And Mrs. Kim also. And Mrs. Abshire. They're all just secondary characters in this story, but the way they interacted with the main characters was so intriguing that I found myself wanting to know more about everyone!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a great 2010!