Home Sweet Home

Growing up, our neighborhood was mostly wooded acre lots, so most neighbors weren't usually very close - geographically or emotionally.

Especially after college, but really starting in high school, I was a bit of a nomad for a while. I always had a mailing address, but I was just as often somewhere else. Apart from Wroxton, I didn't usually call anyplace home.

But now, my mortgage application is with the underwriters. The appraiser just left. I've got four painters' estimates coming. It's not official yet, and all my fingers are still crossed (well, not really, I'm typing, but you understand the metaphor) - but the point is, it's getting there.

I'm about to not just have a home, I'm about to buy a home. My home.

This is, to put it briefly, a big deal. And one that I'm sure will knock me sideways and cause repeated spells of hysterical freaking out. Because that's how I do. I know it's full of responsibilities and expenses and probably a handful of lonesomeness.

But I love that it feels like a treehouse. I love leaving the windows open all day. I love eating breakfast on the deck and watching the sun rise over the hills. I love that every now and then my neighbors and I spend a day going in and out of each other's houses barefoot with drinks in our hands and small children running around. I love how many of the stars I can see at night.

This isn't a gloat yet. It won't be real for a while. But it's very much a looking forward to. It scares me to death. But I do the things that scare me. So yeah. I'm happy.

Freecycle

Holy sweet Moses, I love the internet.

I'm in the process of buying my father's condo. He's in the process of moving out. Between us we have the detritus of a combined 86 years of life in over a dozen homes.

Thing is, I'm the opposite of a pack rat. I am a purger. A seller, a donor, a declutterer. (Heh. I was going to say "a tosser.") I'm big on simplicity and organization. So this house full of stuff has been making me insane.

And then I discovered the magic of Freecycle.

The concept: "to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources and eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community."

That's it. No buying and selling and posting photos and writing up descriptions and bargaining and bidding and negotiating. Just giving stuff to people who need it and come and get it.

There are over five million people participating in Freecycle worldwide. Just on my local one, there are 2,600 people and over a thousand posts a month. It's a truly amazing hidden network.

And because my town is close to a city with its share of poverty, it feels nice that things I don't need can go be helpful to other people. Maybe that's Pollyannaish, or maybe it's even condescending. I'm not sure. And no, I'm not only giving stuff away for free; I'm selling plenty of it. But, like tonight, giving a bed and a couple of bookcases to a family who comes and takes it away for their kid? Yeah, I'll take the nice feeling.

So thanks, internet, for the warm fuzzies - and the newly cleared space.

You're All Getting These for V-Day

Congrats, B.

(Via Mighty Goods, on Etsy. Every time I think I can't love Etsy more....)

Weekly Roundup: Mercantile Edition

I need to knock off the shopping in 2008. But that doesn't mean I can't window shop. Pretending is good. So here are a bunch of my favorites, kind of in a Lovemarks way.

Markets

• Artsy things are to be had at Supermarket and Mighty Goods and Etsy (especially Vandalized Vintage, J. Davis, Paperstories and Albertine Press).
• The old faithful megastores: Amazon and eBay, Zappos and Bluefly.

Skin and etc.

• The only things that take care of my face are Kiehls and Cetaphil. Always.
• Jo Malone makes me smell pretty.
• If I wear makeup, it's Bobbi Brown or Prescriptives. If, that is, it's Jillian-approved.

Clothes and etc.

• I know I'm annoyingly ex-US: Gerard Darel, Guru, Gola, and Burberry. (And H&M!)
• Here's where I get American: Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret and Lucky.

Food and Drinks

• Veuve Clicquot and Poland Spring and Guinness. (Depending upon circumstance.)
• Rosa Mexicano is my favoritest restaurant.
• If you're having candy, go all the way: Nerds or Fry's Turkish Delight. (Also McVities.)
  
• Lucky Charms are not just for breakfast.
  

Other

• I am a slut for Smythson stationery goods.
• Continental takes me places.
• Virgin Atlantic takes me home.
  

Unrequited Love (So Far)

• Mini
• Christian Louboutin

As I write this list I realize this probably is a pretty good personality test. I wonder what it says about me?

Apart from that I'm appallingly snobby and shop far too much, I mean?

Weekly Roundup: Christmas Comes 30 Days Early for a Select Few

• A link for Jon
• A link for Rin
  
• A link for Sac
• A link for Erin
• A link for Brian
  

Because the Baby Jesus Cries When We Kill Trees

Just in time for the ridiculous pre-holiday crush of catalogs: catalogchoice.org

One place to opt out of all the junk that clutters up your mailbox.

That means you, Sharper Image. Until you figure out a way to actually give me a rechargeable ionic foot massage while I peruse your wares, I am so not interested.

Weekly Roundup: Sox and Links

Since yesterday's liveblogging of my day - what was up with that? I never do that. That's what happens when Sac tells me to post. I go overboard - I have grounded myself. I discovered yesterday afternoon that I need to do a whole lot of financial math ASAP. (You may know me well enough to know how I am with math. So stop laughing and wish me luck.)

It's all very exciting. However, it means that I've had to miss out on the birthday of the fabulous Jon, which made me very sad. Since the Red Sox won I am sure that it was very happy, but I'm very sorry I wasn't there. But he might like this. Good luck today Jon (even though it is the Red Sox).

For everybody else:

• Oskope is the coolest way to find things.
• Calypso Cards makes Selfish Kitty cards which are sold at Urban Muse and are funny stuff.
• Paper Stories makes Bittersweet cards which are elegantly profane. Just like me.
  
• Greg is my fairy godmother. He is also a PR geeeenius and this post should be memorized by everyone in the industry.
• Jillian is a makeup diva. But she is also now a ridiculously successful makeup diva with one killer website.
  
• Death Counter is creepy but appropriate for Halloween.

More Reason to Love Zappos

Beth just sent me this article.

What Beth didn't know is that I just got boots on Zappos yesterday. And now I feel extra good about it.

Thanks Beth - and yay Zappos.

Weekly Roundup: Sweet Consumerism

• How Walmart is taking over
• Some people really do live at the mall
• Christian Audigier: pretty things
• Chateau Residence de Bionne: pretty place
• Bruern Holiday Cottages: more pretty places
• Mr. Jones watches: making time fun
• The new WebTrend map
• The Best Stuff in the World: insanely addictive browsing

Lead Me Not

I do not need Mighty Goods. Begone, Mighty Goods. Stop showing me fabulous things.

Weekly Roundup: Have Some Links, I'm Busy on Another Website

Things I Would Very Much Like

Stop Talking cards from Set
Play It Safe/Risk It coin from Good
I Fuck Like a Girl shirt from Mighty Girl
Rapping Paper

Other Places to Buy Good Things

Satinbox
Pretty shoes from Piperlime
Geeky daily bargains from Woot

Other Goodness

An update to the best commercial ever, Channel Four's "What's Your Favorite Swear Word?"
Jillian on E!
Zafu, the place to find the right stuff

Bits and Pieces

So sometimes, I write something down fast and save it as a draft blog so I won't forget it. And then I'll pick it up again later and write something totally scintillating and hysterical and incisive.

Right? Well. Sometimes. Or, I'll realize I have rather a lot of those lying around and I should probably start fresh.

So, in a fit of housecleaning, here they all are. Some of them are probably years old. It's pretty embarrassing, and I come off looking like a complete schizophrenic. Whatever. Fresh start. Think of them as a peek into my curly little head. I offer no explanation, no elaboration, no elucidation. Go for it.

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Best movie kisses

• Kyra Sedgwick and John Travolta in the kitchen in Phenomenon even though I don't like him, or even that movie
• Lucia Muniz and Colin Firth in the restaurant in Love Actually but really just the whole movie
• Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan on the stairs in The Thomas Crown Affair but yeah, the whole movie too
• Franka Potente and Matt Damon in the bathroom in The Bourne Identity, "
• Angeline Jolie and Brad Pitt in the rain in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, "
  
• Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden at the end of Pride & Prejudice
  

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Passive Aggressive Notes

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• You know you're Catholic when you misread a sign for "Quilt Shop" as "Guilt Shop."
• You can order cell phone wallpaper from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
• How much is our emerging "Perez Hilton working out of a coffee shop" lifestyle just a return - or at least an attempt to fit our 21st century careers back - to our old-fashioned "cafe in the plaza" European lifestyles of centuries ago?
• Best thing someone's said to me recently: "Good luck with your artistry" - when I didn't think I was being particularly artistic.
  
• People who have achieved world domination, based on a recent unscientific sampling: Justin Timberlake, Chuck Taylor, Bob Marley, and whoever invented Crocs.
  

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Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild
The Dark Is Rising series -
The Chronicles of Narnia series - C.S. Lewis
Five Children and It - E. Nesbit
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Secret Garden
The Little Princess
The Anne of Green Gables series and everything by L.M. Montgomery
The Four-Story Mistake
Bridge to Terabithia

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It was a never-ending story... with no luck dragon.

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The way you smile when you look at me
The way my hand feels in yours
The way your shoulders fill out your t-shirt
The way your jeans sit on your hips
The way you talk to a little kid
Whether you hold the door for me
If you can make me feel like I can dance

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Truth number one: mornings come too early.
Truth number two: apart from once or twice a year, I don't drink anything caffeinated.

So how do I wake up? Really loud, really, really, really cheesy music.

Why - you ask - which songs? Because I must do this as well! Help me!

Certainly, I reply. And I'm not just doing this because I'm low on ideas for posts, either. Nope. It's just that the people catching me singing at the top of my lungs and bopping around? They're missing out. And they? They could be you. So yup. I'm all about the public service. Not at all about the desperate for content. Nope. Not here.

And fortunately, for you, I am also connoisseur of the cheesy music.

Buckcherry, Crazy Bitch. Especially good for when you still have hoarse sleepy voice.
Gia Farrell, Hit Me Up. For when you feel like a penguin. And who doesn't.
Dutch featuring Crystal Waters, My Time.
Avril Lavigne, Girlfriend.
Las Ketchup, Asereje. Only if you can do the hand jive.
Going Out of My Head, Fatboy Slim. The combination of the guitar riff and the Kaoss pad distortion is truly ideal for seeing how loud your speakers get.

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I am one of Hallmark's best customers.

I'm a dork. You knew this. But I love the idea of somebody I like opening something that makes them happy.

In my defense, I do hate all that other Hallmark tchotchke crap. And I don't own a card organizer or anything, I promise. But yeah. I'm a soppy girly goofball. I know.

All of which to explain that I really loved these ideas on... alternative greeting cards.

• Under-communicated sentiments from the fabulous finslippy, one of my favorite new places
  

• From the Bittersweet Collection

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I hate finding street parking, but I love parallel parking.
I'm more of a morning person than a night person, but I hate getting up.
I hate Pennsylvania, but a lot of people I love live all over that darn state.

Hope nothing you're served is anything like a Squirrel Melt.

http://www.jeremybroomfield.com/

Trading Spaces. Frank and Ty, after eating dog biscuits:
Frank: Do you have the urge to chase a cat now?
Ty: I always have the urge to chase the cat, if you know what I mean.

• The 60s: Flinstones hawking Winstons.
• The 70s: 7-11.
• The 80s: Madonna for Pepsi.
  

Justin and Britney duet

"The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash" - which I never read, just saw on "Reading Rainbow." I can hear Levar Burton reading it out loud in my head.

I can't find the Polaroid commercial where the kids (including Tobey Maguire, apparently) make a family-tree poster for their grandparents. YouTube failed me.

************

First concert
The very first Z100 Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden, December of I think 1995. Not sure - maybe 1994. Bon Jovi, Green Day, Melissa Etheridge, Indigo Girls, and a few other bands. And I met my first lesbians that night.

First album
The California Raisins, "I Heard it on the Grapevine." I got it for Christmas with a My First Sony Walkman. I was 10, so I remember being a little embarrassed because I felt that I was too old for a goofy red kid Walkman.

My first Sony
Originally uploaded by rogiro

I guess it was just underpaid singers doing Motown covers, but it's why I still love "Dancing in the Streets". I also got New Kids on the Block "Hangin' Tough" that year. O, the shame.

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Weekly Roundup: Links Edition

Erin: do either of these work?

This makes me laugh every time. It's the kind of couple I love to be around. The kind I want to be.



One in four American adults didn't read a single book last year? Really? I completely agree with Jessica (of the Fug Girls): that is incredibly depressing.

Even if you can't get Converse as cool as mine (because I got mine in Prague 1) you can make your own, like Kristin did, which is also pretty cool.

If you geek out on maps, try Wayfaring.

Calypso Cards makes funny cards. Albertine Press makes beautiful cards.

I love me some Oscar Wilde. But I did not love his fairy tale.

If you have an old cell phone, drop it off or mail it for free (that's what I'm doing, since I'm incapable of remembering to drop them off)to Call to Protect to help a domestic violence agency.

Get yourself a shopping spree day at Macy's with up to 20% off on October 13 by making a $5 donation to Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey. Funds provide colposcopy equipment to help women prevent cervical cancer. I am a very big believer in this organization. (I used to volunteer at the Flemington center.) I am also a big believer in shopping, lately. So: good stuff, good cause. Go get your coupon at a center:

• 575 Main Street, Hackensack
• 40 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood
• 349 Route 31 South in the Countryside Plaza Complex, Flemington
• 196 Speedwell Avenue, Morristown
• 30 North Morris Street, Dover
• 203 South Main Street, Manville
• 8 Moran Street, Newton
• 123 Park Avenue, Plainfield
• 1150 Dickinson Street, Elizabeth
• 402 Coventry Place, Phillipsburg

Project!

Now that I am back, I need your help.

I'm thinking I might go to the Hunt this year. Mostly because it sounds like fun, but a little bit because it would be a splendid excuse to get a pretty pair of wellies, as I've wanted to do for some time. I've found lots of cute ones, but not the perfectly perfect pair yet. (Although these might do nicely if I could actually find them on the site.)

So there you go. Find the prettiest wellies!

Weekly Roundup: Clever Title Here

Gratefulness...

• To Joanne Rowling for making me laugh and cry and you just don't know what you're missing.
• To Liz for getting me going.
• To the Biscuit for the best not-a-beach-weekend of massages, and ice cream, and sushi, and Reisling snuck into outdoor theatre, and lazy brunch, and fabulous shopping.

Realizations...

• I may not be as irreplaceable as I had assumed.
• It's time for another moment when nobody knows where on the planet I am.

Accessories

• It was too shiny in person.
• If anybody can find this for me, it would perfectly match my bridesmaid dress.
  
• Jilly's favorite new shoes.
• Not a bad idea.

Homemakings

• Where landed gentry like Tracy shop.
• Where the funky post.

I'm up for some bizarre traveling so maybe not much to say for the next week or so. Enjoy the summer thunderstorms and please keep fingers crossed that I get through Greensboro, do New York proper, and maybe even get to go to Vienna.

Weekly Roundup: Life Gets in the Way

These Sunday roundup posts are supposed to be for a whole mess of links to help keep you occupied during the week. But I'm going to hope that your weeks have been like mine lately - that is, that you have so much stuff going on that you don't have time to check this. Cos I have had so much stuff going on every weekend that I don't have time to rustle up fun links.

There has been just so much being outdoors and perfect sunshine and so many friends and in every quiet space there has been a random "hey, what are you doing? want to..." phone call and it's just been really pretty fantastic. I am a lucky lucky girlie.

All of which to say... you're getting five random links from my del.icio.us. Happy weekend.

• Elave: ballsiest skincare company ever. NSFW. Nothing bad, but NSFW.
• Kino Sandals: pretty and hard to find and therefore trendy.
• Pink Dolphin: no, it's not the name of a clothing line or something. It's just a pink dolphin.
• Horse in the Tour de France: this is the video I told Tracy about.
• Fight Science: this is an old special but it's just wild. Tommy will be a slut for it.

Amazon Reviews for Tuscan Milk

This is the internet at its finest. And I totally mean that.

(Link via PCJM.)

Weekly Roundup: It's a Beautiful Day

1. Cause it is.



2. Doorganizer.

3. Google pedometer.

4. Google driving directions.


5. Blogger 101.

• Lifehack's 101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger.
• 101 Articles That Will Make You a Complete Blogger.
• Top 10 Blogging Mistakes.

(If you read these you will notice that some of them are directly contradictory. Advice is like that.)

6. Edna St. Vincent Millay poems.

7. This week I'm playing like I'm posh, trying to relax a bit and cheer myself up.

Weekly Roundup: Supersized, with Extra Editorializing

The Definitive 1,000 Songs of All Time, 1955-2005. I don't know why you'd go to the bother of sorting and counting. Frankly, I wouldn't go to the bother of reading it. But the sheer size of the project is pretty impressive. (Seems to have pop-ups, though, even on Firefox. Yuck.)

Vazaar. Social photography, sort of? Like Flickr, but with critiques, and members-only. Mike might like it. Not one of my new favorites, but again, I can see how people might get into it.

Relatedly, let me know if you find a photography class. Something that would teach you how to use all the manual controls on a prosumer digital SLR. I've been looking and calling and finding nothing.

"I Got a Crush... on Obama". (I, too, kinda have a crush on him.) Fascinating to see how user-created media will affect the election. Because they will. Blogs, Youtube, Facebook - they will shape the under-30 voter opinion. Because we trust each other more than mainstream media. (And candidates are catching on.) The question is, will we actually vote? I hope so. As that article says, by 2015 Gen Y (1977-1994) will be 1/3 of the electorate. Wouldn't it be cool if we used all that power?

One Hour No Power. Speaking of power and campaign issues. Noon on July 1. It's so little. But it makes you think.

Tickle. If you need to fill your day. (Karen.) Lots, and lots, and lots, of quizzes. (I'm a "Cultural Traveler," it's "Puppy Love," and my true talent is "Verbal Ability.")

The Impossible Quiz. If you really need to fill your day. Thanks to Tracy, I got to 40 before my brain started to melt out my ears. (Damn. Now I'm sucked in again. This time I got to 63.)

Where Daft Punk Got Their Samples From. Fun. If you like them.

Unazukin. I want one. It's a Magic 8 Ball and a Russian nesting doll all in one.

Nabaztag . Similar, but I don't get it at all. Peter? Can you explain?

Facebook. Seems to be becoming the new Myspace like Myspace became the new Friendster? At what point will I tip and move over? And where do Orkut or Bebo fit in?

Trojan "Evolve" ad. Love it. And because I'll get whined at if I don't, here.

Groove Armada feat. Mutya Buena, "Out of Control (Song for Mutya)." Love it.

Weekly Roundup: The Weekend of Showers Ends

After a bridal shower, a baby shower, and about seven hours driving to and from them this weekend, I come to realize yet again how not girly I really am. (And how little I enjoy bingo.)

So, a whole bunch of links that are by turns geeky, posh and artsy, but not particularly girly. Happy June.

• How Class Works as decided by an interactive chart. If you're superficial enough to care what the Times says what social class you ought to fall into. (Yeah, I was too.)
• The Rockhouse Hotel, Negril. I would really, really, really like to be here. And it's actually phenomenally well-priced, so maybe I will be someday soon.
• The Sushi FAQ. If you, like me, can never remember much past "miso".
  
• MapsKrieg. One of the more fantastic Google mashups: Craigslist housing listings viewed on Google Maps.
• The Members Project. One of the more fantastic corporate citizenship projects.
• BlueQ. A Bluetooth-enabled wristband that vibrates. Not exactly the most necessary thing ever, but kinda neat.
  
• Indian wife catches her husband cheating. Probably fake, but still awfully funny.
• Tamyra Grey is Mimi in Rent. And I don't really. However, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp are back until September. That, I do care about. Anybody want to go for old time's sake?
• The Voco Clock. What a splendid way to wake up. I want the girl version.
• BetterWall. Museum street banners. Much better than tired reprints.
  
• Donate food for shelter animals just by clicking.
• BornRich. "Your ultimate guide to the most expensive things in the world."
  
• AlterNet. Pinko commie liberal news. Love it.
• Photoshop in action. I love this clip that shows what retouching really can do.
  
• Makeup in action. Also interesting.
• Top 10 things I've learned about computers from the movies and "24". Geeky funny, but still kinda funny.