(this is all very important)

christmas playlist 2000niz

last christmas- wham (ooooh 80s, you.)

why can't it be christmastime all year- rosie thomas (rosie and i are still best friends.)

happy xmas war is over- sarah mclachlan (john lennon cover)

give love on christmas day- the jackson 5 (isn't he like, four?)

do they know it's christmas- band-aid (a little guilt-inducing)

merry christmas darling- the carpenters (for the lovebirds)

home for the holidays- perry como (super old school. i think a person is 10x cooler if they own a perry como album. for some reason.)

winter wonderland- ella fitzgerald (oh ella you're so MARVELOUS!)

the christmas song- mel torme  (the classiest of versions)

*more to come!

december/friday giddiness

superfluous bits that matter neither here nor there

i am terribly annoyed with the title of one of my favorite shows, so you think you can dance. it is far too many words and i get tired of typing it and saying it. i even find that the universally accepted acronym, sytycd, requires too much brain power for such a trivial aspect of my life. i just had to hold myself back from typing, "watching dance" to rebecca a minute ago. but i typed the whole little bitch out in case rebecca didn't know what that meant.

WHILE i was watching "dance", i ate an entire (cooked) box of kraft macaroni and cheese. i ate it FROM THE POT because i'm home alone and i'm lazy and i figured it would stay warmer that way. the reason i ate mac n' cheese in the first place is because i was too cold to MOVE when i got home and it seemed like the food that required the least amount of movement. even sandwich making seemed like a trip to antarctica.

luke is heading home on his scooter right now. every time he has to scoot in the rain or cold, i'm an internal wreck until he gets home. i begged him to let me pick him up from work, but he continually insists on freezing his balls off... and making me worry about said balls.

speaking of BALLS, luke actually said that if it were between his library of books and one of his balls, he'd lose a ball. his reasoning is that a man only truly needs one, and according to some respected medical websites, there is enough... you know... in one ball to impregnate all the ladies in dallas. not that this is important, as i'm not planning on having any children, but it's still good information, i guess. when you're choosing between books and balls. very necessary, indeed.

how many times did i say balls?

eight.

january jones as grace kelly, passing gas.

how i feel about the pilot light going out.

some house pics!

um, there's a wikipedia list of "people who have mysteriously disappeared". the first person listed is Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (36), the "sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam, who rode his donkey to the Muqattam hills outside Cairo for one of his regular nocturnal meditation outings and failed to return. A search found only the donkey and his bloodstained garments." that happened in the year 1012, btw.



this all started because i googled the word "disappeared" to make sure i was spelling it right. oh, here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_disappeared_mysteriously

i forgot to tell you that i got locked in my closet the other day for 5 minutes. the reason isn't important. i was locked and i couldn't get out and luke wasn't home. finally, miraculously, the door knob turned and i spilled out with a pile of clothes and shoes onto the floor, where my dogs frantically licked my face in relief. the end.

teacher, writer, thrifter

*i posted this on thriftlady, but i added a couple noteworthy thoughts to the end after i pasted it here.

if i was going to sum myself up based upon my interests and what i spend much of my time doing (and my job is included in this list because i happen to have a job that i am passionate about), it would be:

teacher
writer
and thrifter

since this is a blog dedicated to thriftiness, i'm going to focus on that last one for a minute.

as i browsed through some of my favorite haunts on saturday morning, i realized that thrift/consignment/resale (or what have you) shopping is way more than being on the lookout for cool, cheap stuff. it's also about meeting people- like the sweet owners of the new heavenly consignment on garland road. and it's about driving around by myself on a weekend morning totally content with being alone and alive. and it's about discovering the heart and the stories behind special items that would be in a landfill had someone not found them special. and being around things that (if mothballs could only talk) could tell crazy stories about the world in which it was made and used. i'm also big on smells, and some of the shops i frequent are filled with hints of a hundred different houses... the candles that burned, the perfumes that lingered in the air, the smell of 100 year old dust (which is gross if you think about it too long, so let's just not.)

i want my house to tell a hundred different stories of those houses that have stood before mine. i want my decor to be a mix of others' tastes. i want each piece to bring back a memory of a carefree morning i spent roaming around the city when i was twenty something.

.....................

even though i know it will all end up as atomic fragments scattered across whatever becomes of the solar system once the sun burns us up in 5 million years, each associated story having no lasting significance WHATsoever,  i will cherish them while i am here. (this is 3am insomniac kerri, btw.)

and let me also say that the show mad men is pretty much de-mystifying "the old days" [50s-60s] for me. it's probably for the best, because i've always regarded that time period with rose colored glasses. i scream "DICK WAD!" at least three times every episode and find myself wondering what kind of man my grandpa was.

december come to me

be still my heart

according to winston, i need an editor.

and not because i'm not a good writer. he was sure to tell me (in his highly influenced state last night at the friends thanksgiving party) that i'm a great writer. i can, however, get "off topic" and "go on and on" about things. 

i don't really see that :)

but it did get me thinking about how we're only offended by people because we let ourselves be offended. what winston said may have stung a bit more two years ago, but now i'm able to quickly sift through my emotional catalog of what is actually hurtful to me and what is just straightforward banter (that may or may not be true, but it doesn't matter because i have thicker skin these days and can handle a bit of criticism.)  

note: my skin isn't impenetrable, but it's definitely thicker. i think it's a result of my being more secure; more comfortable in my own skin. i just don't dwell on shit as much.  sensitivity is exhausting.

winston still is an asshole, though. ;)

uh oh. typepad has a new feature. when you sign in, there's a facebook-esque newsfeed box (which i am typing inside of right this very second) for "quick updating". the temptation was too great! it is SO EASY to type up a little ditty this way. prediction: i WILL have writer's remorse soon. this "quick updating" thing will surely result in "impulse writing". i don't have twitter for a reason, ya'll.

things are getting pretty nauseating at the new house

pink rose bushes have been planted. a porch swing has been installed. the charming gravel sidewalk is being...re-graveled. we haven't even moved in yet and we've already been asked to join, nay, to LEAD the neighborhood association. there's apparently a post-thanksgiving progressive dinner we've been encouraged to attend. and i heard tell of a progressive porch wine night. (why have my friends not thought of this yet?, i asked myself.)

it's all just so precious that i could throw up. 

i'm really not june cleaver. i have no intentions of birthing children. i don't cook. i don't take care of roses, or any living organisms for that matter. (my dogs only survive because luke is responsible.) i'm too busy WORKING for a living to lead associations. and i'm not sure the older generation of whom this association is comprised would appreciate my use of the f word.

actually, i'm starting to notice that all of these things matter not as long as i decorate with antiques, am a teacher, and smile sweetly.

readership, i beg of you...

help me find this couch.

if you ever see this couch, or one like it, for less than....$600 (i know, but dreams are a wish one's heart makes), please please let me know. 

thank you.

i just wish you knew how far away i am from nonchalance.

-tseluyu

le love

so this morning i finally clicked on leloveimage.blogspot.com and surfed around.

of course i loved it. i'm a girly, sappy, romantic, ridiculous person and of course i'm going to spend an hour reading bob marley love quotes and stories about broken hearts and blissful reunions and scandal and personal torment. and it's probably not even that i really loved it so much as i was chemically drawn to it. like a mosquito to a flame. 

it's the same reason why if i'm ever to wander into a hallmark store (god FORBID this happen again), i'll stand there and read every. last. love card. and probably tear up a little if one really strikes home. it's also why i still own the dawson's creek soundtrack.

girls and love are FUCKING insane.

(watch this space for images and quotes copied and pasted from leloveimage.blogspot.com)

(p.s. thanks hampton)

Clearly...

I need to have a discussion with my students about how we shouldn't hang hobos in hangman (and drop them into the jaws of awaiting sharks). And we should also, as a people, probably go ahead and retire using the title "hangman" for a spelling game. It's just so gruesome.

p.s. re: glee obsession

i love paul so bad for being so emotionally involved with the song "no air" in an old episode of glee that he RACED around the room with total abandonment.

it was also the moment that whitney abandoned herself to the knowledge that paul is fantastic.

kiss me goodbye, i'm defying gravity.

nodules or not, i sing this song very loudly.

i'm also very attracted to this guy.

already saved my new landlord's dog

and am hailed as a hero throughout the neighborhood.

all in a day's work, i guess.

but can we talk about the timing of our upcoming move for a second?

we're moving on december 11th- which is extremely unfortunate considering i can't fully engage in the process of decorating either house for christmas. i mean, i could do some things to the new place for the two weeks that it will matter, but it seems a bit pointless when we don't even have a couch yet.

speaking of... anyone want our olive green tufted couch? the dogs (and my leaky purple grading pen) have pretty much ruined it (and one more thing that jen knows about but that will not be spoken of ever), but it's yours if you want it. ha, don't all jump at once.

in a funk

i think it's the mildew that's infesting the modular building i spend 9 hours of my day inside of. simply cannot shake this weird respiratory thing and am beginning to wonder if i'll ever get my singing voice back. even before the mildew, i was told that unless i change careers (or get a voice amplifier, which would be nerdtastic), i'm in danger of permanent damage. something about nodules and sensitive vocal chords. like julie andrews.

the other option is to stop talking entirely in my personal life.  right.

actually, now that i think about it, my constant need to express every single thought that enters my brain has retired a bit in 'mah late twenties. i've been told i'm much less chatty. which was a necessary evolution considering i experience deep regret over about 50% of what comes out of my mouth.

glee is on. world must stop. goodbye.

dining room libraries

our new place has a huge dining room. it's also the only room that has some wall space without windows. i could FEEL luke's panic as he walked around for the first time. i could hear his inner dialogue with himself, "uuummmm...(next room)...uuummmm (next room)...uuuuMMM (next room). no wall space!? no books!!?? nope. i'm out. kerri is just gonna have to deal with it."

but alas, i already had a solution, for i am inventive and determined and style blog/hgtv savvy.

the dining room library idea is actually as old as the hills. i've just never lived in a place with an actual dining room. in fact, i think i prefer displaying books in the most visible part of the house as opposed to keeping them in a separate room.

oh, and when it was suggested by our landlord that i could just cover up some windows with bookshelves, i laughed in his face.

so here are a few i found by googling "dining room library" :)  i have way too many inspirations. 

and obviously this is my favorite. but i'll just keep dreaming.

 

ha, these are a leeetle more realistic. except i don't like any of these lighting fixtures. replace them with a glass chandeleir in your mind :)

 

this is my other favorite. because i live in the wrong century.

omg we're moving for our DOGS.

sigh...so that they can have a yard with doggy door access. we really are THOSE people, ya'll. i mean, it's not like we've been unaware of this (remember our trip to the indoor dog park?), but the upcoming move is a real clencher.

and it's not like we'll MIND living in an actual (non-duplex!) mint green 1924 bungalow with a porch and a yard and a guest bathroom, but for seriously-- the dogs have us wrapped around their little paws. 

this is it, though. this place is "the one". we won't be moving again for awhile. write that down. no really, i know i can be ridiculously fickle and impulsive. but i really really really mean it. really.

two lukes for halloween

scary thought, right? :)

our conversation in the car was something like this:

"AFRICA!" "BIDEN!" "HOMEBREW!" "TONY JONES!"

i texted that to dale and rhea after they (who were following us) texted: "two luke's in an egg car!"

they responded: "what about the 1988 presidential election?"

we sent back: "FUCKIN DUKAKIS!"

this week's best

alexi murdoch- all my days

(a sweet, sunny, lazy saturday song)

his 2006 album, time without consequence, is a play-all-day kind of album. very light and unobtrusive. many of the songs are featured in the indie film away we go (which i adored). he's on tour in america now and will release towards the sun in a couple months.

garage sale next saturday and i desperately need a maid.

on nov. 7th, my friend lisa and i will be using her perfectly located lakewood yard to get rid of all our crap. let me know if you'd like to join us.

yes, some of my crazy thrift purchases are now considered my "crap". a couple larger decorative crazies are piled in a closet and have never seen the light of day... but such is the potential fate of thrifted pieces, i guess.

i also decided that i need a maid. i'm pretty lazy once i get home from a long day of never sitting down. seriously, i never sit down. and i rarely get home before 7:00 because i'm either tutoring after school, grading and getting shit done in the classroom, or attending board meetings that my principal signed me up for. 

today i forced myself to come to grips with the fact that my organized angel has given in to my cluttered demon. if i had a maid, i would at LEAST have to de-clutter beforehand. and maybe a perfectly clean house would motivate me to keep things picked up?

this is all very unlike me! i'm usually a borderline nazi. what's happening to me?

exhibit a.) clean laundry that never made it into the drawers or the closet.

 

exhibit b.) my closet floor

exhibit c.) hi, welcome to my house! i use suave and lady speed stick and enjoy sour patch kids! oh, and shopping at big lots!

exhibit d.) nope, no room for towels on the towel rack.

exhbit e.) nope, you can't sit down either.

 

glad you stopped by!

eish.