Fact: the first day back to work after a vacation is the worst

Waking up early.  Ironing.  Commuting.  Tackling that inbox.  It can best be described like this:

We just got back from a great long weekend in Philadelphia visiting friends for the 4th of July.  Such a fun weekend, and while it's nice to sleep in my own bed... I was sad returning to work.

Nostalgia/Pretty Things: Carole King's Tapestry

"You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face and show the world all the love in your heart."


Don't you love re-discovering an old record or CD that you haven't listened to in years, and then falling in love with it all over again?  I did it a few months ago with No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom and this week had a similar experience with Carole King's Tapestry.

At work this week I'm helping with a project that involves a lot of mindless data entry, so I've been catching up on podcasts and listening to a lot of music.  And after seeing that scene at the Tony's from the new musical about Carole King I decided to dip back into Tapestry.  My neighbor gave it to me in high school -- in record form, to boot! -- and I don't think I've heard it in about ten years in its entirety, so it was nice to dip back into it.

Ever since, I've been replaying Beautiful nonstop.  Have you rediscovered an album recently?

Pretty things: the neighbor's garden

On my walk to work, I passed this pretty flower.  I would love a garden of them.

Also, did not know this, but apparently it's in the onion family?  A friend of mine told me that when she saw this picture.

Facts: Making a summer list

When we were little, we always had to write a list of fun summer things to do on our summer vacations, and more often than not, we'd successfully do most if not all of them.

The lists were realistic -- no one wrote "Disney World and Space Camp!", for example -- and filled our three months with day trips of ice cream, Maine, mini golf, and fun.  Then we got older and summer jobs got in the way of lists.

This summer, my husband Ricky and I decided to make a summer list.  We made a Christmas season list as well, but the summer list seemed more fun.  Our lists are small, since we both have full time jobs, but still filled with fun weekends and excursions.  They are:

Ricky's List:
1.  Go to Newport, RI
2.  Go to the bird sanctuary
3.  Host a housewarming
4.  Introduce people to the Salem Willows

My list:
1.  Make ice cream
2.  Ride bikes to Marblehead
3.  Go the Kimball's and play mini golf
4.  See Shakespeare in the Common

They may grow but for now these are good starts.  I've already made a lot of ice cream, but my goal is to make a fun summer flavor.  Kimball's is a childhood memory and treat, since my family grew up in Westford, but I want to go back again and enjoy it.

When we check anything off of our list, I'll report back.

Pretty things: Life's like a movie, write your own ending

24 years ago today we lost Jim Henson.  I read his biography over the winter, and at the end of it grew to appreciate him more as a person and and artist by the end of it.  He was a workaholic, but because he loved what he did and wanted to further create and inspire others.  I highly recommend the biography.

I also recommend watching something Jim Henson created today.  And reading his biography.

Pretty things: flowers on my way to work

On my walk to work in the morning last week, I spotted these beautiful tulips.  It was a nice thing to see before heading inside for a long day of work.

Nostalgia: commencement

My job is nearing the end of 9 months of commencement planning.  It's been a very hectic and stressful few weeks of little sleep, lots of work, and even more running around.  It'll go well and be memorable, but right now we're in the crazy phase.

I've been speaking with graduates, and their emotions are all over the map.  Stressed.  Overwhelmed.  Mentally checked out.  Happy.  Relieved.  Joyous.  Blessed.  Accomplished.  Everything.  I've been checking into the hashtag we've set up to share commencement memories, and it's quite happy and moving to see the photos and memories students are sharing.

Eight years ago I was getting ready to commence with the rest of my life.  The whole week leading up to that Friday morning was filled with events for the graduates, from mimosa brunches, to harbor cruises.  Convocations I signed for.  Golf tournaments I avoided.  It was very fun and filled with memories and events.

The night before my commencement, my mom and aunt came out to be at my senior banquet.  I hung out with my roommates afterwards and we cleaned up our living room wall display of food boxes we had collected over the year, ceremoniously posing with our favorite boxes and taking the first box off last.  I remember we had to pay to get the wall repainted and spackled, but it was worth it.

Afterwards, I headed down the hall to hang out with our neighbors.  One friend was infamously trying to hook up with a girl who we later found out had never kissed a guy before, while another was scheming what to do an Admissions sign he had stolen earlier in the year and proudly displayed in his room all year.  It was determined that home plate of the baseball field was the best place to put this sign.  We all hung out and chatted long into the night, the last time we'd be able to do this for awhile since we had to be out of our dorms by 6pm the following day.

The following morning my roommates and I got dressed in our academic robes together.  I remember it felt very surreal and final, that this was the last time we'd be doing this.  We had spent many mornings getting ready for classes, our schedules different, but today we were all together.  One roommate's (thankfully) now ex-boyfriend stopped by at one point as well.  Another one went on a Dunks run with other friends (this was New England, after all).  Then we all headed down the hill to the track house to line up.

I knew a surprising amount of people in my area of lining up, but it was a small school, so this shouldn't be a surprise.  I barely remember the ceremony.  I do remember seeing my academic advisors as I got off the stage.  And then I met up with various family members for the reception and trying to fill all of our cars with my things.

And that's it.

Commencement, for me, is up there with key dates in my life, like my wedding, the first day of my first job, adopting my cat.  It's a surreal week for sure, and I tell all the students I see to soak it up and try to enjoy as much of it as possible.  It's a big day in their lives for sure.

Nostalgia: Did you know that the brothers from The Adventures of Pete & Pete have a podcast?

source:  bigdamngeeks.com

One of my friends posted this a few months ago on Facebook. 

Like many people of my age group, I grew up watching The Adventures of Pete & Pete on Nickelodeon.  I always liked the weirdness and earnestness of the show, all the famous rock musicians that appeared, and that both Petes reminded me of my brother Pete. 

I've always wondered what happened to the actors who played Pete and Pete.  I've seen Big Pete pop up in a commercial here and there, and Little Pete used to appear on other Nickelodeon shows.  Then I didn't have to worry anymore, because a friend shared that they had a new podcast called The Adventures of Danny and Mike.  The Petes are grown up, still friends, and living in New York.  They're now going on adventures around town, talking about their day-to-day lives, and interviewing comedians and musicians. 

I love hearing that they not only landed on their feet, but that they're still friends and had a lot of crazy stories from growing up on a Nickelodeon lot, their early and late 20's adventures, and their regular day-to-day lives.  Sadly this podcast is only once a month, because I'd listen to it on a weekly basis.

If you grew up watching the show, you should definitely check it out.  It's a very nostalgic and funny hour every month.

Facts: What's in a name?

Part of my job is to compile facts about the students who graduate  each year from the school where I work.  It's always interesting to see through the five years what trends in names come and go.  For example, when I first started, so many girls named Emily and Jessica were graduating, but this year it's dropped way off.  I get the impression that some names get too popular, and parents try everything in their power to not name their children that.  But I also know that the person who pulls these stats in 20 years will be up to their elbows in Madisons and Evas.

One thing that's always interesting is that while boy names are usually the same five names, girl names seems more all over the map.  While there are very popular girl names, the pools of each name are far smaller.  The top names don't have 10+ girls, just 3-4.  Boy's names are always the same, it seems.  Michaels, Matthews, Johns.  Very rarely am I changing the list of the top boy names, but girl names shift every year.  I sometimes wonder if parents feel more adventurous with their young daughters, but want a classic name for their young sons.

(typing this, I know there are plenty of Jaydens, Bryces, Chances, and Bacons out there entering kindergarten who will someday be part of my graduation data reports.)

I think one of the reasons why I've always been interested in the names of who graduates from my school because of my name.  I had the #4 most popular girl's name in my year.  When I graduated from high school, of the 68 people in my class... 4 of them had my name.  I knew several girls with my name in college.  Of my office of 15 people, there are two people with my name.  And this year, it's head and shoulders the #1 girl's name of graduates.

I joked with my same named coworker that my mother thought she was being creative because she didn't know anyone with the name of Sarah... and my coworker agreed.  I looked at a chart and it seems to be on the decline from when I was born, but I don't see a year with very few Sarahs graduating any time soon.  It is odd to see the trend names of my generation fade out, though.  There's hardly a Jessica, Emily, Katie, and maybe a single Meghan graduating this year.

Pretty things: special cupcake delivery

My job gets pretty busy and stressful every April.  Lots of long hours, lots of planning and stress.  I was having a particularly bad day and texting my husband that I was feeling down, but as this is a common occurrence I thought nothing of it. 

A few hours later, I came back to my desk to find a special delivery from Sweet on Newbury Street.  He figured I needed a pick-me-up and a sugar rush.  I had a lemon cupcake and shared the rest with my coworkers.  We all appreciated his kindness.

I am a very lucky girl.

Facts: apartments by the numbers

This weekend I am preparing to move.  I wanted to break down living in Salem into the numbers:

4:  apartments I’ve lived in in Salem (including my new one).

3:  roommates I’ve had in Salem (including my husband).

3^rd floor:  furthest up I’ve lived.

0:  times I’ve lived above the first floor since the hell of moving in and out of a 3^rd floor apartment.

2:  pets in apartments.

2:  housewarming parties hosted.

3:  Christmas parties hosted.

1:  times the police have come to my apartment (when a woman on drugs rang on our doorbell at 3am).

1:  times the fire department have come to my apartment (when my husband thought the dying battery warning on the carbon monoxide detector meant we had a carbon monoxide leak at 2am.  It didn’t.  We survived).

2:  Presidential elections I’ve voted in since living in Salem.

7:  Halloweens I’ve either been a part of or tried to avoid in Salem.

3:  Trick-or-Treaters who have visited me at any of these apartments.

2:  rodent situations in my apartments.  The first was a mouse that I walked in on in the middle of dying in the kitchen.  The second was a rat that was wreaking havoc on my apartment.

5:  couches I’ve had (or roommates have had) in apartments.

1:  couches that didn’t fit up my 3^rd floor walk up.

Endless:  memories in all of these apartments.

Nostalgia: The National Geographic theme song

When I first got a cell phone, I always joked that I wanted my ringtone to by the theme to National Geographic specials.  I figured it would make every phone call, no matter who was calling, important and majestic.

Sadly, this wasn't one of the offered ringtones so I instead settled on the theme to Chariots of Fire... for pretty much the same reasons. 

Pretty Things: a wind-up bunny with an eye patch

Today at my part time job, I saw a bunch of very cute wind-up bunnies the owner bought for Easter.  They're insanely cute, both the wind-up toy itself and the packaging.  I decided to get one for my cat, Lewis, as a toy for him to play with.  The one I picked out I realized only had one eye.  It seemed a shame to toss him, as that was inevitably his fate.  I then decided to get creative and make him an eye patch and bring him to work with me to sit on my desk.  Don't worry, Lewis got a two-eyed bunny, too.

This wind-up bunny is essentially a cute Easter-themed version of James Joyce.

photo credit:  James Joyce Project

Pretty Things: googly eyes drain pipe

The other weekend I was walking to get coffee when I saw a drain pipe that someone had put googly eyes on to create a face.  I thought it was very cool, and a friend commented that it looked like a Muppet.

source:  me

Nostalgia: Julie Andrews (originally published on The Appreciator)

To kick things off, this is a post I originally wrote for The Appreciator.  To read more about what some cool people appreciate, visit here.

Ever since I was but a wee thing, there has been a giant place in my heart for the collected works of Julie Andrews. It’s about the same size as the place in my heart for ice cream, muppets, and soft sweaters. This list could also sound like the beginnings of my own version of “My Favorite Things”.

The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins were on heavy rotation when I was a kid. There is video cassette floating around in a basement somewhere of my middle brother and I jumping up and down on the couch with unbridled joy to the song Step In Time. My mom is in the background, fake yelling at us to get off the couch, but in reality I think the cuteness of this moment was too much for parenting.

 I auditioned for my 6th grade play -- Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella -- mainly because Julie Andrews originated the role of Cinderella. In a small moment of injustice, I was not cast as Cinderella, but as the male page who opens the musical with the song “The Prince Is Giving A Ball.” I also opened the show wearing only tights and a long velvet tunic. This made the front page of the local newspaper. Looking back... kind of wish they just went with the leads and not me not wearing pants.

When I first moved into my studio apartment and was trying to make heads or tails of all of my stuff, I decided to listen to a movie in the background. I didn’t have a DVD player, and cable wouldn’t be hooked up for several days. I looked into my stash of VHS cassettes, and decided that all three hours of The Sound of Music would be the perfect thing in the background to sing along to and unpack an entire kitchen. Ricky, my fiance, watched it, and the comforting sweetness of it lulled him to sleep.

 Years later, I found myself in upstate Vermont on a vacation, when we decided to visit the Trapp Family Lodge. This is where the real-life Maria and her family escaped to. It turns out their escape from Europe wasn’t as dramatic as the movie made it out to be. The Von Trapps didn’t trek secretly through the Alps in colorful traveling gear. They were able to safely and rather openly travel to America by boat. No carburetors were stolen by nuns. Despite this, the lodge does feature quite a bit of Sound of Music gear, and I did find myself spinning around on one of their open fields, singing that the hills were alive.

What is it about Julie Andrews that I appreciate? Many of my theatre school friends find her too perky and perfect, to the point of being cloying and annoying. And I am a grown ass person who does realize that Julie Andrews is not in real life Maria Von Trapp or Mary Poppins. She’s probably a pill in real life because she is so happy all the time. When you read the stories of the real Maria Von Trapp or the book version of Mary Poppins, both of these individuals are not very nice and are often portrayed as grumpy and kind of mean to children. Hell, she’s not even Victor or Victoria. But despite all of these factors, I appreciate her the same.

Maybe it’s because of the messages of the movies. Maria Von Trapp fought Nazis and a broken-hearted sea captain, all while never losing hope that things would work out in the end. She was kind, loving towards motherless Austrians, and truly believed in the beauty and goodness of everyone (unless you were a Nazi, then that rule slipped). Mary Poppins brought fun and antics to an otherwise sterile household, where business and suffrage took center stage. With a spoon full of sugar, chalk, and a lot of dancing chimney sweeps she was able to show her employers just how great their kids really were and the importance of taking time to value childhood and to slow down and appreciate the quieter moments.

Perhaps it’s Julie Andrews herself. With her sweet face and beautiful voice, she could make reciting or singing the names of the telephone book something memorable. She’s also British, and let’s be honest... British accents are pretty great. Through the characters she portrayed in her movies, she made everything seem fun and creative. She also made kids feel loved and valued, something important that unfortunately doesn’t always happen.

I’ve often wondered what I’d do if I met Julie Andrews. To be brutally honest, I’d probably cry and clam up. But in my head, I’d tell her this: I’ve always loved her movies, have a lot of her CDs and movies and records, and when I am on long car trips alone, I’ll sing their soundtracks from start to finish to pass the time. I wish I could be more like Maria Von Trapp or Mary Poppins in real life and look for the positive spin in everything. But again... this is all in my head, because I know I’d just clam up and cry, but I know ( or at least hope that) she’d smile in that kind Julie Andrews way and say, “oh don’t be nervous dear,” all while in the back of her head be thinking that I’m a whackadoo. Wait, that’s not true. Julie Andrews would never think things like that. Christopher Plummer absolutely, but never Julie Andrews.

A few years ago, I was going through an incredibly stressful time. I had just moved into my first apartment on my own without roommates, and that same month my company was going through layoffs and I could see the writing on the fall that I wasn’t far behind. I was trying to find a new job and keep ahead of the layoffs. During this time, when I’d be lying in bed in the apartment I would not be able to afford if I was unemployed, and I’d make a list of things I liked. Friends and family. Ice cream. My cat. Hunter boots. Cashmere sweaters. Baby animals. Things that taste like buffalo chicken. So what I’m trying to say is... when I was feeling sad, I’d simply remember my favorite things, and then I didn’t feel so bad.

I'm getting the band back together

Why hello.

Back in the day, when I was a young thing in my early-mid twenties, I used to fancy myself a blogger and blog.  Quite a bit.  About things around my town.  Thoughts.  People who meant a lot to me.  Projects I was accomplishing.  Then, after one snow storm, I stopped completely.

(it wasn't because of the snow storm)

I stopped because I felt like I had lost my mid-twenties voice.  I didn't know what I wanted to say, and felt like I was just adding to the noise the internet can be sometimes.  And it wasn't enjoyable anymore.

I took over a year off.  In that year, I got married.  Worked hard.  Prepared to move.  Guest wrote on other people's blogs, which I always wildly enjoyed. 

One late night, talking with my husband in bed, we were talking about what we wanted to do with our lives.  He wanted to make movies with his best friends.  I wanted to be a professional writer.  So he suggested the name of this blog and that I go back and do it.

So I did.  Here we are again.

I'm going to change my scope to try and focus on those three things:  nostalgia, facts, and pretty things.  Chances are some personal stories will pop in from time to time, but I'm going to try and keep names out of this to keep it on this focus. 

Here we go again.