Prepping for New Moon......

Yeah, I realize that New Moon poster image is a bit large, but the built up to the movie warrants the enormity of the image. Am I right ladies? Last week some girlfriends and I got together to rewatch Twilight, drink wine, and talk unabashedly about the hotness of Edward Cullen. We needed to reacquaint ourselves with Twilight to prepare ourselves for the release of New Moon, just a few short days away at that point.

I had seen this bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon at World Market a few weeks prior, and bought it as sort of a joke for the Twilight recap night. It actually turned out to be quite good! Made by Vampire Vineyards out of Paso Robles, California. I ended up buying another bottle a few days later, just as good the second time around.

Oh Edward and Bella, your love is so tortured and forbidden. I decided to bust out my werewolf hat, despite the fact that I'm totally Team Edward. I mean, Jacob Black is cool and all, but he is definitely no Edward Cullen. I mean, come on, Edward is immortal. Sure, a werewolf is a mythical creature, but not nearly as badass as a vampire.

As you can tell from this shot of the girls, Cyn may just want to slit her wrists at this point. Check out her body language, it oozes annoyance and boredom. Ashley looks completely enthralled, captivated even! Heather has seen the movie a few times, so I think she's just excited to have little Pip nuzzling up against her side.

And the actual New Moon movie? Loved. It. Loved it more than Twilight, which doesn't take much. I really liked the Twilight book, but felt the movie was so-so. New Moon? So much better. Better acting, better cinematography, better story development, better everything. I want to see it again! And reread Twilight and New Moon.

Anyone else see the movie? Comments?

I am thankful for......

......so many things........

-My awesome family! I would argue that I have the best parents a girl could ask for......loving, supportive, generous, understanding.... I feel pretty damn lucky that the stork dropped me off at Ken and Marg's house 32 years ago. I can't imagine what my life would be like without them. Not to mention my kick ass sis and bro-in-law. One of my favorite moments from Thanksgiving day this year? A quiet moment alone with my sister, laying on her bed, chit-chatting while other family members talked in the other room.
-My awesome friends! My laugh lines and crows feet thank them very much! Friends from grade school, friends from undergrad, friends from grad school.....I couldn't ask for a more solid group of friends.
-Frank and Milo. I really couldn't ask for two more lovable characters. I've had Frank for about 6 or more years now and I can't imagine my life without that little puff of mostly black fur. And Milo? It's only been a month since he entered my life, but I am a lucky girl to have him around. Like I've said more times than I can remember, he's a dear, sweet boy. Even if he gets so excited sometimes that he squeaks out a turd in the house.
-My health. Well, that is in question at the moment seeing that I have a sinus infection and laryngitis:) But other than the occasional ailment, I'm a pretty healthy girl. I think about how other people live with serious illness, and I feel very thankful my only major malfunction is a lazy thyroid.
-Netflix. (Obviously, this is where my "thankful" list goes superficial)..... Yes, Netflix. I thought I was going to cancel it because I ended up having the two same movies at my house for over 4 months, which is a total waste of money. Then I switched up my queue and now I'm all about getting television shows on DVD. I'm currently working on getting through How I Met Your Mother. My new favorite show. Neil Patrick Harris totally makes that show for me....SUIT UP!
-Starbucks Mocha Frappucinos. You know the kind you buy in the glass bottle from the grocery store. These are my guilty pleasure. Almost daily I have one. Less expensive that a mocha from the coffee shop, but just as satisfying.
-Alexander Fleming. He discovered penicillin. You think I'm kidding? Not even close. I've had strep throat and sinusitis enough times to know that without the invention of penicillin, I'd surely be pushing up daisies.
-Sonic Boom Records. See previous fist full o' music posts.
-Sunshine on a cold, crisp day. My favorite kind of Northwest weather. A welcome change from the gray skies with pelting rain we've had the last few weeks. I was about ready to build an ark and start rounding up the animals in pairs.
-Pearl Jam. Bringing me joy since 1992. Wait, let me make a slogan out of it..... Pearl Jam: Gettin' Me Through Since '92. Put that on your bumpersticker and smoke it.
-Seattle. I love you. Still working on my love letter to you. It's quite long, wordy, and sometimes just a bunch of bull $hit, but I know you appreciate it.

These are the things I know.......

.......about Milo, so far.......
1. He is incredibley motivated by food. He could eat his dinner 10 times and still be wagging his tail for more. Sometimes when I'm eating dinner and I'm almost finished he'll whine for my last few bites.
2. He scratches his front paw on the door when he wants to go outside, or come back inside. Its quite cute actually.
3. He DOES NOT like to have his eye goobers cleaned off his face by anyone other than himself. I tried wiping them away with a warm, damp paper towel and he ran away, fast as lightening!
4. He REALLY wants to know what lives at the end of our street, but I like walking the other direction.....someday you'll find out Milo, don't worry.
5. He would love to sleep on the bed, but that is Frank's territory, not going to happen. He settles for next to my bed on his own little dog sized bed.
6. I think he really likes kids, or is just super curious about small people. Yesterday on our walk we saw a toddler walking down the street with his parent and Milo started wagging his tail super fast. Milo kept staring and wagging until the toddler turned the corner and was out of sight.
7. The couch also serves as his giant dog bed. See picture above:)
8. All he wants is love and attention. And I feel pretty lucky that I'm able to give that to him.
9. He has a long, strange, nipple-like skin tag on his chest. It kinda grosses me out sometimes when I'm rubbing his belly and I touch the tag. What if one of my rings catches on that thing? Ewww. I still love him, tag and all.
10. After climbing the stairs he gets super winded. Like 75-yr-old-man-heart-attack-gasping-for-breath-type winded. I guess I would feel the same way if I was trying to climb stairs with three inch legs.

More to come as things unfold.......

New Music

Lord, I have one exact GRIP of music I'm trying to get through listening to. Over the past month or so I have acquired quite the ass load of new music. My most recent trip to Sonic Boom birthed the following:

Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3. Awesome album. I've never actually purchased a Jay-Z album, although I like his music. The Blueprint 3 has been on car ride repeat the last few days. Favorite tracks so far? Run This Town, Empire State Of Mind, On To The Next One, Off That, and Young Forever. He samples Alphaville in Young Forever, good stuff.
Tegan & Sara: Sainthood. I've loved these ladies ever since I heard their album "So Jealous" from 2007. Since that point I have invested in their entire catalogue with no regrets. I have yet to dive in to this album, but just from listening to the first few tracks, I have no doubt it is going to be a favorite.

Have you checked out U.S.E? I fell in love with them when I saw them live in 2004 or 2005, then their self-titled album came out in 2005 and it was game over from then on. Their live show rocks, it is like going to a party where EVERYONE is excited to be there. High energy, lots of dancing, awesome. I'm totally looking forward to checking this new one out, although I was sorta disappointed because the first track on the album is kind of a slower one, I was hoping for energy right out of the gate!! I'm maintaining a positive attitude about Loveworld though, despite the fact that their debut album is going to be hard to beat.

Devendra Banhart: What Will We Be. I first fell in love with Devendra Banhart after I heard his song "At The Hop" in a commercial for Fat Tire beer a number of years ago. He is one performer that I can not wait to see live. I've had "What Will We Be" on repeat in the house all day today, and so far? Loving it. Definitely slow and folky, so if you're not in to that kind of sound, Devendra isn't for you.

Some other albums I've bought in the last month or two:
Volcano Choir: Unmap
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Built to Spill: There Is No Enemy
Run Rabbit Run: Osso performs Sufjan Stevens
Explosions in the Sky: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Lou Barlow: Goodnight Unknown
Where The Wild Things Are: Soundtrack

Albums I'm borrowing from Casey & Kim:
Vampire Weekend: Self-Titled
Fruit Bats: The Ruminant Band
The Pica Beats: Beating Back The Claws of the Cold
The Maldives: Listen to the Thunder
Phosphorescent: For Willie

Recent iTunes downloads:
I've been on a huge Tom Petty kick after watching the documentary, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down A Dream. If you have 4 & 1/2 hours to spare, I highly recommend it. Anyway, I've downloaded a few Tom Petty songs: I Won't Back Down, Yer So Bad, You Don't Know How It Feels, and The Waiting.
Britney Spears: 3 (guilty as charged)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack
Madcon: Beggin' (download this song immediately, it is THE SHIZ!!)

Any other music I need to check out??

Happy Halloween!!! OH YEAH!!!!!

Halloween 2009 turned out to be the best Halloween of the past few years. We dressed up, we gathered, we had a great time. The only downer of the whole night was that Nic and Heather were not in attendance. Maybe next year!

So, my costume this year did not end up being any of my previous ideas.....no Angus Young, no Coraline, no Yeti.......but it did turn out to be just as awesome, if I do say so myself. I was the Kool-Aid man. Luckily, I was on vacation the entire week leading up to Halloween, so I actually had time to come up with something that didn't suck. I've been known to pull some pretty weak costumes together when under pressure. I bought a large picture frame box from the U-Haul store to make the front and back of the costume, and I used a medium sized moving box as a frame to support the costume. Throw in some black elastic suspenders, some red and black craft paint, and you've got yourself a homemade Kool-Aid man costume. What I didn't realize when making the costume is that bending over in the costume would be an impossibility, as would sitting. Regardless, I still had massive amounts of fun yelling "OH YEEAAAHHH!!!" for most of the evening.
Kyle had his 1st Annual Halloween Party at his new digs. Lots of food, drink, beer pong, and karaoke led to an awesome evening. Although Casey and I both compared stories last night and apparently we both woke up at around 3 am feeling like we were going to heave even though we didn't drink that much. I blame all the different kinds of food. At this age, you can't really expect mixing bacon-maple dip, donut holes, brisket, and riot punch is going to end up going smoothly. Ugh, my stomach still aches. Check out Kim and Casey's awesome costumes below. Casey won "Most Creative Costume", he sewed his very own Max costume from Where The Wild Things Are. Kim also represented the a character with her kick-ass Carol costume. Look out Project Runway, Casey's costume was a fierce! Can't wait to see what he has up his seamster sleeves next year.

Kyle's costume was all about perversion. His name was Stanley Mooncastle, and he carried around an issue of Tigerbeat magazine in his back pocket. Watch out all you underage kiddos..... He also could have moonlighted as a character in the Beastie Boy's "Sabotage" video. Cyn went as an evil Catholic school girl. Little piggy tails and devil horns never looked so sweet:)

A few Halloweens ago, Nic and Heather's Halloween costumes were highschool Jon and Ashley. Does that make sense? Let me explain again. Nic dressed up as highschool Jon, and Heather dressed up as highschool Ashley. So this year, Jon and Ashley decided to dress as their highschool selves, it was pretty funny. They both wore actual clothes they wore in highschool. Pretty impressive, I don't think I could squeeze into my highschool clothes if I tried. Single tear......

Oh gawd....Kyle's costume was just dirty. But in the best kind of way.

Thanks for throwing an awesome party, Kyle and Cynthia! Can't wait for Halloween 2010!!!