a few of my favorite things...

i don't really have a desire to spout verse about raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens. and bright copper kettles certainly don't get my water boiling...pun! but, in the middle of this whole reconnection with the world process, i thought i'd brainstorm a little more and share some of MY favorite (not Maria's) things with the world, or just with you:
1. rainy days. depending on what i'm doing, i prefer the rain over the sun.
2. wasl (if you haven't tried it, you haven't lived).
3. pedicures (there's just something about someone yelling at me in broken english,"lady, pick yo' color!")
4. hiking to beautiful places.
5. diners (my secret life goal is to become fluent in "diner speak")
6. people with lazy eyes.
7. state fairs. and the food. oh, the food!
8. compilations of short stories.
9. witty ads.
10. cats. don't judge.
11. the paper supply aisle during back to school season. be still my heart!
12. getting inspiration in the shower. usually for advertising.
13. cary grant movies.
14. going to sleep in a sleeping bag.
15. nanaimo bars. they speak to my soul.
16. yiddish phrases.
17. leather sectionals. don't ask, i'm not even from idaho!
18. gelato.
19. writing in my journal. outside. in a cafe. in paris. watching other people.
20. clean-smelling vintage stores.
21. cupcakes.
22. peonies.
23. international soccer.
24. harry potter anything.
25. waterfalls.
26. ikea.
27. costco sample saturdays.
28. road trips.
29. 80s/90s nostalgic films.
30. power ballads.
Thirty's enough for now. I'm surprised that you've lasted this long reading...

re-branding

sometimes your life is in need of a little "rebrand." i should know all about this--i rebrand jewlery stores, scholarship office images and famous talking bears all day long. since being home, i really haven't done anything physically drastic to myself, like most returned sisters do. no major weightloss or weight gain (thank Heavens!!), no new hair color, eye color, no tanning, plumping, nipping or tucking. but i feel like i could improve my outward image a bit. i'm caught right now in that limbo (still) of trying to figure out who exactly i am, post-mission. you get so used to following the schedule and trying your best to do everything right that you forget what you used to fill your down time with. i actually really hate down time now, and i'm grateful i don't have a lot of it, but on the weekends and weekdays when i don't have to constantly think about re-branding the stores, offices and talking bears, it would be nice to connect with what i used to love to do, becuase THAT will be the first key in re-branding the outer me. what do i like to do anyways? i am majoring in advertising and creative writing, and i do love to wield a pen. simply adore it. but all great writers are always great readers too, and i do love to read. i wouldn't consider myself extremely WELL read, but i'm getting there. as an aspiring great writer and reader, i need to figure out what styles i really like and could possibly emulate in some small way in the hopes of discovering my own written voice in the world. something i have discovered upon being back, though, is that flannery o'connor speaks to my soul, and nathaniel hawthorne does not. and occassionally, and very surprisingly, i will stumble accross something by melville (of all people) that my heart will simply answer back to. i have always loved short stories, sometimes an un-riveting novel can really try my attention span. what else...oh yes: i hate throwing parties. love to be in attendance, but hate throwing the darn things! i guess i always have known this and i've always blamed it on my un-love for cooking (which is also changing) and now i realize that the social anxiety of it all is too much for this little city girl's heart to handle. i hate watching tv unless it is a show i'm invested in, you've always got to have a few, currently my top picks are:
1. so you think you can dance
2. say yes to the dress
3. history detectives
that's about all i have time for. i have rediscovered how much i LOVE going to the theatre though. whether it's a movie, play, concert, symphony, ballet...love 'em. ambiance is huge in my book. speaking of which: restaurants. only with good friends and dates you're not worried about impressing. when you're with someone new and slightly intimidating, the journey from dinner plate to mouth, via fork, can seem endless (and slightly rocky in my case). teaching and reading the Scriptures are also newly discovered loves. well, i've always read the scriptures, but now after i've bruised and blistered my knuckles on just about every door in cleveland because of them, i truly do love the educational and cathartic effects of an hour or so in their presence. luckily i get to explore both of these loves together as i am a relief society teacher in my ward. there really are so many incredible possibilities of ways that you can spend your days. now that my days are really endless p-days, what i fill them with seems almost an overwhelming and daunting task. what will i do with all of this time and opportunity? well, currently, a 2-pager on antigone is calling my name...

catch up

Some days are the days when you find yourself standing in front of your bathroom mirror, ironing your blouse with your hair straightener and your toothbrush hanging out the corner of your mouth with toothpaste dribbling down your chin. You have 5 minutes to spare--that's when he's coming. Who, you may ask? The guy you met in the library approximately 45 minutes ago and agreed to a last-minute class-required play-attendance date for this evening, in 4 minutes, 48 seconds. You suddenly catch the falling dribble of Crest from your chin, hurriedly grab your towel while knocking over your hairspray (waiting for it's inevitable mobilization) and you stop. Think: 'How in the world did I get here? Who am I meeting? And why?!' Today was one of those days. You will find yourself here one day, wondering how one agreement led to another: one moment you're reading "A Doll House" and trying to interpret the revolutionary Victorian melodrama of Ibsen, and the next you're booking it down the hill, jaywalking, really, home just as fast as Mr. Franco Sarto can carry you. You plan on showering and doing a full blowout in record time to meet some unknown for a date, for who knows why, and now we're back to the ironing-the-blouse-with-a-straightener scene, and the dribble seems more awe-originated. You will find yourself in this position one day. One day when a series of events makes absolutely no sense at all, and you ask your self how you got to "point D." I've been there before, many times. It's thrilling in it's own right, don't get me wrong, but those moments reaffirm even more strongly that life is VERY interesting. Especially now that things in the love department have spun completely out of control and so far from what I would've imagined. Ever. Stay tuned...