Last year about this time, this photo was making it's way around the interwebz, on Pinterest and Facebook and Tumblr. The premise was suggesting that you take an empty jar, and write down all the fun/happy/memorable moments of the year and put them in the jar, then take them all out at the end of the year and look back on the events of the year. Being the trend-follower that I am, I also pinned the photo to my arts-and-crafts board and determined that I would follow through with it. But I (like many people) make resolutions every year and (let's be honest) who really follows through with those anyway?? They are always good ideas in theory, but rarely do I seem them come to fruition. I didn't have high hopes for this one.
Lo and behold, I sit here twelve months later, surrounded by all the awesome things that happened to me this year! Somewhat in shock, I might add. It dawned on me earlier this week that the year is almost over, and I actually completed this project.
I've always kept a journal, but since I went to college, my entries got more and more sporadic, and it took me until the end of my senior year (December 2012) to completely fill the journal that Linna gave me on my 16th birthday (in my defense, it WAS enormous). I bought a blank journal, ready to start chronicling the new season of my life in 2013.... and it just never happened. So I have never been more glad that I completed my Mason Jar Journal. At least the best moments of my year were recorded.
Some of the highlights:
Thanks to everyone who helped make this year a fantastic one!
I just... have this beef with everyone who thinks this song is a holiday song. I want to know who decided that it should be played on Christmas radio stations. Whoever it was.... please know that it was a stupid idea.
There is really only one reference to anything remotely related to Christmas: "brown paper packages tied up with string" and seriously, it's a biiiiit of a stretch... Maybe it's mail. WHAT IF IT'S JUST MAIL. Everybody loves getting mail, right? Who doesn't love mail? And that is why it's on a list of Julie Andrews' favorite things.
And then there are the decidedly winter-y phrases: "snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes, silver white winters that melt into spring" "warm woolen mittens" "door bells and sleigh bells."But that's not the point. The theme is not winter here! The theme is "my favorite things." The song also talks about girls in white dresses (most likely worn in the spring) and bees stinging (which they only do in the spring) and raindrops on roses (let's be real... probably spring time) and whiskers on kittens (could be anytime, but they're cutest in the spring).
I just don't understand why it became such a popular Christmas song! It's not like they sing it at Christmas time in the movie. In fact, due to the thunderstorm raging outside and the events of the following "Do Re Me" sequence (frolicking in the meadow, falling in the lake, etc), I'd guess that it's probably summer time. The movie does not have a single Christmas scene in it.
Wikipedia lists at least 34 Christmas albums that feature this song. And that's not even necessarily all of them! It's not a new phenomenon, either. These albums range from as early as Jack Jones' album in 1964 to Barbara Streisand's brand spankin' new 2013 album.
Last night, I heard this horrendous rendition, which is what sparked this soap box:
It's long and drawn out and melancholy (It's a song about favorite things. How can you be sad when you sing it?!). The song starts with some tinkling bells, like something out of The Nutcracker. Then halfway through, all of the sudden the music is grand and sweeping like she's about to go into battle, and everything is so dramatic! It's basically the "Sugar Plum Fairy" meets the Narnia soundtrack. (Sidenote--her hat thing.... futuristic space bathing cap?)
I just don't understand. I will never understand. Please join me in boycotting this song as part of the holiday tradition! I promise to never include it on a Christmas album. I promise to never include it on a Christmas play list. I promise to never play it at holiday parties and family gift exchanges! I promise to restore this song to it's rightful place: far FAR AWAY from Christmas!!
1. My bunny slippers. You haven't lived if you've never hopped around the house in bunny slippers. Also, put them in front of the heater and then they're warm and toasty and twenty times better than they usually are.
2. Dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Whoever made them first was a genius and they have my eternal gratitude. They're even better than regular peanut butter cups.
3. My little 'dumb' phone. Yes, I still have not joined the ranks of the iPhone army, much to the chagrin of almost everyone around me. There are definitely times when it's a pain in the butt and I wish it was a little bit smarter. But my Brave Little Phone has endured so much and comes up swinging every time I drop it, I don't think I could bear to part with it.
4. That this happened:
5. And this:
6. And this:
7. PRiMA theatre. Not only am I doing work that I love, but they're flexible with my schedule and wonderful people to work with! It's been such a blessing to be able to get my "theatre fix" every week, while still being at home.
8. My experience at NTI. Not just incredible people, but an incredible opportunity to hone my craft and learn so much. Plus I met John Krasinski. And Hal Prince. And Paula Vogel. And Hunter and Jeff. And our class got a personal email from Sarah Ruhl while we were working on Eurydice. Just saying. #braggingrights
9. My weekly tv nights with Sara. I didn't grow up watching tv. And I definitely never got to have "tv dinners." But something that started with "Jason's going out tonight, want to come over and hang out?" turned into a weekly time of fellowship and food. That makes it sound so official and pretentious... Basically we eat pizza and watch Project Runway. And Bones.
10. Speaking of Sara.... this little bundle of joy. She's the only baby in my life and I'm loving it.
11. Books. I've always loved to read, but didn't have as much time as I would have liked in high school and college. Now that I'm done with school, I'm discovering that love again, and it's been wonderful.
12. Puzzles. Mom and I do puzzles together over the winter, when we both have more down time. My dad thinks we're crazy. But we love them. And we're crazy about finishing them.
It's that time of year where suddenly people are expressing their gratitude all over Facebook ("One thing I'm thankful for every day until Thanksgiving!!") and various social media outlets. Don't get me wrong, I'm not strictly opposed to the idea. I think it's great when people are verbal about the things that they're thankful for, especially when we so often forget to tell the people in our lives how much they mean to us. But I have to admit, at times it gets a bit generic and boring and insincere when I scroll through my newsfeed and see that every person that day happens to be SO thankful for their amazing friendfamilymembersignificantother who is just so wonderful and means so much to them and they just couldn't live without them, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
I think it made me realize that I don't want it to be that way. I want my friends and loved ones to know ANY time of the year how much I appreciate having them in my life. I don't want them to go one day without knowing that I care about them all SO MUCH and that I wouldn't want to do life without them. I want my family to know every time we see each other that I love them and cherish them, and that I always will.
So I'm starting a Thanksgiving resolution. This year, I will make sure my friends and family know how much I love them, and how blessed I am to know them. I will continue to do so throughout the year. I will not wait for Thanksgiving time to make sure they know that I'm brimming with gratitude. I will make this a part of my regular, day-to-day life! Every day will Thanksgiving... a day to give thanks.
And also, in the next few weeks I'll probably post a list of all the things I'm thankful for aside from my family and friends (things like my bunny slippers and dark chocolate). Because I just like lists.
I love birthdays. I love my birthday, I love my family's birthdays, I love my friends' birthdays.... I love them all. I seriously don't believe there's any reason to hate birthdays. Here are four great reasons why:
1. Ice Cream and Cake. Or even better.... ICE CREAM CAKE!! If you don't like cake, you could have birthday pie, or birthday cupcakes, or birthday cheesecake, or birthday apple crisp, SO many possibilities.
2. Presents. I don't really know anyone who doesn't like presents. Even if the present is something boring like a household item, or something you're going to end up using to help someone else, it still counts as a present. It's still awesome.
3. Wishes. Don't tell me you've never secretly wished for something! I know it may seem silly to still expect birthday wishes to actually come true, but there's still something magical about them. I don't often see shooting stars or remember to look at the clock at 11:11, but I always make a birthday wish when I blow out the candles on my cake. And whether or not it comes true, I'll make one again next year.
4. Celebrating YOU. Even if you hate birthdays because it reminds you of how old or young you are, and you don't want to think about that, your birthday is a great time to just celebrate YOU. Celebrate your life! Celebrate that you are awesome human being who is worth it! Celebrate your quirks and your unique traits! I try to think of other people first on the other 364 days of the year, but on my birthday, I'm going to dish myself a big piece of cake first, because it's my day.
I feel like lots of people make summer reading lists to inspire them to read more (or maybe just to make themselves feel more cultured, who knows). I've always loved reading, so this is the kind of thing that I would do, purely for the fun of it. But summer is my busy season, since Cherry Crest is open all the time, and I generally don't feel like I have time to breathe, let alone read.
So I decided to make a fall reading list! I'm not really sure why I think I'll have more time to read this fall than I did this summer, but for some reason I do. I seem to have a never-ending list of "books I'm going to read" and just decided it was time to actually read them. This list is by no means exhaustive... when I say my list is never-ending, I truly mean that. Some of the books are rereads for me, some are new. Some come on recommendation, some are ones that I picked up at Goodwill, so now I need to read them. Also, some come from this great Buzzfeed article that Amber posted on Facebook (and thus, I was inspired to make my own list).
If you want an eclectic mix of random books to take on this fall, this is it. I know, it's a random collection of canonical literature, children's fantasy books, NYT's best sellers, and some others thrown in for kicks and giggles. If you're wondering whether there's a rhyme or reason.... there isn't. No theme. Just books to read this fall.
BartimaeusTrilogy by Jonathan Stroud
This comes on recommendation from Ashley (who always has good suggestions), a trilogy about a teenage magician named Nathaniel and a five-thousand-year-old djinni named Bartimaeus. I currently only have the second two books that I found at a Goodwill, so I'm on the hunt for the first.
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
I thought this movie was wonderful, so I was quite delighted to find that it was a book first. I know, I know, it's totally for like 4th graders, but the cover just looks so fun! And there are pictures inside, in the margins. So, perfect.
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I remember Carissa telling me and Sarah that we absolutely had to read this book, and I kept thinking that based on the title, it had to be something we would love. Finally saw a copy at Goodwill that I snagged for like 50 cents, so I guess now it's high time to read it.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
I know this seems like an unusual choice for me, but there's pretty good rationale behind it. In my last semester of college, I took a Women in Science class, which had the dullest professor, and ended up being a total drag. But some of the material we covered and some of the topics we talked about were so fascinating to me, especially all the talk about biology and gender perceptions. It could have been a fantastic class, but was ruined by the way the professor ran the class. At any rate, I saw this book on the Buzzfeed list, and then like a week later saw it at Goodwill, so (you guessed it), I bought it.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
With this year's maze theme being "Set Sail, A High Seas Adventure," I've been getting all excited about pirates and buried treasure lately. Sara and Regan and I watched Muppet Treasure Island last month, and then I watched Treasure Planet, and then decided it was finally time for me to read this classic. It's always been "on my list," but I never seemed to get around to it.
Play it as it Lays by Joan Didion
Also on the Buzzfeed list. And it's about an actor, so it caught my attention.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
This one is a reread for me. It's a ghoulish tale of London Below, a nightmare-ish underground city of monsters and creatures. Chilling, but a fabulous read. Because let's be real.... anything by Neil Gaiman is totally worth reading.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I loved Looking for Alaska, so when I saw this on the Buzzfeed list, I decided I should try it. It's a coming-of-age story about a cancer patient named Hazel who makes friends with a boy in her support group.
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
Also a reread for me. I love the way the story is told through the eyes of the 15-year-old mathematical genius Christopher, who also happens to be autistic. Haddon perfectly captures his quirks and oddities in an endearing tale of his search for a murderer.
Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is so awesome, I'm reading TWO of his books this fall. This is his "short" story that just came out this year. I haven't done too much research on the story because I don't want to spoil it for myself, but I know it's a fairy tale of mystery and horror. And that's awesome.
We had a surprise birthday party for Christy this weekend, and when Mom and I started planning, I told her that I wanted to make minion cupcakes. I did some searching on Pinterest, and pinned a few ideas, but nothing really stood out. Most looked pretty pathetic, were really complicated, or used fondant (ain't nobody got time for that). So I decided to do my own thing, and design/make them myself. Because that's more fun. And they turned out great!
So I started with the cupcakes that Mom had made and iced with bright yellow icing. Then I added a black stripe through the middle, using the flat tip on a tube of store-bought icing. No fancy stuff here.... black icing left over from Halloween worked great. :)
I knew the eyes were going to be the hardest part, to get them to look right. At some point in all of this party planning, I had the idea to use white chocolate wafers. So we put some on a cookie tray, and melted them slightly, in the oven. Then, while the wafers were still soft and mushy, we pushed a chocolate chip into the center, upside-down. We had the oven at about 250°, and only let the wafers in for a minute or two. We didn't exactly time it, but watched for when they started to look kind of melty. Also, it was definitely easier to only put a few wafers on the tray at a time, otherwise they hardened up before you could push the chocolate chips in all of them. So many eyes staring at me!
So I put the eyes over the black band of icing, some of the cupcakes with one eye, some with two. Then I used the writing tip on the icing tube to outline around the eye. And they turned out so well!
Then I realized I was running out of black icing, so I decided to do some minion-esque designs. I just used some blue icing to draw a little pocket, like the ones on the front of the minion overalls, and drew a black 'G' over top.
Really, they turned out great! And were the hit of the party. Because everyone loves cupcakes, and everyone loves minions, so there's basically nothing better than minion cupcakes. Christy was a big fan. :)
1.Julie Andrews. Practically perfect in every way. She could be all eleven reasons why, and this list would still be completely valid. Andrews accepted the role of Mary Poppins after she was passed over for the movie role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (in favor of Audrey Hepburn). She went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mary Poppins AND beat Hepburn out for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Let's be real. This movie would not truly be Mary Poppins if it wasn't for Julie Andrews.
2. Nannies go flying. Like witches, except not. I always thought this scene was hilarious, because they just all go flying up in the air. Some of them are even grasping at the fence posts, trying to stay on the ground. And then the maid opens the door to tell them all to go home, and the street is just completely empty.
3. Mary Poppins blows in on the wind. I can't tell you how badly I want to be able to fly on the wind with an umbrella. Every time there's a big wind storm at Cherry Crest, I'm tempted to jump off the bridge with one of the big Pepsi umbrellas, because I'm pretty sure I'll go flying through the air like a proper British nanny. So if you ever see someone doing that, it's probably me.
4.That infamous tea party scene. I've always been fascinated by it. As a kid, I KNEW it was movie magic, but I could never figure out exactly how they did it. I think that was part of the charm, that I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I won't spoil anything for anyone, but I did some research, so if you're curious, here's a great video that explains some of the magic.
5. "I Love to Laugh." While I'm on that scene.... I just can't deal. Bert does all those different laughs, and they're so accurate, it's hysterical! Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke are both amazing on their own terms, but the two of them together are almost too much brilliance to handle. Their back-and-forth banter is wonderful.
6. 13 Oscar nominations, 5 wins at the 37th Annual Academy Awards. Best Actress (Julie Andrews), Best Original Song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee"), Best Substantially Original Score, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects. That's the most of any Disney movie, ever. Boom, y'all.
7. Nursery clean-up was never so much fun. Even though I can't actually clean up a room by magic, I just pretend that I can. It makes it go much faster.
8. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Does anything else need to be said about this awesome word and accompanying song? Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious. It even sounds awesome backwards (around 1:52).
9. Dick Van Dyke. Not only does he lead the way as the delightful chimney sweep and jack-of-all-trades, Bert, but he also stars as the elderly bank owner, Mr. Dawes, Sr. He is so utterly convincing that I genuinely forget that he's the one who plays the old man, every single time. Also, his tap dancing is superb. I mean, I don't know that much about dancing, but it looks pretty awesome to me.
10. The chalk drawings. When they melt, it's sad and beautiful and haunting, all at the same time.
11. The family dynamics and lessons learned. It may be cliche, but the story as a whole is quite touching, with the change that George Banks goes through. At the beginning, he's a strict and regimented workaholic father, who doesn't pay any mind to his children. By the end, Mary Poppins has taught him that "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is the word to say when you don't know what to say and that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and he goes off to fly a kite with his kids and his wife. I love a happy ending. *tears*
And a bonus reason:
I'm sitting here watching the movie, and listening to Julie Andrews "Stay awake" is having the same effect on me as it is having on Jane and Michael.... I'm falling asleep just lying here.
One of the timeless movie classics from the end of the Golden Age of movie musicals, Mary Poppins is worth watching at any time, by anyone. And for those of you who now have a strong desire to watch the movie right away, you can stream it here. You're welcome.
I have to admit, I came onto the Boy Meets World scene a little late. Like 15 years late, give or take. My best friend Star introduced me to the show... I think it all started with a conversation that went something like this:
Star: Liesl, you're like the Cory to my Shawn.
Me: .......Who's Cory?
Star *picks herself up off the floor after dropping over in shock and horror*
Needless to say, she decided to fix that problem real quickly, so we spent the rest of the semester watching all the episodes of seasons 1-4, in order. She was right by the way.... I'm totally the Cory to her Shawn.
Anyway, I never made it to the 5th and 6th seasons, since she didn't have them on DVD, and I hadn't yet discovered the beauty of streaming tv shows on the internet (I swear, I didn't ACTUALLY live under a rock for most of my life. Only part of it). Recently, my younger sister borrowed the first season from one of her friends, and we got hooked on the show again.
And I've discovered something. Topanga Lawrence is seriously one of my favorite tv characters of all time. She's just awesome. And here's why.
1. She calls her parents Jedediah and Chloe. At their suggestion.
2. In season 1, she does this interpretive dance to a poem she wrote, called "Donut in the Sky." It's about the sun and the environment, and she makes Cory read it while she does a dance. Observe:
3. When Cory is sick, she brings him tea to "help him cleanse his aura." It's like the Topanga version of chicken noodle soup.
6. "I do my thing and you do your thing. You are you and I am I. And if in the end we end up together, it's beautiful."
7. When Cory asks how she's doing, she replies, "Well, Mercury is in retrograde, making projects difficult to complete and causing general chaos in the universe."
8. She goes just a liiiiittle bit crazy that one time that she eats ONE meatball. One.
9. She lets Cory call her "Topey." Like Dopey, but with a T.
10. "How do you 'accidentally' kiss someone?! Did she slip and your lips broke her fall??"
11. In the back in time episode, she's a 50s rebel chick, and when Cory mentions how tall her hair is, she says, "Look buddy, if I see an air-o-plane, I'll duck, alright?" [you've gotta say it in the accent so it sounds right]
12. And her name is Topanga. Coming from someone with a more unusual name, this one really just spoke to me. I would totally name my kid after her. But also this happens in a later episode:
I'm quite sure there are so many other reasons why Topanga is awesome, so feel free to tell me in the comments!
