Cool Shizzy

This is really neat! I can totally see getting one of these for my father. He would give his usually reserved-for-the-very-rare-moment, chin-tucked guffaw.

Who wouldn’t want a personalized bobble-head??

Sunshine Clear

Do things ever happen to you that you don’t know how to express even though you could talk it to death? Their outlandish and seemingly obvious nature take a turn for the bizarre, and suddenly, you no longer know where to step you foot.

I had that sort of weekend, and it has prevented me from writing anything here. It was a weekend full of internal and external doubt cloaked in what felt like teenage angst. Insecurities flung to the walls, splattering around me like glaring red paint. Subconscious worries flooding my dreams.

It wasn’t pleasant. There is no need to discuss the specifics, because it is mostly resolved now, but the tension and brain pulsing it created is still hovering just to the left of me. My sense of what is true and trustworthy is a little bit more eroded, and my ideas about how I should be spending my free time in my late twenties is a little bit more defined.

What I consider my friendships are more defined as well. Or at least the truth about them is. The truth about who is there for me, and who is there for them. Who I am there for, and who I should be there for.

Oh the beauty of a little pain to make the world sunshine clear.

The Royal Treatment

Two years ago, I went to San Francisco with Jeff. We had a wonderful time spending the $2400 his company gave him as an award for a job well done. We had to spend it in 4 days or they would keep whatever was left over. A challenge to spend money?? Show me the way! I can spend down to the last dime!

While we were there, someone suggested we check out the Ritz-Carlton’s Sunday brunch. At $75 a person, it was an expense neither of us could imagine for scrambled eggs, but it was our last stop before the airport and we had the money left. So we bit the bullet, and I was so pleasantly suprised. It was extravagant, and elegant, and delicious. I have been dying to experience it again.

Dallas is finally getting a Ritz, and I cannot tell you how excited I am! I drove past it last night and it is being built in a stately, old world manner. It isn’t even finished and it looks like it could have been built at the turn of the century. I don’t think it will be done in time for Mother’s Day, but I think that is what I will be getting my mother anyway. A promise to go to brunch at the Ritz as soon as it is open.

Here is a description of the Sunday Brunch,

Sunday Jazz Brunch, featuring an extensive buffet including a caviar station, made-to-order eggs and omelets, sushi bar, smoked salmon, shrimp, oysters, beef carpaccio, domestic and imported cheeses, fresh fruits and cold salads, accompanied by live jazz performances

And that doesn’t even begin to tell you how great it was. They left off the multiple types of smoked fish (not just salmon), the mimosas, a second hot foods section next the eggs and omelets, and a desert table that would make your sweet tooth swoon.

I will be dreaming of that brunch for the next few months…

Zero to Classy in 60 Seconds

So apparently, I want to go to the Kimbell. Last night I was talking to The Neurologist and he told me he had sent me a link to the currently touring “Drama and Desire” exhibition of Japanese art at the Kimbell. He wants to see it, and asked if I would like to go. Because all Longhorn Neurologists naturally like art! I said I would love to, so we are going to spend Saturday over in Ft. Worth soaking in some culture (after I spend Friday night playing Broomball with my drunken friends…I can go from zero to class in 60 seconds…oh yeah, baby!). First of all, I am thrilled he is interested in things like that. It’s obviously something that is sort of hard to find in a man, but here’s the fun part. I had a dream about going last night! I love that! I am excited enough to go, that my subconscious didn’t want to stop thinking about it when my head hit the pillow!

Here’s to men with culture!

What’s Better Than a Longhorn?

I am seeing someone again…Cause what’s a month in Ty’s life without a new boy…Oh, that’s right, all of 2005 and more than half of 2006…

So anyway, I am seeing someone who hits so much of my criteria for “Perfect Man” that my father is even happy. I decided I needed a change of pace. I needed to look into that OTHER half of my Mewish self. The one that has actually come to have a much greater effect on my belief system. That Jewish half. Here I am, running around town dating good Christian boys, and wondering why we didn’t see eye to eye on our beliefs. Like, ever. Suddenly, the phrase my grandmother had repeated over and over again in the past few years, suddenly rang true “Why don’t you just find yourself a nice Jewish boy??”, her raspy New York accent cutting through the phone lines like a knife.

Where is one to find a nice Jewish boy in Dallas these days? I certainly wasn’t running into them. In fact, I haven’t dated a Jewish guy since college. So, I turned to my trusty sidekick, The Internets, and summoned the powers of Internet Dating to my side. Sure enough, there were a few. A few. A sad sickly number to be sure, but enough that I could quickly see my values lined up in an instant with theirs. So I read profiles and looked at pictures and e-mailed and winked, and struck no gold. Then I got an e-mail from one of the guys I had looked at but not yet e-mailed. The one I had mentally labeled, The Longhorn Neurologist.

We started talking and have now gone on two dates. He is near perfect! The one thing I wish I could change though is his height. He is but 5′8″ and at my oh so lofty 5′6″, in heels, I am taller than him. And I am not used to that. I prefer to gaze upward. My neck has been conditioned to that. But ce la vie, I can get over that. I mean, to date a Jewish, Longhorn, Neurologist, I think I can work on my crazy height rules…Compromise, right? A trade of height for brains, beliefs and adoration. Hmm. I think I might be on the right track.

What Up and Died?

Did I mention I have a dead animal in my home? Well, actually, in my wall? In my guest room. The smell has been slowly creeping up on me. As it has gotten warmer, the smell has gotten worse. At first, I thought it was just the fact that I had moved all of my books into the guest room, moving them from an open space, to an enclosed one. You know, book smell…but then it got stronger. And then last weekend, I turned the fan on in the room and left the doors open while I was in Austin. I came back and my house smelled terrible. I opened windows and turned all the fans on, and the smell dissipated. Monday though, I contacted my janitorial supply company that we use for work, and got a deodorizing bomb. Deodorizing bombs are used by the police when someone dies in a home in the summertime and the body isn’t found for a few days. They set off a bomb so they can work in the house. It smells like sickly cherries. It’s better than the dead smell, but not much.

At this point, my choices are to ride it out and just keep spraying the deodorizing bomb, or to hire someone to find the smell. In “finding” the smell, a professional will probably do some serious damage to my walls and my wallet. I called the city to see if they had any information, and the nice woman I spoke to said that if it has already been three weeks, then if I can stand it, I should wait it out. That it will be dried out soon. So I guess I will be giving it a few more days. It’s a good thing that I won’t be home much this weekend!

Oh the trials and tribulations of home ownership…

The Arthur Adventure

I have written about my friend Tricia a few times before. I met her in first grade, and moved after that school year, but we have remained friends all these years. Now, 21 years after we met, she is pregnant for the first time, with twins!

The story is bitter sweet though, because one of her babies, Duncan, has a heart condition that will require several surgeries before he is even 2 years old. The good news though is that those surgeries will make him a normal little boy. Amidst the tumultuous pregnancy, Tricia’s family is also dealing with her mother’s recovery from cancer. It has been one heck of year for them.

At my urging, Tricia and her husband Scott have started a blog so that friends and family can keep up with everyone’s progress. A few posts in, they seem to be enjoying this new forum for their thoughts, and I thought you all might enjoy their words.

Tricia’s strength has always given me hope and confidence, and I thought perhaps it was time for her to reap some of the love and support the blogosphere can give. So go check out her blog and welcome her to the neighborhood!

 The Arthur Adventure

Austin Trip # 8,257

What a crazy weekend!

I will skim over the actual reason for the weekend, because we all know what happens at bachelorette parties…Naughty opening act (stripper (who in this case happened to have danced for Jessica Simpson…), “Toy” Party, lingerie party, etc.), bride gets completely wasted, bride is done and in bed by 12:30.

In addition to those wonderful things,  we also:

Shopped on The Drag (A stretch of road next to campus that has shops and restaurants for the college set (which I haven’t done except to go the Co-op in years))

Got pedicures which included having a hawaiian flower drawn on my big toe, because apparently, the dancing I did at the Ghostbar a few weeks ago actually bruised my toe and left a lovely black spot under my nail that showed through the nail polish.

And most distinctly, wound up having a yelling fight between two of my friends at 4 in the morning in the hotel room. Which I deftly managed to stay out of by putting the aforementioned ear plugs in my ears and facing the other direction so that my big mouth didn’t decide to get me in the middle of things.

That particular event was not so much fun. I didn’t get to sleep until 7:30 am (with the time change). And at the same time some less than savory things came out about a friend of mine, and it has me worried about her. Actually it has me worried about what might have happened to her in the past. Her behavior is starting to look suspiciously like someone who is acting out over past abuses.

With the exception of Sunday morning, the weekend was as most Austin trips are:  Fun, relaxing and exactly what I needed.

Bring On The Mann Slaw!

mann-slaw.jpg

Preventing The Whine

Tonight I went to the grocery store to prepare for my trip to Austin this weekend. I am going to a bachelorette party and several of us are getting a hotel and heading down there.  To get ready, I needed a few things. After I looked in my cart, I noticed, I am truly a prepared person. To make sure I enjoy my trip, I bought the following:

• A large bottle of Advil (for the inevitable hangover)
• Open-toed Shoe Inserts (which are awesome by the way)
• Blister Preventative (which my marathon running friend swears by)

And possibly the most important addition to any weekend getaway with a group…

• Earplugs (better to sleep with in a crowded room)

What do you think my choices say about me?

The one thing I notice, is all but one of these is a preventative…