what our house looks like this week.

i hate the cat. i love lizzie, but she drains the energy right out of me. honestly, i've never worked so hard. right now she's "asking" me "could you get me another cookie?" and now "i told you, get me another cookie". the girl doesn't quit.

we've gone to museums, to the zoo, made cookies, played with her dolls, read books, walked around the neighborhood, pizza and milkshakes, playground, legos, etc. and she still has so much energy. the old lady in me just wants to sit around all day, so i'm glad she's here to force me out of the house.

back to the cat. the cat is up in my face 24-7, requiring my attention, and i guess i'm just not a cat person. lizzie, every time she sees the cat, cuddles up to him and says "ohhhh baaaaabe". it's hilarious. the cat likes to hide out in lizzie's little fort and if you walk by it, you WILL get scratched or bitten and then I get a little upset.

needless to say, i'm having fun, but rest assured that i'm not having children anytime soon and i'm never ever having a cat. i've always been a dog person anyway.

ok, gotta run to get lizzie a cookie.

the ring cycle.

do you have any interest whatsoever in the following?
1. opera
2. norse myths, influenced by greek tragedy
3. lord of the rings
4. public radio
5. getting the chills

then please please PLEASE, listen to this podcast. i've now added "see the ring cycle" to my list of things to do before i die. amazing.

i am home!

hello people of the blog. i wish i had kept a journal in atlanta because i really feel like a lived a thousand lives. 6 days is a long time to be gone, and a long time to be working 15 hours every day.

highlights from the trip:
1. the atlanta aquarium: home to whale sharks and the largest saltwater aquarium in the WORLD. and the coolest jellys that make an awesome wallpaper on my iphone.

2. apple cider: i swear it was a little spiked, because then this happened:3. the day i discovered baja fresh was right around the corner from our hotel
4. downloading netflix to my iphone
5. my 2nd trip to the atlanta aquarium
yeah i really liked the aquarium, and if you ever go to atlanta, you should drop everything and GO.

and now just finishing up this day and then i have a week off from work. and i get to hang out with this little munchkin while her parents skip town for a bit. we have so many fun things planned for our 4 days together! she called me last week to ask if we could sing her favorite song together and left a voicemail with her singing. my ovaries exploded and i melted into a puddle of motherly desire.

short weekend.

hotlanta, here i come.

heading to atlanta for a conference. its one of our big ones, and i'm excited to see all my work friends. while i'm down there, hoping to check out the coca cola factory, the aquarium, and the dali exhibition at the high museum of art.

if i'm still alive at the end of next week, please send me a good pat on the back for making it through. these meetings are always pure crazy.

on procrastination.

it's getting worse, my procrastination.

i used to push things off for a week or so, maybe a month, but with my hectic schedule and newly married life, i have failed in so many departments. and i think i can chalk it up to some major procrastination.

we have been in our apartment for 9 months. it never really reached its potential because i am much more indecisive about decorating than i thought i'd be. so it just doesn't get done and i sit around every night wondering what i should do about it.
result: our lease is almost up and i think we'll be moving in february, so now there's not really a point in decorating and buying the perfect ottoman.

which is why i'm terribly happy that christmas is coming so i can just decorate our place with christmasy things until we move. problem solved.

the only picture i took in nyc last weekend.

on the way home from queens, where abby and travis had their reception (at the gorgeous metropolitan building), we saw this picture in the long island city subway. omgah i just laughed and marveled at the humor and brazen boldness of other people like me. they are just like me, except they have the genius idea to draw moustache on a poster that will make people smile for a few weeks.

i'm glad for people like that who improve our public spaces with art, or humor, or life. whatever it might be. it makes me so very happy to feel connected in a strange way to other humans.

Jónsi.

Yes, he is wearing a feather cape and full head dress. Yes I want to wear this every day.
*via dcist*

We went to see Jónsi on Monday at the 9:30 club. Jónsi is the genius behind Sigur Ros, and has now branched out on his own to continue along the same route as the Icelandic band, Sigur Ros. Amazing theatrical and extremely emotive masterpiece. I've been putting this post off for the last couple of days because I'm still processing what I experienced.

Jónsi has the ability to channel your emotions and bring an entire room of people to tears and silence of the "hearing a pin drop" type. Plus, he is perfect for our generation of ADD music listeners. You see, I get bored at most concerts and so I must be carefully entertained by the artist. Jonsi holds your hand with his haunting melodies and pairs it with moving animation in the background.

Like this song, where he had a storm raging on the screen behind him that kept building and building through the song until it was a full blown tornado with branches blowing all around on the screen, with crazy flashing lights that seemed like lightning. And it WORKED. I didn't even know the song was called tornado, but I found myself feeling really sad and broken for people who experience devastation from natural weather events. Does that even make sense?:

I love Jonsi. He makes me want to wear an Indian head dress as a fashion statement, which is really saying something for his convincing powers.

new shoes!

i went on a shoe rampage last night. added 3 more pairs of shoes to the pair i bought on saturday. i am in LOVE with these. for a recovering shoe addict, i've been really well behaved for the past year or two. not a lot of shoes i wanted to spend money on or take the time to break in.
well, i don't know what got into me last night, but i purchased 2 new pair of flats and a some black boots. my favorite are the kate spade knockoffs that i will wear EVERYWHERE in the next couple of months. just wait.

fail.

i typically like to focus on the positive things in life, but let's talk about something that i hate for one sec.

the budget.

we created a budget - no scratch that - I created a budget that we started on November 1st. It was fine and great and everything was going swell. Then TH decided he needed to improve it by adding subcategories and sub-subcategories, and well that was all fine and everything until he spent EIGHT ever-loving hours on his laptop all day sunday working on the new budget.

so i am mad at the budget. the budget and i are not on speaking terms right now. it took my husband away from me on one of our only Sundays at home in a long time. so guess what i did in retaliation? i went out and blew all of our food category on cheese, canned pumpkin, icelandic butter, and a fall-inspired wreath. HA! teach you to mess with me, budget.

...and if you think it's a problem that all i have to eat is cheese, pumpkin, and butter, then we should probably get to know each other better.*

*yes, this means i am OFF the cleanse. hello again sugar! i missed you.

this is the new face around our house.

kristin wiig cracks me up. we like to get in pretend fights just so we can make this face at each other. and i told TH the other day the next time I find something he says or does unfair, i am protesting. I will inflate a giant rat, bang on pots and pans, and march around the living room.

we have really exciting lives. haha.

new york, new york.

i have a huge nyc shaped hole in my heart.

i will probably never stop missing it, with its beautiful neighborhoods*, its ridiculous food**, its bagels spilling out of every bakery, its pizza making schools...its cobblestoned...wait - did i just PIZZA MAKING SCHOOL?

yes.

Pizza a Casa. For $150 bucks you can spend 4 hours with the pizza expert, learning how to make the best dough, working with a regular oven to get the best crust, tomato sauce, etc. I cannot think of a better way to spend 4 hours, unless maybe we're talking about eating cinnamon rolls while shopping. cause i like that too, quite a bit.

Who wants to make pizza!?



*our hotel was so beautiful!:
the andaz in wall street. priceline for $120!!

**this trips new york eats:
kossars
the doughnut plant
baked by melissa
lowcountry
wall and water
best pizza near penn station - arome

hello new york!!

taking the bolt bus to nyc early friday morning. i'm THRILLED to be coming back to the city i love so dear.

on eating.

last night i made a stir fry with so many vegetables, i almost cried of happiness. and then i put it next to some millet that was so mushy i almost cried of sadness. oh, you diabolical grain, i WILL figure you out.

and you too, lentils.i'm on day 11 of the cleanse. i haven't broken any rules yet, but haven't been super diligent in drinking all the vegetable juice and eating of the sauerkraut. it's hard, people, but with some planning i'm learning how my body likes to be fed, and that feels pretty good.

willpower is the name of this game and i'm just proud of myself for getting almost halfway through this. and i'm learning it's not about cleansing, necessarily - this is also teaching me how to cook new things, how to eat healthy, and how to be creative with food. it's tough sometimes to find time to cook and teach yourself the hard things, like how to make good beans, how to make a soup, how to steam Kale just perfectly.

so, i'm heading to NYC this weekend for a wedding, and I might have to cheat the cleanse a little. shhh...don't tell. but you try to go to NYC and not eat a bagel or a sweet.

my favorite thing about today.

Lizzie's story, from my sisters blog (private). Lizzie is my 3-year old niece, who I get to babysit later this month while my sister is on vacation. and by babysit, i mean hang out with and have a super fun time with a girl who's idea of a good time is painting your nails and eating cookies. Hello!

Guess What

Setting: Lizzie and I are playing Guess Who.

Lizzie: Are you wearing earrings?
Me: No, Lizzie, ask something like "Are you a woman?"
Lizzie: Are you a woman?
Me: No. Are you a man?
Lizzie: ARRRGHHH!!!!
Me: What??
Lizzie: Which ones are the womans? The boys or the girls!?

do you like my hat, shannon?

this is from the rally last saturday. hannah did a good recap on her blog, but i noticed that there is something a little funny about this picture. doesn't the capitol dome look like a little, teeny, hat? i'm so stylish.

sick day.

guess i had too much fun this weekend. woke up this morning with bad stomach (mal estomago), so taking a day away from work. sitting at home in my jams, sleeping and watching movies, and trying to not dream about bread.

i had really odd dreams about tornados and escaping from avalanches and old boyfriends. i kind of don't want to go back to sleep!

hope i feel better tomorrow - it's a big week with work, and we have tickets to see Oklahoma! tomorrow, and then we take off Friday for NYC to celebrate abby and travis getting married! so excited for friday.

i didn't get much into the halloween spirit this year, minus the pumpkin we carved into a DC flag and the s'mores party at the hamills complete with errant trick-or-treating teenagers. and now it is november, my favorite of all months. hooray.

st. elmos fire

i watched this brat pack drama last night and it really captured some horrible things from the 80's, some of which hasn't yet resurfaced in the latest 80's revival.
things that are back in style:
*bows in hair.
*nerd glasses.
*blazers.
*the saxophone (*wink* TH plays the saxomaphone).
*throwing huge parties.
*um, cocaine?
*crimped hair, although i think that already went back out, and perhaps was only "in style" in logan utah college dorms for a few semesters.

things that have not come back in vogue, and hopefully will not:
*dangly earrings for men.
*dorky laughing to make fun of someone.
*80's hair (think glamour shots with a crimper).
*whispering words.
*jeeps.
*demi moore's party girl character.


anyone else?

sweet frustration.

but cleanse, i want these, this, and these! i am holding onto my willpower with all i've got.

you know what's going to be really really tough? when i spend next weekend in nyc and cannot have a bagel or black and white cookie! (i might have to break the cleanse for a day...)

shocking revelation: a day really DOES make a difference.

wow, yesterday felt like doom and gloom and i have to say that today is a brighter day. maybe its the weather, but i think its also the fact that i took my life back a little yesterday. i actually did some productive things yesterday, last night, and this morning when i woke up. i swear getting up early makes all the difference. i really like being in the kitchen in the morning - it makes me feel like a real adult, creeping around in my slippers and PJ's, making oatmeal, or doing last night's dishes. and i really like the morning light that brightens up the room. even though our kitchen is beyond tiny, i have really grown to love that space. shall i take you through a tour tomorrow? ok.

let's talk about being a morning person vs. night owl. i have always always been a night owl, even when i was young i would stay up all night with my flashlight, reading books late into the night. so i really want to turn that around and start getting up early. do you have any tips for this night owl?

things i feel today.

1. happy for a seat on the metro this morning.
2. why does the rain always make me sleep in? always, always.
3. thanks for the banana man who sells 50 cent bananas and its always worth every penny.
4. lotsa kids walk by my apartment every morning in their uniforms. i never know where they're going, but they're always very loud for 8:30am.
5. i miss my babies. and cannot wait until december to see their cute faces.
6. drinking 80 ounces of water every day is so HARD.
7. drinking 8 ounces of vegetable juice every day is even harder.
8. i really miss TH. we need to sync our travel schedules so we're not rotating being away from home. the house is dead without him, and there is nobody around to make me laugh and watch my weird interpretive dances to different records. i really cannot imagine my life without him (is that too sappy for a wednesday morning?).
9. i had a dream last night that i went hiking. that really is a dream right now.
10. i get to buy new anthropologie bowls because one of mine broke! huzzah!

oh hello, portland.

so i was in portland, oregon last week. it was magical. not only did i get to eat the best donuts in the world...

...but i also got to hang out with some of my favorite people in the world: the rickters. heather and i went to USU together and were college roomies for a few years before she married Jathan. Now they have 2 new beautiful babies - gwen and little oscar - and I finally got to meet them! we went for a walk down to the river in Portland with cool views of the city and drove around for forever looking for a good cafe. like the true night owls they still are, they stayed out till midnight with me, and even little gwennie was still awake. what a trooper!

i love this last picture. oscar makes the best faces.

thanks for showing me a good time in portland, rickers!

twin haircuts.

my old roommate from nyc and long lost love, sara, is living out in sunny CA now. we met up last week when I was in LA. she came to my sweet hotel in downtown LA, we stayed up late gossiping and catching up on our lives. In the morning she gave me beautiful lashes (check those babies out!), and we drove over to olvera street and i bought TH a lucha libre.

i loved hanging out with my sexy hair double. we (separately) got the exact same haircut a few weeks apart. one day her cute face showed up on facebook with this new hairstyle, and i was like - hey! my haircut! i LOVE the haircut on her,especially the blonde! me? i'm working on growing it out and it is a complete nightmare.

here we are on olvera street:

to cleanse.

today is the 1st day of 28 on my road to a healthy body.
the 28-day cleanse is supposed to restore my body to health with tons of water, lots of whole grains and veggies and fruits, and healthy oils and fats (avocado, olive oil, nuts). i will lose some weight maybe, i will get better skin maybe, and i will feel energized hopefully. that's what these people promise, and i am going to give them the benefit of the doubt for 28 days (plus i have 2 buddies who both bore their testimony of the cleanse and declared it to be true).

i'm pretty stoked to try this, and hoping to start seeing or feeling some effects by next week. if you are really bored and want to track my progress on this, by all means.

ciao! a salud!!

washington state hiking in 3 days.

i wanted to post some pictures from our amazing (and crazy difficult) hike in olympia national park. earlier in june, we met up with some of TH's old college buddies to go on an epic hike. it was quite epic, and pushed us all to the limit. but along the way we saw some incredibly beautiful things! we hiked through temperate rainforest, up to 6 foot snow pack (complete with sleeping on top of the snow, coldest night of life), and sleeping on the beach. the beach was my favorite part.
just talking with friends over the weekend how we are all missing perfect camping weather, and because we don't have any free weekends until thanksgiving, we probably won't go this fall. at least i have this trip to remember my love/hate relationship with camping.

portland.

hello dear west coast, we meet again. tomorrow morning i leave for portland for the rest of the week. another conference, and another city to see a friend! i am beyond excited to hang out with the rickters, FINALLY meet little gwennie and meet the new guy, little oscar! i miss those fun days at USU, waking up next to heathbar every morning and try to beat her sleeping-in times (longest sleep in was after a marathon night of Alias, when we slept in until 4:00pm. Success!!

i have lots of pictures and stories from California, but they'll have to wait till I get back from lovely lovely portland.

xo

our new couch.

isn't she a beaut? sometimes craigslist treats me right.

we won't talk about the ottoman situation or how there is a random blue chair neither of us want that takes up space, OR how i just found THE chair i've been looking for all my life. it's so pretty and comfortable (hard to find!) i want to cry. mostly i just cuddle up on it and think about how i will make this chair into a perfect reading nook. ignore the fact that my whole apartment is one big nook.

sweeties.

i feel like i'll probably get diabetes with all the sugar i consume, and now that i'm married to the sugar king, it's getting worse.
i'm sitting at work, drooling over these, and this, and that.
and all i want to do is rush home and BAKE all night long. too bad for me, i have a meeting that will run until 10pm. it is a meeting with friends. a business meeting with friends (never thought i'd say that), still, a meeting nonetheless.

and guess what my thoughts were about the meeting? "oh, i should run home and bake some cookies and bring them along".
is it possible to be an expert baker and a career woman? i want to balance this so badly. anyone want to practice their baking skills with me?

rested and ready.

spent the weekend barely in the house, but oh! it's nice to be home. lots of fun family time and i love my new ritual of sunday afternoon naps. i think i've got 4 sundays in a row now. lucky me!
this week is another crazed week, but feeling restored and ready to dive back in. goal = stay sane. not too lofty, is it?

how was your weekend?

Mee am ee.

Here I sit, 5:45 in the morning, 2:45 pacific time, in the miami airport. Never taking a connecting red eye again, yikes.

I've never been to Miami, but I already feel like I'm getting some of the local flavor. Ocean themed everything, guava in everything, and lots of gold jewelry. Oh and strong short men in tight v neck tshirts. Yeesh. I really want to come back here and see the actual south beach madness, and make it out to the keys.

Something remarkable happened on Monday. TH and I visited Santa Monica beach and TH actually enjoyed the beach. If you haven't met TH, he is a white, befreckled sun-averse man. We've never even considered a beach vacation because he just ha no interest. Well, after this week, the tables have turned. Time for the beach, finally! Oh an when we left the beach on Monday, he looked at his forearm and said, oh look- I have a bunch of new freckles! Ha. Oh, I sure hope our babies are copper dusted like him. I just love it.

DC, see you in a few hours. Have a great weekend!!

i used to be nomadic, but now i'm still nomadic.

so when i started this blog, it was nomadic gnome because i had just moved from utah to alaska and i kept moving my home, never settling in one place. minus a year in NYC for school, i have pretty much lived in DC since alaska. but now that i'm traveling all over the place, i am quite nomadic again!!

i'm trying to love it and embrace traveling while i get to do it. or maybe i will keep traveling for my entire life, and if that's the case i really need to streamline the process. i did pack 9 days into a carry-on, which i never could have done a year ago.

here are some things i've learned since starting to travel:
1. hook into a miles/hotel program. i only started like 3 months ago and i'm kicking myself for wasting all those miles. i just joined starwood and marriott for hotels, and so far so good.
2. those 10-15 minute massage spots in the airport are TOTALLY worth it.
3. put all liquids in a purse so you can just pull it out when you go through security. it's always embarrassing to open your suitcase in security and people might see your undies.
4. it's ok to buy a smutty magazine (US weekly, OK!, or even cosmo). this is what helps get through flights, people.
5. upgrade to the "more leg room" if you can. again, totally worth it.
6. bring an empty water bottle and a baggie of carrots or fruit and nuts. airport food is still not good and still not healthy.

that's all the wisdom i have for today folks. i'm still trying to test out travel accessories, like the neck pillow - i haven't had much luck with that. anyone else have tips for flying?

in LA till thursday, NYC this weekend, portland OR next week, then home for a few WEEKS! can't wait!

hello world, i am in love with california.

the mission inn, with all its quirks, was a dream. after my meeting and solar tour was over, TH flew in and we kicked it there for the weekend. lots of pool time, lots of hanging out in the spa, and self-restoration. i seriously feel like a different person on this here tuesday.
we spent yesterday driving around santa monica, dropping by UCLA for a trip to in n out (and wow, i loved that campus! time to go back to school??), driving on rodeo drive (TH liked to pronounce it rodeo like cowboy rodeo. funny), and pretending we didn't care about star sightings. but seriously if i had seen suri cruise i would've gawked. the girl dresses better than me, what can i say?
TH left on the red eye last night and now i'm just hanging out for a couple more days in sunny LA.

hooray for feeling better about life. i hope you are, too.

West coast girlz

I've made no secret that I'm going through a rough time right now. Lately I'm sad to say that I have just been laying around whenever I get a chance. Doing nothing feels empty and it's the only thing that seems to fit right now. I realize that might sound really miserable, but I think it's helpful technique to relieve some stress and angst.

I mean, without going into detail, which I realize is too vague, things in my life just seem so tragic right now. Yes, tragic. I feel like I'm standing above my body watching me try to live my life. It's an odd feeling.

But the fact that I was forced to get out of bed early today and get on the plane, well it feels better. I am going somewhere that feels like a temporary escape. And I'll take it. Now I'll be in California for the next week, hosting and going to meetings and being busy and active. And I get to have a little relaxing time, too.

This trip is so needed right now.

I already feel like I'm breathing more deeply. I feel anonymous. I really like that. For once, I'm enjoying flying.

just busy.

we spent the weekend with family. saturday at TH's family, and sunday at my dads with sisters and crew. both remarked that we look exhausted. and let me tell you, we feel it.

i don't want to make a hasty declaration, but i think i might have to take a break from blogging, or atleast substantial blogging, until life settles down a bit. traveling 12 working days out of 21 this month, mostly in the west coast, and developing ulcers as we speak.

i promise i used to be a fun person who had time for dinners and movies with friends and game nights, but we've been cancelling most activities that aren't work or sleep lately. it's just too much, and i'm trying to stay healthy through it all. but i think i caved over the weekend. i'm coming down with a cold or measles or something.

not a great start to monday, but i just have to dive right back in. and i really like the rain today, it's very soothing and calming - something i really really need right now.