also...

Just made a coffee run, and experienced a couple noteworthy things:

1.) The Beatles' "I Feel Fine" was on in the coffee shop, and I found myself humming along. I laughed at myself & stopped so I could order. However, while doctoring my coffee, I started again without realizing until I noticed the girl next to me softly singing along. We both caught ourselves at the same time and shared a chuckle. Then, on my way out, I saw that most people in line & at tables were doing the same...it's wonderful how those 1.5 minute long Beatles songs can unify a coffee shop full of strangers. Feelin' fine, indeed.

2.) A little girl was "explaining" rap music to her mother. Her key points were that:
"-He (name of some rapper I didn't catch) went to college to study RAP. So, he wasn't doing rap on the streets and causing trouble, but he was using college things like spelling words to make his rap. So it's good music, kind of like homework.
-When you write rap music, you have to write all your feelings and it kind of sometimes has to rhyme, because then other people can remember it, but it doesn't have to rhyme all the way because it's your feelings."

Every now & then, I find myself slightly disenchanted with children. Then something like this happens and I smile.

Happy List Monday!

Gooooood morning! This semester, I have a class at 8:00 AM on Mondays. If you know me at all, you can imagine how I feel about this. In a one-word summary...SUCK. Now that that's out of the way & written down like a permanent whine, I'm going to try to be an adult about it and use it as practice for when I start real life next year and will have to finally do what I've avoided for 25 years so far- function (as in TREAT clients, not just have open eyes) before noon every weekday.

So, imagine my surprise when I walked outside from class to work 30 minutes ago with some ladyfriends (all astoundingly beautiful, btw) and felt fantastic! Yes, I could literally feel my pupils dilating, which was really painful, but it was because the weather in NYC is still on a completely gorgeous streak. I always forget how much I adore fall! So, in the spirit of a great-feeling start of the week, here's my current Happy List:

1.) Fall clothing! Boots, jackets, tights, cardigans. I feel like a second-grader, fresh from back-to-school shopping with my mom...but these days, I'm the one grinning over my new Mary Janes & textured tights (although I'm sure if I sent my mom a pic, she'd be pleased as well).

2.) Volleyball! Some friends from school & I signed up for intramural volleyball and I am freaking STOKED. Almost every year I think about doing this, no matter where I am- after all, there are stressed out, nostalgic former jocks looking to re-live high school glory days in every American city, right? Should be super fun...frustrating and embarrassing due to the whole "I seem to have misplaced my 24 inch verticle jump at some point over the last 7 years" thing, but hey. Fun, nonetheless.

3.) Continuing with the nostalgia theme- childhood smells! In 4th grade, my best friend and I used Outrageous shampoo & conditioner. Sold by Revlon, this stuff was the epitome of the '90s beauty product: it smelled out of CONTROL delicious (like the perfume I imagined my impossibly cool 16 year old neighbor wore out on dates with the star quaterback), had non-functional packaging (cylindrical + dome-topped bottles = slippery & non-conducive to storing upside down for ease of dispensing), and had the essential tacky theme colors of red, gold, and black. Anyway, I recently bought a hair styling product which smells exactly like Outrageous, and the smell (thankfully) lingers amazingly! I have literally been happier over the past 3 days simply because I keep getting whiffs of my mane. And yes, as SOON as I pinpointed the smell, I texted my friend who shared the obsession back in the day (actually, she got ME hooked- crack is whack, Susie).

Another old smell I've unintentionally come back into contact with is that of my favorite lip gloss from 8th grade (I remember vividly how devastated I was when it was discontinued) . In class this morning, I put it on some new lip balm I bought offhandedly over the weekend and was immediately transported back to junior high. In a good way, though- nothing traumatic, don't worry.

4.) Fall TV! Yeah, I tried the whole "I don't have a TV and it doesn't even affect me- I swear I'm happier without it" deal. Yeah, I really could get along without it, and was really surprised at how little I desired it...and then I didn't live with a significant other anymore and realized that I DO need a box to entertain me when I'm alone. Soooooo...yeah. Fall TV season premiere time rocks my face off. LOST, you know you're naughty for having such a lame-ass season premiere date. We've discussed your punishment.

5.) School! It's so nice to finally be done with prerequisite courses and not have ANY anatomy classes to keep track of. Getting into practical, technique-y stuff is FUN!

So that's where I am right now. Priorities:
-Keep a positive attitude: nobody likes a whiner, even if she has migraines.
-Live in the moment: I'm in New York City, single, have some extra cash, and no full-time job, for pete's sake!
-Get my creative juices flowing: decorating the apartment & finding new music is on the agenda- any help is welcome! Also, must sit down and color pictures for my neph- I promised him a dinosaur, a rainbow, and a portrait of him. 2/3 of those may be overly ambitious for me.
-School: duh.
-Friends: while fall TV certainly rocks, it does get too easy to hole up and forget about human interaction and the amazing friends & opportunities I have all around me.

Hi there. Since I thought so few people actually read my blog and that those who do occasionally glance at it don't have strong feelings one way or another about it, I figured that my blog hiatus would go unnoticed, and therefore not require an apology. Interestingly (and flatteringly) enough, that was not the case. I've been reprimanded for my bloglect (yeah, that's a hybrid of "blog" and "neglect"- what?) by many people recently..."many" being approximately 4. So, please accept my deepest apologies for not doing my part in keeping you entertained & informed while you're bored. Let's just continue where we left off, shall we? Random observations, it is, then.

-I really don't like the repeated "bless you" situation. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate being blessed after I sneeze and I usually offer a "bless you" (probably actually more like a "bleshu," but that's beside the point) when someone else sneezes. But here's the thing- I sneeze A LOT. So, I regularly have repeated sneezes and, without fail, someone insists on blessing every. single. one. of them. Dude. Bless the first one and accept that it's been noted that you're a sweetheart...but you will be crossed off my sweeheart list if you continue to say "bleshu" to me and look me in the eye, smiling. It's creepy and annoying and I'm not going to die...and even if I do, let's concede that I've been adequately blessed and I have a better chance of going to heaven because of you. Thanks. Now turn around and look at the teacher.

-It's eerie how often I'm typing or writing a word or a name and someone says it out loud in an unrelated conversation at the same time. What is that? I'm sure there's a word for that in at least one language.

-You know greeters in grocery stores? I think my new neighborhood has those on street corners. Except instead of sweet old ladies & gentlemen, they're drunk & scary & mad at me for being white. And I highly doubt they get paid for their service of mumbling about the gringa.

-I think there's a guy on Project Runway named Ampersand. And I love that.

-I think I'm really going to like my future job. And I love that, too.

That's all for now. Much love.