2013, i salute you

so happy new year and all that.  i've been horribly absent on this blog (i've decided to blame end of year business and the weather/hibernation effect), but i wanted to share a few things from 2013 that i didn't ever get around to posting.  a kind of "year in review" only with brand new information. (queue phoebe gif)

cute alpaca action at pre-valentine's craft bazaar

engagement + old 97s concert = best valentine's day

sometimes i feed the seagulls at lunch.  i call them my chickens.

spacehog!

college beach near williamsburg and then a bovine encounter. with a rainbow back at home.

zoo visit during my birthday week. it's $2 to feed giraffes (as opposed to tens or hundreds at other zoos.)

2nd beach trip, jamestown ferry  - there was a state park with a swimming pool on the other side of the river. 
all i'd wanted all summer was to go swimming in a pool.

halloween

shins show, giraffe dog, mermaid hair, limberlost (see "freckles"), dried up frog i found under some towels on my clothes dryer, hideous australia platter i liked *almost* enough to get.

champers and risk, shopping center great blue heron, receiving the new spacehog album in the mail,
ahmazing bananas foster crepe, tardis hat in the rain.

alrighty, peeps.  have a happy new year! ima peace out and...

state of the nation

i've been such a bad blogger!  not a peep in weeks.  i don't know whether to blame the fall hibernation mode or that i've been busy.  a bit of both i guess.  it's such a cliche, but time is just flying by.  i think it helps that i've had stuff to do.  well, not "do" so much as "click around online at."  some of the stuff on my plate:

looking at getting a car.  my aunt is generously funding a new (used) car for me.  ugh, that sounds so privileged, doesn't it?  it's kind of funny, in a non-ha ha way, that i grew up within a pretty limited-budget household, but sometimes golden nuggets just kind of fall in my lap with no work or effort on my part.  (my current car was also donated to me, by aunt's husband, uncle, after his mother passed.)  but it doesn't boggle my mind if i think about it too hard, because that's not the level of lifestyle in which i was raised.  i was a kid with a single mom working on her PhD, living in student housing, shopping at kmart. we didn't have a lot, but there was money for the occasional treat.  (getting a happy meal was a treat. going to the local mexican restaurant on "kids eat free" wednesdays was a treat, "earning" a trapper-keeper by doing chores and being not-naughty was a treat.)  i couldn't put whatever i wanted in the grocery basket and i got home haircuts and never had a store-bought halloween costume. my mom drove a truck that was older than me (which i died during my sophmore year in college) and we never had a dishwasher.  not poor, really, but poor-ish in comparison with a good portion of families. (and very blessed in comparison to many others).  my mom, she must have been a phenomenal budgeter, because she was able to take me to disneyland (with cheap student tickets) and we saw the the ballet (in the balcony seats) and went to the movies (matinee, snuck in snacks).  so i did get to do a lot of stuff, but we weren't "in the money" by any means.  and to me, being given a car is on par with being taken on european vacations, going summer camp, i don't know what else.. having ponies?

i say that kind of with tongue-in-cheek, but it's important to me that when i say i'm being given a car that people realize that *i* realize how amazing it is and how grateful i am, and that it's not at all expected or a case of entitlement.

anyhow, in another lucky stroke, a family-in-law member manages a car place and it looks like he may have found one for me.  which is good because he'll check it out for me and if i can save my aunt some money too, i'd like to.

so there's been that going on.

i've also finally started to (somewhat) plan my wedding.  i have some ideas kicking around, but no solid plans yet.  neither mark or i want a traditional wedding, or even one with people invited.  (we're such nut-cases, i swear.)  i don't want people to show up and me have had an anxiety attack and canceled the thing, and he hates attention of any and all sorts. (and yet, he's a musician, go figure.)  so there's the "do we invite parents or no" debate and if we do it might be best to do it during my mom's pre-planned june visit. if mark can stand her and his parent's looking at him taking the vows.

i *have* bought a dress that i think i'm pretty happy with, and yesterday i bought the shoes i'd been eyeing. (both modcloth, which i had never purchased from before - see, i told you i'm not a real blogger.)   since my aunts won't be there i've purchased and re-styled some "sapphire" earrings into 4 necklaces, so they, my mom, and i can each have a "something-blue" matching wedding bauble and be "connected."  (that's a lot of quotes, sorry about that.)  i sort of looked at what mark might wear and where we might do the ceremony.  i even pinned some stuff!

i've been immersed in watching "vampire diaries," which is like, the best worst show ever and is constantly making me cry.  (to be fair, i teared up during "tinkerbell: secret of the wings.")  i just love me some attractive vampire angst, and is it me or has damon been amazing this season?  he needs a talk show or something.

well, i've come to the end of my thoughts for the night.  i need to clean up and shower because mark gets off early and we may have some time to cuddle in front of the fire (space heater) and watch some tv before i go to bed.

hope everyone out there had a good thanksgiving (and if i have the energy in a future post i might have some stuff to say about the state of our society re: the way we're so wrapped up in goods and services and how i think that's weird and cavemen would agree). 

out in california

mark got some great news today and i'm so excited to share it.  i don't know if i've mentioned, but when mark isn't at his day (afternoon to night) job, he's in musician mode.  i think i did mention that he's been in a few bands, some in l.a. and some here.  he's constantly working in his studio in our house, creating projects and writing and recording.  it's always good when hard work pays off, and i'm happy to say that one of his songs was picked up to be in a tv show next week.

who's that girl guy, who's that girl guy, it's jess mark!

"out in california," from one of mark's band's self-titled album, "edison gower," is going to be on new girl next week!  we won't know how it's used until we watch the show, but it's in there and he's gettin' some straight cash dollars! i *think* mark wrote this during the year we were apart, him having moved back to richmond before i was able to come out almost a year later.  there's a girl in the song i like to think is me - mark says she's more of an idea, but she could be me if i wanted.. haha.  it's definitely one of my favorites.. it reminds me of the desert and the time.. it makes me miss california.  the only thing i wish is that he had sung it for the record (the other guy, jake, sang it), but he is on the harmonies and the "middle 8."

anyway, watch the show and let me know what you think.

and here's a link to the rough demo if you fancy hearing mark sing it a bit slap dash.. haha
Out in California (demo) - Edison Gower

fox & skull

on saturday i took a little jaunt to a local park to get my photo on.  it was a lovely day and i found a perfect little bridge to pose with.  i've been wearing this gettup pretty much non-stop for two weekends.  i like to find something i love and run it into the ground.  i'm cool like that.

i'm like a girl ichabod, right?

 

coat: worthington | sweater: old navy | jeans: mossimo supply co.
shirt: ross | boots: mossimo supply co. | covered wagon necklace: modcloth | fringe purse: roxy

i got a little cute with the beauty shots.  a women came along after i had taken a few pics, parked her bike, and hung out for awhile.  i know i've said i'm not easily embarrassed, but nor do i like asking for side-eyes.  so while she looked out on the view i snuck some close-ups.  then there's the fun of going through the photos with instagram and coming out with something where you think, "hey, i don't look that bad there!" haha

and holy crap, that fox sweater from last fall is going for $199 on ebay?!  i paid $15 for it on sale.  i totally feel cool, you guys!  the boots, purse, and necklace are sold out too because i'm on the cutting edge of fashion.  little house on the prairie fashion.  

seriously?

oh, for feck's sake.  what is this chicanery?  the day i buy a cabinet knob for $128 is the day i give you permission to check me into a mental facility. 

speaking of, i've gained a new idiom care of my adopted town/acquaintances.  i use it not sporadically.  "going to tuckers" or "they'll drive me to tuckers" is slang for "going to the mental hospital" i.e., going crazy (tuckers being a local facility).  i do like having a local institution one can refer to in such a manner.. it just seems more homey.  like bedlam in england, or sing sing prison in ny.  about once a week i tell my co-workers they're gonna have to visit me in tuckers.  on the plus side, i hear there's finger painting.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes, Yeah!

1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8. | 9. | 10. | 11. | 12.

if i was a rich girl, na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na, see i'd have all the shoes in the world, if i was a wealthy girl.

i would happily welcome any pair of these beauties into my home.   come to me now, my pretties!  i can't even tell you which one i like the most.  i *think* though, that (if they were comfortable), i'd probably get the most wear out of the green pumps.  they could easily be a work shoe and they're a little less outgoing than the purple pump (which comes in other colors, including ivory which would be lovely for a vintage-style wedding).  the rest are just lovely daydreams.

what are your favorite fall shoes?

let's get out of this country

today was gorgeous.  crisp, cool air.  bright blue skies.  the only thing missing was orange and yellow leaves.  fall is officially here but the trees don't know it yet.  i can't complain though.  it rained for almost two weeks straight and i am SO over it.  (poor mark got a raw deal for his two week vacation.. poor guy.)  i had wanted to do some fall-y things, but it's hard to be excited about having a picnic or going apple picking when it's gray and drizzley every day.  we did make a stop at the historical museum to pick up a xmas present for mark's mom at the gift shop and i took a few photos in there of some of the interesting stuff they had.

colonial candy

VA territory from the 1600s to today.

genuine confederate cash dollars.  for sale!

snakes on a train
(like any respectable civil war era photographer i might have arranged this photo.)

when i first moved here i was totally into the history of the city.  i'd drive around town looking at the statues and the old houses and cobblestone streets.  i'd go to the museums and historical sites.  coming from socal, everything seemed so ancient to me.  but i'm pretty much over it now.  richmond doesn't look like "richmond - the historical city" to me anymore.  it's just "richmond - the place i live."  every so often though i'll have a sort of flashback feeling and look through the lens of one unfamiliar with all this and it will just hit me that this place is old, yo!  i've always loved thinking about what things used to look like and how people lived.  i was never very interested in the political aspect of history or why nations did x or y.  i was always interested in the every day people, how they lived and what they thought about things.  seeing things like that confederate money makes me wonder who owned that and what they bought with it or what they were saving it for.  it's weird to think that i know how the war turned out and how their money was worthless, but the person who had that money didn't know at the time.  

last weekend the rain finally eased up by sunday, so we went for a drive in the country.  we had intended to go to one of the larger pumpkin patches in the area, but the placed was MOBBED so we pretty much left straight away.  no way am i standing in a mile long line to get in a wagon to go to a patch to pick out a $20 pumpkin.  the drive was good though - pretty fall scenery and tunes on the player.  i was in charge of the map, so i "tricked" mark into going by a dairy queen in the area.  gotta get my cherry dipped cone on!

superstars pizza for lunch

i can't resist a facehole photograph opportunity.

pumpkins

i kinda dropped the ball on pretty country photos.

i got kind of used to having mark around every night, so this week was kind of weird and quiet.  i kinda liked having the guy around.  here's hoping we come into a windfall and he can stay home every night.