I went and picked up a growler of East End Brewing’s blueberry rye beer (not sure how they spell it and I can’t find it) to share with Elyse since I know she loves blueberries. Well, it didn’t really taste like blueberries to any of us and smelled like toast to me, but it was still decent. We went to the La Casa Narcisi for dinner and split a margherita pizza (my true love), some gnocchi and lobster mac and cheese. Everyone loved the lobster mac but I thought it needed more salt. And more cheese. Oddly enough, the amount of lobster was pretty adequate.

By the time we got back, we were all wine-sleepy so we went to bed.  Saturday Elyse and her boyfriend were gone before I even woke up to go do some sightseeing (actually more like destination eating, haha). By the time they made it back, we watched a little of the baseball game and then headed down to Mad Mex. Got the XX Cheese dip for the first time ever and holy cow I am in love. The pineapple habenero salsa, however, was super weird. It was the consistency of applesauce and it was just really off-putting.

We headed down to South Side for the main event and all I can say is: ugh. I hadn’t been in SS in over two years and it got so.much.worse. Keith drove around for 20 minutes trying to find parking before he dropped us off, drove around for another 20 before paying to park in Giant Eagle’s lot. The two bars we managed to hit were so disgustingly packed. My friend Sarah was down there too and we kept trying to meet up but kept playing bar tag haha. Finally everyone was just over it (and totally sober), so we left.

Sunday we went to the Pirates game and sadly saw them lose. But, thanks to Elyse, we met up with our old manager from Victoria’s Secret and got to chat with her for a minute and it made me very nostalgic for 2007-2009. I wish I hadn’t been such an emotional wreck those few years, because we really had some fun times.

All in all, it was really nice to see Elyse and catch up. I wish she still lived here though. I am really bad at friendships and seeing one of the real friends I actually have only 2x a year sucks, but I guess that’s what happens when you get old!

steven andrew o.

february 15, 1955 – june 25, 2001

(this is my favorite picture of him that ever existed )

I’m not going to pretend I’m going to try harder, because I’m not, so I’ll just pop in from time to time when I feel like it.

Life is good. Keith is good. Daisy is the most spoiled dog on the planet, so she is obviously good.

I’m enjoying the break from school (one A, one B) and so far have not had any pangs of wanting to go back. (As a kid I was always completely over summer after a month, but I think I might cry when I have to go back now.)

I was bored last week and decided I wanted to read something more substantial than ask.metafilter.com and had remembered someone on twitter mentioning The Hunger Games books. I had no clue what they were about, but I started to read the first one and when I choked up about 10 pages in, I knew I was hooked. I read all three books in just as many days and then felt the usual post-good-book depression.

So I grabbed Bossypants and read that. I never really has an opinion one way or another on Tina Fey until someone online quoted an excerpt from her book about being a working mother. It was funny and clever and slightly dark and it was then that I knew I liked her. Her book was a fluff book, I think I read it in one evening, but it was very entertaining.

And then I had no idea what else to read so I browsed the NYT best-seller list and ended up finishing Water for Elephants last night. I never knew I’d be so into a story about the circus, but it was pretty good! And I dreamt of elephants last night. Always a plus.

So now I’m looking for more books to read. I like almost any fiction minus courtroom dramas. I really like trilogies or series (so I can postpone the post-good-book depression). So any recommendations, throw ‘em my way. It’s rare that I can’t get into a book. (Except Infinite Jest and I tried. Really, I did.)

If I get no recs, I’m just going to work my way through Rory Gilmore’s book list. And that’s okay with me.

We went to The Mattress Factory, Phipps and Nakama, it was wonderful and everything I wanted.

Here are a few pictures, instead.

Not a birthday picture, but I love it anyways.

I can read near daily livejournal entries from 1998-2005 and marvel at what a stupid kid I was, I wish I had kept better track of the past 5 years, but I guess I can just try to start now.

2010 was a pretty amazing year.  I really loved 2009, but as the first four months were pretty awful, 2010 might win for overall happiness.

The first weekend of the year was spent with Keith (unfortunately) sick, but we had borrowed his mom’s dog/his old dog for the weekend, so I at least had Jackson to keep me company while Keith was in bed.  We ordered some pizza for my birthday, since I refused to cook, and Keith, under a cloud of cold medicine, gave the delivery guy the money (which I had counted out to include tip) and asked for a 10 back, which the guy gave him.  So instead of giving the guy a tip, we ended up short changing him, and oh man was it hilarious.  (I was outside with the dog at the time).  We never ordered from that pizza place again because I was afraid they had blacklisted us.

Jackson!

I also turned 24 which made me eligible for the good financial aid, and  I started to get serious about going back to school.  I had to get some loan things straightened out and figure out where I would be going and it was an incredibly stressful few months.

February brought us the gigantic snowstorm that no one from Pittsburgh has been able to forget yet. We also went to NYC again for more basketball and more late night gyro platters! yum!

msg for some basketball game i probably didn't pay attention to.

central park!

best food in nyc for reaaaaaal.

March brought the realization (thanks to Keith) that I could probably just go back to Pitt.  I had been afraid they wouldn’t take me back, but a phone call and a 45$ payment later and I was reinstated! I honestly squealed when I got the letter, I was so excited!

In April, we went to DC to see Elyse and the Cherry Blossom Festival!  It was so gorgeous, I am really glad we got to see it.

cherry blossom festival!

cherry blossom festival!

cherry blossom festival!

my favorite tree that ever existed.

Taken by the lovely Elyse.

We also wandered around and went into a few museums.  Here’s Keith learning about birth control, hahaha.

hmmm.

Elyse took this picture at the WWII memorial which I think is pretty much the funniest thing in the world.

Probably reading twitter.

Our last day in DC, Keith didn’t feel well, so he stayed at Elyse’s and she and I ventured to one of my favorite places in the world, the National Arboretum.

Capitol Columns

Capitol Columns

Magnolias with the Capital Columns in the background

I love DC in the springtime, can’t wait to go back!

We also went to NYC again in April, this time to go to Keith Malley’s annual stand-up show. We got up there on a Thursday, and Keith surprised me with a private performance by Ben Lerman. It was the most thoughtful, adorable surprise ever. I wrote about it here, in case you want to remember how adorable Keith is.

Keith and I with Ben Lerman and Jessica Delfino

We were also introduced to The High Line thanks to Ben and it is another one of my favorite places, if you go to NYC, you must check it out.

The High Line

The High Line

Keith (Malley)’s stand-up show that night was hilarious and the next day we went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Battery Park cherry blossoms

Lady Liberty from the ferry

Lady Liberty

Ellis Island

Statue of Liberty from Ellis Island

That night, we went to (part of) a Yankee game, and then walked dozens of blocks in the POURING rain to attend more KATG festivities, including The Match Game (hosted by Ben) and KATG bingo, which I suck at. We sadly had to leave early because we had to drive home at 6 a.m. the next day, I really wish we could have stayed longer because it was one of the best nights.

Yankee Stadium

Match Game!

Keith and Keith

We left at 6 a.m. to head home for Keith’s grandma’s surprise 80th birthday party! It was a weekend chock-full of excitement.

The next week, Keith and I celebrated one year together!

In May, I did a huge thing and bought a car.  I still didn’t have my license at this point, but I found what looked like a decent car for cheap and sprung on it.

My pre-dented car

June brought my second and worst gall-bladder attack. I threw up for about 7 hours before I ended up in the E.R. I also finally got Keith to go in a photo booth at me (at a Pirate game, where else).

hello, morphine.

Photo booth!

July was probably the most exciting month, I made adorable cupcakes for the fourth of July, I got my license!, I got my gall bladder removed and we got Daisy!

Burger Cupcakes!

Daisy!

Keith, Jackson and Daisy

Daisy!

In August we moved into a bigger, newer, brighter apartment! We took Daisy to Sandcastle and I started back at Pitt.

Aww.

She wasn't really a fan of swimming, hahaha.

Happy dog!

In September, we took the dogs to a Pirate game and Keith turned 25. He had a nearly week long Sports extravaganza, but luckily the only one I attended was the dog pirate game.

Pup in the Park!

In October, Keith and the Girl came to Pittsburgh for a live show that was really awesome, though entirely too short! And I turned Daisy into a banana.

Chemda, me, Keith and Keith

Banana Dog!

In November, we went back to NYC for more basketball, but also got to see Pee Wee on Broadway and a Harry Potter musical spoof by the Upright Citizen’s Brigade with Ben Lerman, oh and I made more adorable cupcakes for Thanksgiving.

NYC!

Keith and Pee Wee!

Cookies and Cream cupcakes!

December brought a lovely Christmas, a gorgeous ring from Keith, final grades in my classes (A and B+!), more cute cupcakes, a mohawk! (for Keith) and an adorable NYE dinner at Notion in Oakmont.

Daisy wasn't ready.

gorgeous ring!

christmas cakes

mohawk!

nye dinner at notion, full post later.

If 2011 is half as good to me as 2010 was, I will be thrilled.

That said, I didn’t want to throw in the towel the very first day, so here’s a picture of me and Keith with Keith and Chemda from Keith and the Girl.  They had a live show here last weekend and it was a blast.  So excited for April when we’ll go to New York for Keith(the other one)’s birthday extravaganza.

Party! Super Party!

The other characters are pretty awesome too and everyone is a bit dysfunctional.  The basic premise is that they are a bunch of grim reapers.  Unlike the stereotypical man in a black robe with a..uh…sickle? They look and act like (sort-of) regular people who just happen to be un-dead.  There are different divisions that handle different kinds of deaths and I believe George is in the “violent deaths” division. So every morning, the group meets at Der Waffle Haus, where Rube (the head reaper of the group – love him) gives everyone a post-it with that day’s reap.  The post-it has the person’s first initial and last name (have to make it a little tricky!), the place and the ETD (estimated time of death).

Now call me weird but this? I like. I find it oddly comforting that everyone gets a post-it.  (And not just because I love office supplies).  Everyone gets a little post-it that says their number is up.  Sure there are freak accidents, but not really, the universe just aligned to make it so.  (Or the gravelings, whatever).  It just kind of makes the whole thing easier to take.  I guess it’s in line with people saying “Everything happens for a reason.” (As an aside, I HATE that saying.  I counter it with “No. Sometimes things just happen to fuck your day up.”) But a lot cooler.

Meh. Really have no idea where I was going with this post, but if you haven’t seen Dead Like Me and you like quirky, sarcastic, sometimes vulgar comedies, you should check it out.  It lasted only a short two seasons, but it is fantastic.

So rude of me to post two days in a row and then vanish again. While I highly doubt anyone checks here with any regularity, I also doubt anyone was surprised. I’m just not good at this keeping a routine thing.

I have a good excuse though! Two of them!

Excuse number one: my computer died. The hard drive went kaput last Friday. Thankfully, I’ve only had the computer since February, so it’s still under warranty. Unthankfully, I’ve only had the computer since February. Oh and I never backed any of my data up.

While I am a little bummed to lose everything, it has happened so many times that I’m kind of used to it. I got an iBook for high school graduation. In the 3.5 years I owned it, the hard drive went three times, the logic board went and the motherboard went. Five days after I got it back from Apple after the great board disaster of 2007, someone broke into my apartment and stole it! Yay!

(Apple Care does not cover theft).

I then used a very old Dell that my uncle gave me and that hard drive died after a few months. Now the new computer that I figured would last at LEAST a year without giving me any issues, had to get the travel bug too and wanted a trip down to Texas. Sigh.

(I got carried away lamenting about my awful technological luck, moving on…)

Excuse two is that I had a mid-term on Monday. My first mid-term since 2007! I was terrified. Our grade in the Psych class is based on 4 quizzes, two tests and then our lab stuff. That’s not a whole lot of points. So I knew I needed to rock this test. The problem was, I did horrendous on the two quizzes. I knew I needed to study my ass off, but I am a bad studier. I never studied in high school and hardly in Round 1 of college (which may explain why I never finished but shhh). I set aside all of Sunday for studying. And study I did. I went for 3 hours, a break for dinner, 2 more hours. I went to bed feeling like I knew nothing.

At the end of the work day Monday, I went through my notes again, and took notes on those notes. Then I read the notes of notes 3 times before class. Still felt like an F was in my future. My stomach would not stop aching, it knew too, it seems.

They pass out the test and I begin to read the questions: “Hey, I know this!” “And this!” “And this!” Turns out, out of the 50 questions on the test, there were only 3-4 that I was iffy on. And I was able to narrow those down and guess. I was even the first to finish, and of course I sat in the back, so I got to awkwardly gather my stuff and walk down to hand in my papers in front of an audience of 200.

But I feel really good about the test and that’s all that matters. Except the grade itself really matters and I probably won’t know that ’til next week, but in my head, I aced that sucker. Yay!

Long time no see. We’ll I’ve seen you, as I keep more on top of my Google Reader than anything else in my life, but you’ve not seen me.

I don’t really have a good reason. I am just a lazy blogger. I often think “Hm, I should post…” but then the aforementioned Google Reader or twitter or staring at the wall get in the way.

I’m also a teensy bit stressed the hell out.

I’m back in school, part-time. I’m taking 7 credits which translates into a 2.5 hour lecture, a 2 hour lab and an online class that is a ton of work. This, plus working 40 hours a week and an hour commute each way = cranky crank.

I had a job the entire time I was in school last time, but it was always part time. And I took a light course load, and I only had a 10 minute walk to class, this time it’s all different.

Mondays are the worst. I leave the house at 7:30 a.m. and get home at roughly 9:30 p.m. By then it’s shower and bed, the end. Tuesday night I have my lab, and while it’s supposed to be 2 hours, I’m super smart (or something) and finish early, so I’m usually home on Tuesdays before 8. Still, another 12 hour day. Wednesday-Friday nights I am busting my ass trying to finish and submit my online work (which I usually have stuff due Weds, Thurs, and Fri) because I have no time to do it on Monday or Tuesday thanks to the aforementioned classes.

So it’s a leeetle stressful. I feel like I haven’t used much of my brain in the past two years working at a daycare and Starbucks and now in the office, so these classes are really giving the ol’ grey matter a workout.

On top of all this, last Friday my computer up and died. I’m waiting for a box to send it back to get repaired and praising the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I took all of my lecture notes by hand because I have a midterm on Monday! Hoorays!

But even though I’m stressed and exhausted and cranky, this is what I need to do. I need to finish school, I need to get a degree. I screwed up the first time around, so now I’m paying for it with all of this added stress. But I currently have an A in my art class, not sure my Psych grade but I am rocking all the lab work, so it shouldn’t be less than a B.

So go me. And go to sleep, me.