Candles Rock My Socks

After much thought and consideration I have decided that I am through with boys for the time being, and I have replaced boyfriends with candles. This may seem a little odd, so I have compiled a list of reasons why candles are better than boys:

1. Candles are romantic.
2. Candles last a long time.
3. Candles always smell good.
4. When you've burned through a candle, you have good memories of the time you spent together.
5. You can own more than one candle at a time.
6. Candles are easily disposed of and readily available.
7. Candles de-stress you (as opposed to distressing you).
8. You can find amazing candles online.
9. Candles are often found in fancy restaurants, department stores and at spas, but rarely in sports bars, sporting stores or fitness clubs.
10. Your friends don't comment on your choice in candles.
11. Candles shed light on things instead of keeping you in the dark.
12. When you wake up in the morning, a candle is still there.
13. It's socially acceptable to pay for a candle so you can bring it home with you.
14. You can swap candles with your friends and it's no big deal.

I'm sure I'll think of some more as time goes on. I know candles are not the perfect replacement, but let me live in my bubble. So far, so good.

This Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was an expensive but lovely one (thanks to the aforementioned organic turkey). I am glad to report that the apartment is still standing, but apart from that there is nothing really to report about the actual day.

After Thanksgiving, though, was a blast! My family and I went to the Morgan Library on Friday and saw some original Babar sketches (awesome) as well as the some other super cool stuff. Mostly, I was thankful for the 15 minute "about the Library" movie because it afforded me the opportunity to take a nap (which was much needed after walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and up to the Library). That evening, we met up with my friend and her new boyfriend (who is lovely) and had a most excellent dinner.

But now, for the super-interesting bit... we went to another museum called the Sea, Air and Space Museum on the Intrepid and it was amazing! It's a museum that is located on an aircraft carrier. Not only can you take a look at tons of cool aircraft (including helicopters, jets and even a concorde) but you can also go inside parts of the carrier and see what it would have been like to work on the vessel. It was really cool, and if you have not been and are in NY I would definitely recommend a trip.

The coolest thing I saw at the museum was a black plane that traveled at speeds beyond mach 3 and also flew at over 100,000 feet. Pretty amazing.

Random Retellings

So lots has happened recently with me, and what's even more amazing is that a few of the events have been worth mentioning. What? In just a five day span? Miracle! I know.

First, I went to my friend's apartment the other day with my roommate to play Rock Band. I had never played the game before and was particularly daunted by the prospect of singing in front of other people. However, after rocking the drums (er, well, not failing at them), I gave the mic a go and I was hooked. By the end of the night I was belting out songs at the top of my lungs, strumming the guitar at a passable level, and doing some kick-ass drum freestyling if I do say so myself.

The only problem is that now I am addicted. Emily and I have done some research on how much this game costs, and sadly I fear I might be broke in the next few months. I'm not good at quitting addictions.

Second, my family is coming for Thanksgiving and I am in charge of acquiring all the fixings. My mother specified that I should purchase a 15 pound (!) organic (!!) turkey, and it cost me $70(!!!). Can you believe it? I'm guessing that when all is said and done I will have shelled out about $150 for this meal. This Thanksgiving I'll be giving thanks if I still have a penny to my name.

Finally, we met our future roommate this weekend! She is amazing. Her name is Aly and we ended up chatting for about 2 hours when she was here on Sunday. It's reassuring to have found someone who seems so normal and similar in her habits to ourselves. It's a huge relief to not be looking anymore, too. :-)

I think I mentioned that these days the only luck I've got is bad luck. Now, I think that luck just might be turning around. All I have to say is that it's about freaking time.

"Of Course" to Vexations

The other night at 10:00 pm I heard someone ringing our buzzer. I usually ignore this sort of evening interruption on the assumption that it is just drunken rabble-rousers attempting entry into our building. However, the buzzing turned into knocking, and I realized I should probably get the door.

When I opened it, I was greeted by my neighbor and her small daughter standing in the hallway. She had just come by to tell me that my heater was broken and was making a small ocean in her daughter's bedroom. To this I simply replied, "Of course it is." She looked at me strangely (she no doubt misinterpreted my meaning and was probably wondering why I hadn't done anything about the problem even though I knew about it) and I asked her if it was the heater in my bedroom... the one under the window that won't shut. (And what do you know, of course it was.)

Of course. Because that is how my life has been panning out since September.

Let me review... we found cockroaches when we moved in to our apartment and had to do a lot of caulking. We finished that and the refrigerator broke... twice. Our dryer didn't get hot. Two days before I discovered bed bugs in my bed the washing machine decides it won't drain. Once the bed bugs are taken care of, we discover an infestation of water bugs in the kitchen. As I mentioned, my window won't close. Our bathroom sink doesn't drain, and the pipe underneath has developed a leak. And let me tell you, my problems aren't limited to just the apartment (I'll spare you, stranger, the details... though I will add that tonight, for example, I ordered two avocado rolls and a miso soup and they brought two eel-avocado rolls, hold the miso soup... of course).

Someone recently told me that if it weren't for my bad luck, I'd have no luck at all... this is a statement that is sad, but embarrassingly true. So it came as no surprise to me that my heater was broken. Really, the only reaction I could muster was, "Of course." That's just life for me these days.

On the plus side, I think I'm over the crying phase. Recently I'm finding my debacles quite comical, actually. That's why I've decided to write about them here - I am sure that someone someday will read this information and go, "Wow, it really could be worse." Hopefully soon I'll be one of those people. :-)

If you feel like you need to commiserate, please... I'm all ears.

Home

This weekend I went home (still am home) for my grandmother's 90th birthday. It's been really nice to get away from the city for a little while and see all of my family. Today, after lunch, we took a walk down by the lake. As you can see, the water has been drained out a bit and it looked eerily beautiful with all the fog and mist drifting around.

IKEA

I think I've sung the praises of this store in the past, but I don't care - they need to be sung again.

Tonight I went with my two lovely friends Emily and Jonathan to have some delicious food for dinner. Now first off, a trip to IKEA is never complete without a stop in the cafeteria. Their meatballs are so delicious it makes me want to stand on a chair with a megaphone and shout at random passerby, "Ignore the calorie count, go for the big plate!" Mmm, mmm, good! So of course, we wasted no time and made a bee-line to the food.

Once fully satiated, we commenced the tour of the showroom. Emily and I have the whole floor plan practically memorized, and whenever I go to IKEA now I feel like I have to visit all my favorite friends I have not seen in a while: future couch, future bed, dream cabinets, "when I make my first million" knick knacks and accessories. Tonight was a particularly joyous reunion with favorite blue couch number one. I also had a brief moment of panic when I was unable to locate future bed where the magic will happen, but then I found it all covered in pretty pretty bedding and jumped it... ahem, jumped on it with joy. I freaking L.O.V.E. that bed.

After a thorough tour of the showroom, it was time to get down to business. Emily and I found our shelving unit and a mirror without a problem. We were both very shocked, however, when Jonathan said he actually needed something, too.

What? A boy that needs to shop? It's like a Christmas miracle.

Anyhow, we helped him locate the perfect comforter and then proceeded to pick out all the manly bachelor pad duvet covers that would go with his sheets (which he described in detail as being "navy... uh, blue"). Of course, he picked the craziest, most random duvet cover ever (what is it with guys? They have such a bizarre sense of style sometimes), pictured right. Oh, well... to each his own!

Oh, but I've yet to recount the best part of this trip, and that is on the bus ride home we were listening to a blast from the past 90's marathon, and Wilson Philips' song, "Hold On" played on the radio. Is it just me, or should all good outings end with a rousing rendition of passe 90's chart-toppers? Perfect.