hippies

i heart hippies.

the original hippies of the 1960s sought to free themselves from the restrictions of established society, choose their own ways, and find new meanings in life. they championed ideals of beauty, honesty, love, peace, and freedom. they made good music (hello, woodstock? think janis joplin, the grateful dead, creedence clearwater revival, santana, the who, jefferson airplane, and jimi hendrix). they rejected the materialism of consumerist culture. they lived in communes, ate organic food, and hugged trees.

because of hippies, public political demonstrations are now considered legitimate and legal expressions of free speech. religious, cultural, and even sexual diversity are widely accepted. unmarried couples can live and travel together without the disapproval of society (your parents may be a different story). there is a greater awareness of our impact on the earth, and a greater interest in organic and natural foods. and did i mention there is good music?

these days there are still hippies. they come in all forms, and in all degrees of hippie-ness. my parents were/are hippies. most of my best friends are hippies. i am a hippie.

i believe in beauty, honesty, love, peace, and freedom. i believe in tolerance and respect. and i am as anti-consumerism as i can be for someone who works in the fashion industry (like i said, i believe in beauty...). i am a vegetarian, i eat organic foods, and i am absolutely a tree-hugger.

today's birthday boy is everyone's favorite texas-cowboy-hippie, willie nelson (april 30, 1933).

seinfeldisms

i grew up watching three shows religiously:

1. the simpsons

2. friends

3. seinfeld.

these are the shows that i grew up with, and at the same time i kind of feel like they grew up with me too. moments from these shows define certain moments of my life.

i'm pretty sure i'm not alone in this, either, because there are about a hundred million words and phrases that only make sense (or at least have a special meaning) in the context of these shows, and if you say any of them out loud, everyone else knows exactly what you're talking about.

i found this seinfeld dictionary today, and picked from it some of my very favorite seinfeldisms, which i have conveniently listed below, in alphabetical order, for your viewing pleasure:

astronaut pen

big salad

close talker

festivus

fusilli jerry

jimmy legs
low talker

man-hands

shrinkage

soup nazi

stopping short

...and my personal favorite: "these pretzels are making me thirsty!"

happy birthday to comedian jerry seinfeld (april 29, 1954)!

quality time

once again i find myself under attack by the allergy monster. i have been a non-stop sneezy, itchy, watery, puffy, runny mess all day long... all i need is two more and i'll have my own little collection of dwarves... stuffy... and... achey. excellent.

anyway.

i came home from work after trying to fight through the haze of mucus and medicine for a couple of hours. now i'm getting in some good quality time with my little scoopcat. we watched a little tv, but mostly we've been reading. well, i have been reading. scoop has been sleeping in the corner. i might join him in a little bit... not in the corner though.

right.

today's birthday girl is harper lee (april 28, 1926), the american writer who won a pulitzer prize for her novel to kill a mockingbird.

happy news

a couple of weeks ago, i got a phone call from one of my best college girlfriends/roommates, who is currently living in england with her adorable welsh hubby in all their newlywedded bliss. she wished me a happy belated birthday and a happy anniversary, we chatted about life and all of the craziness that goes along with it, and then she told me that she and her hubby were expecting a tiny little welsh-american addition to their family!

i couldn't be happier for her. what a fabulous mum she will be! and i get to be auntie olivia!

happy birthday to russell t. davies (april 27, 1963), welsh television producer and writer.

paris

i've been to paris twice.

the first time, i was a senior in high school. i was pretty upset that my mom wouldn't let me go on the senior trip to cancun with the rest of my classmates... until my friend allison invited me to go to paris with her and her mom and her mom's friend. it was amazing. there are no words.

the second time i went to paris was with my hubby on our honeymoon last year. apparently i had talked about paris enough during our four years together that he wanted to go see it for himself. i had always wanted to go back there, to the most romantic city in the world, with the love of my life. and it was maybe the best trip i've ever taken.

i'm not trying to brag. i never thought in a million years that i would go to paris once, much less twice. i know that i am one incredibly lucky girl. i have stood at the base of the eiffel tower in awe, strolled along the champs-elysees, wandered through the halls of some of the most amazing museums in the world, shopped the seven stories of the galeries lafayette, mastered the paris metro system, gotten lost in the streets of montmartre, and eaten about a hundred million baguettes.

today's birthday boy is i.m. pei (april 26, 1917), the chinese american architect who designed the glass and metal pyramids that serve as the main entrance into the louvre in paris.

dreams

when i was in middle school (and partly high school too), i wanted to be a movie star. i took all kinds of theater classes, tried out for school plays, participated in drama tournaments, and even auditioned for an actual movie one time.

it's questionable as to whether or not i can actually act. i never got any lead roles in the school plays. i did play dead woman #2 in our class' production of our town, but i hardly think that counts. i don't recall ever winning any awards in the drama tournaments, even though my team's lipsynch performance of "i will survive" (we included both the cake version and the gloria gaynor version, don't worry) was spectacular. oh, and by the way, i have terrible stage fright.

so whatever. i didn't become a famous actress.

i rediscovered my passion for making art and my love of all things fashion-related. i chased a different dream. and i haven't looked back.

that's the best thing about dreams. you can have as many as you want. they can be as ridiculous and out-of-reach as you like. there are no rules - only endless possibilites.

lots of movie stars are celebrating their birthdays today - happy birthday to al pacino (1940), hank azaria (1964), renee zellweger (1969), and jason lee (1970).

the west wing

i have to say that i was not at all interested in the west wing when it was first on tv. nor was i interested when my mom told me over and over what an amazing show it was. and when she leant me her dvds of season one of west wing, it was only out of boredom and a lack of motivation to do anything else that alan and i actually sat down and watched an episode.

...and then we watched every episode.

...of all seven seasons.

because it is that good. and i'm not even kidding. hello, it won like fifty awards (actually, three golden globes and 26 emmys)!

could i vote for josiah bartlett please? and if it's not too much trouble, could i marry josh lyman? ...or at least be best-couple-friends with him and donna? i like donna. she's sassy.

happy birthday to actor eric balfour (april 24, 1977), who has appeared in several movies and television shows, including the west wing.

love poems

today is the supposed birthday of legendary english poet and playwright william shakespeare (baptised april 26, 1564 - april 23, 1616).

like everyone else on the planet, i had to study him in high school, which of course meant that there was no way i was going to appreciate his work (except maybe when the leonardo di'caprio version of romeo and juliet came out...). but being as mushy as i am these days, i can always appreciate a good love poem.

sonnet 15

when i consider every thing that grows
holds in perfection but a little moment,
that this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
when i perceive that men as plants increase,
cheered and cheque'd even by the self-same sky,
vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
and wear their brave state out of memory;
then the conceit of this inconstant stay
sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
where wasteful Time debateth with Decay,
to change your day of youth to sullied night;
and all in war with Time for love of you,
as he takes from you, i engraft you new.

earth day

i am thankful for...

the sound of birds chirping, the feel of warm sunshine on my face, the way that spring smells like mustard and cut grass, the impossible blueness of caribbean waters, the way that the sound of a babbling creek breaks through the perfect silence of mountain air, getting lost in a summer breeze, the shadows cast by the early morning sun, the sound of rain on the ground or the roof or the porch, the way that cold winter air pierces your lungs when you take a deep breath, the feel of soft grass under my feet, the vibrant colors of sunrise, the feeling of smallness that you get from staring into the night sky, watching the endless motion of a body of water, the way that winter smells like dead leaves and burning wood, the joy of finding a rainbow on a rainy day, the postcard-view from the top of a mountain, the sight of a pristine white landscape that has just been blanketed by fresh luminous snow, dancing in warm sweet summer rain, the feel of being surrounded by more trees than you can count, and the quiet softness of twilight.

happy birthday to julius sterling morton (april 22, 1832 – april 27, 1902) who served as grover cleveland's secretary of agriculture and was also the founder of arbor day.

happy earth day!

being treated like royalty

every girl grows up wanting to be a princess - i know i did.

and i think that's the way it should be. i truly believe that every girl deserves to be treated like a princess.

i've been lucky in my life to be surrounded by lots of people who treat me like one*. my parents spoiled me to perfection. and my amazing husband spoils me even more. he cooks, he cleans, he gives a damn good foot rub, and he serenades me too.

*please remember: princesses handle (most) every situation with grace and dignity and exhibit a strength of character that warrants such royal treatment as respect, presents, and foot rubs.*

today's birthday girl is queen elizabeth II of england (april 21, 1926).

also, happy birthday, kristi!

fashion art

my very first love was art. i've been drawing and coloring since before i can even remember. i fell in love with fashion when i was in sixth grade, and started spending all of my free time (and some of my class time) drawing clothes and shoes.

thirteen years later i am fortunate enough to have a degree in fashion design and a job as an artist in the fashion industry.

today's birthday boy is paul poiret (april 20, 1879 - april 30, 1944), a french fashion designer and the original fashion illustrator.

happy birthday, kate!

tv land

i used to watch nick at nite's tv land religiously when i was younger. i loved loved loved bewitched, mork and mindy, i dream of jeannie, and the dick van dyke show. also get smart, diff'rent strokes, and mr. ed. i wanted to be samantha stephens so badly! and i wanted to be mindy, and jeannie... i mean, what little girl didn't want magic powers or a lovable alien of their very own? it was all just so wholesome. i think i would like to live in tv land.

happy birthday to dick sargent (april 19, 1930 - july 8, 1994), who was best known for his role as darrin stephens (the second one) on bewitched.

conan

today's birthday boy is conan o'brien (april 18, 1963).

no one has the power to make me laugh uncontrollably quite like conan o'brien (and, um, alan, of course). that man is hilarious. and so so smart. did you know he was valedictoran of his high school before he graduated magna cum laude from harvard? anyway. hilarious.

he wrote for saturday night live and also for the simpsons during its golden age. and of course he is the host of late night with conan o'brien, which i always miss because these days i'm usually asleep by 9:30.

sometimes i randomly find myself singing "in the year 2000"...

spanish teachers

in fifth grade there was a man named senor fricky who came into our classroom once a week to teach us spanish. i think he had puppets and other such ridiculous props (because ridiculous props are of course necessary for holding the attention of a large group of fifth graders who have no real interest in learning spanish). i'm not sure if i actually retained much of the language that year, but i certainly looked forward to the weekly visits of cheesy senor fricky, and he had enough of an impact that i continued to take spanish classes in sixth grade.

i actually really enjoyed learning spanish -- i took it every year until my senior year of high school. one of the best teachers i ever had (besides senor fricky, of course) was my AP spanish teacher, senora patterson. i was terrified of her at first! but i learned so much from her. and i could probably kick your ass at spanish scrabble.

happy birthday to senor wences (april 17, 1896 - april 20, 1999), a spanish ventriloquist who was well known in many countries, and gained popularity partly due to his many appearances on the ed sullivan show.

happy birthday, michael!

and welcome to the world, brady!

dry land

it's taking me a while to get my "land legs" back, but i think i'm starting to get there... alan and i had a really good time on our cruise, mostly eating ourselves stupid and sleeping way more than any grown-up should ever sleep.

don't tell anybody, but we spent our last "fun day at sea" in our cabin watching movies. that's just how we are. some of the spectacular movie offerings shown on the big boat included: big momma's house (umm...), the comebacks (i know, i never heard of it either), p.s. i love you (cry fest), and dan in real life (actually pretty cute).

overall, it was a good anniversary-moon. but we're definitely glad to be back on dry land, living it up at the apartment with scoop!

happy birthday to martin lawrence (april 16, 1965), star of such classics as bad boys, bad boys II, and... big momma's house.

inspiration

sometimes, when i fear failure, or when i just fear trying, i try to remind myself that if it can be done, i can do it. so many people have done so much in their lives, and there is absolutely no reason that i shouldn't be able to do the same.

today's birthday boy is the original renaissance man, leonardo da vinci (april 15, 1452 - may 2, 1519), italian scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer. he has served as an inspiration to so many people in so many fields, and he never once let himself be held back by doubt or fear.

a year in the life of a husband and wife

we got married in april 2007 (it was the best wedding ever, and the best decision i ever made)... we went on our amazing honeymoon to paris... we visited my best friend carolyn in boulder, then spent a week in pitkin with alan's parents and grandmother... one of my best friends became a mrs. (in cyprus, and sadly, we couldn't go )... we celebrated the 4-year anniversary of our first date (think messy, messy lettuce wraps at p.f. changs, a bottle of wine, and watching lilo & stitch)...we went to fredricksburg and got the four-wheeler stuck in the mud for like a million hours (we also saw the biggest spiders in the history of ever and managed to ruin two perfectly good pairs of shoes before aunt liz and cooper rescued us from our mucky doom)... we survived alan's ten-day trip to china (the most time we'd ever spent apart in our four years together. it was so so hard but we made it!)... we went to our fifth redskins game together (unfortunately, another L for our favorite team)... another one of my best friends got married (and i got to be a bridesmaid with two of my other best friends!)... i went vegetarian and alan stopped drinking cokes... we went to the state fair and ate corn dogs and drank coke (oops!)... we celebrated our first married halloween... first married thanksgiving... first married christmas (yes we are silly and we get pretty excited about all the "first-married" everythings)... our redskins beat the cowboys in the last game of the season and got a wildcard spot in the playoffs...joe gibbs retired... we survived birthday month (barely)... we graduated to a grown-up vaccuum... the giants won the superbowl... we celebrated our first married valentine's day (with sushi of course!)... my mommy retired... we stood in line forever to vote in the primary... we survived the great blizzard of '08... we finally finally finally got our fancy new tv (finally finally finally)... alan went on a boys-only ski trip with his dad and brother... we drove down to galveston and got on a boat bound for mexico to celebrate our very first year in the life of a husband and wife.

so today is our first birthday, if you will... i can't even believe it's already been a year! and such an eventful one too... but the thing is, it's not about the trips, or the holidays, or the parties. it's about every moment of every day - it's about sunday morning walks, and watching tv together, and laying on the floor talking about nothing, and holding hands, and going to the grocery store, and harassing the cat... it's about having your best friend by your side, to love you and support you, to make you laugh and make you smile, always and forever, no matter what.

disney songs

okay. i don't know if i really even need to write anything on this subject.

is there anybody out there who doesn't know every single word to every single song of every single disney movie they ever saw? can you even watch a disney movie without singing along to every song? amazing, isn't it, that you can go ten years without seeing the little mermaid and then the second ariel starts singing "look at this stuff..." the words come right back to you and you're all about it? (let's not kid ourselves, i could never go ten years without watching the little mermaid.) and the same goes for sleeping beauty, aladdin, and beauty and the beast, and the lion king. just try not to burst into song when princess jasmine and aladdin are flying around on that magic carpet singing "a whole new world."

happy birthday to peabo bryson (april 13, 1951), the american r&b and soul singer who is best known for soft rock ballads and disney duets.

the only love i'll ever need

well, by now you all know that i'm a sucker for sappy love songs, and as alan and i get closer and closer to our first anniversary, it only seems fitting to post another one.

this one is by today's birthday boy, country music singer-songwriter vince gill (april 12, 1957).

the only love

lying here in this sleepy town

listening to the sun go down

the only one who hears the sound is you

you look at life so wild and free

i love the way you smile at me

the only love i'll ever need is you

i need you to start a clear blue mornin'

i need you at the end of a long hard day

never see you wear a frown

blues don't even come around

the only love I've ever found is you

we don't go much of anywhere

sunday church and county fairs

the world looks good from these rocking chairs

it's true

be my woman, i'll be your man

we'll go through life hand in hand

all i want to understand is you

never see you wear a frown

blues don't even come around

the only love I've ever found is you

happy birthday to me!

today is my birthday! you may sing to me.


how lucky am i that i get to spend my birthday on a beautiful cruise ship with my amazing husband on our way to mexico to celebrate our first wedding anniversary?

other fabulous people celebrating birthdays today are: singer joss stone(1987), baseball player mark teixeira(1980), actress jennifer esposito(1973), and baseball player jason varitek(1972).

now i should probably get back to the pool and see if i can get my hands on some birthday cocktails...

video games

whenever couples come over to our apartment, the boys inevitably end up playing video games. specifically, madden (ladies, if you don't know what i'm talking about, consider yourself blessed). it's a little bit annoying but at the same time it's really kinda cute to see grown men sitting on the floor and being completely absorbed in a fake football game. plus, it gives us girls some time to talk about purses/shoes/weddings/food/babies/manicures.

happy birthday to john madden (april 10, 1936), the face and voice of american football.

p.s. we're leaving for our anniversary-moon cruise today!!! bon voyage to me!

handbags

my twentieth birthday present to myself was a ridiculously expensive purse. a limited edition louis vuitton cherry blossom pochette that i had to call fifteen different neiman marcus stores to even put my name on a waiting list to sit around and wait to see if i would even get. i remember the day i got the call - i was on my roommate's bed while she was no doubt doing some sort of graphic design homework and they called to tell me that they had gotten 8 bags in at their store and that i was the eighth name (!) on the list. my roomie came with me to the mall and i swear my heart was pounding like crazy the whole time!

it's a little bit wrong, i think, that a handbag can inspire so much passion and anxiety in a girl.

and also that i, as a college student, spent almost $500 on a single tiny purse. i mean, it barely holds chapstick*.

but i loved her. still do. and my mother lovingly refers to her as the "grand-purse."

(i guess it runs in the family...)

*this is a lie. it actually holds chapstick and lipgloss, my phone, some cash and credit cards, and also keys (as long as you don't have too many keys or a really big keychain).

today's birthday boy is american fashion designer marc jacobs (april 9, 1963), who is also the current creative director for louis vuitton.

good girlie movies

i love a good chick flick. and pretty much any movie with a princess in it. i just watched enchanted this weekend - it was so cute!

then there are the classics: the little mermaid, the princess bride, clueless, romy and michelle's high school reunion, pretty woman, bridget jones' diary, say anything, steel magnolias, ghost, fried green tomatoes, sleepless in seattle... whether you need a good laugh or a good cry (or to sing "under the sea" at the top of your lungs), you know you can get it from a good girlie movie.

today's birthday girl is dallas-born actress robin wright penn (april 8, 1966), who played princess buttercup in the princess bride and jenny curran in forrest gump.

cereal

if i had to pick one food to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for the rest of my life, it would be cereal. many people have told me that this makes me crazy. but there is something so perfectly...perfect about a bowl of cold cereal with milk (soy, of course)! i am the happiest little girl in the world when i'm sitting on the couch with a big bowl of yummy cereal.

today's birthday boy is will keith kellogg (april 7, 1860 - october 6, 1951), founder of the kellogg cereal company. apple jacks. corn pops. honey smacks. froot loops. cracklin' oat bran. frosted flakes. rice crispies. raisin bran. mini wheats. thank you, mr. kellogg!

scrubs

scrubs is so good. and it's always on. always!
i always forget how funny and good it is until i randomly catch an episode, and then after thirty minutes i realize i haven't stopped laughing and i feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
anyway.

happy birthday to zach braff (april 6, 1975), who happens to play j.d. on scrubs and is also the genius behind garden state.

nerd-dom

celebrating his 56th birthday today is actor mitch pileggi, best known for his role as special agent walter skinner on the show that defined my middle school existence, the x-files.

i had an x-files birthday party one year. it was awesome. my mom made glow-in-the-dark alien feet and put them up everywhere. there was caution tape on the front door and a plastic fox mulder on my cake.

also, my best friend and i painted our fingernails green and went to an x-files convention.

oh yeah. that's how i rolled.

poetry

for your enjoyment, a poem written by today's birthday girl and all-around incredible woman, maya angelou (april 4, 1928):

touched by an angel

we, unaccustomed to courage

exiles from delight

live coiled in shells of loneliness

until love leaves its high holy temple

and comes into our sight

to liberate us into life.

love arrives

and in its train come ecstasies

old memories of pleasure

ancient histories of pain.

yet if we are bold,

love strikes away the chains of fear

from our souls.

we are weaned from our timidity

in the flush of love's light

we dare be brave

and suddenly we see

that love costs all we are

and will ever be.

yet it is only love

which sets us free.

famous do-gooders

i'm not big into celebrity gossip and paparazzi craziness, but i do love to hear about it when celebrities (and other ridiculously rich people) do good things with their extra time and money... i think when you've been so blessed the only thing to do is share and give what you can (hello, karma?). and that goes for non-celebrities too, naturally. (p.s. if you want a daily dose of celebrity-induced warm fuzzies, you should definitely check out ecorazzi.com.)

today's birthday girl and celebrity do-gooder is doris day (april 3, 1924). this american-born actress and singer is also a noted animal rights activist! she co-founded actors and others for animals, she actively promotes the humane society's annual spay day, and she has lobbied congress in support of legislation to protect animal rights.

soul music

today's birthday boy is marvin gaye (april 2, 1939 - april 1, 1984), who was one of the most influential artists of the soul music era. he made some damn good music in his lifetime and because of that he won two grammies.

you can't tell me that you don't dance and sing along when his songs come on the radio - "how sweet it is (to be loved by you)," "i heard it through the grapevine," "ain't no mountain high enough," "let's get it on," and "sexual healing" to name a few. of course, i can't hear "i heard it through the grapevine" without images of the california raisins popping into my brain, but that's good stuff and you know it.

my birthday month!

january was the longest month ever... and now, suddenly, it is april!

april, incidentally, is the best month there is.

why, you ask? because it's my birthday month, of course!

many fabulous people other than myself were also born in april, and thusly, i will share some of them with you daily for the entire month of april.

today: sean taylor (april 1, 1983 - november 27, 2007)

sean taylor was an incredibly talented football player who played for the university of miami before being drafted by the washington redskins in 2004. tragically, he was killed in 2007 when he was shot by an intruder in his miami home.

(sorry - i know that's kind of a bummer, but i think when he died, it really reminded me to live my life while i can, and live it the best way that i can. i mean, he was born ten days before me. he had so much potential and such a bright future, and it was all taken away just like that. it could happen to anyone.)