back in the saddle... with a little help.

Well, I haven't blogged in quite a while. No excuse, just haven't gotten around to it. Actually, I do have an excuse-- school. I have been so overwhelmingly overloaded with schoolwork, and it all dropped on me in this last week. The week before I was super busy planning The Boy's surprise birthday party, which came out wonderfully, without a single hitch. Then I pretty much rocketed into the next week, which was full of presentations and papers... but now I'm done. And I've found a handful of new blogs that just crack me up, so I feel like I've been re-inspired to blog on a regular basis. It IS getting towards the holidays, which is my favorite time of year... let's hope I can stick with it.

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while your blogging?
I am a perpetual snacker. It can be very dangerous for me to have snacks around me. It's not so much that I go for the junk food, rather that I just eat massive quantities of the healthy stuff I put together, which kind of cancels out the whole healthy part. I've been on a kick lately with pretzel rod dipping sticks and this Southwestern veggie dip that is nothing short of amazing. Sometimes Cheez-its, sometimes Triscuits... nothing too exciting.

2. What is one thing you don't want to live without?
Air conditioning. I may live in Boston now, but I am a Texan forever and always at heart, and Lord knows I need my air conditioning. Still to this day, if I go into a situation where there won't be air conditioning (which is a STAGGERING number of homes on the east coast), I mentally prepare myself and move as little as possible. I mean, the boyfriend's parents have AC but it has to be close to 90 for it to be turned on; the grandparents don't have it, period; everyone on my side of the family in Connecticut have window units. I've told The Boy that when we buy our first house someday, I won't pay it the slightest bit of attention unless CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING is at the top of the amenities list.

3. Beach, Mountains, or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice?
Hm... I am a pale, heat-phobic Southern girl, but I love the beaches on the East coast. There's always a breeze and it just feels so different from the Texas coast. I could handle the beach, especially in the winter-- the ocean against the rocks when it's so cloudy and cold is just super romantic to me. Mountains = hiking; Farm = sweat in the hay with animal smells. No thanks.

4. What's your least favorite chore/household duty?
Doing the floors. I'm super OCD about cleanliness in the bathroom and kitchen, and the bedroom is always put together, but when it comes to doing the floors, may it be mopping, sweeping, or vacuuming, I just cringe. Hate it. I'd rather sort, wash, dry, fold, and put away laundry all day and night than do the floors.

5. Who do people say you remind them of?
A lady on the train in Boston once told me that I reminded her of a young Brooke Shields, but I think that she might have been drunk-- I don't see it.

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying home with the fam?
Getting out every now and then is fun, but I am such a homebody at heart, it's not even funny. I'd much rather stay home on a Saturday and either cook all day or run errands then just hang out with The Boy at night.

7. What's your all time favorite movie?
A Christmas Story. I probably have 234 movies that I could say are my favorites, and most of them are holiday-related. Stepmom, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation... but A Christmas Story reigns above the rest. I love it. I crave it. I can recite it from beginning to end, with perfect timing. I get all tingly inside once November hits because I know that it won't be completely looked down upon if I pull the movie out.

The Boy claims he's never seen it, and we've never been together for more than 2 days during the holidays. He has no idea what he's in for.

8. Do you sleep in your make-up or remove it like a good little girl every night?
Definitely always take my makeup off. There are some nights, like last night, where I'm so gosh darn tired and fall asleep, but The Boy was wonderful and woke me up, saying something along the lines of "Hey, wake up. Go clean up or whatever you do." Ah, the romance. My biggest annoyance is my eye makeup. I'd live off of the makeup towelettes if they came anywhere close to getting the mascara off of my eyes, but I always have to go the extra step with eye makeup remover. Ah, well-- all in the name of beauty.

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn? What is it?
I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano for some reason. I played the cello and clarinet when I was younger (so fabulously cool, I know), but there's just something so classic and beautiful about the piano.

10. What's one strange thing you're really good at?
I swear I have a part of my brain (probably the part that should retain the theories for my mathematical thinking class) that is devoted strictly to celebrity gossip, specifically celebrity babies. While some may be able to shoot off facts and trivia about movies, I can give the full name and a description of a celebrity's child/children. Not in a creepy way; they're just so darn cute! Also, and I should probably not be sharing this, but I can pick things up with my toes. Literally. Freaked The Boy right out the first time he saw it. Ah well-- welcome to living together!

11. What first attracted you to your spouse?
Well he's just The Boyfriend right now, but I'd have to say his sense of humor... and then his eyes. He has pretty fabulous greenish-hazel eyes.

12. What is something you love to smell?
A fresh cut Christmas tree. Home when my mama's had a pot roast in the oven. Fresh baked bread, for sure.

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people.
I get really distracted when I tell stories, like completely forget where I was going with the story from when I started. I can also be very OCD and organized about things, which can be a positive but can also just irk people right up the wall.

14. When you have extra money, what's the first thing you think to do with it?
I'd have to say I head towards the mall-- Ann Taylor Loft has been my soft spot lately.

15. Are you a silent laugher or a loud laugher? What makes you laugh the hardest?
Silent. Really silent. Even when I have tears rolling down my face, I swear no sound comes out. The Boy can make me laugh harder than anyone.

16. Where is your favorite place to shop?
Ann Taylor Loft, Gap

17. What is one thing you would do more often if you had more time?
Either read or go to the gym. I make it to the rec center at school, but I'd love to just have an open schedule to make it to all of the classes that I like so much, which are obviously earlier than the times that I manage to get in there.

18. Are you a big spender or frugal?
Before I lived alone, I was for sure a big spender... cause I wasn't spending my money. Now that I live on my own and have all of the big girl responsibilities... I would have to say I'm more frugal.


19. Who is your favorite character of all time? (from a movie or a book, can't be real)
Perhaps Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

20. Would you want to be famous?
I'd love the perks of being famous (um, hello vacations and free clothes!), but the loss of privacy just wouldn't be worth it.