Today is T-minus 100 Days until our wedding.
100 Days is a funny thing. We had a 100 Days 'till Graduation party in college. It was epic:
Some of the boys I lived with Freshman year. Chris, Glenn & Jar.
Me with my gbf Seth, my favorite shortie Jen, and our friend Aida.
Reasons why this is the most ultimate Dance Party Friday. This video contains numerous things actors and/or references that automatically make it awesome just for referring to said things.
Last night I got a call from my friend Matt at around 6:15.
Any chance you can be at Broadway and 45th by 8:00 for a premiere?A friend of his is the assistant to a Broadway Producer and scored him some comped tickets for one or two of the shows opening this week. At first I wasn't really interested in schlepping into the City so I took all the info down and called one or two of my friends who live in Manhattan and asked them if they were interested.
Mr Grey! I have your ticket!Who else strolls up but Joel Grey.
Describing life in the footlights from an actor's point of view, A Life in the Theatre focuses on the relationship between two thespians: Robert, an older, experienced performer; and John, a relative newcomer. Though Robert's guidance is welcomed by John at first, as the play progresses Robert falters as an actor and mentor, and John emerges as a mature actor. Mamet was inspired to write A Life in the Theatre by what he had observed backstage as well as by his own experiences in his early career as an actor.Really a wonderful production. I highly recommend it if you've ever been involved in theater or if you're even just interested in theater.
On Saturday I participated in the mp3 Experiment. Originally I was going into the City to visit my friends James and Glenn and see their new apartment on the upper east side. Plus James had to help me fix something on my laptop and he's pretty much been my IT Savior since college so I lugged my backpack around NYC all day.
I met Matty and his roommate for lunch since they were in town to see a show and it's been awhile since I've seen him. Then I made my way uptown to James and Glenn's.
The weather could not have been more perfect on Saturday by the way, it was breezy and cool but sunny. Ideal City weather.
Met James's friend Laura and he fixed our computers and then we got ourselves together and packed our bookbags with things we needed for the mp3 Experiment and headed back down to Grand Central.
The instructions for this year's Experiment were to download the mp3 and load it onto your device without listening to it (of course James listened to it beforehand because he's James), be in a certain part of NYC at a certain time and hit play exactly at 6pm, pack a bag with a roll of toilet paper, a marker, two 8.5"x11" pages with letters on them, and a gift for someone. They suggested something you had lying around your house that you no longer want and someone else might find useful. Laura wrapped up a tape measure, I wrapped up a pair of American flag sunglasses left over from the Party in the USA, and James wrapped up a copy of Windows Vista he wasn't ever going to use.
The instructions were that you should start out in a retail store somewhere between Park and 8th Ave from 39th to 42nd. We were running a little late and met our friend Sara in Quicksilver in Time Square. The store was PACKED with people plugged into headphones.
And then we all started slow dancing with an inanimate object. Almost the entire store was part of the Experiment. Those who weren't really had no clue as to what was happening and looked a little freaked out.
Then we took to the streets and freaked people out further by freezing in place for a good minute. We continued to wander around the streets first pretending to be in a marching band, then doing silly walks. Finally we picked a stranger and followed behind them forming as long a single file line as we could mimicking what they were doing. Once that was done we gave as many strangers high fives as we could to show them that we're "fun people" and that they shouldn't be scared of us.
From there we moved onto Bryant Park because the Improv Everywhere narrator Steve was waiting for us. According to his brother Mark who was narrating for us in Steve's stead, it was Steve's birthday on Saturday and Mark was throwing him a surprise party in Bryant Park but Steve was already there and he was all alone.
We crept into Bryant Park, thoroughly confusing everyone who was already there and when Steve turned to look we ducked under tables and chairs and hid behind trees. All at once we jumped up and "Surprised!" Steve. From there we took a speed lap around the gravel track, which proved to be hilarious since half of us were going the opposite way and we had to turn around when we ran into the other half of the group.
on our map. I overheard someone saying, "That's in Africa right?" *facepalm*
After the gift exchange we pulled out our rolls of toilet paper and Steve informed us that we were going to have a mummy dance party but first we had to get ready.Okay so there is no dancing here today per-say. But I am totally doing a little dance in my chair right now and I'll tell you why!
You all know that I love nerds. You all might realize at this point that I'm quite the nerd myself. So when I tell you that there's a Web Series that I love because it's about nerds I doubt you'd be shocked.
It's called The Guild and it is quite possibly one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It's a show written by Felicia Day about a group of people who play "The Game" aka WOW and are in a Guild together. The first season is all about them meeting out of game and becoming friends. The second season is a character developer. The third season tears them all apart and introduces a rival Guild and the fourth season has thus far been quite the gem.
Wil Wheaton (who I've loved since Star Trek: TNG) popped up as the leader of the rival Guild in season three and becomes a fake love interest for Felicia Day's character. One of the guys in the show who has been in love with her from the start gets this incredible piece of art done for her to show he supports their relationship 110%:
First of all, let's just talk about this image: It is GOLD.
This is like trashy romance novel cover art at it's BEST. (And we all know how I love those!) The original artwork is done by a man named Greg Aronowitz who I just want to kiss because this tickles me THAT MUCH.
Also, because I'm a dork I follow Felicia Day on twitter and after that episode aired I tweeted at her that they should totally produce the "Highland Sextasy" image as a poster. Apparently I wasn't the only person who asked for it because low and behold just yesterday she said:
feliciaday: FINALLY! Per demand: Thanks to our friends at @thinkgeek - Team Cawkes poster now available to purchase! http://bit.ly/cawkes
I cried when I saw this. Cried from laughing. I miss RPI, especially RPI Hockey. And I think I've mentioned before how much I love Puckman...
Hey, hey you. Check out my sister's new blog!
From Torts to Tortes!
Yeah, she's clever like that.
I've mentioned before my love of shoes but I don't believe I've ever mentioned my complete and utter love of purses. I've always loved bags, but I never really cared about what I carried with me. In high school I lugged around an ugly tote I found at the bottom of my mother's closet or on occasion a silly purse that was in style at the time.
In college I carried purses rarely. It was mostly just a backpack and if I went out shopping I'd shove some money into a tiny card case with my ID and run out the door. It wasn't until junior year I actually started caring about carrying a purse. Only one other thing coincides with that...
Laura.
My best friend, I love her dearly, but she created a monster.
Since we moved in together her girliness seeped into my life. I cared more and more about what type of clothes I was wearing and the bag I was carrying.
I went through a few months of junior year destroying cute bags I bought for $20 at Target, Walmart, Mandee, etc. and then I realized it really was time to invest in a quality bag that would withstand a beating and stay with me for a long time. I figured if I was killing two or three $20 bags every couple of months, why not just spend $100-200 on a fine quality bag that would really survive?
Laura...again.
She's quite obsessed with bags, and at that moment in time her love was Coach (they go through a love-hate relationship). So we drove out to the Outlets in Lee, MA and I scoured the store and left with a beautiful camel leather bucket tote/swing bag. It was so pretty and I love fine leather so much. At first I wasn't interested in that particular bag but I kept coming back to it on the shelf so I knew it was meant to be.
Since then I've been a wreck. Not only have I bought numerous other Coach purses, but I have quite the collection of bags from other stores like NY&Co., Express, Vera Bradley, and other slightly pricier stores.
It's gotten so bad that I have an entire suitcase full of purses hiding under my bed. I'm a mess.
But I actually use every single one of them...I swear! I rotate through them and each and every one of them from the houndstooth clutch to the giraffe spy bag get face time.
That doesn't mean I don't still want more.
I have a problem.
Jason was concerned. More like, Jason can't possibly comprehend why someone needs so many bags. And I finally realized it one day awhile back when a girl I was working with at BBW was re-telling a conversation she had with a customer. (Back story, my co-worker and the customer were both slightly bigger girls.) Basically they were talking about shoes and bags and the customer say something along the lines of, "Well I can't fit into all the popular trendy clothes, but my shoes and bags are always fabulous."
And that really hit home with Michelle and I. I'm not enormous, but I lug around a little extra poundage so I completely understood the not being able to find super trendy cute clothes in my size and reverting to accessories to keep things classy. Therein lies the root of my problem.
But I digress.
In April I went on a ban. I bought an oversized tote to use for our trip to Florida in May because my old bag had deteriorated and I needed something to carry onto the plane with me. But after that I promised Jason (and myself) that I would spend no more money on purses for the rest of the year.
I have done AMAZING.
My mother bought me a purse at the Coach Outlet in Tannersville, PA this summer but a gifted purse is not a break on the ban.
Yesterday I was at Woodbury Commons and I was forced to go into Coach. And when I say forced I mean I literally had two things in hand that were not mine and I had to return/exchange for my mother/aunt since we don't live near any outlets.
It.was.difficult.
What is this power purses hold over me? I don't know, but going to the outlet and walking out empty handed (well with my aunt's exchanged purse) was sad. I know I don't need a new swing pack for easy hands free shopping but I want a new one because I dislike the one I currently own. I might wind up making a purse exchange with Laura because she was interested in getting a swing pack so next time I see her we might swap my swing pack for something of hers she intends to sell on eBay but honestly?! What is my deal?
In a 'round a 'bouts way of saying it, I've only really come to this realization because the wonderful Winona over at DaddyLikey (who's coming out with a book!!!) is having a delightful purse giveaway. Do I want a free purse? HELL YES! After spending the weekend watching everyone around me buy purses I totally am feeling the squeeze of the ban but definitely don't want to give in and purchase one myself.
Basically Ms. DaddyLikey herself is giving away two free bags from HandBagHeaven and I totally want one! Do you? All you have to do is visit DaddyLikey and tell whether you're a purse slut or you're more of a "settle down with a nice purse" type. Obviously I am both, but lean more towards the purse slut side of things...
If I win the giveaway, it will be a hard decision between the glorious blue skinny tote/satchel up top or this lovely faux snake skin clutch/swing pack right here. Both are pretty enough to pet.
I am literally all a flutter!
My cousin Dave scored tickets to a U2 concert at Giants Stadium and of course in typical Dave fashion, forgot all about me and the fact that I thoroughly enjoy U2 and all things Bono.
Cue to last night as I'm about ready to pass out like an old lady at 9:00 and lo and behold a txt from Dave asking me if I want to go to the rescheduled concert Wednesday night.
Do I ever!?!
Apparently the concert was scheduled for a weekend and then pushed to hump day and one of Dave's friends couldn't make it...well I sure as hell won't let that ticket go to waste even though I'll be a zombie at work on Thursday.
I was tentative only because of the price and how I'm trying not to spend any money at all but since Dave already paid for them and I suppose I can pay him in installments over the next few months I guess $120 isn't an awful price to see one of my favorite bands EVER. It's about how much I paid to see The Who in like 10th grade at MSG and we were in the nosebleeds. And these tickets for tomorrow night are 3 row mezzanine with a circular stage...they have to be good!
I'm so excited!!!
Bono!!!
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I have an impossible dream.
Perhaps not impossible but definitely improbable.
I want to be a published author. Despite my ramblings and awful syntax here at Persnickety Penny I do have a way with words, I always have. I love to write things. Poems, short stories, haiku, novellas, novels, even a children's picture book!
They all sit in my hard drive mocking me. I guess my main issue is fear. What if someone reads something I've worked so hard on and hates it. They turn around and tell me I am a horrible writer and all I can do is believe them?
Awhile back I wrote (for realz) a children's book. My dad has been pushing me and hinting that I should get it published. Maybe this holiday season I should hunker down and actually illustrate it properly and then send letters out come the new year to see if I can get it published sometime in 2011.
Other than that thrilling picture book I typically just write trashy romance novels, you know, the ones I love to read. But I'm still hesitant. Even though characters are made up there's still a lot of personal things I put into each and every story. I suppose I'll just have to get over myself and just do it.
So I guess I should have put this on my 101 things list. It has been a dream of mine for a long time but it got pushed to the wayside when other things in my life became more important. I guess I really only thought about it because the amazingly wonderful Winona over at Daddy Likey is getting published. Granted she's already a writer and actually does it for a living and I am but a lowly wannabe but maybe, just maybe her exciting news was the spark I needed to light the fire under my ass.
Plus how sweet would it be if on a job application I could write that I was a published author...pretty sweet I say.
