Cancel TV to Pay Pee-Wee

I just bought 4 tickets to see Pee-Wee Herman LIVE on Broadway. The cheap seats totaled $300, but (so what!) who cares, it's PEE-WEE. Harnessing the powers of The Secret, I switched my desktop picture to this yesterday afternoon: Spooky, right? The coincidence, not the photo - the photo's awesome.

Related: I canceled cable today so I could "save money".

Moving Day: Update!

The day I helped my friend move, I met another friend of hers who lives right across the street from her new apartment. He helped transport some of her "goods". We realized that we work for companies that are related to each other, so we've been emailing for business and friend purposes. He sent me a box of goodies yesterday that he just had "lying around" the office. I want to work in an office that has these items just hanging out:

Star Trek shoes by AIRWALK
Star Trek "Warp Speed" Clock The complete I Love Lucy Series, which is my FAVORITE show ever. I already own this, so this may make its way to an online retailer!

And, not pictured, the entire Beverly Hills, 90210 series which I promptly put in my bag and took home last night to watch! He also sent some America's Next Top Model gear (which had me smizing!) and the entire Twin Peaks collection. I will gladly port around 10 pogo dicks to have such a great present show up in my office again!

School Daze

I've been in an elementary school twice in the last two days.
The first time was last night for an event put on by Found Magazine. My friend at work had been helping the creator, Davy Rothbart, order books for his events and it turns out they’re both from Ann Arbor, MI. He put her on the list plus one. At the end of the event, we went up on stage to introduce ourselves to Davy. He asked if we wanted to go out later with him and friends, so we ended up going for drinks at Niagara on the Lower East Side.
Within seconds of showing up at the bar, we found Davy and one of his friends introduced himself to us. “Hi, I’m Steve,” he said. I don’t remember what I said, but in my head it went like this: Holy shit, you’re Steve Buscemi and you’re gripping my hand.
We were also introduced to the guy who heads up the New York side of Found, James. The world being small and all, I’ve met James before. We met two years ago when I was on an awful date - not with James. It was a blind date in every sense of the word. The guy had gone to a Dan Deacon concert the night before and his glasses were smashed during the dancing. He said, “I THINK you’re attractive, but I can’t really see you.” Anyway, we were walking down the street together, he bumped into James, who is his neighbor, and the three of us went to the now-defunct comedy show Invite Them Up at Raffifi.
After awhile we left Niagara and went to some bar with a pool table. I played pool with a guy named Scorpion, I believe. But, I realized it was 3:30 am and I knew I had to go home because I had to volunteer this morning to play team sports with kids at the elementary school down the street from my apartment. I woke up at 9 am (I may or may not have been a little drunk still), looked in the mirror and it was ROUGH.
I didn’t take my make-up off before I went to bed and had mascara everywhere, I woke up in the same shirt I was wearing yesterday and at some point in the night, my friend grabbed a pen and wrote “I Love U” on my chest (to which I replied via pen: Don’t go chasing H2O-falls) and it wouldn’t come off. So, my second time in an elementary school in two days wasn’t my finest. I just really hope when we started playing tag, dodgeball and basketball, I didn’t smell like booze.

Outlook Not So Good

Next Monday night I set up my first appointment with a therapist. Nothing too dramatic to address on the Internet (I'm fine, I'm FINE, ok?), I've just never talked to a neutral party about any issues before. My work gives eight free sessions: you locate a doctor, get an authorization number and confirm your appointment.
Now, I'm a VERY organized person. I love post-it notes, file folders and label makers. I use my Outlook calendar for work and social appointments, in addition to my cell phone and a datebook I have with me at all times.
After a very stressful week working a gift fair for work, I came into the office with a full voicemail box and one message from my soon-to-be therapist. "Ah, yes, please call us back regarding your February 2nd appointment with [name redacted]." I called back immediately - as a very organized and "together" person would - and they had the nerve to tell me I never phoned them back to confirm my appointment.
I thoroughly explained to them all the steps I had taken to make the date (including my appointment confirmation number!) and it didn't matter to them. "Could you come in at lunchtime?" "I don't take lunches," I said. "How about February 9th? Could you come in at lunch then?" "I don't TAKE lunches!" I said, losing my patience. "Well, we will call you on February 3rd to confirm if [name redacted] can meet with you after work on February 9th." This is where I lose it.
I'm so tired that I just start crying on the phone, "You mean I have to call you to confirm if I MIGHT have an appointment and I had a confirmation number written in two places for my originally-confirmed appointment?"
I'm really hoping my new therapist isn't exercising some radical form of tough-love therapy. Don't you think the last thing you want to do to someone who needs to make an appointment with a professional is make them cry?

Rejuvenation Vacation

Last weekend, nine of my friends all went up to Bennington College in Vermont to stay in the alumni house. My friend went to school there, so we got to reap the benefits. I can't say much more than these pictures can, but spending the weekend in absolute fresh air, seeing stars, apple picking and petting goats was so beneficial for me. I rarely looked at the clock, and yesterday at work I thought I was exhausted, but I think I had just reached a new level of zen - a level I thought I could only experience while eating tacos del carbon from Del Taco.

Pumpqueens

Last night I had grand plans of going home, making a nutritious meal, going to the gym and watching the Vice Presidential debate. That all came off the rails rather quickly when I heard a bar in my neighborhood was serving not one, but two, kinds of pumpkin beer.

I LOVE the fall: the scarves, the flavors, the colors. (In fact, next weekend I'm going up to Vermont with some of my friends to take in all the fall glory; we rented a house and will wear sweaters, hike and apple pick. I can't wait.) So, my neighborhood fellow fall enthusiast and I decided to tour the flavors. We met up around 6:30 pm and I didn't get home until 3:45 this morning. It was a good night.

They ended up having three (!) different kinds of pumpkin beer. The first, Elysian Pumpkin, was pretty tasty but didn't really scream pumpkin deliciousness. The second one tasted like the brewer jammed his Thanksgiving table through a sieve and into a very festive bottle and named it Pumpking. King indeed. We raved about it so much, a married couple sitting next to us had to order it, too. Towards the end of the night, the bartender rolled out a new beer for us to try, the Smutty Nose Pumpkin Ale. I've had this before, and it's good, but nowhere near as good as our second beer as far as pumpkin-nicity goes. (Also, I may be in love with the bartender; every time he came to our side of the bar he called me "pumpkin" - that's all I want out of a relationship, really.)

We weren't planning on staying as long as we did, but with bellies full of pumpkin beer, we were having so much fun. And of course, they were setting up for karaoke. I know everyone says this, but I have the WORST singing voice. Really. Despite the handicap, my friend (who has a lovely singing voice) and I sang 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton, The Weight by The Band and I Love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Prior to last night, I have only done karaoke four times. I've always been an enthusiast (in junior high I used to go with my friends to a local pizza place just to watch people sing karaoke, cool, right?) but now I might have to become a regular performer.

We met some fun people, I fell in love, I ran into someone I never thought I'd see again, I met a dog named Cupcake and have a new number programmed in my phone labeled as "Poop" - overall, it was a great night with one of my best friends.

C'mon Get Happy

I need a quick reminder of what makes me happy. Monday was not my best day. After I saw my car's damage, I kicked into full "woe is me" gear. I cried in front of my boss, which is so tacky (and why a woman can't be president!), but in my defense he asked me how I was doing. We all know that is the worst question to ask when you're in a sour mood.

I've snapped out of it, with a little help from running this morning to get the endorphins going. But, here are a few things that have made me happy as of late.

Veggie Corn Dogs for dinner:

Sunday's Pickle Festival (check out the creepy glove action):

Hot Guys. On Bikes. Playing Polo:

This guy's jean cargo shorts:
A ferris wheel in the middle of a downtown New York street:

Re-reading one of my favorite books:

Progress

I can finally watch Love Actually without crying because I'm sad, but rather because I'm happy.