Music Overload. DVR Overload. Life Overload?

Confessions: Things I just can't seem to keep up with lately --

1. Music. There are so many new songs and albums out right now and I want all. of. them.

Taylor Swift's re-released Fearless album + new songs, Carrie Underwood, Glee - The Music! Tim McGraw, Kris Allen, MJ This is It, Jay-Z, John Mayer. . .ok, I'm too overwhelmed to continue. Why can't I keep up with music? Why do I wait until there are so many songs I want and decide to go on a buying spree?

2. DVR. Really. I am over-commited to TV. How is this possible?

Mad Men, Gossip Girl, OTH, House, GLEE! Grey's, The Office, The Good Wife, Vampire Diaries, Top Chef, Project Runway, FlashForward, SYTYCD, 90210, Greek. . .again, too overwhelmed to continue. I've always been able to keep up with my shows. I like my DVR like my email inbox. Everything watched / read and cleared out when I'm done with it. TV becoming overwhelming. Who would have thought?

3. Errands. Overload. You know, those life things that if you don't take care of them, no one else will? Yeah, I'm the worst at those.

I have about $50 worth dry cleaning being held hostage because I can't seem to get home before my dry cleaner closes. (Hey, at least I dropped it off!) I have 2-3 pairs of shoes sitting on my floor that I need to drop off at the Shoe Doc. The zipper on my puffy coat has been broken since April - have I yet to take it to the tailor? (yeah, Mom, I know...you told me) 3 bags of clothes from my latest closet clean-out also sitting on my floor that I need to take to Goodwill - it's only 1/2 a block away. I'm a mess.

4. Birthdays. There are just too many in October / November / December. I can't keep up! And it makes it harder when these gifts need to be mailed south in time for bday's. Stress.

Keith, Les, Berit, Shane, Mom, Angie, Kayla, Bethany, Casey, Dad, Jamie

5. Sleep. For the past few weeks I feel like I've had something to do / somewhere to be every night. And it keeps me up late. Clearly it's not the TV distracting me (see #2). I just can't seem to figure out why I'm so tired all the time. Can I blame blogging?

the little things

i usually talk to my mom everyday. maybe only for a few minutes, maybe about nothing in particular, but still, usually everyday.

she's been gone for the past week on this silly mini-vacay with my dad. and i was quite surprised to realized that i kinda missed our quick daily chats. over the past week there were so many things that i would have liked to tell her and couldn't. because she wasn't there to listen! you think i'm crazy don't you?

i typically will call her on my walk to the subway or on my way home from the gym - "hi. i'm on my way here. did you find out about this? how's that going? oh, and yesterday this happened..." - etc, etc, you see what i'm saying. so this week i found myself picking up my phone to call her, when i remembered that she wasn't there. it's a weird feeling not telling her whatever little random things i think of on a daily basis. totally throws me off. i don't like it.

AND today is mom's birthday. so i felt like this post dedicated to her was fitting for today. and also...

happy happy birthday mommy! i love you very much!

thanks for coming back from cruising so that i can talk to you everyday again. apparently i still like you to know where i am and what i'm doing. will i ever grow out of that? better question, do you want me to?

love!

home.

Today's post is brought to you as a Blog Carnival! A day organized by fellow blogger friends Elizabeth and Jamie to get a group of us to all write one post about the same thing. I'm excited to read what each one has to share, so be sure to check them out!

home. to me.

the way i see it, home doesn't have just a single definition. home represents so many things to me. things that i feel and believe, but are sometimes difficult to put into words. and home means something to everyone. home is a topic we can all write about and share something different. so here goes...

home is the house i grew up in.
it is a corner house in a small suburban city that always has cars parked out front. it's a front door painted a welcoming red, a backyard well-landscaped with flowers my mom loves and a playful miniature schnauzer running around. it's bright with sunlight and a hodgepodge of new furniture mixed with acquired antiques. home is the perfect picture of my mother's charm and is decorated with all the things that she loves. it's the fresh smell of laundry, a stack of dallas morning news on the kitchen table and the sound of dad's music playing. it's the hutch that my grandfather built, countless photos of our family and always has a front porch light on to guide me back. it is everything i love.

home is texas.
it is wide open spaces, an endless skyline, blazing hot summer sun and miles of open roads. home is southern accents, it's "y'all", friendly greetings and a place where foods just aren't quite the same as anywhere else. it's country music, cowboy boots and sunday school. it's an exceptional passion for football, an unprecedented level of state pride and for some reason, a place where everyone drives a truck. it is everything i love.

home is a feeling.
it is unexplainable comfort. it's the familiar sense of safety and it's completely carefree. home represents faith, hope, encouragement. it's dependable, it's secure and it's seemingly unchanging. home is sensible, it's understanding, it doesn't judge and it's always welcoming. it is laughter and happiness and filled with love. home is simple, it's contentment. it is everything i love.

home is my family.
it is my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, sister-in-law and niece, my aunts, uncles and cousins. it's spending time together, it's holiday's laughing, playing games and a lil heated competition. home is where dad cooks weekend breakfasts, mom falls asleep on the couch every time we watch a movie and my sister walks in my room to be sure I like her outfits or shoes. home just wouldn't be home without them there. they are everything i love.

home is new york.
it's the city where i've built my life. it's my cozy little apartment on the upper east side filled with everything i've acquired over the past 3 1/2 years. it's my 2 roommates who i love and depend on. it's a day-by-day adventure, a new restaurant every night, an unbelievable sense of independence. home is gallery church and the girls in my bible study. it's relying on best friends who help keep me sane. it's typically busy, it's frequently crazy, it's where i live. it is everything i love.

this is home. to me.
and it is everything i love.

Un. Be. Lievable.

I wish I could say that I had seen Taylor perform her opening monologue live last night, but sadly I can't. Because we didn't quite make it in. They only let about 27 people from the standby list in. Un. Be. Lievable.

So it was disappointing for sure. But no regrets. Because we still had a fantastic weekend. We're totally crazy for spending the night at Rock Center for tickets that may or may not get us in to a show. I mean, really, who does that?! But it was worth it and we wouldn't have done anything differently.

And if we would have gotten in, it would have been an amazing show. Or the live version that we watched at 11:30pm was anyway. (of course we had an SNL watching party after all this madness was over!) Taylor was pretty great. Her opening monologue was my favorite, but her Shakira impression was also quite hilarious.

By the time I stumbled home last night, I could barely hold my eyes open. It was a good weekend. An unbelieveably great weekend spent with some of my favorite friends. Regardless of the turnout, Mission SNL was quite the adventure.

Maybe I'll try again another time with a different host. I mean, you just never know when standby tickets could work in your favor!

Live From New York!

The Latest: We're still waiting!

Mission SNL is well underway. After a slight change in plans - and some stress - we ended up getting to Rock Center around 7ish last night. Armed with our cold-night survival necessities, we settled in our chairs, wrapped ourselves in blankets and furry hoods and proceeded to analyze our odds for success - without getting our hopes up too much of course.

We estimated that we were about 60 people back in line. Not ideal, considering we'd heard through our extensive SNL standby ticket research that chances for getting in are best when you're among the first 40ish people.

Nevertheless, we were still optimistic and decided to take our chances and stick it out! Hannah joined me and Jamie around 9pm, and Bethany came around midnight. The hours passed surprisingly quickly as we giggled our way through eavesdropping on surrounding campers, silly stories and our lists of top ranking candies - by category naturally. (for those who care, my list = Candy Bar - Baby Ruth, Chocolate - Junior Mints / Peanut Butter M&Ms, Non-Chocolate - Twizzlers)

Oh, and we revolutionalized pizza delivery by having Papa Johns deliver pepperoni pizza + diet coke to us at 49th and Rockefeller Plaza. Brilliant.

Let the fun begin!

12:30am - All bundled-up and settled in for the night!

3:30am - This is when we start getting delirious. The temperature dropped to 36 degrees and wind chill brought it down to 31. Frozen. And sleepy. Luckily Jamie read Harry Potter aloud to us - with voices.

6:25am - The final stretch! Countdown to 7am ticket distribution!

We ended up #42-#45 in the standby list for Dress Rehearsal. We're pumped. And we'll be back in line at Rock Center at 7:15pm sharp!

By 8am, I was home and warm in my bed. Dreaming of seeing Taylor live in a few short hours.

Wish us luck!

Mission: SNL

We have decided that tonight is the night we will spend the night at Rockefeller Center waiting in line for standby tickets to Saturday Night Live. Taylor Swift is this week's host AND the musical guest. And since we are already best friends after our Rolling Stone lunch, it seems only natural that we see her on SNL.

Seeing an SNL taping is one of those New Yorky things that you always talk about wanting to do, but never actually make plans to do it. So we're taking action. Mission SNL was determined and accepted by all. . .

. . .big plans for a Saturday Night Live weekend extravaganza. Big plans for future friendships with Taylor. Big plans for another New York adventure.

Check list of supplies for our camp out --

• Uggs
• Puffy Coat / Scarves / Mittens
• Blankets
  
• Chairs
  
• Snacks!
• DDP
• Magazines
• Harry Potter Book 7
• Camera

We're all set for our Night-o-30-Rock! Prepared to spend 12 hours outside in the cold, pulling an all-nighter, taking our chances for tickets and we're pretty optimistic about our chances. Wish us luck!

And in anticipation of tonight's adventure, I leave you with this little gem courtesy of Jamie this afternoon - "Get Excited."

Oh my, we are definitely excited.

Seriously Unfair

My parents are going on a mini-cruise this weekend. Unfair. They never go on vacation without me and Les. But this time they are. And they were pretty excited about it too. Unfair.

They left today. Carribbean Bound. They'll have sunshine. And ocean. And beach. And Mexico. And lots of fun. Without me. Unfair.

So hey, don't worry about me Mom and Dad. I'll just stay here. I'll go to work. And I'll be cold. I might not even have any fun, just out of principle. Unfair.

And they'll be off on a mini-vacay.

Seriously unfair!