She's Okay

About 3 (4 maybe) weeks ago, roomie Lauren had a bit of car accident. She hydroplaned on some wet leaves and crashed into a couple of trees. And thus began 3 weeks of being carpool buddies until she went home for Thanksgiving and drove back with a new(ish) replacement car. I didn't mind driving her around, I kind of enjoyed it since I like her and it meant having a buddy almost everywhere I went.

About a week after the accident, she borrowed my car ("Can I borrow your car?" "Please don't wreck it. We're down to just this one.") and went to the tow yard to get her things out of her totaled car. She took some pictures of the damage and showed me when she got home.

Now she had told me the car was totaled but I thought she might be exaggerating a little for dramatic effect. How bad can it be if she just slid into some trees going 35 mph?


See? Not so bad. Sure the airbags deployed but the interior cabin wasn't even damaged. Doesn't look so bad. Lauren, really, I think you might have overstated...


HOLY SHIT! Are you okay? Are you sure it doesn't hurt? Really? You're okay? Where did the front of your car go? I see your car is a V6. Oh and that looks like a headlight. Or maybe the engine? Can I hold you and rock you while we both silently cry? Holy belooza. That does not look good.

Luckily, she survived, although if you just saw the picture and not the girl, you might have your doubts. Not a scratch on her except a slight burn on her arm from the airbag going off and a bit of a seatbelt bruise. She's okay. And she has a replacement car so she's good to go. But I'm going to miss my little carpool buddy. I'm really, really glad she's okay.

Life and Lists: Two of My Favorite Things

UPDATE: This list has adapted and grown and been taken much more seriously and can now be found here.

I've been thinking a lot lately about things that need doing. Which leads to thinking about things I want to do. Because that's usually a lot more fun. I read the blog of Mighty Girl pretty regularly and she keeps/has kept a running Life List of things she wants to do before her doing is done. Recently, the coolest thing that can possibly happen to a person happened to her and Intel offered to sponsor her Life List. She got a certain amount of time to cross as many things as possible off her list, their treat. I don't know how many good karma points you have to rack up for something like that to happen to you, but I'm pretty sure it starts with putting your hopes and goals and dreams out there. Giving them a voice so the universe can hear. That's the first step. I think everyone should have a Life List and I think everyone should write it down, refer back to it, update it, make time for it, check things off. I plan to do just that. So off the top of my head, subject to updating, here's the very beginning of my list, in no particular order:

1. Have a family
2. Own a home
3. Swim with dolphins
4. Zip lining
5. Parasailing
6. Pay off student loans/be debt free
7. Travel:
UK
Phuket, Thailand
Australia
Ireland
South Africa (again)
everywhere, really
8. Write the book/story/bio that my Pawpaw asked me to before he died
9. Take up/learn photography
10. Own a bakery
11. Name a daughter after my grandma
12. Watch a baseball game in ever Major League ballpark
13. Make it so my mom never has to worry about money
14. Road trip across the U.S.
15. Host a grown-up slumber party with all of my friends
16. Run(ish) a marathon
17. Do a pull-up
18. Develop/write my own recipes from scratch
19. Write a cookbook (doesn't have to be published, can be just for me)
20. Build the kitchen of my dreams
21. Learn to change the oil in my own car
22. Make a pie completely from scratch (crust and all)
23. Own a Le Creuset Dutch oven
24. Learn to do the things previously listed here

That's a good start.

Funny Thing About Dreams. They Cost Money.

So. Being a lawyer. Kind of frustrating. I have an application to the Culinary Institute of America sitting on my desk. It's calling my name. Saying inappropriate things like, "Put down that casebook. You could be elbow deep in pie crust and chocolate ganache and learning how to make cheese. What are you thinking?" Here's what I'm thinking, application to the Culinary Institute: you cost just as much as law school and the average starting salary of your graduates is less than what I was making pre-law school. And despite my best and never ending efforts, I cannot live on chocolate and batter alone. So I will just dream of you. When I'm bogged down in outlines and cases and trying to understand concepts for which there is no right answer, I will think about the smell of a flour-y bakery, fresh brewed coffee, All-Clad bakeware, marble countertops, and all the delicious recipes I can dream up. And then get back to the casebooks because someone has to pay for it all.

P.S. - Someone doesn't have to be me. In case you were wondering. I take cash and checks.

Where True Loyalties Lie. (I'll Give You A Hint. With Chicken.)

I have to provide a most unfortunate update to this post. Joe called me on Thursday to inform me he got called in to work and could not visit this weekend after all. He assures me this has nothing to do with forced pedicuring and that he will be here next week. Sure. Whatever. Did I tell you about the time he blew me off for BBQ chicken? And people wonder why we're not officially back together. To this day, whenever I bring it up, he gets a faraway look in his eye and says "...oh but it was really good chicken..." quickly followed by "you're stll bringing this up?" Um, yes. You skipped out on helping me baby-sit my cousins for chicken.

"It wasn't just for chicken! It was a cook-out with my friends!"

"What were they cooking?"

"Chicken."

I rest my case.

Also, I'd like to direct everyone's attention back here. Thank you.

Thought For the Day

When I have kids someday, I think what I'll miss most about my life right now is having "do I have to pee yet?" be my only factor in deciding when to wake up on weekends. Oh, glorious mornings when it's 11:00 am and and the answer is still no! I think I'll miss you most of all.

Dream the Impossible Dream

Ladies and gentlemen. I think I may have done the impossible. I think I may have talked the macho, manly, too cool for school Joe Randazzo into getting a pedicure with me. Why would you want him to do that, you ask. It's simple. Because he refused. There are lots of things I want him to do, not because it would mean anything to me, or because I have any particular reason for it, but simply because he has so adamantly refused to take part that I find myself unable to focus on anything else in life until I have talked him into it. It gives my life meaning. And this pedicure thing? This has taken years. If you know Joe, you will know why the idea of him in a pedicure massage chair, swirling his feet around in the jetted pedicure spa, while being pampered and massaged and luxuriated would give me such delight. And also because I have a sneaking suspicion he's going to love it. Kind of like the time he went to Kiehl's with me, said he didn't want any products, and then after very little encouragement, proceeded to have a 10 minute conversation with the absolutely flaming sales clerk about his sensitive skin. He left with $40 worth of products and a handful of free samples. Now he's a convert. So next weekend, when he comes to visit, we're going for pedis. And he's going to love it. And I'm probably going to take pictures. And use them as blackmail for the next thing I plan to talk him into. Oprah says once one of your dreams comes true, you have to dream a bigger dream. Oh, Joe, I am going to dream so big for you! And it may involve waxing. I'm so, so excited!