I have had a lovely weekend, jam-packed with fun, friends, and sunshine! I got to hang out with Susan two times this week. We went to V-Spot to celebrate my graduation!

On Saturday morning, I baked a bundt cake, and I went to Aly's apartment. Aly was hosting Amy's birthday party. The theme was "Wigs n' Staches!" Surprisingly, I'd left ALL of my wigs in NJ. (This is a real bummer because I have a lot of wigs!) BUT, my lovely roomie, Alexandra saved the day by loaning me a lovely PINK wig. Amy herself provided the stick-on mustaches. We only wore the 'staches briefly because they didn't stick on that well. Still, they made for some interesting photos. :) Then, we all MADE and DECORATED kites! My kite was a squid. It had streamers hanging off it to resemble tentacles.

We voyaged to Prospect Park (in our wigs, not our 'staches) and attempted to fly our kites. We did not have much success with the flying part. I am thinking there must have been a small design flaw with the kites. We made many new friends who came and tried to help us fly our kites! it was very fun! 

After a long time spent in Prospect Park (it was soooo gorgeous out!), we returned to Aly's for bundt cake. We also played "Catch Phrase," which was very very fun! Amy opened her presents and she gave us all baby spider plants as party favors (so cute). All in all it was a fantastic and fun day! I really want to attempt kite making again!

On Sunday I hung out with Susan once more. We went on a nice walk and saw a different Farmers' Market than I am used to going to. They also had an Indie Craft Mart there. Very nice! It was another beautiful day. Hooray!

The rest of the day included me pretending to clean stuff. Later, Alexandra and I watched the first episode of Star Trek (the original series). Since seeing the new movie, Doris and I have decided to watch the original episodes in order. Alexandra (already a Trekkie) has joined us in our plan. We like Trek!

Happy birthday to Marilyn Monroe, who would have been 83 today.



We miss you. Even those of us you never met.

My mom is STILL in the hospital with the cellulitis infection in her arm!! I am bummed for her because she doesn't even FEEL sick; she just is very bored and there to be kept on the IV meds. If I didn't have so many stupid errands to do, I would have gone back to NJ to visit and hang out with her.

Yesterday was my dad's birthday, so I am sad he had a boring birthday! I called him up and said happy birthday, and told him we would celebrate this weekend.

On Friday I am departing with my parents to have a long weekend trip to Maine! They had planned the trip a while back, but recently invited me to come with them! I accepted and am excited to go!

It sounds like my mom will be out of the hospital in time to still go with us as planned. I hope so!!! It will also be extra fun for my mom to get away after being stuck in the hospital all of this time!

Anyway depending on when I get my substitute teaching application in, I will go home to NJ. Maybe this evening or tomorrow sometime.

In other news, I am AWAKE now (woke up at 5 AM) because a mosquito is in my bedroom and I can hear it buzzing around me and trying to eat me alive. It got me a bit hysterical, so I woke up. I think I might attempt to fall back asleep in a little bit... I was hoping I would see it and be able to kill it and get back to sleep. I did see it once, but I missed my chance! It's wild how something so teeny tiny could make me so crazy!!

dailybooth.com/gypsyallie
Welcome to my Daily Booth account! A picture of me (almost) every day. I'm trying it out to see if I like it.

It might be a little self-absorbed! Oh well, we shall see how it goes! If you have an account on Daily Booth (or if you decide to get one), please be my friend!

Off to:

* Help Aly prepare for her move
* Eat sushi
* Celebrate Jim's birthday

:)

Last week I enjoyed a DELIGHTFUL spring break. It was quite action-packed, though, and busy. Here is what I did.

1.) Spent 4 days in Georgia. My mom and I flew down and we helped to throw a baby shower for my cousin Ben and his wife Kelly! I also got to visit with my Grandma, my aunts and uncles, and see 18-month old little Sara (my cousin Max and his wife Kim's little one). It was areally nice time. I am also excited because I got to meet my cousin Lanie's fiance, Sean. They are getting married in June and I'll be going down to GA for the wedding, so it was great to meet him prior to the Big Day! I was also happy because I got to spend a lot of time with my cousin Katie.

2.) I spent one day in NJ with my mom and dad. My mom and I went shopping!

3.) THEN I had a massive Thesis Fest with Jaime. I spent 3 days and 2 nights at her house. We got a LOT of work done. We also did a lot of goofing around. We got some new FISH! My fish is a betta named Herman! Hers is a gourami named Jiesamfoek (they are named after our thesis advisor)!! As always it was a fun and productive Thesis Fest!

4.) Friday night we stopped thesis-ing and I met Paul (pgwfolc) and we went to see the movie "Coraline" in 3D! We both agreed it was really great, and even better that we got to see it in 3D! Hooray! It was also great to meet Paul, who has been my online friend for a long time, but we only just met this weekend!! We were friends through the Lois & Clark message board, so it was apropos to see "Coraline" together, since it features the vocals of Teri Hatcher (she did a great job)!

5.) On Saturday I had a SUPERFUN DAY that featured me doing NO WORK. First off, it was GorgeousWarmSunnyBeautiful out. It was also my friend Jim's birthday, and a week prior to Aly's moving day (she is moving to an apartment upstairs in her same building). Aly organized a get together in honor of Jim's birthday. I went to Aly's and waited with her while there was an open house in her apartment. Then we both went to brunch where we met Jim, Colter, and Amy. We had a GREAT brunch, then it looked like it was just going to be an overall great day. I ran home to get my computer (I actually THOUGHT I was going to work onmy thesis, but I was wrong!). I met Aly, Jim, Colter, and Amy for a secondary open house at Aly's, then once it was over we went to Prospect Park and I taught Amy how to hula hoop! Like me she was an adult beginner, and I certainly know how that feels! (See video in previous entry.) After the park hangout, Jim had to leave to go to a wedding (yes, on his birthday)! But I was invited to Jaime's 30th birthday FIESTA. So I called Jaime to see if I could bring three friends along and she said YES! So - me, Colter, Amy, and Aly went to Jaime's where we partied with her and her friends! It was super awesome - good food and drinks and fun and even a little Rock Band (I believe I sang "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Eye of the Tiger"). Now everyone knows I'm a diva. :) The night ended back at Aly's, where she game me and Amy some items from her giant "box o' beauty" (samples she gets from doing her beauty blogging). Amy drove me home and it was just nice getting to know her more (previously we were more like acquaintances, but now we are better friends!).

6.) On Sunday I met up with Susan. She was back from PARIS where she had been with BOB! Bob's still there, on tour, but they got to have a nice vacation together. So cool! I only saw Susan briefly, but she gave me a GIFT FROM FRANCE: a SQUID WHISK!!!!!! Seriously - it is so awesome!!!

7.) I went to NJ to visit Claire and new baby Helia!!! I brought the ingredients for Pasta Rustico (my dad's special pasta and sauce recipe). I cooked dinner for Claire, her hubby, and her pal Loren. The four of us had a nice dinner, and I did a good job making Rustico. My dad will be proud! Baby Helia is the cutest baby EVER. I got to NJ, and Loren just put this sweet cute li'l baby in my arms and I just couldn't believe how adorable she was. I could have just held her all day! (But then - who would have made the Rustico??) :)

8.) Today it was raining and nasty. Back to school! I looked forward to seeing the kiddies. They are fun and I actually do look forward to seeing them when it is Monday. I gave a presentation about my thesis tonight at class. Claire was a trooper and came to class! Her dad drove her in with Baby Helia because Helia needs to breastfeed very regularly. I think Helia enjoyed my presentation. I was just glad to see her two days in a row! So fun!

Anyway, things are busy but GOOD!

I am here in NJ. I got in around 12:30 to visit my mom and my aunt for their birthdays. Also, there was an extra surprise, because my cousin TJ also came! He came on his own and did not tell anyone (except for me) that he was coming! My mom and aunt were VERY surprised when he came around the back door!!!

On the bus ride to NJ, I finished reading The World According to Garp. I really enjoyed it and was utterly engrossed in it the entire time I was reading it (as I am with all of John Irving's books). However, it was certainly not my FAVORITE of his books. I have also read A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules, and I preferred both of them over Garp. I think what bothered me most was the graphic descriptions of violence; I found it to be pretty disturbing. Also, the unfaithfulness of the married characters was upsetting. Some of the violent scenes almost made my stomach feel ill! This is a true testament of the power of Irving's storytelling and command of language and characterizations and descriptions. Anyhow -- NOT my favorite of his, but definitely a good book.

Then, once in NJ, I went on a quick jaunt to AC Moore with my aunt to just pick up some yarn so that I could start a baby blanket for my cousin's baby. I will be going to a baby shower in April for my cousin and his wife. I really needed to get started on the blanket for it to be done on time. Today I did a SIGNIFICANT chunk of crocheting, so that was a good feeling!

I am having fun with TJ and the fam -- we ate dinner, had birthday cake, and played some card games. We watched SNL which is the only reason I am still awake! I think it is time for me to turn in!

Zzzzzz...

I feel like when I do a major cleaning project, it takes forever. Then, for like a week and a half, when people ask me what I've been up to, I'm like, "Oh, I've been cleaning." It doesn't seem like cleaning SHOULD take forever, but it does for me. That's because I stop and do random things while the cleaning is going on. I am very very nitpicky, which also makes a situation where I could be "cleaning" all day and my room still looks like a tornado hit it.

Today is one such day - I have been cleaning and to an outside person I think my room probably looks like I just shifted the mess from my floor to my bed (where there is now a big pile). HOWEVER, I have actually organized a great deal, but to the naked eye, this organization is not visible.

I have a journal/altered book I've been working on, and I save little things to put in it later on. I contained all the little things into a bag, and stopped to put some of the things into the actual book.

I made my General Piles of Mayhem into Organized Piles (craft supplies, stationery items, schoolwork stuff). The giant pile of schoolwork is now hidden in my bookshelf where it does not look unsightly any more.

I moved stuff off the floor so that I could Swiffer and vacuum.

I paused to work on my Pocket Shrine in honor of McNugget. It is coming out sooo cute. So far, I have replicated McNugget's environment in miniature. It's a baby Altoid tin covered in very fine blue glitter (water). At the bottom is some actual gravel from McNugget's tank, and a sprig of his favorite plastic plant (also a relic from his tank). McNugget himself will be represented by a fish magnet I have, I just have to repaint it in his color. The back of the tin shrine is covered in a collage of doodles I did of him during my grad classes. The front will be a photo of him, and the inside will have a saint.

Also while cleaning, I watched three Elvis movies ("Spinout," "Live a Little, Love a Little," and "Fun in Acapulco."), and I listened to two Mix CDs Doris made me. They are great!!

My goal for the day is to have the place actually look clean to an observer who is not me. I've been pretty embarrassed about the state of my bedroom to the point where I have not been letting people really look into it (and certainly have not invited anyone over).

I also need to pack for my Georgia trip! I will be leaving on Tuesday, and will be gone for one week! We'll spend a few days at my family's cabin, then we'll head to St. Simons Island for my grandma's birthday party!

I would love to accomplish more of Marty's blanket. I don't know -- I am kind of running out of hours in the day!

Tomorrow is Susan's birthday, so we are having brunch to celebrate her (and my) birthday! Then I am doing something with Marty later in the day, so it would be nice to not have to worry about packing for my trip tomorrow.

• 17:04 The birthday celebrations continue. This time with sushi and @alywalansky! #
• 20:38 I think it is time for a Cleaning Festival. #
• 22:32 I have just made the cutest, tiniest makeup kit. Has everything in it I need and it fits in a tin a Fossil watch came in! #
• 10:04 My bed was so warm and nice I could not get out of it. I feel like I was more motivated in the morning when I was freezing my butt off! #

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While I am working on the special project at the Brooklyn Museum's annex location, I have had to go into the actual Museum for a few days and half-days. Yesterday was one such day, so I spent the morning AT the Museum. Aside from getting some work done, I also got to see my old Museum friends -- had coffee with Chrisy and lunch with Megan! That afternoon, I went to the Elm Street location where my colleagues there had a birthday party for me and another girl who has the exact same birthday as me (down to the year!). There was German chocolate cake and lemon cupcakes and champagne!

After work, I went into Manhattan and met up with Marty. We'd originally planned to have dinner in Hoboken and then go to hear a friend's band. We had a really nice Mexican dinner in Hoboken. Then, we decided to change plans, because we were right near a Blockbuster, so we decided to see a movie Marty's been wanting me to see for a long time, <i>Bubba Ho-Tep</i>. Marty knows how I feel about The King, so it was a great birthday choice! I really loved it. For those who don't know, it is about Elvis being alive and in a retirement home. He ends up having to fight off a mummy with the help of his friend who thinks he is JFK. This only just sounds like it would be a terrible movie; I was skeptical at first, wondering if it would be my sort of thing. In actuality I loved it for its creativity and I found it to be a well-done and funny movie! There are some style things that are really cool and well-done including flashbacks and memories, etc. The actors, especially Bruce Campbell as a "senior citizen Elvis," were all very good!

Anyway, as is tradition on my birthday, the weather is now terrible. Marty was a kind soul and drove me to the train station this morning. I will be celebrating my birthday with Aly tonight with SUSHI! We had been thinking of going to Manhattan, however, the weather is making us want to stay closer to home.

One mission for tonight: buy a new phone charger at the Verizon store (I left my other one in Leonia). I think it'll be useful to just keep one at my parents' house anyway, so having two will not be a big deal.

• 12:43 LUNCH TIME! :) #
• 14:01 It's becoming difficult for me to continue lugging my blue crocheted afghan around to work on it during lunch hour. It's kind of enormous! #
• 15:21 Wondering if the Brooklyn Wood-Heel Corp. is still in operation. I have a thing or two to ask them about Parts of Shoes (Heel). #
• 18:21 The flag in my heart is half-mast. My little McNugget has passed away. :( #
• 21:56 Cleaning my apartment is the only thing I can do now that McNugget is gone. #
• 22:35 McNugget's funeral was a lovely one. I waited for Alexandra to come home and we said a few words over the toilet before flushing. :( #
• 08:47 Birthdaying it up!!!! #
• 11:22 This birthday is dedicated to the memory of McNugget. He would have wanted me to forge on and celebrate. #
• 11:23 From here on out, I want you all to imagine me with a tiny 1-inch-long fish-angel hovering over my shoulder. #
• 11:26 @lisa212 @TheDoifter @ianschwartz @shellytucker Thanks for the birthday wishes!!! #

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My little dwarf pufferfish, McNugget, has passed away. I came home yesterday and he had died. I spent a lot of time making sure he was really gone, then I waited for Alexandra to come home so she could have a funeral for him with me.

I was really hoping I could cure him. He has been through a lot with the temperature problems and such. I finally got that fixed. Then I knew he had internal parasites. I got him medicine for that over the weekend, but I never got to administer it, because he passed away.

He was a special little fish and I will never forget him!

So this has definitely cast a shadow over my birthday, but I am kind of glad it is my birthday because it is distracting me from being too sad.

Later on I will post a pic of McNugget in memory of him... :(

I am 28! So far so good! I am working half a day in the Museum, half a day at Elm Street. I think we're having a birthday party at Elm. (Another colleague at Elm has the SAME birthday as me -- right down to the year!) Also, I'll have LUNCH OUT with Megan before going over there! So that'll be fun!

Later tonight I have Marty plans!

I am celebrating my birthday for an extended period of time, once more! On Friday, I went to NJ to celebrate with my folks. My mom made me flounder and spinach and my dad contributed French onion soup and home fried potatoes! Yummm! Flounder fillets were my pick (I get to choose every year.) My mom also made my Favorite Cake of All Time, Red Velvet. Thankfully, Doris came over to help me eat some of it!!

On Saturday, I went with my mom to go on a traditional birthday shopping trip. In lieu of gifts we hit the mall and get some new clothes! This year I had a couple missions:

• Super-warm winter coat (like a "sleeping bag coat")
• Shirts and tops for this weather that are cute and not ugly (so tired of sweaters)
• An umbrella
• Replacement black sneakers for my Nike sneakers that died
• Anti-parasite meds for McNugget (he has internal parasites)

We had extreme success, getting the coat first-thing. It is a charcoal gray knee-length down jacket but it actually has a shape to it so I do not look like a garbage bag has been put over my head. Also got a few cute tops to wear. I went into some higher-end shoe and sneaker stores and did not have success, but then in JC Penney's, they had the Sneakers of my Dreams (a perfect replacement for the dead ones!).

Also got my umbrella and McNugget's meds (had to go to TWO STORES to get what he needed). He is my spoiled baby. I am here in Brooklyn but have not been to my apartment yet, so I hope he is all right so that I can begin treating him for his parasites.

After shopping we enjoyed some of m dad's chili then I went to Doris' house where we watched Tropic Thunder and I crocheted! I was there till after 1 AM! We were just having fun, watching TV, and later, looking people from high school up on Facebook. (It happens.)

The following day I went on numerous family outings with my parents including to Costco and Border's. Later I went to Doris' and we played Rock Band and Wii with Daphne who was also in town! (I enjoy Wii Boxing, even though Daphne knocked me out.)

• 09:44 Back in Brooklyn. Greetings from Elm Street. It's My-Birthday-Eve! #
• 10:03 Eating circus peanuts. #
• 11:58 I got all of this anti-internal parasite medication for McNugget. I hope I can bring him back to be the picture of health! #

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I visited Megan and Scott in Long Island! It was Megan's birthday, and we celebrated by making her dad's style homemade pizza. We watched "Iron Man" (which I hadn't seen, but I really enjoyed!) and played some Rock Band. I played BASS on MEDIUM, and while some songs were too hard for me on medium, overall we got better scores because I was no longer on the Easy level.

I slept over and then we went to an APPLE ORCHARD and a church PUMPKIN SALE! We collected a "harvest" of fall produce! Here is a video...



Enjoy! It features a song by my "kin," Conway Twitty. :)

It was SO MUCH FUN, and I felt like it was REALLY fall! HOORAY!

Marilyn Monroe was born on this day in 1926. Love you, Marilyn!!

Today is my Dad's birthday! He is on vacation with my mom, plus my aunt and uncle, in Montana. I was disappointed I did not get to celebrate with him, so I found out what hotel he was going to be at, and I had cheese and crackers sent to his room with a note!! :)

Ain't nobody can call me a bad daughter! I hope he enjoys his surprise!!!

Kristen's Birthday Cake A lemon bundt, made in honor of Kristen's 5/12/2008 25th birthday!

Enjoy this photo of a bundt cake I made in honor of Kristen's birthday! We celebrated her birthday yesterday at 3:30 PM. My ukulele was involved! I played "Happy Birthday" on uke while everyone sang. Someone remarked that the uke really helped all of us (as a group) stay on key!!

Kristen also announced (to everyone) that she just got a full-time position at the MoMA! (She has been part-time at the Brooklyn Museum thus far.) So that is very exciting news for her! I am really glad we have become friends outside of work, otherwise I would have been REALLY sad to see her go. However, I know I will be seeing her and hanging out still!

Today would have been Mr. Rogers' 80th birthday. I am wearing my zippered cardigan in honor of him! I am also drinking tea from my "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" mug (which I got from Neighbor Aber, because he is AWESOME).

I grew up watching Mr. Rogers, and he's one of my heroes. His messages of kindness are simple and touching -- something we all could learn from (young and old). I'll admit I cried like a baby when Mr. Rogers passed away, and I was a college student!! (I'm not ashamed to admit it.)

The world is a far greater place because Fred Rogers was in it.