A visit from Santa

I may be 30 but Santa still manages to visit. Even finds me when I'm away from home, thousands of miles away. Some things I'm looking forward to playing with...

-- the Twilight series - That's right. The series of books for 13 year olds. I'm still enjoying the first one, though I sort of wish I hadn't seen the movie so I didn't have those actors in mind.

-- a handmade butcher block cutting board - My father-in-law is too talented. This cutting board is awesome and beautiful.

-- a zip-up hoodie with The National logo on the front - "The National" meaning the band. One of my favorites.

-- "The Wire" season 5 - this completes our collection.

-- Gift certificate for the Arclight theaters - because I'm too old to wait in line for seats.

-- "Wishful Drinking" by Carrie Fisher - I already read it because it only took about 40 minutes, but she's a funny writer.

-- My hubby and I got each other a new TV for the bedroom - a 32 inch flat panel. It's pretty rad.

There's also talk of getting the Wii. The sports seem so fun and we want to get Wii fit because we hear good things from friends. Does anyone have a Wii? Is it worth it?

3.0.

Today is the big 3-0. I still have so many posts I want to blog about like Britney Spears and recent movies and television but now I'm distracted by hitting that next decade in my life. Obviously no one really "feels" different on their birthday when they turn another year older but this year it definitely feels weird when I hear myself saying "I'm 30." Damn. Not 20-something. Everyone says it's a great decade but what do people know anyways? Most of them are old and probably getting senile. But I thought I'd take this opportunity to combine my usual thanksgiving post and my 'oh my god i'm old' post and list the things I'm thankful for today as I plunge into the depths of middle age.

I'm thankful for... (Let's get all the sentimental ones out of the way first...)

1. A healthy and happy family. I'm thrilled that my parents and brother and sisters are all doing so well.

2. A wonderful husband who puts up with my bitchy moods, long absences, and general malaise.

3. Some of the most awesome friends in the whole world. We can dance together, eat cheese and bread together, enjoy award shows together, have hour long discourses about different ice creams together, watch football games together, sit in saunas together, and get drunk together.

4. The current fashion trend which really allows scarves to be worn most days of the year. Thank god because I have about 30 and I have to get some use out of them.

5. Shane and Vic in "The Shield" finale, the introduction of Jason Stackhouse and "True Blood", and the ongoing greatness of Dennis, Mac, and Charlie on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".

6. My iPhone. Seriously. I now get agitated and jittery if I forget it somewhere. Can't live without it.

7. Facebook. Silly, yes. But it allowed me to wake up to about 30 birthday wishes which was pretty awesome.

8. My new friends in Europe. I especially enjoyed this birthday pic from a friend who found a satellite picture of my house on Google Earth. Notice the gift of rum. Ahh, they know me so well.


9. My house. Been here over a year and a half but I still love it and still think it's an awesome house. Especially now that I've stripped the ugly white paint off my now beautiful brick fireplace.

10. That gelato in Milano, that pasta amatriciana in Roma, and that pear ravioli with gorgonzola sauce in Firenze.

st. patty's day...the 50 year old version

Yesterday was St. Patty's day but when I made my plans a month ago, I had no idea. I went to a champagne tasting/class at the local fancy Wine House with my friend. I love champagne and bubbles so I thought it sounded like a good time. The kids in my office thought I sounded like a 50 year old. Either way.

The first five minutes scared the hell out of me because it did skew a little older (though not senior citizen) and we did certainly start by smelling the glasses and people throwing out the usual "nose" descriptions - "peachy", "apricot", "caramel", etc. In that first few minutes I really had to hold back the laughter because I thought I was going to insult all of these people. But after two glasses, I was into it (no surprise). Had some delicious champagnes and sparkling wines, all of which I can't afford. Even started volunteering my own answers... "it smells like sour patch kids!" (it did!!!)

Anyways, I left drunk and happy and what more can you ask for on St. Patty's day?

happy holidays

Greetings from the cold right coast. It's always nice to cozy up in front of a fire and glowing lights over the holidays, rather than see the L.A. sun beat through our windows, slowly drying up our Christmas tree. Christmas was lovely this year and I was spoiled as usual. We got a gorgeous homemade rocking chair (not sure how to get it back to California), a couple of books, a custom G.I. Joe Baroness shirt, and an iPhone for my husband so we can be a pair of nerds.
Pennsylvania has provided me with the usual quality sightings. Signs for "Armed Guard Dogs" (are the guns mounted on their collars?), girls in tank tops, mini-skirts, and scarves waiting in line outside the downtown club, elk meatballs and deer bologna, and no salads in sight. The more things are different though, the more they are the same. The new strip mall with a Target, Best Buy, Panera Bread, and Bed Bath and Beyond (I felt like I was in Burbank), the crowded movie theater, and the ol' stand-by, Bacardi and Diet Coke with two straws. Ah, heaven. I have seen some movies (Sweeney Todd, Juno, Charlie Wilson's War) but I think I'll save those reviews for my year-end lists.

Happy Holidays!

pumpkins

Happy Halloween friends.

'Tis the season to give...and receive

Christmas is about giving and this year I gave some gifts that people loved...and some that fell flat. But as I don't have much to write about that, I'll let you in on some of my new toys.

1. The Slanket. If you're not familiar with this product it is the best blanket ever. Why, you ask? Well because it's not only a warm fleece material and HUGE, it also has sleeves where you can stick your arms out. That way if you're on the couch watching tv and trying to keep warm...but also trying to type up a blog post or have a bowl of ice cream, your upper body doesn't have to be exposed to the cold California air! Greatest invention ever. Thank you husband.

2. The husband also did well because he got us tickets to see "Wicked" in L.A. I've been interested in this musical for a while but it especially means a lot because I know how much he hates musicals. Thank you again husband.

3. My big "boss" (or the illustrous director of my current movie) was kind enough to get me not one but two gifts. Ahh, how generous. An autographed DVD copy of "Red Dragon" (didn't like it the first time) and his book which I was actually somewhat interested in only because I love photobooths. It contained a lovely little note on the front page so I guess I should give him props for actually remembering the little people. And I suppose the big huge and wet kiss that he planted on my cheek should count as a third gift. I can die happy now.

4. Got a National t-shirt which is my favorite band of the year. And it's red.

5. Don't you hate the people that use bluetooth wireless ear pieces to talk on their cell phones? Yeah, me too. But now I've got one! My new cell phone doesn't even have a headset jack because it's too new so I had to get a bluetooth one. But I promise I will only use it in the car and not keep it in my ear at all times when I am walking around.

6. A new book by Christopher Moore, one of my favorite authors.

7. Last, but not least, someone who has given me a few headaches remembered me at Christmas and I have to admit that it was very nice of him. The brother/assistant/manager of our lead actor singled me out and gave me a GPS navigational system. Wow, I thought. This will be fun for the car. I've always wanted one. Then I found out how much it was. And off to the store I went. I'm ashamed to admit but returning it and getting the money was far more fun than using it would have been. Besides, I have a map and maps are fun enough.

odds and ends

I'm packing up to head back east with just a few hours to go. I hate flying. The past two night I've had nightmares about getting on a plane. And it's not that I'm afraid of terrorists or crashing or dying. Certainly not. I am merely afraid of air sickness. I'm sure most normal people don't have to worry about where they will quietly vomit if necessary when they board a plane. But, let me tell you, it's fun. Top that off with turbulence from flying into a serious rain storm, and you've got good times.

But enough of that. When I get back, I hope to do my best/worst movies of 2006. Hopefully I'll see a lot more movies over the break. Until then, please check out The Onion AV Club's Best Films of '06 list. I find more and more that these are the only sane movie crtics on the planet. (note, almost no mention of "Dreamgirls" or "The Queen" thank god.)

Happy holidays!

thankful

yeah, it was thanksgiving so it's around the time where you're supposed to say what you are thankful for. a week ago i almost posted a list of things that suck. it was that type of week. and it would have been a long list but i held off. who needs to hear that crap anyways? now this week i get to do a list of things that are good. which is much nicer i think.

things that are good

1. one of the most vivacious, happy, awesome couples around was finally united and i got to bask in some of their glow.



2. my parents made one of my favorite meals on sunday for my early birthday. it was prime rib and yes i love meat and no that is not gross.

3. the chargers won their game in overtime and i got to see it in a crowded san diego bar. moondoggies in P.B, but still.

4. see number one.



5. christmas music is all over the radio. l.a. kost 103.5 is in full effect and i was happy to hear that san diego had a radio station dedicated to christmas music as well.

6. yogurt shoppe in pq. always thankful for that.

7. lots of card playing with my family. not a lot of winning but a lot of playing.

8. a few good movies... FINALLY. ones i can recommend? "pride and prejudice", "jarhead", "good night and good luck", "capote" and "walk the line".

9. four words... PUMPKIN. CHOCOLATE. CHIP. MUFFINS. they seriously might be one of my favorite desserts of all time.

10. this lady. this lady right here. she'll hate this picture but it's an awful picture of me too. i made it all "artsy" which i think forgives the ugliness of the picture.



11. booty basement.

the post where i combine various unrelated and overdue topics

i am lazy. that is for sure. lazy in lots of aspects in life. getting up early to go running, making the bed, doing my laundry, etc. it seems that this laziness extends to blogging. i'll think of things to write and then just be too lazy to log on and write about them. i only tell you this because the end result is usually one post with tons of unrelated topics. a medley of sorts. a compilation. but, now that i think about it, i LOVE that. song medleys. compilation cds. "best of" clips shows. who doesn't? man, maybe my rambling posts are awesome.

i walked to the grove on saturday. i made the 2 mile walk with my beloved ipod. i started on pop music but then decided, "what the hell, it's time" and switched over to my christmas playlist. it was awesome.

saw the new "pride and prejudice" movie this weekend. i am a HUGE fan of the story. but i adore the A&E mini-series with colin firth so i wasn't expecting much. but this one was very pleasant and entertaining. sure, they had to cut a lot of stuff out to get it down to 2 hours...and sure, keira knightley has this weird way of smiling where you can see her whole bottom row of teeth, and sure she's as flat as a board which is a little disturbing...but still....any movie that ends with a big romantic music-swelling scene is okay by me.

my office mate has the crappiest taste in music. it seems that her itunes playlist only includes shitty rock like incubus, blur, perfect circle, bush, or prodigy. who listens to that stuff? my god. i can't hear myself think.

i need another thai massage. i got one two months ago and this small asian woman who didn't really speak english walked all over my back and stretched me every which way. i loved it, it was cheap, and i want another one.

sometimes things are so good that you don't even want them to arrive because then the anticipation will be over and that's the best part. okay, so you have no idea what i'm talking about. but i'll give you an example from last weekend. and any males reading this, feel free stop reading now. okay, good, we're all alone girls. how good is "grey's anatomy"? it's my favorite show on television and there's been this great interaction between these two characters izzy and cute sarcastic dude. no, neither of them are patrick dempsey or scarily anorexic girl from 'old school'. anyways, these two characters are rad and i love their flirting and sexual tension. it's been going on for a while now (since last season) but last week, halfway through the episode, i could tell that they were finally going to kiss at the end of the episode. and i was a little sad. sure, i knew it would be rad, but then what? there's only one awesome first kiss scene between two characters and i was about to witness it. so the end of the episode came and there was the amazing scene with the first kiss. it was lovely and enjoyable but now that part of the show will never happen again. do you know what i mean or do i just sound like an idiotic 13 year old? both?

happy new year!

i'm back from my wonderful trip back east where i ate with the italians, hung with the future in-laws, and partied down with the PA posse (no relation to the PQ posse). it was an awesome time and i had a lot of fun. i also decided that i don't like working. just plain don't enjoy it. it's not my specific job. just the act of having to get up and go somewhere every day, whether i want to or not. i'm still trying to figure out how i can work around that.

i took lots of pictures and have posted them up at my buzznet page which you can get to from the sidebar of this page. Hope you all had a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year's!

nobody does it better than turner

whether it be tbs or tnt, turner sure knows how to exploit this christmas season. they've got old christmas movies and new original made-for-tv christmas movies. either way, i love 'em.

here's a list of MY TOP TEN CHRISTMAS MOVIES OF ALL TIME. well, for now at least.

10. The Santa Clause - okay, sure, it stars tim allen. but still, it's kind of cute. and kind of charming. don't hate me.

9. Home for the Holidays - now here's a movie that flew under the radar. directed by jodie foster i think that dylan mcdermott, holly hunter, robert downey jr. and the rest of the cast are pretty damn funny.

8. Holiday Inn

7. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

6. Scrooged - man, bill murray can be so funny.

5. The Ref - i LOVE this movie. back when kevin spacey was still good and everyone is hysterical in this. mean and biting. i love it.

4. Home Alone

3. Miracle on 34th Street

2. It's a Wonderful Life

1. White Christmas - man, so good that you forget that danny kaye is gay and that the skinny chick is lip-syncing.

abandonment

tonight i drop my significant other/roommate off at the airport. he'll be back home for a total of 3 weeks. 21 days. that's a long time. luckily, i'll be back east for 9 days of that trip. but i'm still sad. i'll miss him. BUT there might be some advantages. one, i'll get the whole bed to myself. the whole stinking bed to stretch out in. i can't imagine. two, i'll get to clean up and explore my OCD side. and three, i get to finally watch all of the made-for-TV christmas movies that i've been tivo'ing. i literally think there's about 5 of them. that's a lot of hours. some of the one's i'm really looking forward to include 'karroll's christmas' with wallace shawn and verne troyer...'a carol christmas' starring tori spelling and gary coleman....and 'an unlikely angel' featuring miss dolly parton. quality, no?

1 year engagement

i have been engaged for one year. though, if you ask me, if feels like it's been about a month. time flies by when you're supposed to be getting things done. but, then again, i've always been a procrastinator. i love that about myself. because i love getting it all done at the last minute and giving 'the man' a big F*&$ You when i get it all done in time. Though maybe i won't play such games with my wedding....

here's another shot of the christmas tree with good ol' santa. john and i bought the ornament on the left in cambria, california, the little coastal town where we got engaged. it's filled with sand and little presents that have apparently washed ashore. a good memory to unwrap year after year....

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree...

ahh, the smell of pine, the glow of lights...i love it. i love christmas trees. and i am so happy that i finally have one of my own.



please note the old school big lights, rather than the little twinkle lights. i have been given props by our neighbors for these. and i am proud to say that i carry on the durso tradition of big ass ghetto lights.

more christmas pictures to come....

date of birth

birthdays are funny things. they mean cool new dolls when you're 5, cool trips to disneyland when you're 12, and cool slumber parties with pizza and bad videos when you're 15. but when you're 25, they mean something completely different. the gifts are very few and far between and often come in the form of a little paper slip with an amount written on it. birthdays used to be so fun but now they can border on depressing. it didn't happen to me yesterday. i'm not saying that. i'm just saying how different it is. and i guess in some ways how similar it is. you still get up that morning and take an extra minute or two to pick what you're going to wear (because everyone will be looking at you). you still get excited when you get a present or a birthday card in the mail. and you still get frightfully embarassed when people bring you a cake and start singing happy birthday. but it's just a little sad to have one or two less friends remember your birthday every year. and there's something sad about having to do the same crappy job on your birthday and getting treated in the same crappy manner. you want to scream "but it's my birthday and i deserve special treatment dammit!" but i guess that's not how the world works. after having to stay late at work for a lame reason ...after getting put on hold by my phone company and the nice lady machine voice telling me the approximate wait time was "99 minutes"...and after waiting in line at the pharmacy for 30 minutes only to have the dumb lady tell me that my prescription isn't ready even though it was supposed to be ready an hour ago.... you realize that maybe your birthday isn't that special. not anymore anyways.

but then you have an awesome fiance who takes you to buy a christmas tree and you stay up late decorating it and filling the whole house with a christmas tree smell. then you realize that birthdays can still put a smile on your face.

this thanksgiving...

i am thankful for:

- Tivo
- my portable heater
- John
- the good health of loved ones
- all day access to high speed internet
- my thick wool socks i bought in prague
- banana bread
- my very own washer and dryer ("my own" meaning i rent them)
- christmas lights
- the PQ posse
- the nice man who delivers my chicken makhani tikki masala with naan bread
- Target
- my wedding dress that i hope will look good and still be in style in six months
- reeses frozen yogurt...always
- having a job...no matter how boring it may be
- parents that are the perfect distance from Los Angeles
- cranberry spice candles
- the few special females in my like who can enjoy "maid to order", "camp cucamonga", and "lucky 7"
- anticipation

how i spent my summer vacation...er..i mean, weekend

john and i threw a little housewarming soiree over the weekend and a big THANK YOU to our friends who attended. it was great seeing you there. and a big F*&^ YOU to those of you who didn't make it. (just kidding carolyn! i know it's an expensive flight!)
i learned a few things after this little party was all said and done. and i thought i'd share on this wonderful monday...wonderful because it's a short week!

1. baking cookies while listening to christmas music really ranks up there as far as all time favorite activities. the cookie dough just tastes that much sweeter with bing crosby singing "white christmas".

2. i can't drink any more. at all. i mixed one glass of wine with only three rum and cokes and i was dizzy, nauseous, and cranky when i went to bed.
2a. i get hangovers now. i NEVER used to get hangovers. but sunday morning i felt like ass and it took me all day to recover.

3. target really does make everything. including lube. or "lubricated jelly" as the box said. half the price of KY apparently.

4. tea lights last about one party length...or about 5 hours.

5. now that we're "adults", people will bring you things for your housewarming. how lovely.

mark it

kost 103.5 has officially started playing christmas music. all christmas music, all the time. happy friday indeed.

okay, i'll admit it

in the mornings when i go jogging, i bring along my glorious ipod so i can listen to some really inspirational tunes (ie "you're the best around", "glory of love", etc). i keep the ipod on shuffle so i never know what will pop up next from my library of 1,000 songs. in the past six months, when a christmas song has come on, i've immediately fast forwarded it. the time just wasn't right. this morning, "rockin' around the christmas tree" came on....and i listened to the whole song.

a generous santa

santa was good to me this christmas and got me a digital camera. so now i can also annoy you with photos as well as blogs. that's right. check out me and some of my pq homies chilling at a coffeeshop...
lisad on buzznet