tonight we're going to set this record right

today's title comes from george stanford's big drop. it's one of the many things i've been listening to this month. you may (or may not) have noticed, but i've been on a self-imposed exile from the internet since finals ended. i could try to explain why, but...well, it'd take too long and i'm beyond tired right now. the important thing is, a rachel without the internet is a very productive rachel indeed. i've been reading everything i ever wanted to. my To Read list is actually shrinking! that hasn't happened in...actually, it's never happened. normally it just grows (and grows and grows). i've been writing a little, too. it's...strange. strange even for me. if you're interested, shoot me a comment or a facebook message or an email or something. and then be prepared for strangeness. i really can't emphasize this enough. i've been watching a little too much british tv lately (it's like the one thing anyone in my house can agree to watch - thank you, doctor who) and reading too much postmodern poetry, because everything i write lately is either foreign or dystopian or both.

it's been a relaxing month, though. we went to see ice! at the national harbor (it's dr. suess themed and wonderful), saw just about every different light show in the greater d.c. area, visited the christmas village at busch gardens, went to the wizarding world of harry potter (crowded, so very crowded - and wonderful. i totally want to retire there) and, best of all, found my One True Ornament of the year. this is it, along with all the others (the momster and husband number three):

i'm the gold piano. isn't it pretty? oh, and that peacock you see? it's supposed to replace my dearly departed One True Ornament from last year, but the momster got the wrong one. it's still pretty, though, so i guess it counts.

ophelia the ipod has finally been replaced. her successor is now named beatrice, a departure from the six (!!!!) ophelias which preceded her. i've finally given into the fact that naming my ipod after a suicidal fictional character is probably not the best omen with which to begin her electronic life. i'd include a picture, but i'm tired and therefore lazy.

that's basically all that's happened to me in the last...however many days it's been since i last turned on my computer. there's nothing like the internet to put your life in perspective, right?

idk

i just thought this was funny/seasonally appropriate:

we roll our jeans up (a post about mixtures)

today's title comes from chugjug by family of the year. check them out. no, really, do it. their digital downloads? 100% free, although you can donate if you want to. i actually think i'll ask the parentals to buy the cd for christmas just to support them, since they're pretty good.

anyway, today's post features a lot of mixtures. to begin with, i'm drinking my own improvised version of a peppermint mocha. it involves adding 15 white chocolate candy cane hershey kisses to half a large cup of bold blend coffee and adding a splash of plain creamer or heavy cream. it's wonderful. my nails are a mixture, too - one coat of here today, aragon tomorrow; one coat of cuckoo for this color; and one coat of bring on the bling. the result is a perfect forest green (for some reason i can't find this color on its own - it's always a green with a shimmer or a hint of blue or yellow. why do nail polish manufacturers hate forest green? right now it's my ideal nail polish color) overlaid with gold sparkles. i think it's kind of perfect for the start of the holiday season. my music is a mixture of my own purchases and s-la's, too. right now i'm listening to daylight by matt & kim, gleaned from her during our long overdue music day last week.

all in all, i think mixtures are pretty good things, don't you?

i'm in a very christmassy sort of mood right now. we decorated the house today. well, the tree and stockings and in-house decorations are all up, anyway. we're putting the lights up tomorrow. i had some bad news yesterday, though - my annual christmas ornament purchase broke last year. apparently lulu knocked if off the tree and the momster thought she could replace it before i found out but forgot. everywhere i turn - secrets and lies. i was quite annoyed. i mean, look how pretty it was:

we went to the christmas light show in gaithersburg today. i love that place. it's so pretty. they added prism glasses this year. basically, they give you little paper glasses when you drive in and everything is extra shiny and bright and multiplied by like a thousand and if i were ever to try drugs, i think that's what the world would look like.

in other news, i jumped on the netflix bandwagon today. i was going through our dvd collection and realized that i spend way too much of my pocket money on movies. so far, netflix is amazing. why didn't anyone tell me that they have, like, every movie and tv show ever? it's wonderful. and they have an ipad app! it's like having a tiny, tiny tv with me wherever i go!

i'm now off to marathon torchwood and rewatch doctor who and drool over pictures of boots i'm too poor to ever own on the internet. woe is me, &c. &c.

tis the season

oh, thanksgiving. a time when, traditionally, one is supposed to give thanks (or plot future land theft from the indians, whichever works out better). so, in no particular order, here are some of the things i'm thankful for this year: stuffing, my family, music, sweater coats, my annual reread of poisonwood, my friends, cookie and lulu, this picture:

and xabi alonso, disney movies, and the internet:

and now i'm going to sleep. hope you all had great thanksgivings!

i miss you

today's title comes from blink-182 and my state of mind. more the latter than the former, but i wanted an excuse to post the song:

so i'm sitting in my basement, relishing the return of fox soccer channel to my life and waiting for today's yesterday's real madrid champion's league match replay to come on since the game was hilarious and i want to rewatch it. it doesn't come on for another hour and is scheduled to end at five, so it's going to be a long night. it's a good thing that college has pretty much cemented my nocturnal state.

you all probably know this, thanks to the wonders of facebook (or, you know, you were there with me), but i went to see harry potter again with jenibean and s-la. it was great. this might change with the final movie, but right now deathly hallows part one is my favorite of all the films - it stayed mostly true to the books, and the few changes are actually for the better. the score was kind of an iffy thing with me. i've loved the music in all of the films, and i stayed with that opinion for most of this one, too. there were a few places where i thought it went a little wrong (the trio's reunion scene and dobby's funeral both come to mind), but when it went right - wow. the ending could not have been better (musically, anyway - it still made me want part two, like, now).

surprisingly, harry potter is not the focus of this post. the title is.

it's funny (or horrible, depending on who you are and how you look at it), but i don't miss most of you/my high school friends very often. when i do miss people, it's usually someone i wasn't that close to. if anything, i miss inanimate objects more than i miss people. my bed and i? yeah, we've never been closer because i'm sleeping my life away and am insanely grateful to come home to a pillow-topped queen size bed which i can flop face down on and sleep for hours, maybe days. maybe it's because i'm so used to being separated from the munchkins - i haven't gone to school with bean in three years, and i've had a grand total of two classes with s-la ever - but when i do think of them, i usually just text or call or facebook or oovoo and move on with my day. so it came as kind of a surprise to realize today that i've actually really missed them. for one thing, it's good to be around someone who hates pants even more than i do. also, it was nice to realize that s-la and i are still fairly good at either saying the same thing or the same time or finishing each other's sentences (and, really, it was just good to be with someone who shares my appreciation of silly grocery store romance novels). i guess it's just good to know that some things don't change.

and now i'm going to go reread harry potter and the deathly hallows. why isn't part two out now?

a song i've never heard

today's title comes from academia by sia and is (for once) actually relevant to this post - being home means i've been bingeing on new music. it's wonderful. i'll put up reviews if anyone's curious.

this song really can't be called good, but the music video is so hilarious i had to post it.

i didn't do much today. worked out, walked the dogs, helped the momster with work, wandered around manassas and arlington today. the usual, basically. i found a panda hat at anthropologie, though! it's adorable, but way too expensive. thankfully, christmas is just around the corner so it is totally going on my wish list.

i've been making friends with my keyboard today. i can't explain it here, so don't ask me to, but i've been...afraid, i guess, of writing. not academic writing, or blogging (since this is so nonsensical and insubstantial it barely counts as writing anyway). just...the more i read (good books, this time around, and not twilight or the other crap booksellers market to kids nowadays), the more intimidated i get. there are so, so many wonderful writers out there, how could i ever compete?

of course, there are plenty of horrible writers out there, too. one only has to wander over to the shelf of romance novels in the grocery store to realize that. so i've decided that (as i have no current hope of publication), i'm going to write anyway. besides, all of you are being so creative right now that i feel guilty.

the miss your mistake

today's title comes from heart in your heartbreak by the pains of being pure at heart:

i have this love/hate relationship with anthropologie wherein i love their clothes and hate the prices. well, no more. now i'm just in love with the store and in denial of the prices. this is because i found the love of my life in perfectly fitted, lacy form. behold. it's just heaps and heaps of peach lace and i already tried it on with green tights and it is perfect. this is the dress i wanted before i even knew i wanted it.

while waiting for most of you to come home, i spent the day in arlington and at the reston town center helping the momster with real estate (look! i can actually do work! isn't it exciting?). we went to this amazing thai place at the town center, then ice skating. we picked up cupcakes at that cupcakery (i really, really love that word) after. all in all, a successful day.

the morning was horrible, though. my parents are going through this hippie/health nut phase where all they drink is orange juice, so right now the only liquids in my house are water, four different kinds of orange juice, and the contents of our bar. now, normally i'm sort of apathetic toward orange juice, but after three days of it...i hate it. i really, really hate orange juice. like, i was seriously considering showing up at breakfast this morning, pouring two shots of vodka into a glass, mixing in some orange juice and proceeding to drink until the momster cracked. thankfully, she saw reason without making me resort to emergency measures - we just got back from the grocery store. i am now the proud owner of two cases of coca cola. i didn't realize how much i loved grocery shopping until today, either. all the christmas foods are out! there are all sorts of special holiday candies that i never even knew about. like candy cane hershey kisses - how long have those been around? i stocked up while the momster wasn't looking - i'm making her a surprise batch of gingerbread men tonight. hope i don't burn the house down.