Monday, April 30, 2012

A Little Update

Yesterday, everything changed.

The fort came down. Our mattresses made it back to our own bedrooms. The furniture got shifted a little.

And Jenna left.

I'm not going to lie-losing Jenna and the fort in one day was a pretty tough blow.

We're currently accepting dinners, diet cokes, and paid time off while we're in mourning, if your offering.

Dear Jenna, we miss you lots. Have fun tomorrow. At that thing-that I know you're pumped for. :) Also enjoy watching greys on TiVo, the beach, NYC/Boston and Diet Cokes paid for by Melinda. Can't wait until June! Love, me. PS-my goal this week is to catch up on revenge. Expect a phone call so I can talk all about it with you.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Ingrid

Thursday night one of my wildest dreams came true.

I saw Ingrid Michaelson in concert.

Can I say that just one more time please? I saw Ingrid Michaelson in concert.

Oh boy did I ever.

And she was...indescribable. From the first chord of Fire, until the final bow she took my breath away. She was the perfect blend of a stunning vocal performance and awkward, reassuringly human words. I was in awe the whole night.

Most of the stuff she sang was from Human Again, her newest album, but she did throw in a few old favorites. And she may or may not have had me choked up when she sang Can't Help Falling in Love.

Honestly, it was probably my favorite concert I've ever been too. I love going to a concert and feeling, when you go to leave, that you couldn't have enjoyed it more. And that was the case with this one.
And since I know many of you couldn't be there here are a few photos to let you in on how great it was:



Honestly I can't really explain what Ingrid's music is to me. In a lot of ways it's been the soundtrack to my life. It's like they've became little pieces of me.  I remember a few years back listening to one of her songs, sitting at my parents home and just thinking "wow, i really get this." So it was stunning to get to hear those songs live performed by her; those little pieces of my life.

Really beautifully stunning.

And the company was great too.
The look of two girls whose dreams came true

PS. Her opening act was surprisingly great. They're offering a free download of their newest album, and you can find that here if your interested.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Our Finals Fort

Friday Jenna looks at me and says, "After we watch Grey's can we make a fort?" (finals! what? where?)

Well this is just one of the many reasons why she is one of my very best friends.

And so it was on Friday that Jenna, Nat and I built the most epic of blanket forts. It takes up nearly our entire living room encompassing the TV, and couch. We also added our mattresses, and Christmas lights to give it an added ambiance.

Naturally we've slept, studied, watched tv, chatted, entertained and straight up lived in it for a week.


And I've got to say, I don't think I've been this proud of anything in awhile. It was the perfect place to hide, I mean study from finals.which went well, yay! 
Also the whole slumber part every night thing has led to some pretty fun times. I can't believe we didn't think of it sooner.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Happy Finals

A finals doesn't go by where I don't procrastinate something everything by blogging. So here I am keeping the tradition alive.(see here, here or here)

However instead of saying how stressful a time it is, or how sad finals make me I've decided to share the lovely, great, terribly happy thing that I've found and that have been happening.

-This song is probably my new favorite.

-However in exactly one week I get to go to this lovely concert:
I'm hoping to hear this new one, this old favorite, and oh my heart would melt if she performed this one.

-A lovely yellow Easter skirt.

-The Spring (and 1 year anniversary issue) of my favorite online publication, The Violet, just came out. Check it here. And marvel in the simple beauty of it.

-This week I got a lovely bike ride in, which always makes me smile

-One of my favorite bloggers is telling her life story. Which I have to admit has me enthralled. I love the idea of writing out your life for posterity. You can catch up here.

-Two words: Tax. Return.
      Ok one other word too: Miracle. It was more than expected, and it made my day. Month. Ok year.


-This print:


found here. I want a print to hang on this.

-4 bridal showers in 1 week. Tis the season for bliss.

-And finally this little article about growing up. Ah....her writing is divine.

Happy Finals!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Day I Almost Killed My Boss (and realized that I'm just like emma)

This morning upon arriving at work I saw a spider. He was gross, and thick bodied-just the way I hate them to be.

I let out a little squeal because that spider was the fastest damn spider I've seen in my life, and it caught me quite off guard

(sorry. only the d word sufficed as description for this particular spider)

He quickly darted in a crack at my desk before I could get him, but not before two kind souls at work came to check on me. (remember how I squealed... they thought I was getting mugged. Pretty sure if that happened I'd actually yell)

An hour later my boss was leaning over said crack in the desk when the little devil decided to emerge.

I full on screamed. At the top of my lungs. At my boss, who did not see the spider that was literally inches from her body.

And my poor, sweet boss lady was reduced to panic. She kept saying "You almost gave me a heart attack" over and over again. It took her a few minutes to catch her breath. At that point she realized it was a spider I was screaming about, as opposed to a legitimate danger, and she lost her breath again. This time to laughter.

I felt awful. She kept laughing. I was near tears at how bad I felt about full on terrifying her. And because the spider was now on my level of the desk. He had ran right off the upper level (straight at me-at eye level I might add) and fell into right into my pencil holder.

My boss kindly searched the entire pencil holder and he was nowhere to be found. I error on the side of caution so I moved the pencil holder across the room.

I continued to work when all of a sudden I saw him dart from the Kleenex box to the computer monitor. He was under the computer monitor stand.

So I did what any sane person would do. I stood on the desk and started moving the computer up and down against the desk. I was certain I killed him this time. However when a kind soul I work with came up and said if i lifted it up she would kill it and check-he had vanished.

By this time I was angry. This little devil had bested me again. And people were starting to think I was crazy....

About an hour later he emerged again. He was running straight for me again! Right toward my keyboard. Just as I was about to gain my courage to  squish him with the stapler he ran under my desk. UNDER MY DESK. But not on the ground. Meaning-I could not put my legs down there and sit like a normal human.

And so it was that I spent the remainder of my shift with my arms stretched out straight and my chair positioned as far away from my desk as possible.

As soon as it was a reasonable time to leave I was out of there. But not before my boss said

"Nicole. Can you please assign TJ (other receptionist) the job of finding and exterminating the spiders."

--------------------------

Now that it's been a few hours and I've had the sense to regain my wits I feel so bad. My boss, literally put her hand to her chest and had to pause to get her heart beat to calm down after I full on screamed and scared her to death. However. It was the fastest spider I've ever encountered.

Here is hoping it's gone tomorrow.


I will say this though: if I got bit by this spider, and it made me Spider Woman (the perfect match for Spider Man) I would be ok with that. I mean look at him:


Also-his girlfriend completely understands my fear. So something good did come from this experience-I learned that I am like Emma Stone. life goal accomplished.


Monday, April 9, 2012

I Got it From My Mama

Last week I had a day or so where I was a stress case.
It would come and go and come and go. I was exhausted, worried, nervous, busy, happy, scared, excited, tired, anxious and basically every other emotion.

Overwhelmed much?

However, on Friday my mother came and met me halfway to drop off some little bridal-shower-hostess goodies (flour, sugar, cookie cutters, cookie sheets, vanilla, etc.) and some Maderma and Neosporin for the worst curling iron burn I've had yet. As she got out of the car and hugged me I started to cry. Not because I was overwhelmed/sad/exhausted but because I just kept thinking "I have such a great mom."

Here she was dropping everything so she could help her daughter. And then she tops it off with a little gas money and a large Diet Coke. She would say it's a small act of kindness, but to me it meant the world.

That night I sat at dinner with an old friend. We talked about why I was stressed the past few days. I told her that I was worried that I wouldn't be "enough" in all my various roles. That what I gave wouldn't be "good enough".

She looked at me and said "You'll be perfect in all of it. Think of your mom. She is so great, and you are just like her."

It was the kindest, most reassuring thing that had been said to me of late.

(and that's saying something because I'm surrounded by people who are way too kind to me)

Because lets face it. My mom, she is pretty great. So if my friend thinks I'm like her, I must be doing somethings right.