Fashionista Statement: Monday, April 19

Monday, April 19



Hot pink skirt with black belt from Maurices

White mesh long-sleeved T from Target

Hot pink tank from Old Navy

Eiffel tower necklace from Marc Jacobs

Black earrings from Target

My 28th Birthday

The best birthday I have had in several years! I was actually EXCITED about the day--last year I was excited about turning 27, and while the day itself was fun, there was nothing truly memorable about it (much like my last four or five birthdays).

This year the celebrations seemed to last all week and I was truly jazzed about my week!

Sunday: Birthday celebration for the bff Nicole, with her husband, son, and family at Ultimate Pizza Place. We played mini-golf, video games, Ski-ball, etc. and ate lots of food at the buffet. Very fun--first birthday "party" I'd been to in a long time. Afterwards back to her place for cake and ice cream and touch football. I was truly, truly awful at the football.

Tuesday: Birthday dinner celebration with Nicole and Jean. Mexican--yum! I had enchiladas plus lots of chips and salsa and cheese dip, and a strawberry daiquiri that had waay too much tequila in it. Then off to the movies: The Bounty Hunter. Jean gave Nicole and me bottles of wine--Moscata d'Ati (my very favorite wine!! Hooray!) Very fun!!!

Wednesday: my actual birthday. Lots of celebrations at school--kids singing and wishing me happy birthday, lots of fun! I kept telling them not to sing because it's always so embarrassing. They did anyway and I said, "I'm just going to awkwardly hand out candy like a moron!" (Blow-Pops!) Traci took me out for birthday ice cream. Karen and I went to Fiss after school. Celebrate!!

Friday: Birthday celebrations with the fam. Lots of high spirits as we took pictures and drank Smirnoff and ate Zeno's pizza--yum! Presents and Oreo ice cream dessert after eating--delish! Game of Trivial Pursuit with the whole fam minus Mom--I was in the lead the whole game but couldn't manage to get in the middle for the final question, so Brennan won in the end. Traitor.

Saturday: Lovely day outside! Whole fam (minus Mom, of course) outside petting the neighbor's dog (so cute!), then inside having McDonald's (salad with chicken for me, yum!) and lots of high spirits. Movie in the afternoon: Date Night with popcorn and drinks. Fun!!

Sunday: Back to Altoona after birthday weekend with the family. Dinner at Cheesecake Factory for Jean's birthday. Carpool with Nicole with a quick stop at the mall to pick up a present for her (B&BW).

Summer Plans

It's April. That's not too early to start thinking about summer, is it?

1. Rewatch Robin Hood Seasons 1-2
2. Watch Robin Hood Season 3
3. Watch Party of Five Season 1
4. Watch Party of Five Season 2
5. Go to Denver for Ashley's wedding/Fourth of July
6. Get recertified as a WSI
7. See many, many movies!!
8. Read Sense and Sensibility
9. Read Pride and Prejudice
10. Read Emma
11. Read Persuasion
12. Read Mansfield Park (okay, not sure that this one will happen, but I'm putting it here anyway)

New Year's Resolutions

New Year' Resolutions:

1. Write one paragraph a day.
2. Take a class over the summer.
3. Drink lots of water.
4. Pay off credit card!!
5. Take a trip.
6. Go to at least one concert.
7. Reread Pride & Prejudice
8. Reread Sense & Sensibility
9. Reread Persuasion
10. Read Emma
11. Read Mansfield Park
12. Read Jane Eyre
13. Read four nonfiction books.
14. Read four new Agatha Christie books.
15. See 25 movies in the theatre.
16. Read 80 books.

Masterpiece Classics

Obsessed with Masterpiece Theatre!! Here are the Masterpiece Classics that I have watched the last couple weeks:

1. Jane Eyre (4 episodes)
2. Wuthering Heights (4 episodes)
3. Cranford (4 episodes)
4. Little Dorritt (14 episodes)
5. Lost in Austen (okay, not technically a Masterpiece Classic, but a miniseries AND practically a Jane Austen, so it still counts)

Future Masterpiece Classics I am looking forward to:
1. Return to Cranford
2. Emma
3. The 39 Steps

Top Songs of 2009

3. I Gotta Feeling/Meet Me Halfway by the Black Eyed Peas
2. Fireflies by Owl City
1. Don't Stop Believing by the cast of Glee

Movies Seen in 2009

January:
1. Persuasion 1 January
2. Mamma Mia!
3. Penelope 3 January
4. Runaway Bride 4 January
5. Cold Comfort Farm 11 January
6. Valkyrie 11 January
7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls 17 January
8. Lost Season 4 22 January
9. New in Town 31 January
10. Fool's Gold 31 January


February:
11. The Nanny Express 6 February
12. He's Just Not That Into You 14 February
13. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 14 February
14. When Harry Met Sally 14 February
15. He's Just Not That Into You 17 February
16. Coraline 18 February


March:
17. Taken 15 March
18. Inkheart 18 March
19. Slumdog Millionaire 19 March
20. Last Chance Harvey 20 March
21. Jumper 20 March
22. Nora Roberts's Sanctuary 21 March
23. Nora Roberts's Northern Lights 22 March
24. Nora Roberts's Blue Smoke 23 March
25. Nora Roberts's Carolina Moon 27 March
26. Nora Roberts's Montana Sky 28 March
27. Nora Roberts's Midnight Bayou 28 March

April:
28. Duplicity 11 April
29. The Skulls 12 April
30. Nora Roberts's High Noon 12 April

May:
31. Anne of Green Gables 1 May
32. Anne of Avonlea 2 May
33. For Love of the Game 2 May
34. Cold Mountain 8 May
35. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past 11 May
36. State of Play 23 May
37. That Darn Cat 26 May
38. Out of Time 31 May

June:
35. Then She Found Me 1 June
36. Return of the Jedi 5 June
37. Ice Age 24 June
38. He's Just Not That Into You 26 June


July:
39. The Taking of Pelham 123
40. The Proposal
41. Sister Act
42. Journey to the Center of the Earth
43. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
44. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
45. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 14 July
46. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 15 July
47. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 18 July
48. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 25 July
49. The Hangover 30 July
50. The Ugly Truth 30 July
51. Alias: Season 1 30 July

August:
52. The Jane Austen Book Club 1 August
53. Alias: Season 2
54. The Moving Finger
55. Alias: Season 3
55. The Time Traveler's Wife (16 August)
56. Mad Men: Season 1
57. Armageddon
58. Mad Men: Season 2 (17 August)
59. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (15 August)
60. The Great Debaters (22 August)
61. Alias: Season 4 (22 August)
62. Mad Men: Season 2

September:
63. 10 Things I Hate About You (4 September)
64. Echelon Conspiracy (6 September)
65. Ghost Town (7 September)
66. Love Happens
67. Alias: Season 5

October:
68. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
69. Murder on the Orient Express


November:
70. Rent
71. Deliver Us From Eva
72. New Moon
73. Mamma Mia

December:
74. You've Got Mail
75. Love Actually
76. Sleepless in Seattle
77. Elf
78. While You Were Sleeping
79. While You Were Sleeping
80. Vantage Point
81. The Africa Queen
82. He's Just Not That Into You
83. The Family Man
84. Pride and Prejudice
85. Home Alone
86. Sherlock Holmes
87. Mamma Mia!
88. Did You Hear About the Morgans?
89. Lost In Austen
90. Persuasion
91. Jane Eyre

Books Read in 2009

January:

1. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
2. Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn
3. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
4. A Little Scandal by Meg Cabot

February:

5. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
6. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
7. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer


March:

8. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
9. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
10. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
11. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
12. The Far Sweet Thing by Libba Bray

April

13. Tell Me Lies by Jennifer Crusie
14. Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie
15. Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
16. Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie
17. Welcome to Temptation



May

18. Faking It by Jennifer Crusie
19. Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn
20. Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
21. Silken Thread by Patricia Ryan


June

22. Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
23. 4 Bodies
24. 5 Bodies
25. 6 Bodies
26. It Only Takes a Moment
27. Deadly Love
28. Too Good to be True
29. Gotcha


July

30. The Chicago Way
31. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
32. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
33. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
34. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
35. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
36. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
37. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
38. Holly's Inbox

August:

39. Catch of the Day
40. Fools Rush In
41. Finger-Lickin' Fifteen
42. Murder on Waverly Place
43. Secrets of a Lady
44. The Moving Finger
45. At Bertram's Hotel
46. A Pocketful of Rye
47. Foxtrot book

September

48. A Caribbean Mystery
49. Foxtrot book
50. Foxtrot book 2
51. Foxtrot book 3
52. Foxtrot book 4

October:

53. Foxtrot book 5
54. Tears of Pearl
55. And Then There Were None (school)
56. The Mousetrap (novella)
57. A Raisin in the Sun (school)

November:

58. Victoria and the Rogue
59. The Finishing Touches
60. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist


December:

61. Night (school)
62. Sovay by Celia Rees
63. Obsessed by Karen Robards
64. Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
65. Pursuit by Karen Robards
66. Walking After Midnight by Karen Robards
67. Bait by Karen Robards

For my sistah because I know she gets tired of my lack of posts...

While playing Apples To Apples:
Sister: I got something and I don't know what it is.
Brother: Well, you'd better ask your doctor.


Student: Hey, Miss A, it's not premarital sex if you never intend on getting married.


After I described The Scarlet Letter to my eleventh graders:
Student: That sounds really good!
Me (to myself): I told it ... wrong!


During class debate--the situation is You are a soldier in the Middle East. You've been ordered to cover your troop from higher ground while they make their way down a mountain. Your C.O. orders you to shoot anyone who looks suspicious. You see an old woman all by herself a few hundred yards from the rest of your troop. She is not walking but does not appear to be a spy. Do you follow your CO's orders and shoot her even if it turns out she may be innocent?
Student #1: You shoot her first, ask questions later.
Student #2: That's ridiculous. You can't just go around shooting people.
Student #1: Why not?
Student #2: Well, because then you're just Dick Cheney.


While watching Mamma Mia, one of the characters asks another, "Why haven't you ever gotten married?"
Mom: Isn't it obvious? She's a lesian.

Favorite New TV Shows

1. GLEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. The Good Wife
3. Community
4. Flashforward
5. Modern Family

Best Moments in Alias

Best Single Moments (for the emotional punch):
1. Sydney and Jack hug (standout line: "I was so stupid.")

2. Sydney and Irina hug

3. Sydney finds out Jack works for SD-6 (Standout line: "Get in!")

4. Sydney's first mission in the pilot episode (Standout line: "I like your tie.")

5. Vaughn tells Sydney the watch story (Standout line: "The watch stopped on October 2. The day I met you.")

6. End of season 2 (Standout line: "Sydney, you've been missing for two years.")

7. End of season 1--the enemy walks in (Standout line: "Mom?")

8. Sydney realizes her mother is still alive (Standout line: "I was breathing underwater for ten minutes.")

9. Sydney realizes her mother is the traitor ("I wasn't that agent, Sydney, you're mother was.")

10. Irina escapes and sends Sydney a message through Morse Code ("Truth takes time.")


Top 11 Alias Episodes (Season 1-4 only):
1. Pilot

2. Color Blind (Season 1: John Hannah guest stars)

3. Masquerade and Snowman (Season 1: An ex-boyfriend of Sydney's who also works for SD-6 turns up)

4. The Enemy Walks In (Season 2: Irina shoots Sydney; Sydney later finds Vaughn who survived a near-drowning; Irina turns herself into the CIA)

5. Double Agent (Season 2: Ethan Hawke guest stars)

6. Endgame (Season 2: Christian Slater guest stars, but the most interesting part focuses on another double agent)

7. The Two (Season 3: Sydney adjusts to life after being missing for two years and without Vaughn)

8. Remnants (Season 3: Will resurfaces for one episode after being in the Witness Protection Program for two and a half years)

9. Crossings (Season 3: Sydney and Vaughn are fugitives in North Korea)

10. Ice (Season 4: Kelly McDonald guest stars as ex-IRA trying to escape her past. Vaughn identifies with her)

11. Welcome to Liberty Village (Season 4: Sydney and Vaughn go undercover as a married couple in Russia pretending to be Russians who are pretending to be American)

15 Movies That Will Stick With You

Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what movies my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note -- upper right hand side.) I hope you participate, even if you didn't get tagged!

1. Star Wars

2. The Sound of Music

3. The English Patient

4. Breakfast at Tiffany's

5. Mulan

6. That Darn Cat

7. Love Actually

8. Sense and Sensibility

9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

10. Anne of Green Gables (technically a miniseries, but whatever)

11. Pride and Prejudice (again, a miniseries)

12. The Wizard of Oz

13. The Bourne Identity

14. While You Were Sleeping

15. Amelie

Runners-up: Garden State, The Sixth Sense, Rebecca, The Lion King, Troop Beverly Hills, and Far and Away

To Read in 2009

Started this list on January first and never posted it. Obviously I got really far in it. Hmm...

To Read (besides my usual series):

1. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (read 17 January 2009)
2. Harry Potter series (read the 7 in July)
3. Atonement by Ian McEwan
4. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
5. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
6. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie (read 2 August 2009)

The brother

Me [walking through the living room to go to my room]: Hey, Bren.
Brennan [lying on the couch reading a book]: Are you going to talk to Mom?
Me: No, I'm going to my room. Why?
Brennan: Well, I have to talk to Mom, so I was going to say let me go down and talk to her first because I would hate to have to interrupt you.
Me [drily]: How ... selfless of you.

Shows I'll Be Seeing in the 2009-2010 Season

1. David Cook
2. Wicked
3. Rent
4. Cirque Dreams Illumination
5. The Lion King
6. August: Osage County
7. South Pacific
8. Jersey Boys

Things I Saw This Summer

1. Trinity College
2. Temple Bar in Dublin
3. Liffey River
4. King John's Castle
5. Shannon River
6. The Burren
7. Cliffs of Mohor
8. Atlantic Ocean from the West Coast of Ireland
9. St. Patrick's
10. Blarney Castle

11. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
12. London Bridge
13. Westminster Abbey
14. Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard
15. Kensington Palace and Gardens and Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
16. The Underground
17. Trafalgar Square
18. Piccadilly Circus
19. London Eye
20. Thames River

21. Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge
22. Sacre Coeur
23. L'Arc de Triomphe
24. The view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe
25. The Eiffel Tower
26. The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower
27. Notre Dame
28. La Place de la Concorde
29. The Champs Elysees
30. Seine River

Funny Things That Happened in School This Week

Funny Things That Happened in School this Week:

Taylor and Brandi approach my desk from two different directions.
Me (still typing, not looking at either of them): what's up?
Taylor and Brandi in perfect unison: Can I go to the bathroom? [Look at each other.]
Taylor: Awkward.
Brandi: Totally awkward.
Taylor: Should we hold hands and skip down the hall together?


After I turn on my air conditioning which rattles and groans and makes noises like a popcorn popper.
Nicole [sitting the closest to it]: If that blows up, I'm gonna be the first to die.


Chelsea: Miss A, I haven't seen you in ...
Me: It has been forever!
Chelsea: ... pants before. Oh ...

27 Things to Do Before I Turn 28 ... or just sometime before I die...

On my 25th birthday, I came up with a list of 25 goals I wanted to do. I'm going to rewrite my list without consulting the last one, to compare how my goals have changed/stayed the same/been fulfilled. The top two have been on my list since I was in high school.

27 Things To Do Before I Turn 28 ... or just sometime before I die
1. Go to Ireland
2. Go to England.
3. Go back to Paris.
4. Go back to New York City.
5. Go back to Washington, D.C.
6. Go on a cruise.
7. Write another novel.
8. Get a novel published.
9. Publish "The Journey."
10. Get married. (Um, someday. Not any time soon!!)
11. Have kids. (I'd like several please. You just order them, right?)
12. Reread all the Jane Austens.
13. Get LA11 curriculum organized.
14. Get my reading endorsement.
15. Become more assertive. (This one may be hard to gauge, but whatever.)
16. See Wicked
17. See the Dixie Chicks in concert.
18. This one's private. For me only. (Okay, I cheated and looked at my goals from two years ago. I couldn't think of any more. But I remember what this one is and I still haven't done it and I still want to. But I also still want to keep it private.)
19. Go to a Meg Cabot book signing.
20. Go to a Jennifer Crusie book signing.
21. Take more pictures.
22. Keep organized photo albums.
23. Do a better job of keeping in touch with old friends.
24. Get curriculum for LA9 in order!!!
25. Reread Wuthering Heights.
26. Take a reading class or a 3 credit hour class.
27. Read more books!!!!!!!! (As always!)

Spring Break

My first spring break since college!! Now that I'm at a metro school I can enjoy one!

Saturday: Speech contest. Booo!!!! But the good news is: SPEECH IS OVAH!!!!! (At least until October when it starts all over again. Longest. Season. Ever.)

Sunday: Taken with Dad and Brennan. Very good. I heart Liam Neeson!!

Monday: Shopping!!! New pants that are petites and therefore won't need to be hemmed!!! Maybe I'll wear pants to work for the first time all year. (Okay, just to be clear--I don't go bottom-less. I wear skirts and dresses. Every day. I swear.) Finished A Great and Terrible Beauty. One of the best books I've read in a really long time, and that includes Twilight. (Which I liked.)

Tuesday: Had to go to library to get the next two books in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. SO GOOD!!! Dinner with Hayley. We meet at 3:30 and don't leave the restaurant until 9:30. It was fantastic!!

Wednesday: Inkheart with Dad. Very cute and fun! I want to read the book now. Spend much of the day uploading CDs and downloading music from iTunes which I haven't done since last summer. Discover Natasha Richardson was killed in a skiing accident. Call Tara to lament.

Thursday: Slumdog Millionaire. I laughed. I cried. I laughed and cried some more. Best. Movie. Ever. I love when the Oscars reward a movie that ends happily!!! Finished Rebel Angels. Began The Sweet Far Thing.

Friday: Last Chance Harvey. SO good!! And very different from most movies out there. I heart Emma Thompson. "A Room with a View." "E.M. Forster." "Yes, did you read it?" "No." "Middle March." "George Eliot." "Yes, did you read it?" "No." Took Brennan to the ER at 1 A.M. for a shot because he had another of his infamous migraines. Didn't get home until 4 A.M.

Saturday: Did nothing. NOTHING!!! Except read my book. More than halfway through but it's 800 pages, so once school starts again on Monday, it may be a while!!!

This Week

Sunday: Oscars! Yea, Kate! Yea, Hugh! Yea, musical montage!!

Monday: Book club at Sbrocco. Topic: Twilight. Very fun.

Tuesday: Parent/Teacher/Student conferences. Boo!!

Wednesday: Legally Blonde with Nicole. Oh my God, oh my God, you guys! Look like Elle's gonna win the guy!

Thursday: Tessa's Arbonne party at Nicole's

Friday: Long overdue grocery shopping and stay up waaay too late watching TV.

Saturday: Speech contest. All Is except for for six IIs. Graded all Romeo and Juliet tests (and only took from 8:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.).