Ah, movie popcorn. It’s one of my very favorite things to eat in the entire world. And yes, I know it’s horrible for me, especially with extra butter. Let’s just get that out of the way. It’s HORRIBLE for me. Horrible. But I love it so. I happen to think that the theaters who have the little “add-your-own-butter” stations did that just for me. I get a little carried away. In fact, I expect my local theater to take away those stations someday, and it’ll be because of me. Last summer, I cut way, way back on the movie popcorn and then I gradually started eating it again. But ONLY…
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- Childhood Memories, Confessions, Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?, Family Fun, Pretty Pictures, Too Funny To Ignore
My Dad’s 40th Birthday, In Pictures
I know what you’re thinking. “How can her DAD be forty, when she is in her late forties??” First of all, he isn’t forty anymore, and second of all I am forty-five which is SOLIDLY in the mid-forties, so shhhh. To celebrate his birthday TODAY I am going to tell you about the celebration that is most memorable in my mind, which was in 1982, his fortieth. Of course, that was a long time ago for all of us and because I only remember certain major points of the story, I’m adding drawings for your added entertainment. We lived in Knoxville, Tennessee at the time and my mom had decided…
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If These Walls Could Talk
We’ve lived in this house for nearly fourteen years. Our family room, where we collectively spend the most time (hence the name) is home to an awesome and comfortable sectional couch, a bookshelf, a mission-style recliner, a chest full of quilts, and the television with all of the accessories that go along with it. We “finished” this room back in 2005, right before D became a Bar Mitzvah. “Finished” isn’t really the best way to describe it, though. It has felt decidedly unfinished to me for a long time. It’s the walls. The wall color is great. We painted it a light taupe a while back. I see too much…
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Halston*, We Have A Problem.
We moved into this house in December of 2000 and one of the things I wanted to renovate as soon as possible was the double-length closet in our master bedroom. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, really. It was a standard his-and-hers closet with a rod for the hangers and a shelf above it for boxes or other items. I had, however, a dream. I had a dream of a beautiful closet with a place for everything and everything in its place. Hoping to make that dream come true sooner rather than later, I had been stalking custom closet organization products; not the expensive, richly-finished, installed-for-you kind, but the kind…
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My Mom Is Pretty And Other Mantras
Although I wouldn’t say that I’m a worrier by nature, I do sometimes grab onto an idea or a situation and mentally wring it out for all it’s worth. My latest worry is the quality of my skin. I know how it started. Two things: 1. I recently remembered for no reason whatsoever that I will turn forty-six years old this fall. I’ve never been one to freak out about aging and I’m still not, but the fact that starting in November I will be in my “upper forties” instead of my “mid-forties” gave me pause for a moment (and yes, technically I think forty-four to forty-six is probably still…
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It’s A Process.
In my newfound* quest to try and change up my work routine so that I can achieve some work/life balance, I’ve had a really productive week. And by “productive”, I mean “sort of successful according to my newly-created standards”. I didn’t open my laptop all weekend, instead only using my phone or iPad sporadically to hit social media–but not any work (blogging included, and truth be told I’m kicking myself a little for that one right now.). Instead, I did things like: ~nap ~visit with D, who came to see us for lunch on Saturday ~make dinner with Jim (instead of one of us cooking while the other one does…
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Game Show Car Work (Not Necessarily In That Order)
I have been covering the BlogHer Twitter stream for Momo this week, who took spring break off so she could spend quality time with her kids without keeping one eyeball on her phone or her laptop at all times (seriously). Because I work with her AND because she is one of my closest friends, I am hyper-aware that she needs a vacation more than just about anybody in the world. Each time I cover for her when she takes personal time off, that point is hammered home even more thoroughly. Standing watch over a Twitter stream with 90,000+ followers to make sure questions are answered and potential problems are addressed…
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Sometimes It’s Best To Let Other People Make The Decisions, No Matter The Outcome.
I’m easily stressed. This is not news to most of you. It’s mostly because I’m a worrier. And a perfectionist. And…well, need I go on? When I find myself in the middle of a stress spiral as I am this week—for many reasons, all of which have been resolved/finished/taken care of—the part of my brain that normally makes decisions easily just…shuts down. “What do you want for dinner, Melisa?” “I don’t know. I can’t even think about that right now.” “Okay, do you want salad, or how about grilled chicken? Or burgers?” “I don’t know. I don’t care. You pick.” Like THAT. I am also a life-long nail biter, which…
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Musings From The Road
Hello from Momo‘s house in Columbus, Ohio! I was on the road for six hours yesterday: it was heavenly. I am borrowing a Buick Regal (review to come next week) which is equipped with XM Radio, and my five favorite stations—80’s on 8, 90’s on 9, Pop2K, KIIS-Los Angeles, and Z100/NY—kept me singing at the top of my lungs for the duration and made the trip fly by. Unfortunately for the blogger in me, I do some of my best thinking in the car (and in the shower, but that’s another post) when I can’t write anything down. That’s why I made a stop at the halfway point, so I…
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Just sNOw.
It’s been a rough week for me. I have a lot on my mind: my brain is overworked. Also, tired. You might laugh and wonder what’s different from any other week, but in fact my brain has two types of operation: 1. “Obsessive, never-slowing-down, juggle juggle juggle” or…NORMAL. 2. “HIGHLY obsessive, no-idea-what-slow-even-means, can’t-shut-off, juggle juggle juggle juggle”, or…NORMAL ON STEROIDS, otherwise known as Overdrive. “Normal”, or MY normal is totally manageable for me; it’s actually how I thrive, how I get things done. Overdrive comes with emotional side effects and occasionally, a little bit of anxiety. That one’s a little more difficult. To add insult to injury, it just WON’T…