Not Gonna Write You A Love Song

I usually am not a big fan of female singers, but I love this song and this chick's voice. The video reminds me of some show that used to be on when I was little with a jukebox and these puppets inside..Shining Time Station, maybe? I never really watched the show, but I'd check it out every now and then to see DiDi Conn, aka Frenchy from Grease. Anyhow, whether I want it there or not, the song will probably be stuck in my head all day...so I thought I'd pass that along. You're welcome.

Hold Back The Night

It's 7 AM, and I am just now going to bed. I spent the most of the day, and the entire night, making a dress for the opera La Boheme, which you would think opens tomorrow judging by my willingness to pull an all-nighter. Nope. I think Jan 17th is the first performance. I just couldn't stand having it hanging over my head anymore and wanted to be able to focus fully on Christmas, moving, and playing with the 4,000 friends who seem to be in town right now (which is awesome). I wish I could say the after-college all-nighters were a rarity, but that'd be a nope, too. At least I can say is I came by it naturally; my Dad came downstairs about 5:45 to say goodnight, he was off to bed. Yes, I do realize we are weird.

I'm having trouble playing it cool right now, at least in my own head. Last week I was super cautious, skeptical, even. Now, in my brain, I still am, but I spent a good bit of the day moping through my work because even if I'm not sold on something yet, I want others to be. Maybe it just comes down to me being impatient. Also, I listen to more swoony 60's songs than I should. Oh Frankie Avalon, where are you?

I really shouldn't post at this time of the night/morning. Never been drunk, but sleep-deprived posting is probably close to drunk dialing on the list of things likely to embarrass you the next day. I'm sure my English will be atrocious!

I have about 35 things I should do tomorrow..er, today. I wonder if it's even worth it to sleep. Whelp, guess I'm gonna go find out!

Hang All The Mistletoe, I'm Gonna Get To Know You Better...

Man, 3 comments on my last post in one day - I'm beginning to look like a real blogger!

I'm getting really excited about being in Charlotte for a while. It seems like a lot of friendships are blossoming, plus Michelle is in town and I'm glad we get to go through this settling into a place and living space thing at the same time and in close proximity. It's nice to have a friend around, too, who's known you since it was cool to shop at 5-7-9 in Carolina Place Mall, and the boys at youth group all wore Airwalks!

Tonight Lauren said "I really don't want anything...I mean, him being my boyfriend is really all I could want for Christmas. Oh, I mean, and baby Jesus." Haha, my best friend makes me laugh...and I know how she feels. I'm so glad she'll be home in 3 days. I miss having face time with her, and it just isn't Christmas if we aren't making paper chains and snowflakes to hang up in our Granville suite. Maybe she'll help me spiffy up the new place.....

I'm Getting an Apartment for Christmas (Mommy and Daddy aren't mad!)

The kitchen is ugly. 70's renovation ugly. And it doesn't have hardwoods. I'm not sure where my table's gonna go, either. These are the things I'm gonna have to stop saying first about my new apartment.

What's that? Yep, I said it, new apartment. Bachelorette pad extraordinaire (right...). What is does have is circa 1942 plaster walls, new windows, a sewing room, decent rent, a darling landlady, and a safe but cool in-town location I didn't dream I could afford. It also has a very, very excited tenant who feels like Christmas has already come and is having a hard time focusing on much more than couch colors and what pots she needs.

Getting an apartment has been something I've put off since graduation because my job is so unpredictable as far as how well it will pay and where I will need to travel. However, after 6 months of the movie I have enough of a cushion to confidently sign a lease. I will do so on Wednesday!

Good thing, too, because according to my Grandma's husband Keith, I'll "never get me a man without my own place." I spent Friday night at my Grandma's, and Saturday morning the first thing he said to me was "I know someone who's about to be 24 (several more months of 23, I protested!)...and that's only a year away from 25. You know what they say about 25, right? If you're not married my 25, you're an old maid!" OLD MAID?! Thank goodness for Grandma, who views her first grandchild eternally as her baby and spoils her as such. Later, as Grandma was packing up some pots and pans for my new place, he "jokingly" said she knew to save those for me because I wouldn't be getting married any time soon. GEEEEEEZE! Somebody is getting coal for Christmas.

When I told this story to my dad, he got really upset, and was so afraid I would be really hurt by it. Thankfully his comments didn't bruise my ego, just ticked me off a little (he mentioned the other day that it was about time I came home and got a job....you're right Keith, enough of those silly little 18 hour days on the movie set, it's time I put in some WORK). What it did make me feel was a deep sense of gratitude for my family, who has never treated me like some sort of dried up jerky for not being married before the close of my teens, but who realize that marriage for me will be wonderful and exciting, but part of the journey, not the ultimate goal of it. It also made me SO thankful that God's got the whole situation under control, and though I don't always act like it, I don't have to worry about being an old maid, because if marriage is in my picture, He'll bring it to me, and if not, He will satisfy me regardless. So come on, 25. I ain't skeered!

Under Pressure

Uh-oh. Megan linked me on her blog. This is no trivial matter, for she linked me on one major condition: I blog regularly. Ohhh accountability, how you shall haunt me.

My escape to Colorado is quickly waning, and suddenly I've noticed that my junk somehow creeped out of my room and infested the rest of the house. I think it is my subconscious trying to get me to stay.


Christa and I have had some fun craft time this month. I just love that we both get genuinely excited about felt and pipe cleaners. Yes, I realize we're dorks. One of our favorite projects (aka rip-offs of something we saw in Boulder) has been colorful little monster ornaments. We may have had a little too much fun with them. We made a movie with them, which I considered posting on here, but the whole monster movie genre is so overdone.

Well, it's off to church. I'm excited about a night of Nertz-playing ahead of us girls. The only question now is whether or not to cheat....

Been a Hard Day's Night

Today went slightly less smoothly than Megan, Christa, and I anticipated. Both of their cars decided to throw temper tantrums on the same day, at times when they both had a slew of tasks and strict time frames in which they must be accomplished. My plan to stay on the mountain turned to me finding an entertaining area of town and sticking, since Christa's car sounded like a jet engine taking off each time she braked. But "no worries" to quote the car's owner...I wandered around an area called Bel Mar, cooed at the pretty outdoor ice skating rink, checked out a little gallery crawl, and now find myself in yet another coffee shop listening to some kids cover Beatles songs. I didn't pick it for the music...they piled in the door with their considerable slew of friends about an hour after I bought an overpriced coke and settled in a corner with a book and this computer.



So their performance made me think about a few things:



1) if you're going to sing in a public place, especially once you've past the "my mom pushed me into children's choir" stage...you really should be able to sing. Ouch, dude, seriously. I will buy you a pitch pipe.



2) if you are gonna sing a classic song that pretty much EVERYBODY knows...you might want to know it too. I'm talking about Hard Day's Night, specifically. I mean, there are like 7 words in the whole song. Come on!



3) a good thing, they are actually playing some of the older Beatles music. I am no Beatles snob, I haven't listened to the white album while encased in a cloud of smoke - any type - I just like the older stuff. Upbeat can be brilliant, too, in my opinion.



4) I called these guys "kids" when in reality, they are probably 20 years old. Then I proceeded to gripe about them excessively. I am officially 83.

Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me Your Name

So I went on a date last night. Maybe the most random date I've ever been on, and certainly the most adult.

Like any shameless, bored single woman with an active imagination, I sat in the airport Saturday people watching as I waited for my plane. If I'm to be honest, though, what I was really watching for was a cute guy who might just happen to have seat 11B next to my 11C. The pickins were slim, but suddenly to my left, I spotted a potential - cute, young, and smiling. Unfortunately, he was smiling at the little boy who was traveling with him. No married men for me, thank you! Well, I thought, better make sure...and I strained as subtly as possible to see if he had a ring. I believed I caught the rambunctious 4 year old calling the guy "Patrick" and held on to the hope that maybe this guy was a doting uncle or cousin. Really, this guy, though adorable in his playing with the youngster, was not all that spectacular, but like I said, I was bored. Well, as I schemed silently in my head, I actually, ridiculously, thought "God, can You make the cute guy sit next to me?" I mean seriously, I am ashamed of myself!

Within moments the kid was getting wilder and noisier, and in his attempts to curtail the boy's energetic dashes, Mr. Cuteness revealed a flash of gold on his left hand that squashed my interest immediately. At that point I realized how silly I was, and God must have realized it too, because the increasingly hyper kid and dad sat not beside me, but right behind me - out of sight but certainly NOT out of hearing. His frequent squawking was actually not so bad as the constant sighing and complaining over it the woman beside me uttered through the flight. Very funny, God.

If I could have heard Him, though, I think God would have been chuckling at more than just the first leg of the trip. See, I think my prayer was silly, but I also think God enjoys our silliness as well as our serious moments. What good friendship do you only have deep, dark discussions with? The most alive ones include those "Don't tell anyone I'm this goofy," giggling-until-you-fall-off-the-couch moments as well as the tearful heart-to-hearts. I believe too, that God wants to give us those silly things we ask for, and on Saturday, He did!

Part two of my trip included a longer flight from Chicago to Denver, and as I settled into my place, the outside of the two seats on the left row, I pulled my book out and paid no attention to the boarding passengers....that is until a young male voice said "Can I slide in here?" and I got my first glimpse at my previously-mentioned date. We talked the whole 2hrs and 45 minutes to Denver and on through baggage claim, whereupon the nice architect pretty fresh out of grad school asked for my number(in front of Megan, so good for him for having some guts!). We went to a very nice restaurant last night, where he paid, opened doors, and generally treated me like a woman he was delighted to spend his time and money on. I gotta say, I love this!

We had a really good time, and the guy was a sweetheart - it's not true love, but who says I want it to be? The most delightful part of it all is that we have a God who loves to make us laugh. A date with a Michigan boy in town for a week? That's so random and fun. But a God who consistently loves us and takes joy in crafting the details in our lives...that is amazing.

YESSSSSSS.

And talk of poems and prayers and promises, things that we believe in...

I just have to say that Christa and Megan are two of the most wonderful women I know, shoot, most wonderful women in the world. Perhaps all of history. Yes, undoubtedly so.

I've been here in Colorado for less than a week, but it feels like so much longer - in a good way. Two nights ago Megan and I went to Boulder on a whim when we were uninspired by the dining choices around us. It's such a great town, I love spur of the moment trips, and I am so happy to have Megan who appreciates and initiates random, let's-see-where-life-takes-us adventures. I love the way Megan asks questions about what is going on in your life. Not just "how are you?" but specific, thoughtful questions that show she cares. We've had some great conversation about God and theology, boys and friends, and working and coping methods, and I LOVE her so much. I think I might be a "crazy liberal" myself by the time Dec 4th rolls around. Well, at least a little less Republican. She and Christa have given me a book list already to read while I am here, too. I am so glad for intelligent friends!

My mom said on the phone the other day that Christa and I are kindred spirits. I love that idea but think in reality I am a very pale shadow of Christa. I can cook....Christa can make magic. I have lots of artistic ideas, but Christa's craft room is full of completed examples of what she's made after bouncing from bed at 7 am when she doesn't have to work until 3. I am thoroughly impressed. We've had such a great time these past few days, scouring thrift stores for finds we can remake into funky but fashionable clothes, weaving sticks into a Thanksgiving centerpiece, and just having long overdue catch-up time. I can't believe I haven't spent much time with her since she's graduated - I have missed her so much and she is FANTASTIC. I mean, she took me to a depression glass store....how could I NOT adore her?

Add to this the fact that I am in gorgeous, amazing Colorado, and you have one VERY happy Tiffany. Megan told me to look into changing my return ticket to one later in December. The only thing bad about that is that if I do, I may just never go home!