Is Today The Best Day You've Ever Had?

That's what the check-out kid at Target asked me today, and it made me think. It's not the worst day I've ever had, but the best? Not by a long shot.

Reasons it's not the worst day I've ever had:

* Record-high heat wave. I love any reason to wear a skirt and flip flops.
* It's opening day!
* Every single piece of clothing I own is clean and either folded or hung up in its proper place. Except for the clothing that is currently on my person. First time ever this has happened since I lived at home, eight years ago.

Reasons it's not necessarily the best day I've ever had:

* Record-high heat wave coupled with humidity means I'm having major big hair issues.
* It's opening day and I'm already thinking, "There's always next year!" C'mon Cubbies! Seriously?!?
* Every piece of clothing I own is officially clean and hung in its proper place and I'm out of hangers. I officially have too many clothes. Must de-clutter and head to Goodwill.
* It's officially spider season again. About nineteen seconds ago I took a look at my planner to see a disgusting, hairy brown spider crawling across April 7th. Freakout ensued and said spider's guts are now embedded into my carpet and on the bottom of my left black flippy floppy. Eww.
* I tried the new dark cherry mocha at Starbucks and it tasted like NyQuil. Good news? I like NyQuil. Bad news? Don't think I like NyQuil mixed with espresso and chocolate. I'll go back to the old standard, caramel latte, on my next visit. Still glad I tried it, though.
* Poor Butler Bulldogs!
* I wandered through Target while on the phone with Katie (best part of my day, by the way) and threw everything in the cart that I needed except the one thing I really went to Target for - toilet paper. Grr...
* Did I mention it's spider season?

Coffee Girl

I'm pleased to announce that I'm officially back on the juice. I went to bed last night quite giddy about waking up Easter morn and heading out for coffee. I knew for sure I didn't want to just brew some in my dusty coffee pot, although I would like to thank my favorite nephew for the delicious Dunkin Donuts grounds he picked out for my Easter basket. Thanks little man! For some reason, the thought of leaving my apartment and heading toward Starbucks or DD sounded much more exhilirating. After much deliberation, I finally decided on DD for a large iced coffee with caramel. It was, after all, eighty-something degrees out and it seemed appropriately refreshing. Best. Coffee. Ever. And best coconut donut. Ever.

Thanks again to all of you for your support during this very trying time in my life. You'll be happy to know that since my coffee intake has increased, so has my productivity. Depressing, I know, but it's true. I'm an addict.

The Land of 10,000 Bars

This year I decided to take spring break a little late. Why should I have to conform to the standards set by Belmont? I don't want to have spring break when it's 40 and rainy. I want it when it's sunny and 75. So I decided to spend my post-spring-break spring break with some of my favorite girls in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. Lucky for me, there was a heat wave! Highlights:

Day 1:

*Things were great even before Minny when I got a cheddar dog and fries from Gold Coast dogs in Midway airport. Seriously, if you haven't tried them, do it. Purposely schedule your layovers there, you won't be disappointed.

*Happy hour and bowling league. And my first ride in the Mini.

# of drinks consumed:

2.5 = glasses of the wine of the month at the bowling alley (no joke)
2 = beers

1 = rum and Coke

Day 2:

*The outlet mall on a gorgeous, sunny day. Space Aliens for lunch. Seriously. Tess was like a kid in a candy store - this girl loves outer space and UFO's and alien conspiracies. Couple that obsession with Space Fries and she was in heaven.
*Happy hour and bar-hopping and karaoke, oh my! Who knew happy-hour hopping could be such fun? Thanks to random girl Stephanie for joining Tess and I on a pitchy, just aight version of "I Want You To Want Me." And mazel tov to Jake for his heart-wrenching rendition of Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." Dude, you really brought the house down.

# of drinks consumed:

1 = Tom Collins (don't ask)

5 or 6 (possibly more) = rum and Coke

2 = Beer- Summit (yummy) and one super strong 9% alcohol Belgian (also yummy)

Day 3:

*Chipotle downtown with the girls. So yummy.

*Lesiurely saunter around Calhoun with Ann, capped off with a Phish Food milkshake from B&J.

*Grilled cheese party, Part Deux. Hats off to the grilled s'mores and grape jelly/brie combo.
# of drinks consumed:

3 or 4 (or more): glasses of wine

Day 4:

*Lunch with some of my favorite boys. Let me just say that ordering a drink before noon is a mistake. A happy mistake, though.

*Como Zoo with Lala. Highlights include that it was free and there was cotton candy to be enjoyed. Lowlights include that it was packed with spring break children and I'm apparently allergic to the sunken garden.

*Happy hour mojitos. Another walk around another beautiful lake.

*My first Sextons experience. Good band. Even better t-shirts.

*Park Tavern. 'Nuff said.

# of drinks consumed:

3 = mojitos

1 = Goose Island brewskie

1 = Leinie's HoneyWeiss

3-ish = rum and Coke

Day 5:

*Sleeping in!

*Sad farewell lunch to cap off a successful MALT WOF! (Mal, Ann, Laura and Tess Week of Fun!)

# of drinks consumed:

1 = mojito

Lessons learned:

Even flip flop lovers have bad days.

Mojitos are good.

Jamaican wings are good.

My liver needs a break from spring break.

Long Time, No Type

So, I realize it's been awhile since last I blogged. I believe this is becoming a trend and I apologize for it, but I'm not so broken up about it that I'm taking any drastic measures to fix it. To be honest, things have been very quiet around here lately and I just don't have anything interesting to say. Below, in no particular order, is a brief summary of the past few weeks:

1. I caught up on Lost and love it. No surprise there. Also not very newsworthy.
2. I bought a different brand of bacon and I don't love it.
3. Speaking of bacon, I had the best bacon cheeseburger last week at Cheddar's. This might very well have been the first burger I've had since I quit them last fall. Now that I'm back on the burger bandwagon, I do believe a trip to Five Guys is in order. Any takers?
4. Liam had his first "aunties only" slumber party last week on the eve of his first birthday party. It was pretty boring, actually, because he went to bed at 7:30. And Jamie and I got no sleep. But we discovered he likes cinnamon rolls, so I'll go ahead and say it was a success.
5. TiVo recorded Dazed and Confused for me sometime in the middle of the night last night. Pretty pumped about that.
6. There's a new dark cherry mocha at Starbucks that I'm itching to try. I really can't wait for Easter to come. I'll probably never come down from the espresso high that will likely ensue.
7. John Mayer is about to get banned from my Pandora stations. Why does Pandora think I like him? I thumbs-down every song of his that comes on.

That's it for now. I would promise to try to do better, but I don't want to instill in you all a false sense of hope.

Peace out!

Love in a Fallen City

I don't think my love for disaster movies is any secret. Strange, maybe, but it's not something I hide. This afternoon, Dante's Peak was on AMC. (By the way, when did movies released 13 years ago become classics? I just don't understand. Except for The Big Lebowski. Instant classic.) If you haven't seen Dante's Peak, let me recap for you - volcano blows in a mountain town and the mayor and the volcano expert guy must fight to save the town from the ash and the molten lava. Naturally, in the midst of the volcanic chaos, the two fall madly in love.

What's the deal? I think my skepticism of this unnatural love plot in action movies began with Speed. Actually, I think it began with The Goonies, but for the sake of argument, we'll go with Speed. After spending only a few hours with each other on a bus, Keanu sweaty and reeking of gas and Sandra Bullock in that awful dress, they can take down the big, bad Dennis Hopper and make out passionately when the subway car hurls through the end of the track at the end of the movie? I don't buy it, perhaps because of what Annie says to Jack - that relationships started under intense circumstances never last. And, why do the new love interests always find it so easy to love the other person's children? Really? After spending two days with this woman, you want to take her kids on a deep sea fishing trip in Florida, Pierce Brosnan? Yeah, maybe some time away from the volcano-ridden town will provide you with some perspective.

So now, 10, 13, 15 years later, I'd like to see if Pierce Brosnan and his special lady friend are still together. Or whether Annie and Jack could make it work. Or whether the astronomy lady and the FEMA director from some tv movie about meteors I saw a few weeks ago made it work after all the fine people of Dallas and Kansas City were safe and sound from falling rocks. Or Jake Gyllenhaal and that girl from The Day After Tomorrow. Or Tommy Lee Jones and the volcano chick from Volcano. Seriously, did they all live happily ever after?

The Great Coffee Cleanse of 2010

I know it's been awhile, friends, but I have a really wonderful excuse. I have been in rehab. Coffee rehab, that is. (Do I look like someone who goes to rehab for drugs or alcohol or exhaustion or anorexia?) I made the decision to give up coffee for Lent this year. We were always told that whatever you give up for 6 weeks should be a true sacrifice, and for me, coffee really is. Here's a recap of my first week, (almost) coffee free.

Tuesday BL (Before Lent): I drank a large cherry buster latte at Bongo Java before class and refilled with a steaming hot dark roast before heading to class. Cue one hour later, mid-discussion of The Faerie Queen, and I slurp the last sip of said dark roast. Pretty sure no one noticed the tear sliding down my cheek.

Day 1: I popped Tylenol as soon as I woke up to prevent the caffeine headache I knew would come on once my mind realized I had been awake for 17 minutes without drinking coffee. It helped and I replaced my morning mug of coffee with a mug of chocolate milk and a mug of orange juice. Well hydrated and full of vitamins. I wish coffee had vitamins, then perhaps I could justify my addiction.

Day 2: Sonic on my way to work for a $0.99 large Coke. No headache but serious crabbiness. Poor little Jack bore the brunt of my grumpiness, but I apologized profusely and smothered him with kisses and he forgave me. I think. Sometime around midnight I pulled into my favorite 24-hour Starbucks at exit 99 on I-65. I had been debating whether a Mountain Dew would cut it as I drove home to Michigan City very late at night, but I was kidding myself. I cheated and ordered a caramel latte, with an extra shot. Dude, if I'm going to cheat, I'm going to cheat big. It didn't even taste good and I was so mad to have wasted a cheat on that. But I did stay awake for the 2.5 hours up to M.C. so it was effective.

Day 3: Large Mickey D's Coke on the way to the dentist. Grouchiness subsiding a bit, but sleepiness became overwhelming. Apparently that pot of coffee every morning is what kept me going until 11:30 every night, and without it, I am so ready for bed by 7:30. Lame, I know.

Day 4: Mom shows off her brand new Starbucks barista espresso and milk steamer machine and excitedly exclaims that she can't wait to make me a caramel latte. I excitedly exclaim that she's a (insert expletive here) for not knowing that I gave up coffee for lent. Apparently the grouchiness has yet to subside.

Day 5: Mom makes another homemade caramel latte, I have another huge glass of chocolate milk.

Day 6: More chocolate milk.

Day 7: Grouchiness subsiding, headaches gone, but sleepiness is still an issue. I did discover something delicious at BJ, though, a caramel steamer. It's a latte without the espresso. It gives me something yummy and hot to drink, but unfortunately lacks the caffeine to keep me awake during a rousing class discussion about sonnets. The Crunch bar and Starbursts helped a bit. You know how when you quit smoking and you have to pick up a new habit to keep your hands from becoming idle? I've picked up a candy habit to keep my hands from thinking about coffee.

Day 8: So sleepy.

Ventis and Rice Crispie treats

I went to Starbucks this morning for breakfast, the above mentioned venti caramel latte and ginormous marshmallowy rice crispie treat, and to work on my thesis. The latest chapter has me stumped, so I went to gather intel and draw inspiration from the folks around me. Below you will find some of my observations that may or may not make the cut in the novel:

(Let me just say that I was listening to my ipod while I was in there, but paused it randomly to overhear conversations. It's the best way to eavesdrop - leave the earbuds in and the sound off)

1) 2 construction worker guys: They each ordered a chai, which I thought was hilarious. They were wearing those huge plaid winter coats, you know the ones I'm talking about, and they sat down with their chais and one guy got a donut and the other guy got a scone. They sat in silence while they ate their treats and drank their teas or whatever chai is, and then they started talking. About what, I'm not entirely sure, but there was an inappropriate comment about the barista behind the counter, followed by some discussion of the NFL combine and then I lost interest and turned the music back on.

2) An incredibly overwhelming woman and her co-worker? lover? nephew? pool boy?: She came up to me while I actually had music playing and started talking wildly with her hands. I felt like one of those people in the movies or on tv who always try to ward off the annoying person next to them on an airplane by pointing at my ears and mouthing "I can't hear you." But, alas, I'm nicer than that and pulled my earbuds out. She complimented my very cute green Dell and told me that the keyboard looks a lot like an HP she once had. Umm, thank you? Is that a compliment? Was that really worth me missing the second verse of "Hello Sunshine" by Super Furry Animals? No.

3) Foreign dude: Actually, I'm not entirely sure he's foreign, but he's not from around here, so I'm calling him foreign. Anyway, he had really greasy, slicked-back, over-gelled black hair and he ordered something I've never heard of. Then, he sat in the corner at a table for 4, all alone, just staring out at the rest of us in there. He didn't even pretend to be reading something or playing on his phone. He didn't look outside the window, he just gazed around the room, taking in the ambiance at the Starbucks. It was a little weird and I've been watching a lot of NCIS lately so naturally I assumed he's an arms dealer or a Russian mobster and I packed up my things to go before something crazy went down.

Overall, a successful venture to Starbucks. I'll be back tomorrow, probably, to work some more, and hopefully creepy quasi-foreign man isn't there.