Lucy Knisley in my Brain

One of my favorite comic artists, Lucy Knisley, just posted a moving comic! So perfect.  We jam out of here in less than one week.

I hope people come to our going-away party at the bar tonight.  I hope I don't cry.

Best of Party Decorations - Part 4 - Maprilween 2011

Here are a few pictures from the party we had on Saturday.  We usually do Aprilween, but because April was so busy, we pushed it back to May. Thus, Maprilween.

Hand-made banners

It looks dreary in the morning-after light, but the photo corner has become the cornerstone of our parties.

Exhibit A. Photo by Chris Clanton

Exhibit B. Photo by Chris Clanton

 Some people really went all the way with their costumes this year.  If there had been a prize for most unwieldy, least-likely-to-get-in-the-door costume, it was this homage to the Wizard of Oz.  What you can't see are the black and white striped stocking, red sparkly shoes and beer-holder.

Photo by Chris Clanton

Lastly, make sure that you delegate tasks according to one's skills.  If someone is good at mowing the lawn and washing the dishes before the party, let them.  Don't force a square peg into a round hole by trying to make them purchase party snacks. All you'll have to show for it will be 8 mini Reese's cups and a miniature bag of Jelly Bellys.

Best of Party Decorations - Part 3 - My 2010 Bday!

Photo by Chris Clanton

My signature construction-paper dangles, aqua ribbon bordering the room

Snack table: any opportunity for a punch bowl

Pink and aqua! I was really feeling this color combo.

Photo corner, where Chris Clanton took AWESOME pictures of everyone.

photo by Chris Clanton

Photo by Chris Clanton

 Ever have a great party, but forget to take pictures? I've found if you create a space to get your picture taken (and you have an awesome photographer friend) people will be drawn into that space.  Everyone likes a good picture of themselves.

Best of Party Decorations - Part 2 - Aprilween 2010

What is Aprilween? Halloween in April, of course.  J and the Painter (his old roommate/our old roommate) celebrated Aprilween in college, and together we have way more awesome memories from this holiday than its parent holiday.  For one, a lot of costumes are ruined by an October Halloween.  Coats don't go with most costumes.  Sure, you see plenty of young women dressed as sexy dental assistants not wearing coats, but they have obviously made their choices.  Hrmph.

Secondly, there's no Halloween pressure to come up with something grand. You just do it for the fun of it.  Like, when you get a present that isn't a Christmas present, it is so much better.  Because there's no hubbub around it, and it's less likely robbers are going to kill you in your sleep for your gifts in July.

Thirdly, there must always be a thirdly, costume parties are my favorite thing in the world.  I hear that is even pretty normal for me.  I've found that while it's hard to get everyone to participate at a dance party, almost everyone will come well-equipped for a costume party.  And it's soooo much easier to sidle up to a lovely single lady/gent and talk about costumes than pretty much anything else.  I used to have parties with large tubs of neon PGA punch, and now I have parties where people are dressed like puns and 80s movie references.  I'm betting an equal amount of people are getting laid afterward.

front of the house, pre-party.  The Painter likes earthy colors, but this is the closest you can get a a party store.

Best of Party Decorations- Part 1 - Branson of the Future!

Ok, first things first-- what is Branson?  Since we're in Arkansas, we refer to Branson, Missouri.  It's hillbilly Las Vegas, or what Las Vegas would be like if  you took away the drinking, prostitutes, fun, gambling and sand and replaced all that with elderly white people and Starbuckses.  It's where pop and country stars go to die (Nelly was there recently!).  It's the place people tell you they are going for a vacation, and you smirk inside and think about how sad that is that they are excited about Branson and then realize what a smug asshole you are and have to go listen to some Smiths.  But really, how hilariously terrible is a butterfly exhibit called "White Flight" in an area not exactly known for racial transcendence?

Gaga, Kanye and Justin Bieber masks, for those without costumes

The idea for the party was to dress up like a celebrity or performer that you'd imagine would take a career dive and end up in Branson.  I dressed up as Gwen Stefani (I have major issues with her "Harajuku" schtick) but there were a few Biebers, Ke$ha, fictional characters who just wanted to be there, Adam Lambert and some Branson tourists.  Birthday friend likes a party with some real thought in it, so we put together a red, white and blue themed party with a photo corner where you could design a tack Blingee-inspired picture or get a photo with a life-sized Dolly Parton or Elvis impersonator.  The IRL Blingees* were my drunken inspiration, but said friend is an absolute Blingee genius, seen here at Use Your Allusion.  She has a master's in kick-ass.

Job Bluth, of Arrested Development, showed up, also.

Don't go to Dollar Tree for flag bunting. We bought all that shit.

My "Hollaback Girl"-era Gwen Stefani.  And for the record, I put a giant pair of sunglasses in EVERY blingee I've ever made.

                                  

                                       Stars, flags and patriotic poofs.  Elvis can barely be seen on the bottom.

The party was a tremendous success.  There was trepidation from people that coming up with an appropriate costume-- a pop star was one thing, but an aged pop star? With a dash of retro-futurism?  In the end, everyone just showed up looking as much like their character as possible, and with an explanation of just why they thought said character would end their career in the Show-Me State.  This was one of the only parties where I took the decorations down the very next day, they were that blindingly patriotic. 

*IRL = in real life.  Check out Blingee.com to see what that actually is

Graduation! Dr. J!

Car-lot party decorations for Dr. J

Me and Dr. J at his post-graduation party.  Lots of friends came by to wish him well.

My sister's boyfriend didn't walk in the ceremony, but graduated with a bachelor's.  We put J's robe on him and took some semi-serious photos he could give to him mom.  Maybe semi-serious is an over-statement.

Happy Birthday Dr. J!

J's birthday was last Tuesday, but because life is weird and sometimes irritating, he had to give an exam and then help grade hundreds of physics tests.  On his birthday. Until almost midnight.  We're still winding down from dissertation time, and our celebrating of his birthday has melted in the post-diss lazy reading time.  That's all he wants to do.  We've gotten almost 400 pages into Game of Thrones*.

Tree decorations

J outside the porch, under home-made bunting and stars

Decorations during the party

I LOVE the way the decorations came out, but I'll admit they were created from a mind too lazy to drive to the store for streamers.  Years ago I bought a giant pad of rainbow-colored construction paper, and I've done several party themes with it.  Construction paper, string, tape, that's all I need when I'm really driven to do something.  I like the little flag buntings I've seen on Etsy**, and it really was very simple.  I'd like to try one made of fabric, too.

I've made a few of these Mother's Day Brooches from Holidash, but so far they haven't come out as nicely as the creator's.  I've been felting instead of gluing, and my beginner felting skills may have something to do with that.  It's definitely good practice.  I'm making the one above for my mother-in-law, but I'm working on a blue one for my mom.  I've decided to do a variation on the one above, using rounded petals and a few sequins peaking out at the base of each petal.  We'll see.  I don't see her until tomorrow, so I have a little time to experiment.

If it works, I'll post a little tutorial here.  Of course, all my thanks goes to Holidash for doin' it first.  I found a lovely wildflower in my yard yesterday (isn't it weird when you find one you've never ever seen before?) but it's not open yet, so I'll use this one as a model:

The white part at the base will be ice blue sequins from this project.

*Forgive me linking to a review of the show.  I just figure if you don't read fantasy, watching an episode of the show is more likely to start your engine for reading this book.  I'm hopefully obtuse when it comes to fantasy, and I usually need to be tricked into reading it.

**Miko Designs is a really fun blog.  This lady has the best parties ever for her daughters.

Homemade Cheez-its steal the show

Casey at Good Food Stories put together a FANTASTIC recipe for homemade Cheez-it crackers.  Not one to be left out of the action, I had to make them for the Food Feud last night.  They were a little bit of a scene-stealer:

Close-up on crunchety-flakety-cheesety wonderfulness

The recipe made about 5 little ramekins full of crackers to hand out.
We had to hide some for later.

Only because I grew up in Junk Food America, I would suggest a little more salt for this recipe, or just sprinkling some salt on top before baking.  They were delicious on their own, but to get closer to the original, definitely saltier.  On a positive note, these didn't feel like I was eating something totally horrible, but on a negative note (in terms of likeness) these didn't feel like I was eating something totally horrible for me.  Also, you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons more ice water to get the dough to start forming.  This may just depend how exact you are in measuring your other ingredients.

J's Glazed Carrot Soup and neighbor's Sweet Potato Bisque with yogurt sauce were beautiful and tasty. And pretty good mixed together.  The game was a tie.

Guest and dog chillin'

Starts and Stops

Once again, I'm feeling the drag of J's advisor halting progress.  What do you do when you can only get your advisor's attention for 15 minutes a week and they won't write your rec letters or even let you know they haven't done them yet? J's feeling pretty sheepish, as his (now) top choice asked for letters probably two weeks ago, and we're still not sure she's got them all.  He had to send her an email making sure she got them, because his letter writers won't respond to his emails about whether or not they will/have written them.  Grrr.  But-- it was the end of finals week last week, so I should have patience.  I just hate to see him get down about it.  Things got exciting for a few days and then shut down.

In other exciting news, our landlord has dropped another bomb on us.  In September, we had actual contact with him when our A/C went out and he casually told us he was thinking about using our home as leverage in a custody battle.  "I figured I'd let my wife live here rent-free, and her lease is up in June."  Yeah, only slightly horrifying.  Renters' Rights in Arkansas are pretty grim, so we had a huge garage sale and sold off maybe 1/3-1/2 of our belongings just in case he got even flakier and we got the boot.  The idea of moving and then having to move again in 6ish months was horrifying.  We decided to get lighter.

Before that  there was talk of him selling the house, which was OK since our neighbors were interested (and intent on keeping us as tenants).  That fell through when the divorce started and he never returned their calls (after they had already paid for home inspections).  J. says we're probably good because nothing moves fast and the landlord is flaky, but I don't want to count on someone being flaky in a way that is beneficial to me.

Talk is back on about him selling off his properties, and luckily the neighbors are thinking about trying to buy the house again.  I got mad at J. last week for seeming to be cavalier about our possible eviction, but he was just way too stressed/depressed by the rec letter quagmire.  Can we just get out really soon?

The current plan is finish the thesis in March, defend in April, all done by May.  And somewhere in there find a job.  I don't know what I can do at this point but be optimistic.  This blog has helped that last bit dramatically.

In happy-go-lucky news, I had a kick-ass birthday party on Friday that made me forget about my birthday blues earlier in the week.  Here are some pictures, taken by my photographer friend:

My amazing sis-in-law

I love how I look like a tarty cherub in this shot.

Our bathroom has really good light, so eventually everyone came in for some group shots.

Detail of decorations

We forgot birthday candles, so Jonathan obliged with his lighter.

My sis and her new boyfriend. It was hard to find the cutest picture, because they are disgustingly wonderful together.

All in all, it was the best party I've ever had.  My sis-in-law and best friend helped me deck the house out in pink streamers and aqua Christmas balls and decorate a corner just for photos (seen above).   There was a glitch in the karaoke system (namely a microphone and amplification) but we remedied it with a hairbrush and really enthusiastic singing.   The rest of the night was taken up with Framboise floats and photo shoots and chocolate tort.  No one got sick. No one got sad. Everyone got hugs. Then everyone went home.

Party time!

It must seem like I've been having a birthday for a week, because I have.  I cannot let a year pass without a big party (heck, not a few months can pass) and my birthday never gets left out, even if I have to wait a week afterwards.  Finals will be over (a LOT of my friends are still in grad school) so everyone can come.  My sister-in-law arrives today, and we'll have the party on Friday.  I've been into color themed parties lately, so this one will be pink and aqua.  I purchased a Betsey Johnson dress in Portland (lapse of sanity and finances) and need more chances to wear it:

Mine's a little lighter, but pretty much the same. Is it cold right now? Of course! But fancy dress and costumes wait for no weather.  I'm going shopping for decorations soon, and I think I'll just do lots of streamers in my theme colors and some little white lights going around the perimeter of the room.  

There'll be champagne punch, framboise floats, and lots of snacks.  A friend is lending his projector and screen so we can do big karaoke in the living room.  

Pic from last birthday-- for some reason, this really brought the house down.

Some snacks from last year.  My of my friends are excellent cooks, so they bring great things.

The husband, who I will refer to as J. from now on because "the husband" sounds kind of mocking, got me a pair of super super super warm cycling gloves, but even better, he's really going at it with applications and letters, and that makes me happier than anything.  It's really starting to come true.  Will I actually need to rock this birthday party like it's my last one in town?  I avoided a mention of that in the invitations, because I'm pretty sure I said that last year.  Don't want to jinx it.

The results are in! Down with Trailing, Up with Traveling!

The results of my highly scientific and well-read poll are in:

First Place: Traveling Spouse
Second Place: Sidecar
Honorable Mention: Accompanying Spouse

Granted, there were only 9 votes.  I've now changed my blog title. Unfortunately, "trailing spouse" is still the go-to keyword in searches.

Good news too!  My husband wrote three letters to researches in his field, and is having his advisor help him fine-tune them.  That means this week, there will the THREE irons in our fire, and I am so happy about it.  He seems way more upbeat than usual, and that makes the whole house brighter.  Where, you may ask? Well, I won't get too specific, but France, Wisconsin and Ohio.  I've only been to one of these places, and it was at a rest stop (no, it wasn't France).

My boss is gone the first two days of this week, and though that may seem like time to drool on my keyboard, I got a few hours of major stuff done this morning.  I'm hoping to have enough stuff done while she's gone to make her ok with the fact that she had to come back.

Only two days left in November! December is my birthday month, as well as my father's. I make a big to-do about my birthday.  My excuse is that so many people don't care about their birthday, so their latent birthday excitement is pulled into mine by it's strong gravitational pull.  I've got a dress to wear, but for some reason beyond me my heart is asking for a tiara.  I am going to honor that need.