"I wanted to kiss you hello."

This is truly inspiring. Here is the kind of love we should all be building:

Life Updates

Laser tag! Dirty board games! Fire pit! Copious amounts of liquor! All of these things made Christmas with my family in Wadesboro, North Carolina, oodles and oodles of fun. I brought Moody home with me this year, and he managed to take all of the zaniness in stride (although, as it turns out, he is not very good at laser tag).

To top it all off, I received the very good news that an essay I wrote about Chiharu Shiota (about whom I've blogged before) will be published in a Casa Asia book to coincide with the end of the artist’s first solo exhibition in Barcelona! I can’t wait to get my hands on it in March. More updates on this to come!

Overall, this winter break has been extremely restorative, and there are more good things coming up soon. In February, I’ll be returning to NYC for the first time since I interned for Ralph Lauren back in 2010, and I can’t wait to have adventures in my favorite city. There will definitely be reunions with a few beloved Vassar pals, and plenty of arty goodness at the CAA conference. As soon as I get back to Rochester, Moody and I will be goofing off at a Passion Pit concert, and celebrating our second (belated) Valentine’s Day together. So much good!

Happiest Happy Birthday To My Darling Moody!

And now we will be eating cake.

Ode To Moody

Exactly one year ago today, Moody and I smooshed our faces together and decided to date. It’s been the best year of my life, and in honor of my sassy, snazzy, magnificent man, I have prepared……(drumroll)……

A brief and selected list of things I love about him:

1.) That he likes to gauge the (un)acceptability of his outfits by the facial expressions of the UPS man.

2.) His positively girlish long eye-lashes

3.) His shameless love of pro-wrestling

4.) The fact that he lets me steal all of his favorite clothes, and doesn’t complain that I leave the sleeves rolled up when I put them back in his closet.

5.) That he bought me an espresso machine for Valentine’s Day. Boy knows who he’s dating.

6.) That he goes into our serial-killer-hideout-of-a-basement to switch my laundry from the washer to the dryer when I complain that there’s a serial killer down there. Hiding out.

7.) He lets me put up as many Christmas decorations as I want, and doesn’t complain when they start to encroach on his head-space.

8.) How, when he goes outside to take out the trash and I’m wolf-whistling at him from our second-floor apartment, he pretends he can’t hear me, but walks with a little more bounce in his step.

9.) He shaves his soul-patch for me. Because soul-patches are just the beginning of a slippery slope into rat-tail and mullet territory.

10.) When he’s on the night-shift at work, he spends hours and hours making me origami sunflowers.

11.) How, one time, when I was out of canvasses, he let me do a painting on his back.

12.) His very fine tooshie.

Happy anniversary baby. You are the bee’s knees. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Wanderlust: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

A Rochester Update: Santa Claus is Coming/Already Forcefully Exerting His Magical Presence

Well, I survived my first semester as a doctoral student. This might not seem like the biggest of big deals, but it sure makes this getting-older-business a lot more pressing. Four more semesters, and it will be dissertation time. Presumably, that means a published book, a doctoral degree, a job, and expanded brain power. Of some sort. The last bit is negotiable.

The good news is that CHRISTMAS IS COMING. I am a Christmas fiend, and I am not shy about it. Our apartment is currently an explosion of paper snowflakes, twinkle lights, and garlands. Our fatty-fat tree is taking up the better part of the living room, and an assortment of Yankee Candle scents is slowly altering our brain chemistry (possibly). The gingerbread cookies are soon-to-be-baked, and Moody and I are steadily working through my list of magical Christmas movies, of which there are plenty. It is definitely childish, and we are certainly feeding the commercial machine. But I really love Christmas. Since it’s our first one together, Moody and I will be sticking close to home, and I’m looking forward to the most loving, cookie-filled, snuggly Christmas ever.

That being said, Moody and I are warring over what constitutes good Christmas music. He’s of the Mariah-Carey-Boys-II-Men school of thought, while I’m sticking to the classics. Bing. The Carpenters. Judy Garland. Eartha Kitt. The Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. Etc. He’s mostly letting me win, but I’m determined to make a convert of him. I have nothing against pop, but I refuse to listen to Jessica Simpson and her ex-hubby mangling the classics.

And it wouldn’t be Christmas without wonderful news! My mom and step-father just sold their house in England, and are moving to the states this spring! For a grad student who is perpetually broke and can’t hop on a plane whenever the mood strikes, this is marrrrrrrvelous news. They’ve found a gorgeous, big old house down south, and I absolutely cannot wait to visit. 

Every November, I am Studious, and Hostile

You know that post-holiday enthusiasm hang over? Oh yeah, we have it. All that's left of our 10 lb. candy mix is the bubble gum and jolly ranchers, and Moody and I are both hostile about it. We also didn't get a single Trick-or-Treater, so that tells you how much candy we've been eating. LUCKILY, Christmas is coming. Thanksgiving doesn't count, but it is the day when I start blaring Christmas music unabashedly, so that's something. 

I've started Christmas shopping and making my Christmas-cookie-plan-of-attack, both of which are very good things, but if my posts dwindle in the next 3-4 weeks, it's because I'm drowning in multiple 20 page final papers. Which is a nasty, icky, no-good disgusting thing.

51 days until Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

Wanderlust: The Witching Hour

What did one Jack-O-Lantern say to the other Jack-O-Lantern as they were headed out?

Let's get glowing!

You know you love it.

Say Something Nice

I'm sharing this for three reasons. 1.) It made me smile. 2.) I miss New York City. 3.) The little dude at 2:12.

To infinity...and beyond!

Me and Moody

This describes our relationship quite well. I'm the cat. Happy anniversary sillybutt.

HARRY POTTER DAY. Part V

Almost time to head out. Moody refuses to have a lightning scar drawn like me, so I'm putting the Dark Mark on his arm. He thinks he's bad-ass. I shouldn't heckle him though, because he did just find this for me:

Famous album covers re-imagined with HP characters. Take a look at all of them here.

HARRY POTTER DAY. Part II

Winnie the Pooh is next on my list. I grew up with House on Pooh Corner, so I almost wee-ed myself when I first saw the teaser trailer a few months ago. Don't you see though? Even Pooh loves Harry Potter.

HARRY POTTER DAY. Part I

This time tomorrow, Moody and I will be at the midnight showing of Deathly Hallows. So I’ve declared it Harry Potter Day. Do please enjoy. All day long.

Ten Mostly Irrelevant Things Pertaining to My Relationship With Harry Potter:

1. There’s a statue at the Met that looks just like Voldemort. It’s my secret favorite.

2. For the first few years I was reading the books, I thought that Hagrid actually had a slobbery pet boar. Dear old Fang. You’ll have to excuse me, I was like nine.

3. I was visiting my family in England when the seventh and final book came out.  I stopped talking to my mother for two days because she bought Keane tickets for all of us for the day of the book release. I like to think I was not the only kid in that arena reading during the concert.

4. I read the entire first book aloud to my sister to get her into the series. She loves them almost as much as I do now, but there were some dicey times there. Unfortunately, she refuses to re-read any of them. I plug my ears and sing when she confuses the main characters.

 5. One of my good friends in middle school had her 13^th birthday as a backyard carnival, and the prizes at one of the booths were goldfish. I won two fishies, which I named after Dobby and Winky. I took them home, and Dobby ate Winky. Trauma. I will never keep fish again.

6. I have a (not so) secret grudge against any and all non-Ian-McKellen Dumbledores. He’s just the wizardy-est wizard there is. Hell, he can play Merlin, the Wizard of Oz, and Jafar while he’s at it.

7. I played the flute in high school (ha, ha), and during my sophomore year we played the Harry Potter theme at our spring concert. Mostly because I was subliminal messaging the shit out of the band teacher.

8. The day I didn’t get my acceptance letter to Hogwarts was a dark, dark day. This winter I actually bought a green pen and wrote one out (word for word according to the book with the official Hogwarts seal, and even including a list of required materials) for a friend who was waiting for grad school acceptances. She got into UPenn, but I think my offer was better.

9. I considered saving up for a Wii solely because I wanted to cast spells on it. Luckily, my sister and her dude beat me to it.

10. My boyfriend’s last name is Moody, so I’m thinking that if I ever get lonesome for more Potter, I can mess with one of his eyes, and have my very own Mad-Eye.

Happy Birthday Moody.

Whoa baby, love you I do. Red Velvet cake with cream cheese icing. Thanks Paula Deen.