and so the feeling grows

this past saturday i helped host a bridal shower for my dear friend, SSG. it was a lot of work, but also really fun. i am pretty proud of the decorations we made:

these were my favorite decorations

she likes writing so we used lots of books to decorate

The bride & bridal shower hostesses

beachy

in august i went to the beach with the entire family. we all had a wonderful time. and my nieces were as adorable as always.

this one is already in 1st grade.

 the not-so-fat one can already swim better than her older sister

Boy texted me the following pictures of the fat one. The captions are his.

 i love pizza! 

 but it is so hard to eat...

problem solved.

Things I've Learned 8

last weekend i went camping and it was really fun. when we left, i had a mild cold. when i got back, i sounded like i'd been chain smoking for 45+ years. turns out sleeping on the cold ground is not always the best health choice. lesson learned. (not really, i'd totally do it again)

light in winter

a little over a year ago, i was in Melbourne, Australia. it is an amazing city - one of my all time favorite places. the city is pretty artsy & they recently had a public art project to help their citizens cope with the dark days of winter. called "light in winter", the artists created a river of lighted books flowing through the downtown square and streets:

i love it. AND, on the last day of the installation, people could help themselves to whatever books they liked. i so wish i had been there.

hipster ABCs

i would have been much more into learning my letters as a 4 year old if my parents had used these cards instead of those boring traditional ones

it can't get better than this

tilt-shift photography AND the Olympics?!

ambivalence

Things that are making me sad this week:

1) the Olympics are over

2) i have to leave my family beach vacation early for a lame "how to be a good teacher" short course next week

3) M2 & i broke up. so depressing. 

Things that are making me happy this week:

1) it's my birthday!

2) i'm going to the beach! 

3) M2 & i broke up. such a relief. 

my olympic schedule

sometime between 7-9am: wake up. move to couch

awake-10am: watch the Today Show's coverage of the London games

10am-noon: craft projects and/or watch the Olympics (usually one sport on tv & another online simultaneously) 

noon: consider eating and/or watch the Olympics

1-4pm: work and/or watch the Olympics

4-5pm: nap and/or watch the Olympics

5-8pm: run, shower, eat dinner, talk to Boy about the Olympics

8pm-midnight: watch Bob Costas cover the Olympic highlights of all the events i already saw

at this point i don't really remember life before i watched TV 10 hours/day

jokes & fun with the RNC

did someone register me as a Republican as a joke? (if so, well played) i have no other explanation for me receiving some survey from the Republican National Committee asking what they should focus on in the upcoming presidential election. i found the questions mostly ridiculous and occasionally offensive. i chose to answer the one asking, "Are you planning on volunteering for your local Republican office in the upcoming election?" and then wrote "VIVA Obamacare!!" across the back. i also included this picture as a special present for the intern who got to open my envelope:

that lucky intern

update on bob costas's style

bob must have gotten a new stylist because his shirt-tie combos are vastly improved since Vancouver. he's also given up the pocket squares that never matched (too dressy for summer?). next on his list of new hires should be a new make-up artist. bob, we both know you are getting old & a little more wrinkly. just embrace it.

olympic style

i am so excited for the Olympics to start. so excited! i want the opening ceremonies to be great, but i do not have high expectations (from what i've heard it features meadows, sheep, & clouds). let's talk about the style failures that have already happened:


1) the official logo. terrible.

2) the mascots. i mean, what the hell are those things supposed to be anyway?

3) Team USA's uniforms. i don't care that they were made in China. i do care that they look like french flight attendants. and what is going on with the woman's skirt & sock combo?

4) also, let's remember the Bob Costas style debacle of 2010

movies with kids

today i went to see Pixar's new film Brave with my sister's family. here is what it is like watching a movie with two 3 year olds: first, count on arriving late bc it takes forever to get those kids in a car. this delay will result in having to sit in the very top row and not having enough seats so the babies have to sit on your laps. before the movie even starts, both girls will need to be taken to the restroom. but not at the same time - the second will only realize she wants to go after you get back with the first one. 

when they are actually watching the movie, they will provide helpful commentary, such as "THAT WAS SCARY!" or "WHERE'S MY SEAT?!" and, since you are on the top row, the entire theater gets to hear it. about half way through the movie, one will yell, "I HAVE TO GO POTTY! I'M PEEING MYSELF!" this time both of them will go out to the potty at the same time, but not before the second runs down the steps yelling, "WAIT FOR ME, DADDY!" 

by far the highlight occurs when the one sitting on your lap pours 1/4th of a Slushee out on herself, your shirt, and your new pants. if you are lucky (and i was), this will not be a red Slushee. while the couple next to you watches you shoving Kleenex down your shirt, said child will be alerting the theater that she wants a new shirt ("I WANT A NEW SHIRT!") and trying to get naked in public. by the end of the movie, at least one of the kids will be crying loudly for some unknown reason. (in our case the crying coincided with the princess on the screen crying so hopefully it just came off as sympathetic tears.) after the movie is over, both children will try to rush out of the theater and into the street before you can even get out of your seat. 

who wouldn't want to pay $40 for that experience? 

on the road

i stole this from a girl i like to blog-stalk

i like to travel. a lot. this year i have been busier and poorer than years past so sadly i will not be leaving the States. but during 2012 so far I've made it to DC, NYC, Utah, TN (x2), Portland, & Seattle. tomorrow i am going back up to DC for a week. and then to FunFest. my summer will finish out with the entire family spending a week at an island off the coast of Charleston. fall travel plans include camping on Cumberland Island (it has wild horses on it!), Vegas/Zion National Park, and hopefully a little NJ/NYC weekend. next year my goal is to visit some places i've never been to before. maybe northern new england. or south america? i'm open to suggestions.

Picturing New York

last week i went to see this exhibit at The High. my favorite pieces were by a photographer named Garry Winogrand. he was a New York street photographer in the 1960s who published several books, including one called Women Are Beautiful (comprised of candid shots of anonymous women on the street). 

there are so many things i love about both of these photographs.

 "New York"

this first one might be my favorite, but the second one reminded me of a quote from The Marriage Plot (by the brilliant Jeffery Eugenides):


“He thought of all the people going to sleep or reading or listening to music, all the lives contained by a great city like this, and, floating up in his mind, rising just above the rooftops, he tried to feel, to vibrate among, all those million tremulous souls."

"World's Fair"

eating out

dr. hixson is an extremely picky eater. usually this is annoying as it severely limits our dinner options (acceptable fare: chinese, thai, italian, mexican). my suggestions of indian, french, and vietnamese have been immediately dismissed.  however, it also means we're not eating cheap, bad food either.


saturday night we ate at Thai Basil, by the Portland temple. i am not exaggerating when i say it was the best thai food i've ever eaten in my life. squash & tofu curry with pineapple fried rice? yes, please! that meal was followed by a lemon-mascarpone linguine in downtown Portland and then by a pesto ravioli with gorgonzola (at La Vita E Bella in Belltown, Seattle). 


i'm not even going to talk about how many doughnuts were purchased at Voodoo Doughnut  (six). 

visiting friends

next week i am going to Portland and Seattle for a little vacation. i have a few friends i am going to visit and have been making various plans with them. you know you are good friends with a guy when, in planning  your visit, he sends you this email:

"And yes, I'll block off Friday, you can stay at my house, clothes are optional"

my latest project

when i was out in Utah for Boy's wedding, i ended up wandering around the BYU bookstore with PopularBloggingFriend and taking pictures of things i thought were silly. this is what ended up happening

i'm going to run out of pictures pretty fast so i recruited my younger siblings to scout out the bookstore for me. feel free to join their efforts.

An Accomplished Woman

things i did today:

woke up at 11am

ate 2 bowls of peanut butter cheerios

let my mother buy clothes and make-up for me

that pretty much sums it up. 

Month of May, It's a Violent Thing

the month of May has not been easy. the first 1.5 weeks consisted of studying for/taking finals and the last 2.5 weeks consisted of frantically studying for my PhD qualifying exam. bonus - in the middle of the month, M2 left for a 4 month internship in DC. (given my track record with long-distance relationships, that is basically a kiss of death)

 a summary of my last 3 weeks

BUT, i also have the most amazing friends ever. in the days preceding my exam i had 2 different people make me dinner, 3 plates of baked goods delivered to my house (one was even accompanied by homemade ice cream & berries!), and countless encouraging emails and texts. when i finished my exam this afternoon, another friend took me "victory shopping" (i bought a victory candle). and when i get back from TN next week, my home teachers are taking me to dinner. how great is my life? 

brownies from my culinarily-gifted neighbor

Dispatches from East Tennessee

a few weeks ago Boy had his wedding reception in Tennessee. i took advantage of the weekend to introduce my boyfriend (let's call him M2) to the entire family. we're talking parents, siblings, nieces, aunts, cousins, etc.  - the night we showed up there were over 20 people at the house for dinner. M2 handled it like a champ, particularly for an extremely introverted & quiet person. no one got to know each other very well in such a short chaotic time, but here's an overview of the post-visit reactions by my family:


the 'rents: omg, we love him so much. we're pretending like we don't care, but we want you to marry him immediately.


H&R: he's smart. and nerdy. so he breaks even. 


the nieces: who is that guy? he'll look at weird bugs with me? i love him. i don't know his name, so i'll just call him Aunt Brooke too 

M2 & the nieces look at bugs together

Boy: "before i talked to him, i gave him a 4 out of 10. after our 60 second conversation, i'll give him a 6"

Babes: "he was cooler than i thought he'd be"*

*i asked her what she had expected. she said, "brooke, all i knew about this dude was that he was homeschooled in utah, doesn't drink Coke, and doesn't watch R-rated movies. my expectations were pretty low." - understandable based on the evidence.

heartbeats

i have been a little bit in love with this website for a while. in honor of valentines day, enjoy this beautiful letter from John Steinbeck to his son about his son's first love:

New York
November 10, 1958

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First—if you are in love—that’s a good thing—that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second—There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply—of course it isn’t puppy love.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it—and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone—there is no possible harm in saying so—only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another—but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens—The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

phantom magazinist

last week a copy of the Ensign showed up at my house, addressed to me as if i'd ordered a subscription. yesterday the same thing happened with Vogue. i think someone wants me to be both church-ier and more fashionable...

(but seriously, how awesome is it to randomly get magazines? my roommate and i both love it!)

the great gatsby

sell out with me, tonight

i finally got an iPhone. now i have so many questions. what kind of case should i get? what apps should i buy with my iTunes giftcards from Christmas? will it be the best friend i've always dreamed of?

there's nothing like a real book

my love affair with stop motion continues

spring travel plans

March 14-18: NYC 
the entire family is going up to do the temple work for my grandparents. dad wanted to do it in DC or Atlanta, but we talked him into NYC. max brenner, here i come! 


April 5-8: SLC
Boy is getting married. the future sister-in-law wants to get a PhD in neuroscience so i like her. mostly i like that i have a good excuse to come visit my Utah friends.


so, friends living in NYC/Utah, mark your calendars!