1. First things first – this has been an amazing few weeks for music – several awesome downloads last week and this week’s release of Ingrid Michaelson’s new album, “Human Again”. If you’re an Ingrid fan (and I am), this seems a bit of a departure from her usual quirky Ingrid sound – seems a little sadder, a little less…fun. Still beautiful. Still lyrically Ingrid. It just has a slightly different flavor.
2. Since I’m already talking about music… I’m less than a month away from a road trip to Blissdom! Kat and I will be driving from hereish to there – which translates into SEVERAL HOURS IN THE CAR. Of course, I love a good road trip, I love me some Kat – and I am SO excited about the trip. But, Kat and I need some good tunes in the car – if you have suggestions for our Road to Bliss playlist, let me know.
3. Saw the movie “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” this past weekend. I’d been slightly (not very) hesitant because movie adaptations are never as good as the book. Frankly, I loved the book so much the movie didn’t stand a chance of measuring up. But. It was beautifully done and lovely and I didn’t cry nearly as much as I thought I would. And it’s got an Oscar nomination – making it the only contender for “Best Picture” that I’ve seen this year.
4. I just wrapped up reading a fun book this week, and I’m reading a book with The Princess for our Mom/Daughter book club, but I’m finally gearing up to dive into Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Have you read it? What did you think? I am not normally a reader of biographies, but thought I’d give it a whirl. I took the below photo outside the 5th Avenue Apple store in New York City.
5. I’ve reached the point of winter where I am bored with my hair and debating getting a major hair cut. I need to talk myself out of it. I have been growing out my hair since my last drastic above-the-shoulders cut two years ago and it’s down to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I don’t want to grow my hair to my feet – but I’m not sure I’m ready for a short ‘do again (or ever!). But… winter almost compels me to make a change. So… maybe I need a new color.
6. Pumpkin is on a SkippyJon Jones kick. I have to admit, I find it somewhat adorable that she’s added the phrase “holy frijoles” to her vocabulary.
7. A boy told The Princess yesterday that she was not “built for soccer” but that she was “built for math”. I don’t even know what the hell that means, but I’m sure it wasn’t intended to be nice. I’m fighting the mama bear urge to tell The Princess to give him the middle finger and say, “You’re right – I’m so good at math I can tell you exactly how many fingers I’m holding up.” But, that’s not the right answer. My gymnast could probably beat any of the boys in her class in a pushup contest, and being good at math is an awesome thing. I can only assume this boy just didn’t want any girls in a “boys only” game of soccer. To which I say THIS: pbbbbbbbbbbbbth. Whether you are a parent of daughters or a parent of sons (or of both!), you have a responsibility to challenge the gender “norms” that have been held for so long: girls can’t play sports, boys can’t play dress up or have dolls, everything made for girls needs to be pink. It’s 2012 not 1950. I have daughters – and it’s my job to let them know they are capable of doing damn near anything a boy can (except pee standing up – I’m not encouraging that mess).
8. I’ve made it a mission to work on strengthening my skills in the arena of food photography. It’s not easy – for sure – but, I’m intrigued by it.
9. My sister’s baby shower? It went WELL! Now to plan the shower for my sweet sweet friend who is due just four weeks after. Two baby showers back to back has taught me one thing: I was right in not pursuing a career in event planning.
10. Project Runway without Tim Gunn? No bueno. I even almost miss Heidi. Project Runway AllStars is kind of a miss for me. And that’s my hard-hitting reality TV opinion of the day.
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