#123

I messed up on the numbers but its only my second time. I think its okay. Life has been crazy lately but I don't feel like writing about it right now so here are some pictures!

"A very Moi Christmas" by Moi
Photo Essay

These are some of my cousins except that one boy closest to the camera. His name is either Tim or Bob and he is dating my cousin. He is only 15 and cannot drive when they go on dates. Really? I think if you cannot drive its too soon to be bringing a significant other to large family functions. Unless as Toi and BART pointed out, he may not have a family to celebrate and in that case, I think its ok that he is allowed to come but if he could just lay off the rubbing of her leg. dear god.

This is the giant group I was forced to stand in front of and talk about my life. I did not like it. If this happens next year, I am done with family christmas. I will celebrate Christmas Eve with Chinese food and repeat viewings of Love Actually.

This is my father after it was announced that we had to stand up and pretend we were at a really bad AA meeting. He was super happy that he did not have to participate. 

Cogene and Monkey! Monkey was rather crabby the entire night but it was fabulous meeting him. I like this picture. I think she's really happy being a mom.

Here are Thing 1 and Thing 2. I don't quite remember what was happening here. Things are a bit blurry for me at this point. But while we waited for dinner and for Cogene to show up, we had an impromptu photo shoot. I'm not sure whose pose scares me more Thing 1 or Thing 2? But I do know I blame Miley Cyrus. Its always her fault.

Thing 1

Thing 2

#125

I don't even know where to begin. My first Christmas was ok except for the part where they made all the grandchildren stand up and say their name, grade, school and what not. So I ended up standing up in front of 40 people and telling them that I wasn't going back to grad school and blah, blah, blah. It was horrifying and scary and I had to answer a million questions about my future plans. I hated it. And my 16! year old cousin brought her boyfriend back to Christmas to celebrate with us. I've never once brought anyone and she's brought her boyfriend twice to a family gathering. This is weird to me.

And then we moved on to the other side's Christmas. I had a feeling that this might be a bit tense but I honestly had no idea it was going to be like this. Cogene and her family showed up a bit late and brought with them 4 extra courses to my grandma's carefully planned dinner. They insist that my grandma knew this; My grandma insists that she knew no such thing. Pasta spoons were tossed, words were exchanged and I ended up eating angel hair pasta in an upstairs bedroom to avoid the tension. I wasn't even sad that I missed out on all the family traditions.

So far this Christmas has really made me realize that I'm grown up, that my little cousins are at least 13 and time will not stand still anymore. I thought it would make me sad but it doesn't. I'm ready for the future and even I dare say a bit excited for it.

OH, and I met Monkey for the first time. Honestly, I didn't think he was that cute but holding him tonight as he had the hick-ups, he was sooooooo adorable and I was introduced as Aunt Moi and it made me tear up. Sure I had been drinking since 1 and I was a bit tipsy, pleasantly buzzed, a little too far gone, but it thrilled me and made me want to have a baby because OMG that baby smell is just sooo wonderful. Also, this Christmas Mass was the shortest I have ever been to or it just seemed that way. I remember very little besides the Priest's homily which I'm pretty sure was about how cute babies are and Toi finding me through the crowd and me CRACKING up because LOOK! its Toi!!!!

Hi Toi!

#124

I had completely forgotten what winters are like in Michigan. On one hand, the snow is so pretty and there is this sense of peace that comes with it. On the other, its cold and miserable to drive and the wind. If I could somehow figure out to get the snow with out the bitter cold, I'd be happy.

With the all the upcoming storms, my mom has started to prep us for the fact that we might not make it out to the farm for Christmas Eve. It would be only the second time that we wont spend the 24th out there since I can remember. I'm perfectly okay with bumming around the house all day before we have to spend the evening with my dad's side. So that being said, the storms wont come and we'll all have to venture out to the farm where we are trapped with our family for hours without cell phone reception. Although, I have heard that our phones worked the last time they all went out. I know I bought an outfit to wear and I should be excited to see people I haven't seen since June or meet the new family members but I'm not. It just seems like so much work and drama and just not fitting in with the people out there.

Woie cleaned out his closet this weekend and I acquired piles of sweatshirts and sweatpants. They are huge on me but they are so so so COMFY. I am so warm and cozy and I think I may never wear real clothes again. Don't judge me.

#122

Hi.

I am at Christmas at Toi's apartment. It involves liquor, alcohol and chicken, Mr Fitzgibbons. I was a bit worried that Mr. Fitzgibbons was killed on command when we requested a chicken but apparently he was killed months ago and was frozen. Now we are sharing parts of Pomme's gift and it is delightful. Toi took my phone. She wont give it back to me. I am sad because of this. I would like my phone back. We are currently calling MMM. I predict she will not pick up the phone. SHE NEVER PICKS UP THE PHONE EVER. She probably misses all of us way way too much.

HI BART. Good job on your 8 bottles of Champagne and your tattoo. Its uber cool. SO awesome.

#121

I made it back to MI. The drive surprised me a lot. First, Ohio was not that bad. I only stopped once and the traffic was really good. Two, Michigan was horrible. There was a ton of traffic and the drivers were a tad annoying. And then once I actually made it into my house, my family reminded me why it is so good to live two states away.

So now that I am actually home, I am BORED. I ran out of things to do at about 10 pm. I watched Tv on the Tivo but forgot I could fastforward through the commercials. Then I played guitar hero and just when I thought I was good enough to progress to Medium, I failed a song. I played with the dog but that got boring. He fell asleep. I watched it snow but that too got boring.

But good news, there is a CSI marathon on today and I get to go to Hot N Now for lunch. Today is starting to look up.

#120

My mother called at 8:45 today to ask me when I was leaving. And then she criticized my proposed plan of 11. These next few weeks are going to be so much fun. I can hardly contain myself.

I'll update later with more.

#119

Long time no post. I haven't felt like blogging much in the past week. I must say though life has been extremely fun lately. I really like it.

We had a holiday party on Saturday. It was awesome. We had a decorate your own cookie station, sweet! And then today I made a pot roast and we exchanged roommate gifts. It was weird doing it before Christmas, kinda threw me off. I got a awesome Peruvian knit cap with hearts on it, some really cute notecards (BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THEM), and a t-shirt that says "I <3 PGH" (soo true) in black and gold.

I just want to note that I won Trivial Pursuit tonight. It was the 1990's edition which I've never played before and I thought it would be impossible like the 20th century edition. But no! it was a lot of fun.

I drive back to MI on Tuesday. I really don't want to. I'd rather fly. The thought of 6 hours in a car by myself just seems so boring and tedious especially the parts through Ohio. So if anyone would like to accompany me on my drive, let me know. I'm excited to see all my friends and hang and chill and watch Love Actually so we can do the dance. We haven't done the dance in a very long time.

I finally started my Christmas shopping and I think its going to be alright. I ordered my brother this t-shirt. I rather like it.

Ok, thats all for now. See you all very soon

#118

I'm a bit annoyed.

You know when you wake up and you have a clear plan for your day. Everything is laid out in front of you and you know exactly what you are going to do.

Twice I have experienced that this week. And twice Buddy has screwed it all up. On Wednesday, she ate the remainder of my Thanksgiving leftovers. I only eat the cheesy broccoli casserole and stuffing as leftovers, the only two things. We had green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turkey, rolls, gravy, whiskey carrots all left over but she had to eat the ones I wanted.

Then, this morning I was going to do laundry and clean my room in preparation for Pomme's visit tomorrow. But no not even waking up at 9 in the morning on a Saturday was early enough. She has the washer and dryer occupied and loads of laundry all over the basement.

Its just frustrating. And I know she probably didn't do any of this intentionally. But it just annoys me. She only goes to work and school. She doesn't go out at night or out to eat with friends. All her time is spent on the futon in the living room. Seriously, I'm not joking. Ask BART.

Oh and she threw out the coffee I had in the pot. Didn't ask me just threw it out and when I asked her about it she told me I was more than welcome to make more. More of my own coffee that I purchased with my own money in the coffee pot I own with the filters I bought. Gosh, isn't she generous?

#117

Does anyone else remember gurl.com? I remember it was one of 3 websites I frequented back when we first got the internet at home, that slow dial up AOL internet that took forever to connect at 3 in the afternoon because thats when everyone was getting home from school and just had to get on to vote for their favorite video on TRL (RIP! TRL, you were fun for about 3 years). Anyway, I wondered over to gurl this morning and its changed a bit but ultimately still the same. Except now they have this thing called Design a Gown which is awesome because I fancy myself a clothing designer (just ask BART I almost wore one of my own creations to bowling this week but she stopped me) but I can't draw to save my life. So here are some of my beautiful designs. I was inspired by Lauren Conrad and hundreds before her to give them names.

TOI

This was inspired by the new Victoria Angel Holiday commercial that premiered lat night during their fashion show. Toi and I fell in love with the skirts and vowed to get our own to wear to Christmas Eve mass. Also, our conversation last night was monumental and we've decided to make a book comprised of our many ramblings. Look for it in stores September '09!

POMME

I remember Pomme trying on a dress sorta similar to this and not ever wanting to take it off. She was extremely happy in it and that made me really happy. I think she might have worn it for graduation if our robes would have fit over it. And that would have been awesome.

BART

On our way to work, BART and I walk right pass this dress store and they always have 3 dresses on display. We play this game in which we pick which dress we would pick. Its awesome just one of the many reasons I love my neighborhood. Anyway, this is my interpretation of the MOST BEAUTIFUL DRESS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD that was in the window a few weeks ago. Only it was red and had more of a mermaid bottom and the top was different but gurl failed me horribly with their choices and I already had a red dress.

FRANCES

Frances inspired this dress. She can wear short dresses like no one else I know. She's got those kind of legs I dream of: skinny, long, goes on for days. And then she wears those high heels and she's even taller like she should try out for ANTM, like we should fill out an application and send it in for her and then secretly drive her to the try out. Tyra would love it! 

MMM

One of the very first entries I read on MMM's blog was about her salsa dancing in France. I thought three things: 1) DAMN she can salsa dance?!?! AWESOME 2) How can I get her to be my friend? 3) I FLOVE her blog. So this is a dress you could wear salsa dancing in the South of France.

AUSSIE

This dress reminds me of a ballerina and it reminds me of you. I can't exactly pinpoint why. I think this dress would be extremely fun to wear, to swish around in. Maybe it reminds me of sugarplum fairies. Ballerinas are regal and classic and those words make me think Aussie.

#116

I need some help. I was just informed by my mothers that my brothers have bought me a total of 4 presents for Christmas and have plans for more. And these presents are substantial, nice presents not like those gummy worms in a Grinch cup I gave Bubba one year. As of today I have 0 presents for the two. Sure I bookmarked a t-shirt for Bubba like 2 months ago but I haven't bought it yet because I'm waiting for it to go on clearance, yeah I'm that cheap. (UPDATE: The shirt is now $9.99. It is also sold out.)

Anyway, I need some ideas for them. They love video games. It doesn't matter how many they have they love getting them. The only problem is I hate giving them as gifts. I feel like its a cop out and I put absolutely no thought into it. So while they can always be my backup I want to get my brothers something else this year. I want to get them something cool like a pint of specially designed ice cream. Or a mini doughnut maker. So do you guys have ideas? What was your best Christmas present ever? Or you could just comment with something you want this Christmas because well I haven't Christmas shopped for anyone yet.

#115

Things I did today avoiding my homework:

1. Went to work on my day off to get my paycheck and an everything bagel with lox cream cheese. Its my new favorite thing to eat only I just get the cream cheese with the lox pieces mixed it. I haven't worked up the courage to try the big slices yet. I totally blame this latest obsession with Prez. Harry who forced me to eat smoked salmon at my very first Insignis Symposium dinner. 
2. I read this website. I blame Buddy for introducing me. Its kinda awesome and now I want my very own cowboy with gorgeous forearms. Seriously, I drooled all day, just staring at the pictures. 'Cowboy take me away' playing on a loop inside my head. Also, her recipes are quite delicious. We may have made Whiskey glaze twice this weekend just to try it on various different foods like mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, carrots, turkey, and vanilla ice cream.
3. I missing French (or France, I can't decide which) right now very much. I mean I'm sitting around in a beret wearing all black and a scarf so obviously something is very wrong with me. Anywho, listening to Eric Ripert talk about cooking at his very cool site is killing me. I especially love his toaster oven recipes. Those would have been so helpful at AQ.
4. I watched White Christmas and laid down the law to Buddy: 'Yes, we are getting a Christmas Tree. No, we don't expect you to financially contribute to it or take care of it or even look at it as we will put it in this corner. But we are getting one so deal with it.' I'm super excited now! I mean don't these ornaments go perfectly with our walls even if Buddy did inform me that I couldn't get pink ones? I really REALLY don't get her. (oh yeah, she blogged about MY lovelife which just really gets me especially since I don't even have one) But seriously pretty ornaments!
   
5. I watched Twilight and now I (a) want to read the books, (b) was surprised that Robert P. was coherent throughout the entire movie which is a vast difference from all those interviews I've seen, and (c) want my own vampire who will cook me Italian food and glitter in the sun at my command. 

I am so ready for school to be done. You have no idea.